Penguins!!!

Penguins are the most adorable things ever! I could have watched them and photographed them for hours. I was lucky we made it just in time to see a few of them. They close Boulders Beach around 6:30 pm in the summer, we got there at 6:00. I guess a few years ago there were only two breeding pairs left, but the colony has now grown to about 3,000 although they are still considered a vulnerable species. They used to be called Jackass Penguins because of the braying noise they make, they are now called the 'African Penguin', I think their new name is much sexier.

Christmas day adventures

Cape point is close to the Southern most tip of Africa (the actual southern most tip is Cape Agulhas), we had a stunning Christmas day exploring the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve, This part of the park is home to an array of fynbos, (native plants) over 250 species of birds, antelope, baboons, Cape mountain zebra, and ostriches. The beauty and vastness of this spot is so breathtaking. I kept saying to Jon, can you believe how gorgeous this is! Since we were so far away from family and friends it was good for us to go out and have an adventure instead of sitting at the flat moping.

More posts to come, with some animals in them.

Camps Bay Day

This black stuff on the left is dried kelp or some kind of seaweed that washes ashore you can see it out in the water as well.

Lianne's Mad unbirthday birthday party invitation

 

 It's always fun to make an invitation but this one was especially fun, Lianne is one of the best girls in the world!!! Making her invite was such a treat. For pictures of the party, which I was sadly unable to make since I was somewhere between Dublin, Ireland, South West London, and Cape Town, South Africa! They had a blast Annie of Bliss in Bloom did all the decor with loads of help from Ruthie and the unbirthday girl herself Lianne! Check out Ruthie's gorgeous blog for photos of this fab event... 

Let me just tell you again how sad I was to have missed it :(

 

Portobello Engagement Shoot

 

This shoot was such fun. We started at the lovely Lennox Cafe, with some coffee and a glass wine for the nerves. Then we meandered around the neighborhood, there are lots of great spots and the leaves were unbelievably gorgeous. The Canal was the perfect backdrop, it provided lots of reflections.

Congrats to Tanya and Shay, wishing you all the best on your exciting journey together! It was such a treat to be your photographer for the day!

Autumn light

Visible love

I met Anton and Oksana a few months ago, and as I heard more of their story I was intriqued to know more. I thought they were such a sweet couple, so and I asked them If I could take some engagement photos of them. It had been a while since I'd done pictures for anyone and I was feeling a bit rusty and out of practice, but I really wanted to get back into it, and thought this was a great opportunity.

They were excited when I asked them and  then I found out that Anton is also a very good photographer and an amazing digital artist (one of his images was just chosen for a book title)....but hey no pressure! I had to laugh.... it figures!
They had forecasted rain for the weekend and I was so hoping for a sunny day which is possible in Dublin, as it turns out the day was gorgeous, fantastic autumn colors were apparent everywhere in St Stevens Green. Anton and Oksana were perfect, I love it when couples enjoy  having their pictures taken, it makes my job so much easier! It was an honor and a pleasure to make their love visible.

La brea ata ann "It's a lovely day" in Gaelic

These were taken in or around Glendalough Gleann Dá Loch Co Wicklow, a monoastic site which dates back to the 6th century. Talk about old! 

Sometimes words escape me, especially when writing blog posts. Since a picture is worth a thousand words here are 8, feel free to add your own words. One small word of advice, if you ever make it  to Ireland do try the Salmon. It is heavenly here and will never let you down!

Journey through the Wicklow Mountains... ahem...hills

As you can see it was a gorgeous day for a trip through the Wicklow Mountains. Hard to believe that all this amazing beauty is only 15 minute drive outside of Dublin. This is where all the water for Guinness comes from!

 

Taking pictures of the heather. Had to make a special stop for it, very important to get photos of this.

Stunning, the views are unbelievable. It's a gorgeous drive, and if anyone other than my adorable husband is driving I can imagine it would be relaxing.... To me the Wicklow Mountains seem more like hills, I know that this is mainly because of my Swiss heritage, It makes me a little teeny bit biased as to what is a mountain opposed to a hill... (hope I haven't offended too many Dubliners with my opinions) Regardless it's one of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen and would recommend everyone to come and see it for themselves. You know when you hear words like bog, peat, bracken, grouse, heather....for years, and you read about them in lots of stories like Sherlock Holmes for example... but having grown up in Hawaii I just didn't have any point of reference for all of that,  seeing it for yourself is fantastic!

My hood

Portobello is an adorable suburb in the south of Dublin, with pubs, flower shops, and parks right on my doorstep. The Lennox Cafe, only a stones throw away, does an amazing brunch. I have so enjoyed living here and thought I would share a few pictures of my new hood.