I wanted to keep it all quiet until their newsletter was done, dusted and launched and, since it is, I can now finally reveal.

The theme of the tea party set-up was Alice in Wonderland and you can see by the images they went full-out with the styling and props. My first commercial shoot and I absolutely loved it!

More picture on the In Good Company blog.

...and wait! there is more, you can download free printable pdf files used for this bride in wonderland shoot - just click here.

I come back to warm weather on Thursday.

It was with this in mind I first agreed to present RE.INVENT with Dror, since public speaking is very much outside my comfort zone.

So, you will understand why I was equally nervous (as I was excited) for RE.INVENT, which was convened at The Forum Homini Hotel, yesterday.

Previewing the participants' websites and blogs beforehand did not help the jitters, as I knew we had some serious talent and amazing photographers lined up for the workshop.

 
We had such an amazing group in attendance, along with gorgeous models, which were a picture of perfection, Gen worked her little butt off to achieve the images the attendees were striving for.

 
I can't wait to check out the blogs to see what images were captured yesterday. ...and, if anything, I hope that the participants have picked up, that Dror and I attempt to get picture-perfect photos straight out of camera and use PS/Lightroom purely as a an enhancer.

For the first time ever, I  can say I took the least amount of shots on the day, as I was more occupied with questions from the photographers themselves.
Naturally, no post without a pic, so here you are - Just one photograph, which I took demonstrating a point to one of the participants.

The first one developed ......in Lightroom. Yes, I discovered a few tips and also tried my hand at Lightroom.

For all those that attended:

Canon 5D | 24-70 2.8
Settings: Aperture Priority, f 4.5, Iso 400, WB Manual.

Processing: Those gradient things taught by Dror and conservative tweaking of sliders in Lightroom (So conservative that I can not, for the life of me remember). No presets used. 

 
In the second, I used the same image and played around with the "darker side"

Less has really become more these last couple of days. Less sleep = getting more work done.

Deadlines and a to-do list that is turning out to be an instruction manual; busier than ever, I have had some great shoots I still need to post, but, for now, my priority as promised. . . Nancy and Paul.

It was a fabulous marriage ceremony at Leopard Lodge.  I absolutely loved working with Nancy and Paul.  Both were so relaxed, natural, full of laughs and made us feel like part of wedding!

The weather was totally gorgeous, cloudy at just the right times, with the sun peeping out during the creatives, which made it all too easy for Ursula and I.

I'll leave the chitter-chatter short, so I may now scratch one more item off that list of mine and give you the images of Nancy and Paul.

How gorgeous are these shoes?

 
As a result of these self-imposed extracurriculars, my obligations to the blog have gone somewhat astray and, although I promised Nancy and Paul their wedding would be posted this week, I quite simply just didn't manage any blog-time, at all.

In the meantime, however, I did eke out this sneak and I assure you I'll go through your pics over the weekend, so I can post something on Monday. Promise.

But. Somehow . . .the midgets, each with their very own handmade card. Created just for me. Managed to make my heart sing!

Cute and kitsch in equal measures, I give you an image of Liam.

It has, admitedly, been quite fun, especially for me. (I, selfishly, revolved this around my love of photography, and took it on as a personal photographic project. Challenging myself to photograph the daily colours).

Here is Jake collecting berries for our red day.

Somehow this weekend went by in a flash....but don't they all?
Why can't the work week fly by and the weekend last forever - instead of the other way around? Sounds far more logical to me.

If you would like to get a little taste of what we were up to yesterday, then here you are;

I, on the other hand, need to get off the blog and onto my Monday dose of admin.

I had been checking the weather forecast all week in an attempt to gauge whether it would rain at the weekend.

Those of you not residing in Gauteng will be oblivious to the fact that for the past four/five weeks or so, we have had rain virtually every single day.

Well, Saturday at Diane's and Trent's wedding, we had rain; not normal rain, but, true highveld thunderstorms with lightning bolts and all the extras.

During the creatives session, Trent miraculously escaped being struck by a flash of lightning - not really, but, the way he dashed down the hill leaving his new wife behind, one would have thought the electric bolt must have just missed his left foot. ;-)

The skies held on until the shoot was done, we got our crackers and Trent made it out in one piece!

From the laughs we had on the golfcart, right through to the gorgeous lattern release at the reception, the whole day turned out beautifully. Thank you Diane. Thank you Trent.

No Photoshop magic, the sky was that dark. Straight out of camera and sharpened in Photoshop. 

The lovely lattern release shot in pitch darkness, sans flash at Iso 4000. 

Inbetween the rain, we made some time to go for one of our walks, looking for frogs and insects.

I love our walks together; simple, no rushing, no time, just exploring. Me and my boys. 

One of Oliver on our morning walk.

I spent a good few minutes telling the boys they can play with the water, providing they didn't spray me, as I had my camera, which isn't at all fond of water in any form.

I give you Exhibit A - this offender clearly respects and listens TO ME.

It's been a bit quiet on the blog for the last few days. If the truth be told, we're flat-out editing in a bid to finish those outstanding 2009 jobs interrupted by the Christmas holidays.

Enough whining and waffeling - time for a wedding post;

On what felt like the hottest day of 2009, we headed up to Bela Bela over the New Year to witness the marriage of Leanne and Andrew.

It was a real scorcher of a day and during the ceremony I honestly thought Ursula and I were going to spontaneously combust ;-).

Surprisingly, the heat was no bother for the Bride & Groom; Leanne looked absolutely stunning and Andrew was looking rather dazzling in his sand-coloured suit.

What an amazing day to be a part of!  Thank you so much for choosing me.  I enjoyed every minute of it!  Oh, and the spectacular blue moon we witnessed was just the cherry ontop!

A bit more than I had planned to post, but there were such cute, short guests (i.e. kids) that unintentially hi-jacked the spotlight.

How cute are the african beaded warthog table numbers? 

For a change I thought I would post some pictures of the groom getting ready, we have ignored the grooms for a bit! Picures by Ursula

Andrew's niece, who I think really wanted to marry her uncle.

A midget guest in awe of the African Zulu dancers hired to entertained guests. (Picture by Ursula)

I am now fully qualified and accredited to say "Once in a blue moon" you get a wedding like this.