When Jane emailed to ask if I could photograph her family, I was SO excited!!  Jane was one of my synchronized swimming coaches during my teen years and was a HUGE contributor to my success in the sport.  I owe her a lot!  She was (and still is) such a role model and I often ask myself "What would Jane do?" :)

I am so happy that we are both living in Durban now so that I can get to know her little boys better. They call all girls "Princesses" and know to treat them like gold.  It's the cutest thing!! I can only hope that if I have boys one day - they end up as wonderful as these two!!
 
Last weekend I had a great shoot, with a family who were down from the UK for a wedding.  They were such a lovely family to work with, and little Shauny and I were best mates by the time our hour was up and the memory card full!


My foot is sandy, and I don't think I like it!!!







Another reason why the shoot was 
such a success - I had an ASSISTANT!!!  
This shoot was the first time I had a 
second pair of hands to hold things, 
play peek-a-boo with teddy bears 
and make conversation with family 
members not being photographed!  

THANK YOU DEVIN.
 
Adina and Darina are two gorgeous little Swiss girls who I photographed a while ago.  I didn't ever get to deliver the photos because...wait for it....I broke my macbook! Yes, I spilt hot chocolate on it and drowned the mother board. (sob sob) I was playing silly and like my Mom always used to say to my sisters and I when we were playing the fool, "Somebody's gonna get hurt!".

I had a friend retrieve the info from my hard drive and am just so relieved that nothing was lost.

Denise has been very patient waiting for her photos so I really REALLY hope that I've delivered.

For some reason, the images are uploading with a grey tinge. (if anyone reading this knows why that would happen and how I can avoid it, please let me know.) If you're interested in seeing the true colours...look on my Face Book group: Derryn Semple Photography. :)
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My Mom asked me the day how to load an Action in Photoshop, a question to which I had no answer.  So I did some research and viola....downloaded 40 free new actions. All I did was google 'Free Photoshop action downloads', Choose the one I wanted, click 'download'.  Once they appeared in my downloads folder - I double clicked on the name and Photoshop automatically opened with them installed.  Seems way to easy doesnt it?? It's amazing what you can get off the net.  All you need is a little time to research and learn.  This is an old photo of mine that I came across the other day. A lot of the actions that I loaded are completely useless unless you're prepared to then go and do a lot of tweaking yourself - which I must admit, I did to this photo.  This was a cross process named 'Pink-Blue-Yellow'.  If you're prepared to spend a little money, go and have a look at this website for actions (www.purephotoshopactions.com/), they are worth investing in and would really speed up the editing process....saving precious PRECIOUS time! :)
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I am so privileged to have photogenic and willing family who are prepared to pose for me...I am just waiting for the day that one of them turns around and gives me a big fat NO.  Camryn (my neice) came close as you'll see by the sulky face in one of the photos below.  But I love it, I think it's so typical of a 2-and-a-half year old. Camryn, you can thank me in 14 years time when you're a famous model due to this early age practice.

As I type this, Tanille is about to pop. It's times like these that I wish that I was a writer so that I could adequately describe my excitement!  I've already got 2 beautiful nieces and in a few days time I'll have another, or a nephew.  My money is on a boy, but we'll see what happens. ;)

Dale - take care of my sister please. She's been making a baby for 9 months, you owe her. (and I'm sorry that you don't feature in this post, next time we'll do a shoot just for you, OK? wink wink!)


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My time spent in East London with my sister Gaelyn and my soon to be Brother-in-law and step-neice-in-law :) was magical. Although the visit was short, it was so so special to me and I was thrilled to squeeze in a family shoot.  Chris grabbed the camera toward the end and snapped a few of Gaelyn and I together, which I am so grateful for. Thanx Bro.

A few words from Gaelyn: "When my fiance and I got engaged in December, his 6 year old daughter was thrilled, but her first question about her new Step Mom was whether I had a poison apple or not! I wish I could have captured the look of relief on her face when she realised that her fathers new "Beyonce" (not fiance) was poison apple free."

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Hanlie was THE very first South African that I met in Singapore after having been here for a couple of weeks.  She answered so many of my questions and gave me wonderful advice.  She EVEN gave me a bowl of ultramel. Aaah, if I wasn't homesick yet, I certainly was when the custard ran out! 

Now over a year later, her and Michael are expecting twins. One girl and one boy :) 

Hanlie and Michael, I wish you the best of luck with the rest of the pregnancy, and I cant wait to meet your little babas when they arrive. Enjoy the photos.

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Before my visit home, I did a shoot for Renee and her two gorgeous children (Hein and Megan) at East Coast Park and Beach.  Can you believe that I've been in Singapore for nearly two years and have never spent time in East Coast Park?! Anyway, The Grobbelaars are South African, so it was great hearing Renee's Afrikaans accent and hearing about her colourful life.  The kids were in complete model mode when they arrived...it was hilarious.  Megan thought it fun to pull these little faces, which I really didn't mind - I got some great ones of her.  But I must say that the best shots were those blissful moments of silence when the kids were studying ants, searching for fairies, writing in the sand or listening to Kendra's story about the Jelly Monster.  
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