I tried to get this bucket list project going this year, but it’s just not happening.

I dearly want to go to Mauritius, but if the insurance doesn’t pay for the camera, that dream is definitely not going to happen… even without that it’s touch and go

I’m just back in the wheel spinning mode… my backlog is still manageable but I have so many shoots coming up, and I’m not sure I have the energy for some of my list things

On a good note though, I have been keeping up with the 1 spa/beauty salon visit a month… and I haven’t had as many mani’s, pedi’s and facials since before the kids were born!!

I suppose I’d better start thinking about what I want to do with my birthday, now that it’s less than 5 months away #gulp

I’m completely devastated

My Canon 5D MKII and the 50mm f1.4 got stolen from my camera bag this evening at the shops.

I went to my usual haunt, Honeydew Village shopping centre in the West Rand (Johannesburg), to buy dog food and then do a food shop at Woolies.  I got out of the car with the kids, went to the boot to get out my wallet from my camera bag, locked it as I’m shouting at them to get across the road.  I was in the pet food shop for literally 5 minutes!! When I walked back to the car with the dog food, I unlocked the car… or so I thought.

As the car guard put the heavy dog food bag in my car I saw that the kids school bags had been moved and my camera bag was open.  Then I noticed that the back seat was pulled down.

Hmm strange.

I peered into my camera bag (which doesn’t look like a camera bag it looks like a handbag), I saw it was empty.

I asked the car guards if they saw anything… nothing!! Actually, I’m not that surprised.  I parked at the end of the car. I reckon I was watched and they opened the car from the passenger door which the guard wouldn’t have seen cos he was closer to the building.

Thank God I only carried one lens today, and it was the small one.  Also, there wasn’t even a CF card in it.

I’m convinced I locked the car, in fact I normally press that remote locking button a few times to make sure now because of the stories of the remote jamming gangs… clearly that’s not good enough!!

So now it’s a schlepp and a half!!  Got to get to the police station tomorrow… then complete my claim with Outsurance.

I need a new body before next weekend, I can do my next portrait shoot with the 50D, but I have a HUGE batmitzvah next weekend that I need the big body for… and I have a BIG wedding coming up in 3 weeks time too!!

So, if you come across the following:

Canon 5DMKII serial number 2531400106

Canon  EF 50mm f.14 serial number 66313148

… they’re mine!!

And yes, I took a photo of my empty bag with my phone… as one does…

You’re probably thinking… stupid woman shouldn’t have left the camera in the car.  Probably, but my new Jo Totes camera bag is really really not as comfortable to wear as a handbag as my Kelly Moore one was, so I tend to leave it in the car now.

Bradley’s school has a Valentine’s dance every year, and all the kids from Grade 3  upwards have to attend.  So this year it’s his first dance experience.

Hectic!!

I thought that it was just a little dance.  It doesn’t last very long, and I think it ends really early (from what I can remember, and no I haven’t studied the newsletters yet).

Well, clearly not!! Bradley’s best friend Angelique has been asked to “go” by one of the other boys.

I did ask him how he felt about Angelique going with another boy… his answer “well, I can’t ask my best friend to go with me, that would be weird” LOL!

Call me strange, but aren’t 8/9 year olds a little young for this?  He’s stressing now.  He’s so nervous to ask another girl to this thing, and I actually don’t think he should be.  I don’t see anything wrong with him going with his friends… in a group.

Am I strange?

Anyhoo, this evening I was a little more relaxed about the whole thing when he told me that some of his boy friends had asked other boy friends to go with them. Clearly it’s not “that” important.

Connor, on the other hand, thinks it’s hilarious that Bradley’s going to a dance, and he’s going to “shake his booty” LOL!! There was a lot of wrestling going on this evening after the teasing.

I’m not ready for this… I’m not ready for this angst.  I’m not sure I’m equipped to help him deal with girls saying “no” to him asking them out.

Bloody hell he’s too young for this!! I’m too young for this!!

You know how it goes… photographers never have photos of themselves. Well, the same is true for me

The only reason I took this photo of us this evening is because Connor’s theme at school this week is “Me and my family” and I had to do something about it.  So out came the camera and I rested it on a chair (I don’t actually have a tripod) and set the timer

So now… there we all are… I think for the first time on this blog

And Connor has his photo for school  Mission accomplished!!

Ooh and btw, it’s our 15th wedding anniversary this week!!

So, you know by now that I’m obsessed about Pinterest right?

Well, it seems like it’s use is slowly changing.

When it started, people only pinned images that inspired them on their pinboards.  And that’s how I’ve been using it.

And in fact, if you pinned your own work, it was shunned and you got a lot of people unfollowing you!!

Well, now, in the last few months, I’ve noticed a slight shift.  Photographers and event people and brands have discovered how powerful the network is.  So many US photographers have blogged and tweeted recently about how they’ve been referred via Pinterest and are now getting quite a lot of clients that way.

There have been so many articles on tech and photography and marketing blogs that I’ve read recently about it’s power, and how brands should really get on the site, and be able to track how their products and images are shared.  Especially if your market is a visual market.

And all of a sudden, everyone has started boards showcasing their own work (and not just the stuff that inspires them from other people).  Not every shoot thankfully in the case of photographers, but a select number of absolute favourites.

I’m so very tempted to do the same, yet I’m feeling that I’m going against the network’s designed intentions.

As someone that’s been blogging for so many years, I can see why people are changing the way it’s being used.  Apart from the Facebook “like” button and the G+ buttons on your blog which are invaluable, you’re not getting that much feedback anymore.  Commenting on blogs has virtually stopped.  The connection with your readers (who are definitely still there) is happening on other networks like Facebook, Twitter and Google +… so this is one way of seeing what is really liked.  Because you’re connecting with your friends and your network and not the bloggers network, it seems that people are commenting on Pinterest rather… and spreading individual images rather than a whole blog post’s worth of images… and that’s more digestible for the internet generations who have very short attention spans.

Not sure… not sure… damn it’s tempting.  What do you think?

Anyway, if you’re there, hook up with me, I’d love to see your boards… I’m Jenty there too

Bwahaha I found this on Melinda’s blog, and had to share.  I can so see myself in this!!

So, you know that saying that things happen in 3′s… well all 3 (I think) has happened in the last week.  The question is… is it 3 things a week or a year… ‘cos if it’s not for the year then 2012 is going to be one EXPENSIVE year!!

The 3 things that have happened…

1. Lance somehow dislodged the bottle rack in the fridge and it broke in half.  Thankfully, I’ve managed to find a Samsung Service centre close by, and it’s only costing R120 to replace.  I had visions of buying a new fridge when this happened!!

2. On Monday I dropped my beloved iPhone… and smashed the glass.  It was well and truly buggered up.  After initially thinking I would upgrade to a 4S, I quickly changed my tune after discovering how much that would cost, and thanks to #Twoogle, I found 2 places that repair iPhones. I went on Tuesday morning to get it fixed on the way to work… R1550 later though!! And the place I used, Part Store in Honeydew, was R800 cheaper than the 1st place I tried, G Mobile near Northgate!!

3.  Then this morning, Beauty informs me that the vacuum cleaner started smoking yesterday.  Then she told me that she’d tried to clean the bedroom carpet with soap and water, and dropped the bucket and then decided to use the vacuum cleaner to dry the spill. It’s not a Wet/Dry.  She told me that she was “encouraged” when she noticed bubbles in the filter chamber.  She’s blimmen lucky she didn’t get electrocuted considering it was smoking from the cable!! Anyhoo, because of the huskies I needed another very very powerful vacuum cleaner… so R2000 we’re sorted again (I stopped at Makro at lunchtime today)

This has been one expensive week… not counting the school fees and new uniforms I’ve bought in the last week!!

There goes my idea of buying a couch sometime soon!

I’m going to open a bottle of wine tonight I think

Just a list of randomness from my weekend of slothfulness.

1.  No photoshoots meant that I spent the weekend like I did pre client-shoots… just with the kids… and afternoon naps

2.  I did do some editing and finalising of albums though no rest for the wicked.

3.  Yesterday, we went to Fiona’s little Zoe’s 3rd birthday party.  I had a ball!! The kids loved playing with their friends in the pool, and around the pool, while I drank homemade ginger beer and sangria Was just divine to sit and chat to people I haven’t seen in ages.

4.  We got a skip (those huge big rubbish bins thingies) for random rubbish that we needed to get rid of, as well as a few trees that needed removing.  Andrew is the most incredible gardener that works magic, and he managed to finish chopping both trees down (and don’t moan… the conifer was diseased and the lemon tree wasn’t bearing fruit anymore and I’ve already replanted new shrubs ) and mow the lawn and tidy the garden yesterday.  Anyhoo, the skip was quite something.  We put our household rubbish (you know, old boxes, old broken see-saw and slide, old poles and random scrap metal etc from cleaning up the garden and the left over carport pieces that were mangled) in the skip on Thursday, and then more on Friday… and yet more on Saturday afternoon.  And every time, within an hour, it was magically emptied.  We even heard someone rummaging at 1am on Saturday morning! It worked out perfectly actually, because then there was enough space for the trees!

5. It was hot, the pool isn’t exactly sparkling at the moment, but we swam a lot.  I told Bradley it was like swimming in a dam, he needed to get over himself. The pool is actually clean, but not blue.

6.  I took the dogs to Walkhaven this morning, and they had a ball.  I wore my new wellies so for once I didn’t get my flip flops stuck in the marsh area.  Aren’t they cute!?! They’re covered in jelly beans! It was beautiful there, and I forgot to take my camera… huge regret!! I would have loved to take macro photos of the veld flowers today.

7.  One of my resolutions is to be in more photos this year… I would love to have a shoot in the veld at dusk… in that beautiful light with the gorgeous flowers that are around at the moment.  For now, my wellies are in the photo from earlier today when we had a massive thunderstorm… on Connor.

8.  We have a bowl of nuts in the diningroom, with a nutcracker on hand for snacking.  Kimo got hold of a few nuts this afternoon, and had a bit of a feast by himself.  Silly dog!

9.  I really need to sort the house out this year, we need so much, and it’s going to cost ever so much money

10.  Lance broke the drinks compartment in the fridge… and he can’t fix it.  So this week, in addition to looking for an electrician that’ll actually pitch to do this work (there’s a crap load of work that needs to get done), I have to find a Samsung parts place… or buy a new fridge.  I wish we had a bigger space for a fridge in the kitchen, but one thing I’m considering doing is buying a fridge, and then a small seperate freezer.  Or buying a new fridge, and keeping our current fridge in the garage for extra drinks etc for when we have guests.

And now, I’m going to pour myself a glass of red. Get the kids to bed, and hopefully finish editing a wedding!

So instead of whittling down my list, I’ve added 2 things to my list today!!

1. Capture a birth.

I’ve done newborns and there’s only so much of a story to be had in a newborn shoot, and you know I’m all about the story.  Earlier today I read a blog post by an Australian photographer who captured a birth last week.  And that’s what I want to do this year… just one.  I think it would be an amazing experience.

2.  Do a photo project capturing suburbs of South Africa.

I’ve been completely inspired by another Australian photographer who is travelling the world this year taking photos of 52 suburbs around the world.  She happens to be missing Africa, which I think is a travesty… but anyhoo, now that’s something I’d love to do.  Go around the country and take photos of real South African life and textures and views.

OK, this is sad, really sad, and if you’re a softy like me then you’ll cry…

I found a video made by Ben on Alex Beadon’s blog this morning. It was the first thing I read in my reader. The original videos were made by Ben on 18 Dec, which happened to be a week before he died. He died on Christmas night.  I’m going to share the original 2 videos he posted onto Youtube.

They’ve gone viral since his death and I can see why.

I did a bit of Youtube surfing after watching the videos, and this dude was quite incredible.  He had his own Youtube channel too, and I’ll leave you with that… you can go and look at his older stuff…