Archive for 2014
To exist in Photographs!
Saturday, 25 October 2014
I recently placed a photograph of my own mother on Facebook
( now that took convincing J).
And I would like to
ask all the mothers, all the grandmothers and even all the mothers-to-be out
there to EXIST IN PHOTOGRAPHS. If not for yourself then for your children and
your grandchildren (and maybe even for your own parents) because one day it
will become their most treasured possession, their truest memory.
As a photographer we have the ability to briefly stop time
for you and even if you don’t come to us, find someone and step in front of
that camera lens. Not only do YOU deserve it but your family deserves to have
that tangible reminder of you every day.
Do not wait until you think you are “ready” , until you have bought that new dress or tried that new
miracle diet… your family loves you NOW, they treasure having you with them
now!
I cannot possibly explain how amazingly privileged I felt to
be able to photography my own mother (soon I will be stalking my grandmother,
aunts, in-laws and godmother too… they just don’t know it!)
And I cannot say thank you enough that she overcame any fear or doubts she might have had to exist in photographs for us!
...Of love and heart shaped lollies!!
Thursday, 16 October 2014
dust and dreams PHOTOGRAPHY presents…
“ Love and heart shaped lollies”
featuring the lovely Lize-mari Hare & Werner de Preez
Have a look at our little video on Animoto showing all their
fun at the FAMOUS blue door… with some heart shaped lollies of course.
Love and Heart shaped Lollies
Creative directing & Styling: Dust & Dreams
Photography
Wardrobe: Lize Mari HareAccessories: The lovely necklaces… HEARTSTRINGS… are from The Makery
Location: The FAMOUS Blue Door @ Rosemary Hill, South Africa
Sunday, 12 October 2014
For years I have been inspired and mesmerized by Mirella
Ricciardi, a female photographer who captured the true essence of Africa for
more than forty odd years and published some amazing work, the first of which
was Vanishing Africa in the early
1970’s. This was however not what caught my eye…
I was in my early twenties living in London and desperately
dreaming of home when I saw her book, African
Visions, in a quaint little bookstore in Covent Garden and not being able
to afford it at the time, I went back several times during the next few months
to page through it.I loved the grain of the film, the rawness of her images,
the sincerity and the way you could smell the dust when looking at her
photographs. I especially loved the front cover showing her gently posing a
woman. She brought “portraiture” to Africa before many others did and she found
a connection like no other.
One of the very first things I bought years later when
arriving back in Africa was a copy of this book!
PS: All images courtesy of good old Google!
The "Give MORE Campaign" secret... is out!!
Wednesday, 8 October 2014
I am no makeup maven, not by a long shot but I have learned
some tricks along the way. Especially ways to show the best possible version of
me { or you…} without using Photoshop.
In the “Give MORE Campaign” I showed a before and after portrait
of me and I wanted to share some secrets on the after shot… NO Photoshop was
used {I do not even own it} only some clever makeup tricks { I have a lazy eye,
broken nose and and… you all know what us women can be like}, some good lighting,
the right camera angle, some detailed thought given to the wardrobe and pose and
viola!… the after shot is just another version of me without having
to nip and tuck in Photoshop! But I do think a more polished and a prettier
version of me.
When it came to the makeup I had some special tricks up my
sleeve; a “how to” tear page from a local SARIE magazine showing how Christine
Mcignano, a makeup artist from Chanel used her magic wand on the cover girl.
I used this as inspiration and tweaked a bit from there.
Unfortunately the comments on the tear age below is in Afrikaans but it is a
South African magazine after all !
I love the tip she gave for making eyes look less tired and
pop a bit more – just a dab of dove grey shadow in the middle of the lid to
reflect some light, and it really worked.
I am also a big fan of an eyelash curler, yes it looks like
some medieval contraption to me but it works like a charm to open up your eyes
and even more so if you give it a quick blast with a hairdryer to heat it up {
just don’t singe your lashes off…}Then there is an old friend of mine who showed me many miraculous uses for good old Baby Powder and I still use it every day even when photographing clients.
All of these little tricks helped me create the “Give MORE Campaign” look…that and a tiny bit of lipgloss to catch that light!
So what is in my makeup bag?? A little bit of everything…
from Mac’s creamy blush, Elisabeth Arden { love her!} primer, Maybelline
mascara, Revlon’s yummy colour burst lip balms, to Yardley and essence {a very
inexpensive brand but one of the only eye pencils that does not irritate my
eyes and I could not live without the 02 Hot Chocolate!} and a super SPF30
sunblock for every day.
So yes, with some clever makeup tricks we can all be the
prettiest version of ourselves without any radical steps!
PS: The tearsheet below shows them only using Chanel
products which are quite expensive but there are many fabulous products out
there for a fraction of the price and many amazing upcoming brands. Which brands
do you love??
{another tear page from Bobbi Brown Cosmetics that I just
love}
WARNING: Must love dogs :)
Sunday, 5 October 2014
I recently
saw this on a blog that I like to read and it really made me smile to think how
different we all are…
This is what she wrote: “…but lucky for you, I don’t have a cat, or a dog, so no animal blog posts
coming your way anytime soon”
But there are some of us who find solace in these little
furry friends. Those of us who knows that the statistics are true when they say
that stroking your dog reduces your stress levels greatly and that having furry
friends in your home makes you less prone to illness and therefore we just
couldn’t resist these ad signs in the city centre of Port Louis, Mauritius.
So yes, we are FOR dogs
but you don’t have to be { not that I know how you resist those melting chocolate eyes!}
PS: We are also for trees and for whales!
The Closet: Bursting at the seams...
Friday, 3 October 2014
The last ten days have been a wonderful “chaos” of sequins, ribbon
and bundles and bundles of tulle! We stitched, we sewed, we laughed { felt like
crying sometimes too…}.
And if it wasn’t for our “wardrobe WONDERWOMAN”, Rickie I
would never have been able to create these beauties. She is a brilliant seamstress
{where I am a bit of a hack} and it was only with her collaboration that a lot
of my crazy ideas had any chance of coming to life.
Not only did we have more fun than I could possibly explain
but we conjured up five skirts for “The
Closet”, some dainty headpieces and belts {as you can see I could not
resist wearing one} and a gorgeous midnight blue dress with lots and lots of
flowing fabric and ribbon {which was first designed as a top and later turned
into this beauty}…
I don’t think we can say thank you enough to Rickie who
tempered my somewhat mad ideas and helped me turn them into some beautiful
frocks. We are very very excited to use each of them in some of our future
shoots.
The Give MORE Campaign...
Friday, 26 September 2014
I think I only came into my own after I turned 30 ( a few
years back J).
In my twenties I think I was so concerned about what others though, “am I dressed the right way” or “ will people look at me or judge me” if
I wear this or am that. I think maybe a lot of woman out there struggle with
that.
I lived abroad for quite some time and there the way of
dressing, of even being was different
from when I moved back to South Africa. All societies judge by different
standards and that can make you feel so lost. It is only now in my thirties
that it feels like the weight has been lifted and that I am free to look and
feel whatever I believe is right. If I want to cook dinner in high heels I
will! Who are you to judge? It has
been such a liberating time for me and it really feels like I am soaring. I can
love more, feel more, give more and just BE more.
And that is how I came to the {ethereal emotion} photographs
and it is only the lack of a better word that they are described as “portraits or boudoir ( if you are wearing a
bit less)” as these photos are a celebration of everything we love about
ourselves. And yes I know, you are probably already counting on your fingers all
those things that you don’t like about yourself but just try looking at it the
other way around…your beautiful lashes or the delicate shape of your ear, or
your fantastic ankles, your warm smile… those are all things that deserve
celebration!
So that is why I am daring you all to give MORE. Give more
to yourself, your loves and share MORE of everything that is so special and
uniquely you. And maybe if the weight lifts from you, you will come and spend a
day with me filled with emotion and beauty.You really DO deserve it!
And yes, I am really trying to practice what I am preaching
here…
I am planning to pour MORE of myself into every portrait I make, to
give MORE vulnerability,MORE soul and MORE of myself to every single image.
And sometimes in life you have to be bold and ACT and I
had no choice but to be brave and post a self portrait as part of this Give
MORE campaign...this is me...just old me... BEFORE and AFTER... And I will tell
you, it took guts as I am never to keen to have my photo out there ( the only
ones you might find is me with sunglasses... Looking away... Or just the back
of my head!)
So tonight I am making us 'Breakfast for Dinner' (one of
our favourite) just to celebrate, I will snuggle our spaniels a little tighter and a little MORE
and I will love my husband a whole lot
MORE!
PS: I was NOT “Photoshopped”
to look better, only had a few tricks up my sleeve which I promise to share
with you soon!
Dust and Dreams Bespoke USB drives…
Thursday, 4 September 2014
September is just jammed packed with exciting news…
So tell us, how many of you have some of the newest Apple
PC’s, laptops or gadgets that no longer have a CD/DVD drive?
We really thought long and hard about all of you out there
and…These little custom USB drives are the ultimate in chic
yumminess ( and that’s not only because they have our name on them!) but now
you will be able to literally keep those memories close to your heart and view
your first dance, your true inner goddess or the great love of your life
whenever you like!
Dust and Dreams are thrilled with these bespoke little
beauties of ours and each {wedding} and {ethereal emotion} package will include
this little gem with all your edited photos on. They will also be available as a
little splurge “add-on” on all the other packages…
Love them as much as we do!!
It is Spring!!! and our new { Personal Branding} package
Monday, 1 September 2014
It is Spring {at long last!!} and we are pretty excited to
reveal a brand new package which is for when “a selfie” is just not good
enough!
Our {personal branding} session is an all-out glamour
session and no, it is not going to be studio headshots for your CV or corporate
posters but it will be for all you “creatives” out there who need those perfect
picks to add a little bit of “you” to your own website or social media
platform.
If you are a small {or large} business owner or
entrepreneur dying to get your brand out
of the shadows but who might need a little push… maybe a day as a goddess and
some photos which makes you look like a million dollars is just what you need
to set you apart from the ever present competition!
These shots will be styled and conceptualised to showcase
what makes you unique and to add your individual stamp to your brand.
Maybe that just what your budding business needs….a face…
YOUR face…
Maybe you are a blogger just starting out or a stay at home
mom who is an entrepreneur at heart…Maybe you are an aspiring model or an author
or maybe you just need to really SEE yourself to take that ultimate career
leap… maybe you are forever paging through magazines wondering what you would
look like in an editorial spread…let us show you!
Where will we do this? You tell us… it can be at your
favourite coffee shop, on your couch, at a custom location, the back of a moped
or even in your bathtub if you like!
...all the nitty gritty details can be found on our website...
Brand New... {Album Design} bespoke service
Tuesday, 26 August 2014
Dust and Dreams Photography now also offer an {Album Design}
service. We will design a luxury album for you and have it printed and bound by
our favourite professional printers. Each design package will be quoted
according to the size of the album and will include the album design (no, we
will not charge you per hour like some others do…), proofs for you to check
once the page designs are done as well as the final printing and the actual
album.
Regardless of whether we took the photos of your special day
for you, give us a shout and we can create a special album for you to have all
those darling moments close at hand… and to make everyone else green with envy!
I can tell you that we feel a real childlike warm and
fuzziness when showing someone their brand new album… so we cannot wait to hear from you!
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Some gorgeousness
Monday, 28 July 2014
I am ashamed to say that the last few weeks have been so
crazy busy that I have completely neglected to post some pictures of the
gorgeousness that came our way…
Our Modern Muse
Sunday, 29 June 2014
I don't know if it is her infectious laughter, her
willingness to try anything and take direction so beautifully or those arm
muscles (holding that Wildebeest scull was no small feat!) that made it so
incredible to work with Anè whose spirit just oozes into each photograph and we
had a sunny morning spiced with a good bit of Mexican flair.
It was such a difficult decision to choose the best images that this is probably the largest blog post we have ever done and please please make sure you scroll down all the way to the bottom where we have added just a few taken on the most comfy chair ever... if I had to go lie there nothing would have happened for the rest of the day...just sunny snoozes!
The beautiful
backdrop for these pictures were all on the bushveld farm Ane and her husband
call home.
This precious little darling lamb below was born the night before and we couldnt resist asking Anè
If it wasn't for our own very brave Steph { dust & dreams PHOTOGRAPHY} ,our lovely muse Anè
We ended the first part of this {Ethereal Emotion} session inside Anè
's lovely home and totally fell in love with the relaxed playfullness of these picks.Not to mention the total yumminess of that "bear skin rug" they have there!
Creative direction & Styling: Dust and Dreams Photography
Wardrobe & Accessories : Elaine Van der Merwe-Louwrens
Our Modern Muse: Anè
Little baba blacksheep: Courtesey of Jandrè & Anè
Loaction: The beautiful Doornfontein Farm, South Africa
