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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!


Dust and Dreams Photography

...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 Hare
Accessories: 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!

 
All above albums designed by Dust and Dreams Photography.

Tuesday 19 August 2014

 
The gentle loveliness of lavender and the even gentler whispers of delicate webs...

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.
 











 











 
 
 
We could not have been more thrilled with these gorgeous Wildebeest scull images!! She looks STUNNING.... or so we think... raw, earthy, edgy... a real modern muse!




 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 This precious little darling lamb below was born the night before and we couldnt resist asking Anè to pose with it for us.
 
 
 
 
If it wasn't for our own very brave Steph { dust & dreams PHOTOGRAPHY} ,our lovely muse Anè would have been overrun by a slightly...mmnn, let's call it "anxious" mama sheep.
 
 
 
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 Higgo
Little baba blacksheep: Courtesey of Jandrè & Anè Higgo... not named yet...
Loaction: The beautiful Doornfontein Farm, South Africa