“To understand your parents’ love, you must raise children yourself.”

– Chinese proverb –

Meet Etienne, Pauline and Hannah. :) I had the joy of having this pretty family in front of my camera for an afternoon session in Jonkershoek nature reserve. When we were discussing possible locations before the actual shoot, Etienne said that they would like to do the shoot in a forest with some greenery near Stellenbosch or Somerset West. First spot that popped into my mind was Jonkershoek in the Stellenbosch mountains. In my mind,  I saw the lush forests and endless green plantations of pine trees with mountain views too, perfect for the brief! Upon arriving in the reserve I discovered to my horror that the trees had all been burnt by the veld fire that went through there last year-so there wasn’t much greenery! They have also been clearing out the pine trees in the reserve over the last few months because they are not indigenous to the area- so there wasn’t much “forest” to work with either. Luckily we found a patch of trees that were still standing- albeit black and brown from the fire, and continued shooting in there.

The Du Preez’s are a gorgeous and precious family unit. Hannah is definitely daddy’s girl but her love for books she no doubt inherited from her mom. A real little busy body- we had a tough time keeping up with her- but fortunately we were able to lure her back with Strawberry puffs. Such amazing negotiating assets those sweets are! Dankie vir ‘n lekker shoot- mag julle nog so baie vreugde en vrede ervaar saam as ‘n gesin! Blessings xxx

Thanks to Chelsea for being an amazing assistant and babysitter for the afternoon. :)