A while back I was lucky enough to photograph Lynne, George and their two beautiful sons, Griffin and Rorke. We decided to visit the Pietermaritzburg Botanical Gardens which presented us with beautiful Autumn colours and lovely falling leaves. The Harris boys (yes, including dad) were in their element as they got to throw leaves on mom. It was just an all round stunning session and I have since found such an amazing friendship in Lynne as she too is a photographer in her own right and just generally, such a nice person.

Yesterday I was given the opportunity of photographing some very excited, expecting parents. There was a short stage during the day that we were worried about a downpour raining on our parade, but the weather held out and we were at least given a good few minutes to capture the Naidoo family.

Shameema and Darren are looking forward to the arrival of their little girl in only 5 weeks time. Here are a few sneak peeks of the expecting parents and the baby bump. Many expecting parents are panicking at this stage, but Shameema and Darren look like they can't wait any longer for their little girl to arrive!

A quick thanks to my friend, Louise, for being my pack horse for the session! I so appreciate the help, you have no idea. And as always, the Botanical Gardens and their staff for always being so beautiful!

Today’s Flashback Friday is dedicated to my “forever” dog. It’s not a blog post featuring a memorable photoshoot with my darling pooch, but more of a reminder, for me maybe more than anyone else, of how precious he was to me. Exactly a year ago today we received a call from our friend, and neighbour, to tell us our Madumbi had been knocked over by a car and killed. It was Thursday, 22 November 2012, a day that quickly became one of the worst days of my life. It’s been a year and I still miss him terribly.

Madumbi was a staffie cross Labrador, one of the greatest cross combinations I have ever come to know. Imagine a short, stocky and compact labrador with the strength of a staffie and the loveableness of a labbie. Madumbi was perfect, especially in my eyes.

I remember the day we picked him up like it was yesterday… Our new puppy was tiny. He literally fit in the cup of our hands. He was riddled with worms and had a podgy little worm belly to show for it. Our vet told us that despite our concern over him being so young, Madumbi had landed with his bum in the butter because things could, and did, only look up for him… Although nobody ever suspected he would only just make it past a year old, Madumbi really was a spoilt dog.

In truth I wouldn’t have it any other way… life without dogs is no life at all. And Madumbi really just reinforced that for us. On the morning of the day he passed away, we lay on the couch together relaxing and I remember thinking: “Wow, how lucky am I to have such an awesome dog in my life?”, and “I can’t wait to see how you turn out when you’re older!”. I would never have believed that would be the last time Madumbi and I ever spent time together. I honestly thought he would be with me till he was old and grey, and maybe a little grumpy. But it wasn’t to be.

God blessed us with the time he allowed us to have with him. It is still sad to think of him not being around anymore… and it is still surreal. We keep thinking he is going to run around the corner any second to greet us with his sweet little squeaks and tail wagging. I miss him and I will miss him forever. I am pretty sure though, that one day when I die, I’ll be sitting on the side of a lake in heaven watching him swim across it chasing ducks again. Wow, I miss those days. I miss Madumbi.

We have Jagger and Daisy now and they are equally as special to us. We will miss them just as much one day when they cross Rainbow Bridge, but till then we spoil them rotten and cherish our time together even more.

Today’s post is for my forever dog, Madumbi. I call him my forever dog because even though he is gone, that is how long I will love him – forever.

Going back almost a year I still remember this day like it was yesterday! I was given the privilege of capturing a few mom-daughter moments with Adele and Janine in the Hilton Mondi forests on one of the hottest days of the year. Luckily there was a cool breeze blowing which cooled us down and also made for some great windswept photographs...

Several months ago I ran a photoshoot giveaway... It ended up being a friend of mine who won and as hard as we tried to tie each other down, a photoshoot with Sadie and Bruce just never seemed possible. That is until one weekend when they were actually available but I was promptly persuaded to come up with an excuse that I have something on resulting in postponing yet again.

Unbeknown to Sadie, Bruce had been messaging me on the side whilst trying to organise with her a date to photograph them. Bruce told me that he was planning on popping the question and would rather use the giveaway towards an engagement photoshoot once he has done so. I am happy to report that Sadie said yes and I eventually did get to photograph the two love birds, now engaged, at the gorgeous Pietermaritzburg Botanical Gardens this past Sunday.

This past weekend I had two engagement photoshoots scheduled back to back. Luckily the weather held out and presented us with beautiful lush green backdrops in the Pietermaritzburg Botanical Gardens. It seems every time I go there the shapes and colours of everything has changed!

Rob and Shea got engaged several months ago and plan to wed in February next year. Rob's sister, Sarah, got them an engagement shoot voucher as a gift, and I think they were quite nervous to get in front of the camera to begin with. By the end of our session though, the butterflies had calmed down and they started to enjoy themselves a bit.

Here are a few photographs from our time together.

This week’s Flashback Friday is dedicated to the lovely Bouwer and Thompson couple. Last year I got to photograph them just as a “couple”, but a few months ago I photographed Lauren and Lee again, but as an engaged couple. We spent just under an hour walking through Wylie Park and enjoyed the delicious afternoon sun shining down on us as we captured a few special moments.