Picture from the weekend 12

HAPPINESS IS.....

... and this little girl is just bursting with it all. Such a carefree spirit with so much love to give... kisses in the morning and cuddles at night. Unconditional love no matter what... I think we can all strive to be a little more like them sometimes...

Live...Love...Remember

HONG KONG - where East meets West

2 months later, and you finally get to read about our unforgettable trip. This trip was  undertaken by the 2 'members' of GFP. As a business venture to purchase new equipment, and as a travel adventure, to explore and shoot images for ourselves and our new and progressing business.

Although we have put some of these images up in various places (facebook, flickr), what we have decided to do is showcase some of the more personal images from the most exciting 2 weeks in 2012 so far.

We had been planning this trip for 18 months, and with a 6 month delay, the time finally arrived. 15th March 2012, and we were off on the 17:00 SAA  flight to Hong Kong!

A flight is a flight is a flight, and with a fair amount of airmiles under our belts, we took it all in our stride, Rob sleeping most of the way, and Gen catching up on all the Twilight movies she had missed. See, flights are good for SOMETHING ;)

Land in Hong Kong, and you are in a different world. Harsh to say... but everything works, everything is clean and everything s pretty much automated... heck, even the toilets flush by themselves! A quick Burger King lunch ( not yet brave enough to try the Asian cuisine) and off we went. We were staying with a friend (Claire :)) who has lived in Hong Kong for a long time, and had to make way to Discovery Bay, wherever that was. "Following you!" would soon become a familiar phrase, as I had absolutely no idea which way was up and which way was down, so had to trust my ever patient tour guide... Tour Guide Rob :)

Arrive in Discovery Bay, and once again, you feel like you are in a completely different place, definitely not Hong Kong. Discovery Bay I would liken to some sort of Wisteria Lane, no cars allowed, only the public tansport buses, and  golf carts. Yip, thats right... the folk of Discovery Bay all drive golf carts. Interesting place indeed.

Our first weekend in Hong Kong was a bit of a whirlwind... dinner at the best Thai restaurant in DB, breakfast at the Jumbo floating restaurant, which lasted till 3pm, drinks and adventures at the Hong Kong cricket club... Stanley Market, Lunch at The Boat House, sundowners at The Boat House... ferries, taxis, buses and the MTR... this was most certainly going to be adventurous 2 weeks!

As I sit here today, the next 2 weeks I cant remember in the exact order that it all happened, but what I do remember, is that the Monday after the first hectic weekend, was CAMERA BUYING DAY! *happy dance*. This was the day we had waited for for quite a while. After making the 30 min ferry ride from DB to Central,  then catching the next baby ferry (two dollar!) across the harbour  to Kowloon side, walking the streets of Kowloon, with every second person asking if we wanted/needed a tailor... not too sure what this may have said about our choice of clothing... but we just 'politely' declined and carried on walking, only to be targeted by the next one. Relentless I tell you! Map in hand, its pretty easy to get around, and we eventually found the shop we were looking for, the camera we were looking for, and most importantly,  the price we were looking for. After signing my life away ( wink wink) I was the proud new owner of .. da da... a Canon 7D. *big smiles an handshakes all round* not really, but you know what I mean :)

Im not too sure what  happened after that, its all much of a blur really... I think it goes something like this... Rob buying a new baby camera, walking back down to Nathan Road, and snap snap snap away. The sound of the new camera is just so different to my baby one.. I could have snapped away all day.

Here a few of the 1st lot of snaps, hustle and bustle of Kowloon and Centrals streets.

Over the next 2 weeks, from more bus rides to eventful taxi drives, more walking and ferry catching to more MTR-ing and definitely more picture taking, we experienced this city for all it was worth. We took on viewing the Pink Dolphins, braved a few local bus rides up to the Tian Tan Buddah and across to Tia O Fishing village where you get to experience the more local and quiet part of Lantau Island. We strolled around for hours just taking in the life these folk have... so simple and uncomplicated is our perception of it all, however, they may look at us and think we have the best of lives... i dont think anyone is really and truely ever satisfied with what they have.

Anyway, the travels and adventures continued... The Hong Kong Botanical Gardens and Zoo - nothing like you have ever seen before... I mean a zoo in the middle of a concrete jungle??? A trip up the Peak Tram to see  the light show down below - but were sadly  greeted by nothing but a beautiful white sheet of cloud... lucky there was a Burger King up top which served as our dinner for the evening. Eventually the clouds did clear and we managed to see the view from the Peak - pretty darn stunning if you ask me!

Next up was what most people live for in Hong Kong.. the  Rugby 7's. We hadnt planned it that we were there at the same time, it just happened and we went along with fate, purchasing tickets *cough cough* in SA before we left then crossed all fingers, toes and eyelashes the 3 of us could muster  that we hadnt been duped and would in fact get these elusive tickets. Which, luckily we did, after walking Wan Chai for almost 2 days to meet the guy, we finally got them... and off we went.... to THE MOST debauturous party ever! What a fabulous time we had, and its definitely a MUST for anyone visiting Hong Kong at towards the end of March.

Off  to Kennedy Town where Claire works and off to meet the kiddies... the 'travellers' as we were branded would come and visit them and tell them about the journey they were on... and even coach a spot of hockey. Can never quite get away from it.. its in the blood!

Hong Kong at night is a very different place... the lights come on and the town dresses up for you. What a beauty. Temple Street Night Market with its very different and unique stalls, was followed by watching the lightshow from Kowloon side, which, incedently, would include a wonderful jumping shot taken by  the locals... we have yet to publish this little one ;)

Monastaries and Nunneries are also a definite must when visiting these parts of the world. They are so serene, so peaceful and so into another world, you almost forget that you are in the 21st century surrounded by concrete. We found these to be a wonderful place to soul search and and just be.

Our last evening saw us having a little spoil... well, Rob actually spoilt Gen, but we both had a magnificent time. Up on the ICC, looking down over Kowloon and Central, watching yet another light show and sipping cocktails... what more could a girl want?! Such a treat that will be remembered forEVER!

 

So, thats about it in a nutshell.. what an incredible time and cant wait for the next one! There are, I have no doubt, some bits that have been left out.. either intentionally *wink wink* or unintentionally... lets meet for a cuppa....... :)
Thank you thank you to our beautiful friend Claire... most amazing person ever and thanks for having us 'round'. :)

Live...Love...Remember

Week 15 : Work

This is what we all seem to be doing too much of lately... work, work and more work....

However, all is not lost, sometimes work can be great and well rewarding, and yes, we can even have a little fun along the way :)

These work images convey what has been going on this side for a long time... a very long time. Work on cars. If its not the normal service and brake pads, its the radiator and the clutch (note, definitely not all on the same car ;)) so, what a more fitting picture to show for this weeks theme.

Fortunately, since these were taken... in week 15, all the work has been done and we are all happy on the road... the car and me... now, as for the petrol price......

Week 15 : Work

Work, work work and no rest for the wicked ;)

Live...Love...Remember

Week 11 : Autumn

Hello Everyone... and now, the 52 Project big catch up begins...

Every great intention was had of continuing to do these posts when we went away, but alas, as the way of the world would have it, that just wasn't possible.

After being back for a week, we have managed to play catch up, and here is our Autumn post.

For this theme, we once again enlisted the service of my ever suffering nephew... and after attempting to do these images with some fading light the first time... which didn't work... take 2 went much better.

Well, as good as you can imagine...after homework of collecting the leaves for safekeeping in case the garden service swept them all up and left us high and dry, the novelty of throwing the autumn leaves in the air waring off and the fun and sun fading, it again became a bribing session from my side and wails of "Oh... when is it going to end...??" from his side. We also had some help from a good family friend who thought she would assist with the leaves, as the wind was apparently too strong for my nephew to throw and 'pose' at the same time.

After a few "just one more", and even more " now we have to collect the leaves again", we finally managed to get some good shots, and these are the few that have been selected to showcase our theme.

Week 11 : Autumn

Its always a great learning curve when doing a project like this and shooting with children. Maybe next time we may have to try someone elses child, to see how well we cope with a non-family member giving grief while trying to do a photoshoot... Anyone offering?
Thank you beautiful nephew for always being initially excited to do these projects, and to my sister and bil for never minding. :)

As always, thoughts and comments welcome :)

Live...Love...Remember

New Addition to the Family

Yes, we acknowledge and apologise to you, the readers that keep this blog ticking over... we have been on 'leave' for the last 2-3 weeks, but I promise it hasn't been in vain. We have returned to the country safe and sound and have lots of news to share with you.

A few months ago, we starting making big plans for GFP, plans to take what we do to the next level. The 1st step in that plan, well, it seemed rather obvious. We need to get new equipment. And what an adventure buying new equipment turned out to be.

After doing a lot of research as to which camera would suit our needs and budget best, we decided to buy the Canon 7D. Among all the fancy bits, the long explanations (verbal and written) as to the features on the cameras and what they can do, the choice between the 5D and the 7D was a close one, however, we chose the 7D as we were assured that for sport photography, this camera would perform magnificently.

So, off we went, purchased the camera and here she is... my new new! :)

We are so excited about this, as its a rather large upgrade on the 400D that we have being using in the early days and has served us beautifully. (note: the 400D shot these beautiful pictures of her big sister) 

Big sister has slotted seemlessly into the family and has already been thrown into the deep end, having worked ever so hard in Hong Kong. One or 2 little glitches, but nothing that having the owner read the user manual wont fix! Lazy owner.

Looking forward to many more wonderful days shooting!

Live...Love...Remember

Week 6 : Body Parts

Week 6, and this weeks the theme is Body Parts.

Now when I mentioned this in conversation around and about, you can imagine all the raised eyebrows that were shown.. ;) I however, think this has been a rather interesting theme.

For us, we tried to go with something original, but not too obvious. For photographers and in my opinion, the most popular body parts to shoot are the eyes, mouth, ears etc, and then when shooting these on babies, they become even more popular. We wanted something different....

So firstly, we must apologise to anyone who has a foot phobia, as the body parts we chose to shoot where the toes. :)

Again, rather challenging, and especially so when they are your own feet and toes when you are trying to shoot a picture that you see in your head, and you cant twist your foot round enough, or contort your body over in the right way to get the shot you want. THANK GOODNESS there was no sneaky second shooter around at the time, as those would be some serious blackmail photos.

Anyway, enough rambling, here it is..

Week 6 : Body Parts

Thoughts and comments welcome, and apologies if my toes offend anyone... :)

Live...Love...Remember

Week 4 : Energy

This weeks theme was energy. At 1st it was a real battle to try and figure out what kind of photograph would portray energy, as i think this theme can be interpreted in various ways, from green houses, to batteries, from wind turbines to power stations.

I eventually settled on what I thought would be a great shot for energy.... and here it is.. :)

Week 4 : Energy

I actually had a lot of fun doing these pictures, as it made me have to work the grey matter and think about the settings, composure and angles... good to test the mind every now and again..

Thoughts and comments welcome!

Have a great week, and dont forget, Live..Love...Remember

Picture from the weekend - 2

Lately I have found it quite amazing the little gems that you can find when you actually look for them, and they are found in the most unlikely places. Over the past few weekends, I have ventured out, not too far from home... the garden to be precise, and what has been found intrigues me and one would never even know the location of a photograph, let alone believe it if you told them.

My picture from the weekend this week, stems from the project that we are taking part in. This was another favourite of mine, and just couldn't let it sit in my external and not be seen.

Hope you like it as much as we do :)

Comments welcome and have a happy week! Monday is nearly over!

Live...Love...Remember

Week 3 : Macro

Week 3 has arrived, and the weeks theme is Macro.

This theme was also a little trickier, and rather frustration without an macro lens, however, we did what we could with the ever trusty 18-250, and here is the result below.
Im finding it amazing what is at your finger tips when you put your mind to finding something to shoot... lately, the back garden has a wonderful variety of subjects just waiting for their turn in the spot light. :)

Week 3 : Macro

Comments welcome and have a wonderful weekend!

Live...Love...Remember