More than just a disc with your photos

I splashed out a while ago and had gorgeous personalised carrier bags made so when you get your photographs after your session you get them in a special custom bag. Your disc with the photographs comes in a CD box with a personalized cover and you get an envelope with actual prints. Along with that comes your very own SmartPhone app so you can take your photos with you where ever you go. And you also get a post on this blog and all your photographs ready to post to social media such as Facebook.

Why did you splash out and have photographs professionally taken? To get a disc with dozens of images, to look at them once and then put the disc away? To maybe even post a few to Facebook? You might even get around to having some printed at a local print shop. Did they come out the way you expected them too?

I'd like to see your photographs in frames around your home and hanging on your walls. You've gone to the expense and the effort of having them professionally taken and I've spent hours retouching them and making you look stunning so let us make something gorgeous from them.

For every client I make up some Wall Displays which are ideas of what you can do with your photos. The options are truly limitless and I come up with a couple to get your creative juices going. It really is as easy as 1-2-3. 

    1. Set your budget.

    2. Pick your must have photographs.

    3. Choose between canvas or photographic print.

Then I do the rest for you!

Here are some Wall Display ideas to get you excited about your photographs.

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Pedro | Newborn Photo Session

This beautiful couple came all the way from Angola to have their baby and I had the privilege of photographing both their gorgeous maternity session and they really very cute son's newborn session.

They asked that the maternity photographs remain private so I cannot share those with you. I feel that maternity photographs are very personal so if a client does not want to share them I fully respect that.

Little Pedro slept for most of his session. He woke part way through for a good feed and then dropped back to sleep again so I was able to take loads of really cute photographs and I got to use lots of the little hats I've crocheted.

Thank you George and Alexandra.

Have a great weekend!

Today is gone tomorrow. Remember now. Forever.

CONTACT Rosalind | VIEW Portfolio | LIKE Facebook | ENJOY Website

5 Tips to Get Children to Smile Naturally

Children do not know how to smile naturally so when you tell them to smile or say, 'Cheese' for a photograph you will definitely not get what you are looking for. You will most probably get the smile in the photo on the left when you actually want something more like the smile on the right.

In my previous post, 3 Tips for Taking Better Photos of Your Children, my first tip was to not tell them to smile or say, 'Cheese'. So what can you do to get them to smile naturally? Read on for what I have found works for me.

1. Get down to their level

This may not necessarily get them to smile but remember that you are much taller than they are, in some cases double their height. So get down on the floor to their level. This will immediately give you a whole new perspective.

In this photograph I was lying on the floor flat on my stomach.

If I had been standing up I would have had a photograph of the top of his head and would have completely missed this great expression. The same for the photographs below.

2. Catch them Unawares

As a parent you have a real advantage over us professional photographers. When you bring your family to me to photograph I have to work at getting them relaxed and comfortable with me. I'm not going to get a natural smile if they think I am not ok. 

But as parents your children are already relaxed with you so catch them unawares. While they are playing happily, grab your camera, make sure your settings are correct and get down on the floor near them and then get their attention. You will get a photograph to treasure.

3. Be Silly

Now this one doesn't come naturally to all but it is worth it. Pull faces, jump up and down, make weird sounds, threaten them with the tickle monster, tell them you are coming to find their laugh button, make jokes…

So Granny does not look exactly like a model but after all that fun and silliness I got this photograph...

Baby is adorable and Granny is radiant.

4. Forget the Rules

Are children happy when we are angry with them? Generally not; so avoid getting angry when they do not do what you want. I know how frustrating it can be. My eldest daughter is very difficult to photograph and sometimes I want to throw my hands up in despair and I'm the professional! So…when it is not going to plan, walk away and try again later. 

You want them to look at you with laughter in their eyes so make them laugh! Fun is the name of the game!

5. Say, "I love you."

Something that I have found works like a charm when things are not working out is to get my daughter's attention by calling her quite sharply (as though I'm about to get angry) and then breaking into a big grin and saying with great feeling, "I love you!!" Without fail she breaks into a big smile and her eyes sparkle.

I was off camera to the left and my husband took the photo with my phone. I love it. We have this idea that for the photo to be a good one the subject needs to always look into the camera but with children that does not always happen. I love this one because, even though she did not look at the camera, she was looking at me with that cute little look on her face. 

6. Tell them to NOT smile

I know I said 5 tips but I had to include this one.

Warning: This one only works if you have a fun loving, happy go lucky child who understands a little bit of teasing. If you have a more serious child it will backfire.

If you are getting those weird, forced smiles you can tell them with a big smile on your face and a laugh in your voice to not smile. Normally they will try very hard to not smile and then burst into laughter and give you a really beautiful smile or laugh.

I hope these tips will help you out with your family photographs and they will be loads of fun and you'll get great pictures even if only with your phone!

Have a great week!

Today is gone tomorrow. Remember now. Forever.

CONTACT Rosalind | VIEW Portfolio | LIKE Facebook | ENJOY Website

5 Simple Steps to Losing Weight!

I did an article a while back about How to Not Look Fat {for photos}. That was about how to pose and hide the not so good bits with clever photography. But actually you can get rid of some of those wobbly bits just by following 5 simple steps in your daily diet.

Before we get to those steps let me tell you a little of my story.

After my eldest daughter was born I was diagnosed with acute post natal depression. I was put on anti-depressants for 10 months. During that time I gained a few kilograms but expected it was from the medication. Within 6 weeks of weaning from the tablets I had gained 8 kilograms. I was horrified! Mortified!

I went back to see the doctor and after a bevy of tests a whole host of things were found to be somewhat out of whack! Under-activie thyroid, h. pylori in my stomach, sleep patterns back to front and on the list went. And on and on the weight piled until I had gained 16 kilograms!

July 2011

Eek! Eish! Horrors! My clothes don't fit anymore! I have nothing to wear! I'm ugly! Heeeeelp meeeee!

I found help and boy am I glad that I stuck with it because I have lost 17 kilograms, my clothes fit, I am fit, I don't feel ugly and I can say with confidence, "I am Beautiful!"

January 2014

I didn't go on diet (I hate diets) but I did change my diet. 

Step 1: Eat one fruit meal a day
Whaaat? It is actually really quite easy. 

For breakfast I eat as much fresh fruit as I want to along with a quarter cup of raw, unsalted nuts and seeds. Fresh fruit is the easiest food to digest, it is very stabilising on blood sugar and it curbs cravings for sweet things like chocolates! If you crave something sweet in the afternoon you did not eat enough fruit in the morning! The nuts and seeds provide me with the most readily available form of protein that I need for the day.

Step 2: Snack only on fresh or dried fruit or veggies

This is the one thing that I was very bad at and once I changed this small thing the weight started falling off.

So stock up on some apples and carrots and snack away.

Step 3: Do not eat animal protein more than once a day

Say what?

Animal protein is actually not all that good for you. It puts unnecessary strain on your liver and kidneys and the protein is not as readily available as it is in nuts.

So just avoid having eggs for breakfast, a ham sandwich for lunch and spaghetti bolognaise for dinner. Not too difficult.

Step 4: Start all cooked meals with raw fruit or veggies

Why?

Raw foods are much easier to digest and when you eat something raw first it starts the digestion process which makes it easier to digest the cooked food and improves absorption of all the nutrients in the food.

This one is really easy…have a salad with your cooked main meal and eat it first.

Step 5: Do not eat a concentrated starch with a concentrated protein

Huh? No way!!

This one is a bit tougher but my family and I have been doing it for several years and it is just a part of our lives now.

Have you noticed especially after, say a braai, your dear husband lets off so much gas he could send himself into orbit? And then he parks himself on the sofa and passes out while snoring loudly? Read on for the quick explanation.

To digest protein the pH in your stomach needs to be 3 or less. To digest starch the pH needs to be greater than 4. So the hydrochloric acid in your stomach gets to work on the protein while the starch sits and ferments which in turn causes the protein to putrefy. 

Yuk!  Ew! Gross! Nasty! Don't think too much about it because you might turn green!

Anyway, this great big fermenting mess creates alcohol, acetic acid and ammonia…gas, bloating and heartburn.

So when you have a braai, for example, skip the potatoes and braaibroodtjies and just have meat and a large salad. You will feel so much better.

All in all it is not too difficult but it can seem quite daunting if you try to change the above all in one go.  I found something to ease the way: 100 Days to Health. This is an amazing programme (not a diet) where you get an email once a week with a small thing that you need to change in your eating habits. Then for the rest of the week you get a daily email to encourage you on your way. Once you have completed the 100 days you will not even recognise your diet and you will have lost weight along the way without even trying.

I hope this helps you out and you can lose those kilos that you have hated for so long.

Here's to a healthy future!

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How to cut an onion without crying...

Not the most flattering self portrait but I had to share anyway. I wear my swimming goggles while peeling, slicing and sautéing onions. It works like a dream.

Feel free to share any home tips you have in a comment below.

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Julian | Newborn Photo Session

This precious little man put my soothing and rocking to sleep skills to the test. He just did not want to sleep but along with his very calm mom we managed to get him off to sleep for a little while. I really enjoyed his newborn session. Here are some of my favourite photographs from the morning...

Thank you for the honour of photographing your brand new son.

CONTACT Rosalind | VIEW Portfolio | LIKE Facebook | ENJOY Website