The very end of the African continent

Another part of the world that is beautiful and grabbing. The end part, the very end of Africa. 

From Cape Town I took a ride to the amazing end point, the Cape of Good Hope and its natural reserve. The views of the series of mountains meeting the sea were simply gobsmacking. The peaks standing up and showing off to the rest of the continent expressed strength. The tranquility and the constant mist brought mystery.

Another series in black and white with a spot of sepia. 

Trees

During my recent trip to South Africa (that I mentioned a few days ago), something caught my eye and this envy to snap them just wrapped me. 

The trees around Cape Town. 

Their grandeur and bushy style on top simply grabbed my attention. They had soul, they had history, you could tell they had lived through a lot.

This series of trees is purposely in black and white to add gravity to the atmosphere. 

The waiting game

Expectancy is a different experience for each woman. And the expectation of what expectancy should be like is different whichever country you live in. What you should eat, or no longer eat, how you should sleep, which mode of transport you can no longer use, which sport you can carry on doing, how much weight you are allowed to put on...The list is long. 

In my opinion, the most important thing is to do what you feel you should be doing. 

Feelings are an important part of being pregnant too. The motions going through your body, the apprehension and the excitement...all these feelings mixed together...One thing for sure is that if you can enjoy your pregnancy, make the most of it. It's a special and a unique moment.

And this is what Sam decided to do. She is nurturing these feelings and she wants to make the most of it. Sam also wants to share these emotions through photos. This is what we did together. On that particular day, Sam was full of positive emotions and ready for the photo shoot. She had the ideas and I integrated them. This is the result of a fun morning with a fun loving pregnant lady. Now the waiting game really starts. 

A big thank you to Sam.

Black and white Cape Town

I was very fortunate to be given a lucky ticket to Cape Town. I had never been to South Africa and not even to the African continent. My brother and his generous heart allowed me to get to discover this new land. 

I had 5 days. 

As you can imagine, I took many photos, and back at home I decided to develop a series in black and white. 

Before you move on to view the photos, my first thought about what I saw was beauty. It was just beauty standing all around me. The landscape were amazing and the people had a great sense of humour. It was a joy to be there and to communicate with such lovely people. A perfect first trip to Cape Town. 

A big thank you to Sami who was a vital element of this trip.

Apologies to South Africans if this interpretation appears to be narrow. It's only based on a 5 day discover journey. Fully aware that South Africa today is made up of many more elements, I shall embrace the future opportunities to go back and discover further. Thank you.

How do you like my goatee?

Children love to visit farms. They love playing with animals and feeding them. One early evening, young kids and I went round a local goat farm that produces goat cheese. They have about 60 goats and every evening, they milk them. The animals enjoy that special moment, not because they like to give their milk away, but because it means it's feeding time for them and also the milking process relieves them. 

This family run farm promotes their cheese production by allowing families to see the goat milking process. At the same time, the children enjoy a cuddle with the small animals (oh, there are rabbits too). So when I visited them, I asked if I could take photos of their farm. As they are very kind people, they said yes!  I am happy to present 2 series of goats literally running this family business. One in black and white and another in colour.

For me, this experience meant further practice of trying to shoot fast and living creatures (after regularly taking pics of children and more recently horses). It's a challenge and I try to get better at it. 

Black and white series

The Milking process

A skeptical goatie

A friendly looking family

Colour series

The curious one

The dangerous touch

Feeding time

More milk please

The escape planner

The lost soul

The guarding type

The resembling type

The peace and quiet time

Of course, we sampled some cheese later on. It was a nice exchange and the biggest challenge of all was to try and get away from the farm, as the children could have easily stayed there all night, watching the goats, cuddling the rabbits and stroking the dogs. This was the result of a nice evening in a friendly and goat cheesy environment.  

Un grand merci aux propriétaires de la chèvrerie !

A big thank you to the goat farm owners and to the goatee models. 

I am dedicating this series to a close friend who loves a special French song about goatees. 

Local horse power

I am not a fan of riding a horse, as my first and only experience was a disaster. However, when the opportunity to shoot inside an equestrian centre occurred, I jumped at it. I thought it would provide me with new material and a new challenge of capturing movements in a busy environment. 

So, with the photographer Chrys (who organized the outing), we went along to the local horse school. It was mid-morning at the beginning of summer, so you could say the lighting was too bright and difficult to manage. I have to admit that it took me an hour to get used to the environment, the lighting conditions and it's only towards the end of the morning that I managed to capture more interesting photos.

I have 2 series with the horses, one in black and white because I am currently being more interested in it and one in colour to keep with today's expectations. 

Black and white series

Series in colour

Chrys and I really enjoyed getting used to being around the horses after a few hours and so we decided we would go back to take more photos. If you want to see Chrys' work click here. Thank you to the equestrian centre organisers, members and horses. See you soon!