I’ve been in the need of a photowalk just for myself for quite some time, so when I spotted a post on Marcia’s blog a few weeks ago mentioning that she was going to meet Louisa in Joburg for lunch and they were going to do a quick walk around, I commented asking them to let me know when they were going to meet… and I basically gatecrashed their little gettogether

It was fun! We started by having lunch in a outside cafe in the middle of the CBD and then we walked around a little before we had to head back to the office.

Town was still a little quiet too, after the Xmas holidays, which suited us perfectly.

I just love the Jozi CBD.  The architecture, the business… even the old broken buildings… and I’m loving that some of them are getting love again. The Johannesburg Library is looking magnificent, and we did go inside and were a little disappointed that only 2 floors were operational… I hope the top floors and the galleries open soon.

And if you’re wondering I only used my 50mm for the walk… I would have loved a wide angle lens instead.

Isn’t this gorgeous?  It’s a walking mall in the mining district between the 2 Anglo American buildings

I had to take this My dad used to work in this building on the top floor (next photo), and in varsity vacs I had a job datacapturing stuff for one of the geologists

Bushman Rock in Zimbabwe is one of the most beautiful venues I’ve had the privilege of take photos at.  During this trip, we also managed to catch a ride with part of the wedding party on the Sunday morning to see the bushman paintings in the hills surrounding the venue.

It was also supposed to be a game drive, but we had to cut it short, and we started late… so we didn’t really see any animals, which is a pity!

But first, here are some of the photos of the venue that I took on Friday afternoon during the pre-wedding shoot.  Bushman Rock is not only a wedding venue, but a working boutique winery and they have polo fields too.

Then on Sunday morning, we were up bright and early to catch a ride to the bushman paintings… not that I was dressed for a walk through the bush though! LOL!

This is part of the wall built by the bushman close to the paintings, and it’s the wall of their “home”

So glad we finally got to see why the place was called Bushman Rock! Next time hopefully we’ll see more animals

I was thrilled when I got an email a few weeks ago from the Whisky Live Festival asking me to take their photos again this year.  The Johannesburg leg of the festival is being held at the moment at the Sandton Convention Centre, and if you’re looking for something to do in the evening… do this! It’s so much fun… OK… I wasn’t partaking in the drinking tonight, but while I was taking photos I was listening to the talks and they were fascinating.

It’s not every day that you get to listen to distillers explaining how they make the various whiskies… and in fact, how to pair the whiskies with various food!

Ooh and then there was this Chaloner stand with the most awesome local preserves… and yes… I did buy some I bought the most delish sundried tomato tapenade, and an olive marmalade and an orange marmalade made with whisky.  So very yum!

There was also a Jo Malone stand… I’m going to have to add one of their fragrances to my Christmas wish list now!

Second shooter: Lauren Dold

I flew back from Zimbabwe this afternoon, and now that I’ve downloaded all my photos, I cannot resist showing you some images that I took for myself this weekend.

We (myself and my second shooter, Juanette from DeAnna Photography) flew to Harare on Friday afternoon and stayed at Bushman Rock outside Ruwa this weekend to take photos at such a beautiful wedding.  We had such an amazing weekend, we really did!

Bushman Rock is the only boutique winery in Zimbabwe, and is just so beautiful! It’s in a stunning valley, and has got so many gorgeous photo opportunities with the stables, polo fields, vineyards, forest areas and the dam that it wasn’t difficult at all to find amazing spots for the couple shoot during the wedding.

The wedding photos will be coming up tomorrow evening, but until then, here are some of my fave random images…

Taken from the car on the road from Harare to Ruwa on Friday…

… and then later that evening we walked around the venue looking for places to take photos…

And then this morning, Juanette and I went wondering around with our cameras taking in the view before we had the most incredible brunch…

I just LOVE the Johannesburg skyline, and the view of the city from the tall buildings in Braamfontein over the railway lines and the Mandela bridge always has me in awe.

I was asked to take decor photos at a bat mitzvah that took place at Shine Studios in Braamfontein on Saturday evening, and although I can’t blog about those images just yet, I can show you the images I took of the view.  What an amazing eventing space, with huge glass windows that look over the city.  I actually like that the building is not as high as the other eventing spaces in Braamfontein because you can see the city from most of the space, not just from the edge of the balcony.

I also had fun editing them with my new VSCO Lightroom 4 presets.  I love the grainy feel of the images and if you’re wondering about the street which I could have cropped out… or moved away from… I decided I liked it… I like that there are taxis and buses and pedestrians, it makes the image more real.