Its unbelievable to think that Woman at Work has been going for a year!?  We’ve been there photographing these networking functions since they started in December 2008 and it’s truly amazing to have walked this road with Toni & Tanya and see their vision evolve and grow like it has.

The woman at work year-end function was held at the Glenvista Country Club and we had an absolute ball.  No microphone glitches, nothing (I know… unbelievable) The Glenvista Country Club offers an indoor & outdoor function area and they will help you arrange everything.  You can even get married there and have your wedding photos taken on their lovely green golf course…

The charity of choice for the evening is Carita’s Home situated in Brackendowns.  An extract from their website:”Yvonne Deetlefs saw an urgent need for a safe, secure and loving environment for abandoned and abused children. The result was the birth of Caritas Home, May 2001. There are anywhere from 14 to 24 children living at Caritas, all of whom have been placed with us through Social Workers and the Courts.  The outward appearance of our house gives the impression of an ordinary home in the area. This is so that the children can live as normal a life as possible and ensure a “Place of Safety” for the children” 

Yvonne and your team, thank you so so much for everything you do for all of these children.  I’m sure it means more to them than they will ever be able to express!

Edith Venter was the guest speaker for the evening.  Let me tell you she is one remarkable lady!  Even though people judge Edith (without really knowing her) she still addressed all the ladies with an opening about how important it is to never judge  any other person because you never know what they might be going through.  It takes so little effort to tell another woman her hair looks pretty, or you love her dress and I promise you by building up other people you will feel uplifted yourself. 

  Here is a little something Edith read to all of us:”

A strong woman works out every day to keep her body in shape, but …

A woman of strength kneels in prayer to keep her soul in shape.
   A strong woman isn’t afraid of anything, but …
A woman of strength shows courage in the midst of her fear.
   A strong woman won’t let anyone get the best of her, but …
A woman of strength gives the best of her to everyone.
   A strong woman makes mistakes and avoids the same in the future, but …
A woman of strength realizes life’s mistakes can also be God’s blessings and capitalizes on them.
   A strong woman walks surefootedly, but …
A woman of strength knows God will catch her when she falls.
   A strong woman wears the look of confidence on her face, but …
A woman of strength wears grace.
   A strong woman has faith that she is strong enough for the journey, but …
A woman of strength has faith that in the journey she will become strong.”

And I truly found this inspirational.  Read these words again and just think about it for a while…  Edith Venter is a graceful lady, and even though she is standing on a podium she speaks to you like she is sitting across from you in your sitting room having a galss of wine or cup of tea.  She makes you feel like you’ve known each other for years and years. 

Truly a very different person to what the media portrays…

This is one year end function with great photos. Every woman at work networking get-together is such a great function because there is always constant laughter.  Basically ladies, business women, mothers and friends coming together to network and have a great time!

Riani

Donté Smith is the name and he is the new kid on the block… Without any formal training Donté plays the piano, composes music and writes his own lyrics.

He has always been a big fan or R&B and so it comes as no surprise that his music falls right into the R&B genre and you can definitely put him right up there with artists like Neo and Justin Timberlake.

Donté stumbled onto his talent one day when he sat down in front of a keyboard and tried out some notes just for fun.  It just felt so right he told his mom and he hasn’t stopped playing since…

On average he can write one song a day (or more) when he really puts his mind to it.  Amazing hey?  He says that sometimes its like the typical thing of a song just randomly popping into his head and he needs to write it down, but more often than never he sits down and works it through at his own time.

When Donté sings it’s like a transformation that takes place within him, when you listen to his heartfelt lyrics you realize that it touches some part deep within your soul…

Donté I think you are heading for great things and I am privileged to have been a part of your journey so far and I look forward to creating your image with you creative input…!

Riani

You have probably heard this a million times, but the secret behind great photographers is that htey have developed an eye for lighting.  Watching the sun at different times of the day and how it reflects form walls, on plants, on someone’s face etc.

This also rings very true when trying to take photos of silhouettes.  A photo with a bright background and only an outline of a person or subject matter.  The key is to make sure your subject is in front of a bright background and then using your camera and setting the exposure to expose for the brightest part of the photo.

This will ensure that your subject matter is dark and only shows the outline with a well exposed background.  This can make for very eye catching, dramatic photos.  The kind which will make you look twice.

Don’t you just love this photo!   Roedean private girls school in South Africa commissioned us to do these silhouette photographs for them as part of redoing the image of the school as well as for their new marketing campaign for 2010.  Our aim was to capture girls silhouetted indifferent parts of the school so as to signify that it could be any girl at this magnificent school.

Roedean school os full of heritage, this school has existed for more than 100 years and they just have a historical tale for just about everything in this school.  It is such a privilege for Louise and I to be part of this heritage and share in everything they stand for.

In photography you will always be really good at some area or another, be it photographing people, cars or food.  The others you will just have to work that little bit harder.  So my advice to anyone trying to capture great silhouette photos is to never stop experimenting.  PS-Time of day is also a very important factor.  The sun needs to be very low in the sky (early morning or late afternoon) to help make your photographic journey a little bit easier!

Riani

It’s Christmas Day! – Merry Christmas!!

Well, it’s finally Christmas!No more sleeps until we leave! It’s been a crazy day opening presents from Father Christmas, pack, quick visit to Uncle Tom, Tameryn and Yin and then rushing to do some last minute packing and then the wait – waiting to get dropped off at the airport, waiting to board the plane and then waiting for the plane to get there!

What a journey it has been so far! We left home at 3:30pm on Christmas day and waited 3 hours at the airport. The boys were so excited at the airport and were really hyperactive – I was so worried about the flight and got so worked up before we even got on the plane. We then flew for 20 hours to Atlanta. It is a damn long flight! But the boys were absolute angels – we hardly knew they were there!

Demi-Leigh on the other hand was quite a handful. She got really overtired and then couldn’t sleep and just cried for about an hour and a half which felt like half the night. She eventually fell asleep and then we all slept. The plane was only 50% full so we all had lots of space to stretch out and sleep.

We arrived at Atlanta airport at 8am in the morning (their time which was about 2pm SA time) we then flew to Orlando at 11am but by then the children were exhausted and really irritable. So were we by then. Once we arrived at Orlando, we had to wait 2 hours to get a car from Alamo – what a nightmare!! After all that traveling, we just wanted to get to the hotel and had to wait!

Anyway, we finally got a car and then had a hair-raising trip to the hotel. Try driving in a new country after 30 hours of travelling and hardly any sleep and on the wrong side of the road!!!

We arrived at our hotel and it was fantastic! Driving in just brought back all the memories of when we were here 14 years ago with my family! It was so special! We are staying at Orange Lake which is one of the biggest  resorts in the world now!

It really is a wonderful place especially for families! We quickly unpacked and then went shopping for some groceries – by this time we were exhausted but were trying to stay awake as it was only 4pm. We went to bed at 7pm and woke up at 4am – guess the body clocks are still adjusting….

Can you believe I have reached the point where I need someone to help me with my photography? I am getting busier and busier (which btw I absolutely love and am very grateful for…) and so we are looking for a photographer / designer to join our business.

As fate would have it, I decided that I need some help and within a week, we were approached by a professional photographer who is currently working at another studio and is looking to move on and grow now. This remarkable young woman has tons of experience as well as all the qualifications.

So it looks like we are about to take the next step in this exciting journey of ours – just goes to show that when you are inspired and you love what you do and you do what you love, synchronous events occur and powerful visions manifest… I am so excited!!!

Watch this space!!!