Nico and Victoire know me from Twitter, and contacted me a few weeks ago to book their maternity shoot.  We only finally decided on a location earlier this week, and thankfully the weather was perfect for our afternoon at the Johannesburg Zoo.  We could not have postponed it because Victoire is due in 3 weeks time!

They wanted a fun photoshoot at the zoo, partly because the theme in their baby son’s bedroom is animals.  It was such an awesome location actually, and I was thrilled when the giraffes played along with my plan

We couldn’t resist using this sign that we found lying on the pathway

Don’t you just love this photo?  Looks like the giraffe is bringing gifts for the baby

A bump? In the road? It’s symmetry!

I had a ball with this awesomely fun couple, and I wish them all the best for the birth.  You’ll be seeing more of them in a few weeks… when their baby is born

Today’s maternity shoot was a very special one with Gina, Paul and Aaron.  For those who don’t follow the couple, and are wondering about the title of my post, #TheSQL is the Twitter hashtag they given their bump.

I took photos of the family a few months ago, and we wanted to use a venue that wasn’t far from home, yet wasn’t the same venue as the last shoot… so we decided to use Delta Park.  It was ideal… not too many people around… plenty of space… shade and patches of veld.  It was stinking hot today, and my car’s thermometer was reading 35deg C at 4pm when we met at the park.  Huge kudos to Gina for traipsing across the park in the heat!

They decided to have a tummy contest

Shot entirely with my new body… camera body that is… Canon 5D MkII

PS. If you’re wondering about her gorgeous brown dress she’s wearing… it’s a Sass Design by Sandy Schultz

Linky found me via my blog, and she booked this maternity shoot with me quite some time ago.  She is 7 months pregnant right now, and looks amazing!! She wanted a photoshoot with partly studio and partly natural photos, so I set up a mini studio in her house in Kempton Park for part of the shoot, and then we went to their neighbours house for the rest (how awesome is Linky for finding such a stunning location).

You’ll be seeing more of them… and their little baby boy in a few months time

While you’re here, don’t forget to vote for me in the 2010 South African Blog Awards!!

Wow, when I got this in my email this morning I was… just wow!! It’s actually quite difficult for me to read compliments like this…

The email was from Lerato, and was in response to her receiving her photobook and DVD’s with photos from her maternity shoot and Kutloano’s newborn shoot.

During my pregnancy, I wanted to freeze this happiest time of my life so I decided the best thing to do would be to do a maternity shoot. After weeks and weeks of Google, and almost on the verge of giving up on my idea, I came across your website. Everything about it spoke to me, your style, your unique eye and your unbelievably reasonable prices… I just had to choose you. I told my husband about it but he just couldn’t visualize or grasp the hype I had going about this ‘Jeanette Verster Photography’.

Meeting you for the shoot cemented the fact that you were the correct choice. The maternity shoot went so well, it’s nothing remotely close to what I had imagined. It was more! The penny finally dropped for my husband, he got it! You brought out and captured every bit of excitement and emotion that we felt in our hearts. We couldn’t end it there, we just had to capture and celebrate the eventual birth of our son Kutloano. Even though we couldn’t do it in the first 10 days of birth, it still came out beautifully! Our little nunus just shone for the camera.

What we admired most during both shoots is the fact that you’re not just a person behind a lens clicking away; you have that gentle, attentive humanity that we so needed with such a delicate and private project. The cherry on top was the patience you had when we were working on the photobook (which by the way I have not been able to put down since receiving it!). Gosh, you were so patient with us during the discussions of the layout of the photobook as well… I thought you’d throw in the towel at some point.

Your attention to detail is just absolutely amazing, the packaging so sophisticated… it makes one feel special. We haven’t stopped raving about the pictures and the gorgeous photobook! You hit the nail on the head! My family would like to extend a warm heartfelt thank you for capturing this special journey in our lives AND commend you on your professionalism. We wish you well with all future projects and hope to invite you on our next project.

And as for me, I’m very picky about who touches my hair at the hairdresser or who does my nails at the nail bar… now because of you, I’m definitely picky about who will be capturing those special moments in my life. You’re just absolutely FABULOUS!!

I’m so very glad they liked everything in the end and I’m so so very proud of that book. I’m actually wanting to print another one for my portfolio.

And I because I can’t possibly have a post on my blog without a photo… here are two from their shoots.

I hope I do see them again, that Kutloano is one cute baby!

When Chantal contacted me a few months ago to book her maternity shoot, I was very excited when she said that they wanted an urban feel, and that her husband Andy Hadfield wanted to go to Newtown.

Awesome!! I love Newtown… and I’ve wanted to do an urban maternity shoot for ages!!  Part of the reason I love going there is the graffiti that’s continuously changing… and in fact… considering today is the World Cup 2010 Final date… I LOVED that there was actually World Cup graffiti done by Rasty on the columns!

And because she also wanted some natural scenes too… we stopped in at Emmerentia Botanical Gardens for a few photos before going home.  The best of both worlds    OK enough words… how about some photos…

I’m looking forward to meeting their little one

I’ve loaded a few more photos into an album on my Facebook Fan Page