I met the Lesley and Daniel and their 8 month old daugher, Rebecca, at Delta Park today… and they brought their spaniels, Henry and Chelsea, along for the shoot too.

It was an amazing photoshoot! Not only was the light absolutely perfect today, but Rebecca was the sweetest little thing ever who was full of smiles, and the dogs were so very good! It was also so awesome to find spots at the park that I hadn’t used before… like the big tree and the wild flowers in the grass.

We’ve just come back from our seaside holiday in Shelly Beach, which is a town on the south coast of Kwazulu Natal.  This is a catch-up post with photos that I took while we were away… and yes, I’m still on top of my Project 365, I haven’t missed a day yet

Every evening we went for walks along the beach, and the kids caught sand crabs (there’s a tiny sand crab on Bradley’s hand in the first photo) and wrote their names in the sand and waded in the shallows

Bradley and I went for a walk on the beach on the second afternoon while Connor had a nap.  We noticed a cormorant perched on the edge of the tidal pool, so naturally, I had to get as close as I could for my photo for the day!!  Thankfully I went to the beach with my 70-200mm f2.8 lens! What an amazing experience, the bird let us get quite close to it, before he dived into the pool for a swim.  It was amazing to watch him dive over and  over again looking for fish for his supper. He caught 3 fish while we were there, but it happened so very quickly, that I only managed to get the moment on camera once!

The mornings were spent on the swimming beach at St Michael’s on Sea… doing what you’re supposed to do on holiday… swim and play in the sand!

Then I had another fortunate encounter, this time with a few seagulls that let me get quite close!

The weather on our last day was awful, so we went to the Riverbend Crocodile Farm in Southbroom to have a wander around.  I wasn’t as impressed with that farm, as I had been with a similar farm close to Ballito that we’d been to a few years ago… in fact it was quite disappointing… but the kids enjoyed it.

See the full set of 2010 photo-a-day photos on my Project 365 Flickr Set.

We planned this weekend months ago with our friends Madi and Pierre.  You see Lance turned 40 last weekend, and Pierre’s 40th birthday is next weekend. It was the perfect excuse to go away for a night to Forum Homini in the Cradle of Humankind.  Yes, we’ve been there before, and we enjoyed it so much that we had to go back again

One night only, because it’s expensive… and your stomach would never cope with eating that amount of excellent food for 2 days in a row!

And on the subject of food… it was good, very good! Dinner was a 6 course affair with wine teasers chosen for each dish, and included a honeydew soup with truffle foam, deep fried risotto, rooibos smoked beef fillet and ended with blue cheese ice-cream with honeycomb.   Oh and then breakfast of course was just as filling with 4 courses including a frozen yoghurt and poached fruit with chocolate shavings… and then salmon frittata… before a full English breakfast.

Because it was their birthdays, when we got back to the suite after supper, there was an enormous bunch of roses on the table, and the bed had rose petals on it… very romantic

Pierre and Madi while we were sitting on the deck having drinks in the afternoon.

We took a walk in the late afternoon…

We were so very lucky to see the resident hippos! You get warned not to go walking after sunset because the hippos come out the water, and last time we went we didn’t even see them. We saw 3 this time… and they were watching us pretty closely so we didn’t want to get too close to them… I could have done with a longer lens actually.

This is the hotel, as taken from the bridge… the dam with the hippos was behind me at the time. Just beyond the small dam, you can see little pieces of wall… those are the suites that we stayed in… the hotel is built to blend into the environment and veld/grasses have been planted on the roof of every building.

Oh and then my favourites… the sunsets… the sky was absolutely magnificent last night!!

See the full set of 2010 photo-a-day photos on my Project 365 Flickr Set.

I posted photos from the Staal family shoot a few days ago and the last set of photos was all about their snakes and bearded dragons.  I have felt though, that I didn’t do them enough justice, and you DEFINITELY couldn’t see how big the snake was that was snaking it’s way up my leg!

So, without further ado, here are the snakes and bearded dragon that I took photos of.  Henry, the son, got his first snake when he was 3, and his bedroom seemed full of them! Although, really, there were only 5 snakes and 3 bearded dragons in residence.

This “little” one was the snake that decided my leg was interesting…

Oh and not to forget the lazy python, who snaked around very slowly and I managed to get the most wonderful shots of it.

And lastly, the bearded dragon…

I wouldn’t mind getting Bradley a bearded dragon, although the thought of buying crickets and other insects (like silkworms in their case) to supplement it’s diet turns me off a bit.  Although, on the other hand… it’s a whole load better than buying mice to feed the snakes!

When Michelle phoned me in August and booked their family photos, she asked me right at the very end of the conversation whether I minded taking photos of them with their pet snakes as well.  Now, I’m not afraid of snakes, but it has made me look forward to this photo session since that day.

And I wasn’t disappointed, in fact, I wish I’d taken my boys with me, they would have had a BALL at their house.  Not only were there snakes, but also bearded dragons, chickens, ducks, rabbits, guinea pigs and a pig… and not to forget the dogs.  That’s right, a HUGE pig in the middle of suburbia   I had a BALL!

The house  and garden was magnificent too, with so many levels, and nooks and crannies just perfect for photos.  I’ve only chosen a small variety of photos for the sneak peak, but I can assure you Michelle, there are plenty more!

While I was taking portrait shots of Michelle, I felt something on my leg.  At first I thought it was Henry’s hand as he had been standing behind me with his yellow snake… then it started moving and I realised it WAS the snake going up my leg   LOL! It was possibly the most fun I’ve had on a photoshoot yet!

Michelle, I hope your foot is feeling better and you got to casualty yesterday afternoon.

A piece of the jungle gym came loose and a nail went into her foot half way through the shoot. She was amazing… just bandaged it up and carried on… I would not have been so brave!

Anyway, as you can tell, those are my Weekly Winners… without a DOUBT!  I think that this shoot is truely what Lifestyle Photography is all about