a week in words and images

Well, it was my birthday on the 15th. I decided to make cupcakes for the peeps at work and being my un-domestic-self I scavenged for a good (non-googled) recipe. I discovered this book that my mom got me when I was 6 or 7 with aspirations of a well-mannered domestic goddess for a daughter...
Things didn't quite turn out that way but I still enjoy making these cupcakes from scratch every now and again. So, why not on my birthday?

Do you remember this book? All you South African girls growing up in the 80's, being members of the Daan Retief book club? Those were the days... *sigh*

After a lot of hand mixing (since electronic mixers don't agree with me...I've broken about five in my life) these lovely golden cakes popped out of the oven...mmmmmm

Schnuki also contributed her bit by being under my feet all the time and licking up all the icing and flour that found the way to the floor, resulting in a funny looking Dalmation-Dachshund

We went to Isabella's cake and food shop (as if the cupcakes weren't enough) for lunch. Had a lovely time and it was also quite a laugh having the very manly colleagues there against the very feminine, pink backdrop. They serve a killer roast lamb sandwich there if I could make a recommendation.

We also went to Bellbottoms this weekend. For those of you who are not familiar with this amazing little place, it is an antique / vintage shop in Pierneef street with the most amazing quirky vintage finds. It is always nice to go there and get completely lost in nostalgic feelings and things. 

There we go - a lot of local for the week. 

Just little things

Wow, two blogs in one day?!
I just had to post about this. Whilst I was writing the previous post, Thys said I must quickly check out this site. It is simply a list of little things about life we all should appreciate. So simple, so inspiring. You can view the entire list here. I chose a few that I like but there are hundreds, so just go to the site and lose yourself in the simple things...

Hope this helps relieve the Sunday Blues. Have a good one.

First encounters with my Diana F+

The story starts here: Five years ago, I was looking for information on a lecture - I wanted students to document everyday life and "shoot from the hip". With a blinding stroke of luck, I stumbled across Lomography. I fell in love with the analogue, free-spirited way of taking photos and have been wanting a Diana camera since then.
Fast forward a few years to my kitchen tea and voila! My friends got me a nice Diana F+ with film and a couple of extra lenses. And here I was with this beautiful object, not quite knowing where to "switch it on" :-). Needless to say, the first film came out completely blank, since I was shooting away with the pinhole setting all the time. The Diana and I still have a long way to go - need to burn a couple more films before I understand her completely. Will keep you posted. In the meantime, may I please introduce Lady Di and her work...

I love the retro blue, I love the beautiful little rounded flash, I love the lightweight plastic feel...

Easter Games in the park with colleagues. When I took out the Diana, there was a lot of confused looks and questions about where the preview is...

Trying out some Redscale film. I learnt that the Diana loves light. Next time I'll definitely use more of that :-)

A couple of shots from Mauritius. Love the light leaks of the top image. 

Some of you will wonder whether I've lost the plot completely. For me the beauty of Lomography lies in the "mistakes": Light leaks, over-exposure, under-exposure, double exposure. There is a whole world to expore when it comes to lomography and analogue photography. I also got a beautifully printed book with the Diana. The first words are:

Dear Lomographer, photo-hunter, camera collector, and analogue-lover,

We do not know which act of providence brought you here. But we can safely assume that you do not know what you're in for.

Do yourself a favour and explore this world of unpredictability, mistakes, beauty, light and film. Use the Ten Rules of Lomography as your mantra and see what happens...