Looking To See
Often what I have in my head just doesn’t materialise. White, that’s what I had in mind, but all I could see, was ORANGE. “Love is a blue balloon that wants to be orange. Go Gators!” ― Jarod Kintz, This Book is Not FOR SALE. So sometimes white is orange too. Not what I’d planned,...
Time Pieces
“The camera should be used for a recording of life, for rendering the very substance and quintessence of the thing itself, whether it be polished steel or palpitating flesh”. Edward Weston This one excites me! Time is of the essence and it keeps ticking. I had the opportunity to...
Capturing Light - Karoo National Botanical Gardens
My camera has taught me to see and today my photography is about capturing light. That’s what happened in the very beginning when Alhazen invented the first pin-hole camera, light would enter the tiny hole, turn itself upside down and the image would be captured and projected onto the other...
Lean Pickings
Lean pickings today. More haste less speed. I met a girl who uses the dark as her backdrop, she shoots at night using a very slow shutter speed of 20 seconds, allowing her to add and remove elements creating magical scenes. I didn’t try that today, but tried the very opposite in...
Infused By Art - Baardskeerdersbos Art Walk
The dreaded words “you’ve run out of Wifi Data” has once again reared its ugly head. I could quite easily commit hari kiri when this happens. Sundays are fun days and we went off to attend the annual Baadskeerdersbos Art Weekend. Seeing the work of Artists, meeting and chatting to...
Capturing Beauty In The Ordinary
We’re so lucky to live in one of the world’s most beautiful places, the New York Times thinks so and so do hundreds of people who flock here to see the whales, go shark cage diving or just to get a magical tan on one of the many pristine beaches. We often take it all for granted and don’t see...
Durban Street And Beyond
We always have too little time, fortunately “busy” people always have time and I had to make time. Xenophobia is a new word on our tongues and is wrecking havoc in our country. I can’t make political statements but I’m saddened by the hatred that’s mushrooming everywhere. A cancer which...
Drawing A Line And Fish Tales
F-A-S-C-I-N-A-T-I-N-G and the usual suspects are in a pickle. Cape Salmon (Geelbek) caught in the summer is a highlight. To photograph a huge one like this, is fabulous, this is the sort of fish one only hears about. Here’s the one that didn’t get away and I can prove it. To continue with...
Perfectly Ordinary Day
“I like imperfection. It doesn't mean ugly. I love a girl with a gap between her teeth, versus perfect white veneers. Perfection is just... boring. Perfect is what's natural or real; that is beauty.” Marc Jacobs Today was to be a bird day. I was woken by a confusion of guinea fowl, which...
Let One Egg Reach Maturity
A reflection in the window, a silhouette, a table lamp and a garden in the early morning that was the setting which caught my eye, a reflective mood for my first photograph, a good start. I had a boss, who in a moment of frustration, called me Dreamy Drawers, I was probably dead on my...
Mondays With Cecil
Mondays are back to normal days, which is not as simple as it sounds, the weekend has ground to a halt and with it the extraordinary places we visit have evaporated like Scotch mist. All I have to photograph are the things around me. To find something inspiring is the challenge today....
Panning Flamingoes At Sunset
Mist is a great medium to work with as it creates an eerie atmosphere, ideal for photography and landscapes in particular. I loved the stillness and tranquillity the mist seemed to create on the salt pan when we went at dusk to see the migration of the flamingos from the one side of the lake...
Fly Me To The Moon - Stellenbosch Flying Club
Weekends are for photography, if you lead a quiet life that is, or live in a picturesque spot or diligently plan your photographic expeditions. Ma Nelson would've said "Preparedness girls is key!" when she tried to motivate us at age 8. Do prepare for the weather conditions (www.yr.no is...
Desert Rose
Days are too short. Fabulous Fridays even shorter, I’ll be very lucky to even make one photograph today. Thought I’d get a shot in when I woke up and it was raining! Must’ve been a small cloud burst which dried up before I had my camera set up. I'm too slow. Dashed outside just in...
Spotlight On An Ordinary Day
There’s nothing quite like volunteer work is there? Today I sat/lay for a student while she learnt how to apply eyelash extensions! I woke up to the pitty patter of rain drops on the bedroom window this morning, this did not auger well, but I manned up and decided to embrace the day! ...
Tittilating Tantilizing Teasers
Are the delicious dishes that came out of our kitchen this weekend. Besides the spicy, fruity, home baked Hot cross buns I gobbled up as soon as the oven door opened and the dozens of Easter eggs that disappeared down the hatch we also enjoyed delicious starters, salads and desserts. Precious...
Going Corporate - Portraiture
Wisdom to know what to do with what I know was what I had to do with this commission. The client has the law behind them, the gift of the gab and the confidence to enforce all three! This is what I did: Sent a missive by email to all members of the staff regarding their...
Backing Basics On A Tuesday
Every time I download my photographs for this “project” I get a nasty knot in my stomach, it’s very much like waiting to write an examination. Today is an ordinary Tuesday. A back to reality day, the weekend’s a thing of the past. It’s back to doing the laundry, watering the plants and the...
Challenging Creativity
There can be no other word but CHALLENGE for a project like this. The last time I felt as challenged was when I stopped smoking, day 3 almost had me lighting up again. What this weekend has taught me is that one must pack for every eventuality, because who can tell what catches the eye on...
Shell We?
“There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs.” Ansel Adams. When is a photograph “good”, not necessarily Ansel Adams good, but good by your standards, when it gets a million clicks on Instagram? When it’s liked 2K times on FaceBook or Twitter or when Pixolo says...
Fern Funny First
It’s a sloshy Saturday and a Mission Impossible. Abort! A voice screams. But, procrastination is the thief of time. That’s a fact. Mondays are a good day to start: dieting, fasting, a new project or a new leaf. That’s if you toe the line, not when you zig when everyone else zags. ...
Beach Bunnies Make Waves
The sparkling wine on tap which has just been installed in Breë Street is the one I like best. For some reason I don’t fall for it but, this year I fell hook, line and sinker for a few April Fools jokes. Imagine the genius who could put DSTV out of business with his R99 subscriptions and...
R is For Rhino Rob Restaurants and Red Wine
Animals, Beer/Braai, Creation Dinner, Elephant, Fishing, Giraffe, Hermanus, Impala, Jâgermeister, Knights, Long Street, Mama, Newton-Johnson, Open Bus, Precious, Quiet, Rhino, Sunshine, Tortoise, Unique, Vineyards, Watches, X-factor, Yellow African Sun, Zebra – this was the brief, we had to...
It's The Final Countdown
My throat closes, my pulse quickens, there’s a hand gripping my heart and nausea is creeping up on me, I’m not pregnant. Only one sleepie left. Their visits are always too short. Women used to shave their heads, wail and keen for their children, I could too. The pillow we shared this...
Shark Cage Diving in Kleinbaai
Being charged by a Rhino or stormed by an Elephant is exciting but nothing is as chilling or as exhilarating as being in a cage out at sea observing a Great White Shark in Shark Alley. He went from the very North of South Africa where he saw a very rare sighting, two Rhinos being hunted by a...
Road Tripping, Rondawels and Rhinos
Elephants! That was the brief. We did the groundwork, puffed South Africa up without sounding too arrogant or full of ourselves, now it had to prove itself. Not that we have any doubts on that score, but expectations had to be met. Fortunately the Kruger National Park does speak for itself. ...
Stay a while Crocodile
Make haste while the sun shines! Time waits for no man as we trundle along. It's true, we can see our lives flash past us when we have fun. When those glass doors at the Johannesburg International airport swooshed open I became one happy Mama, my girl was safely back on African soil. I...
Halving The Panties Gets You Nowhere
That’s what He-Who-Will-Be-Obeyed Says As I Pack. “Whether one packs for one week or one month the quantities stay the same” I mutter under my breath. This time I’m not up for the argument as I’m simply too excited. So I’ll take half the undies. I’ve already cut down the shorts, nighties and...
Marching Orders
“A woman, a dog, and a walnut tree, The more you beat them the better they be.” A Calendar of Gardeners’ Lore Revealing the Secrets of The Walled Kitchen Garden. 1875. Fortunately men came to their senses! In 1975 platform shoes, miniskirts, being anorexic and the Bob was all the rage....
Running Circles Around Life
Today you’ll close this gate; you’ve gone full circle with your journey here. You arrived as a beautiful, sexy, vivacious Englishwoman 38 years ago. Choices have never been yours to make, circumstances dictated your every move. “She took a step and didn't want to take any more, but she...
My Funny Valentine
Like minced beef I forced myself into my new contouring spandex figure-hugging petticoat and sexy, lacy, red bra, a birthday gift from Precious when I was a size smaller but had no need of support, as we were camping in a rooftop tent in Xai-Xai, Mozambique, a decade ago! On Saturday evening my...
Morning After The Valentine Night Before
I have carpet burns on both knees and my forehead is blood red and burning. On Sunday morning I had: lower backache, a blinding headache, swollen ankles and my pedicured toes had blistered, I throbbed! I have no regrets and I'm not complaining. I am “just” over the 50 year mark so “regret”...
Seeing Red With A Broken Heart
It’s all petals, pouting and perfumed perfection on the eve of Valentine’s Day. Commercial exploitation it might be, but give a girl a weekend away, wine her, dine her, lavish gifts from the heart upon her and believe me you’ll star in her good books! We’ve all had our fair share...
Move Mundane to Make Magic
Easier said than done you may say. It takes a mind shift and will power to move something from mundane to magic, but it’s not impossible, look at the guy on stage, he uses a plain white handkerchief to produce a beautiful white dove. It's all in the magic we hold in our hands. Just read...
Missive From Glam'ma
“Grandchildren now don't write a thank you for the Christmas presents. They are walking on their pants with their cap on backward, listening to the Enema Man and Snoopy, Snoopy Poop Dog.” ― Alan Simpson Dearest Nunu, You’re not a twinkle in your Fathers’ eye anymore you’re a reality, I saw you...
Spit or Swallow
That is the question. Not on an empty stomach. Well I don’t know about that. At the time of this dilemma choices were limited; there was no place to hide. A mad dash to the kitchen I made, it was a shambles. “Manners maketh man” was ringing in my ears while I heaved and clamped my jaw. I was...
Friday My Day
The clock ticks, January draws to a close, not a day too soon either. It’s been a long month. A fortnight ago my bank balance passed zero. My tan’s faded and I’m not as diligent about counting calories anymore. Thank goodness its Friday my favourite day. To celebrate we’ll have dessert....
Scintillating Sunny Salads
It’s a mellow-yellow Saffron day, it’s hot, sticky and slightly sultry. I awoke with melons, songs and nasturtiums on my mind a Yellow song and it was Coldplay! A good theme for Thursday. This is a pedicure and cafe day. Provence is yellow, reminding me of Les Girls, pottery and...
Tuesdays are for no ordinary fish
“I love the way the color lavender smells, and the way the color salmon tastes. And if there were a color called “fur”, I’d like the way it feels”!–Jarod Kintz, This Book is Not FOR SALE Painting of Fishmonger at Fishmarket: Bartolomeo Passarotti - The fish stall If you’re a fisherman and...
Miserably Morose on a Monday
It’s no use, no-one can dodge this bullet any longer, it’s back to the Spinning Class this afternoon, the scales don’t lie, we can count calories until the cows come home, nope, it’s time to add some strenuous exercises to the game plan! I wonder if jaw wiring is still an option? I still...