My parents-in-law have an amazing garden. Every time we visit Johannesburg, I am always marveling at the beauty of their backyard bliss.
Since this is the first time that I’ve been back at their home since taking up self-portraiture, I knew that I couldn’t pass up the chance to feature my in-laws’ beautiful South African garden.
So, on the first day of 2010, I decided to do a Style Studio shoot featuring their garden — and a couple of my Christmas presents. Plus, my Diana Mini!
Anyway, here’s my very first Style Notes of the year here at the Studio:
- White sequined stretchy headband – Just another inexpensive accessory that I picked up from a local cheap shop in Adelaide. And yes, I actually curled my hair for the day, using my hot curlers.
- Silver five-petal floral necklace (with black band) – Not sure where this one was from originally, but it was one of my Christmas gifts. My sister-in-law (and her family) gave this to me and it has become an immediate favourite. She said she bought it from a local shop in Johannesburg. It’s just my kind of thing! I love it. I’ve been wearing it almost every day since I got it.
- Powder blue cotton maxi dress (with knitted/crochet? detailing) – From a label called Fresh Produce. I’m not sure if it’s South African, but this one was bought at Jo’burg from a shop called Pick N’ Pay Clothes. Yes, no designer label there. But, I love it anyway. It’s actually a gift from my parents-in-law. The original gift was a pink knitted top that didn’t fit, so my mum-in-law encouraged me to go back for an exchange. I ended up finding this lovely thing! At half the price too (Just 70 rands, I think, which was equivalent to around AU$10!).
- Black ballet-style shoes – I forgot the name of the shop where I bought this from. I just remember it was something I purchased during my last trip to the Philippines about two years ago. My sis has a matching pair, which I gave her as a pressie. Maybe she’ll remind me where we bought them. Heh. And yes, I must admit, I probably would prefer to wear some kind of sandals with this dress, but since I didn’t pack any, I just had to work it with these shoes.
Hmmm… I think that’s it. My only other accessory here is my Mini Diana. Honestly, I don’t know what possessed me to model one of my favourite new gadgets. Such a geeky/dorky thing to do, eh? But, I thought it was fun anyway!
Where To: a New Year’s Day braai with the family at my sis-in-law’s house in Jo’brg
Photography Notes:
- Camera: Nikon D40x
- Lens: Sigma 30mm f1.4
- Self-Portraiture Strategy: two-second delay remote control
- Other photo gadgets: Gorillapod
- Minor Editing of Photos: iPhoto
- Collage: Picasa
Side Note: Uhm… I know I missed a couple of months’ worth of Style Studio installments. Sorry about that. Hopefully, this post makes up for it somehow. And, I look forward to sharing more with you this 2010.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Mitch 01.09.10 at 6:46 am
First, how could any garden not have grace with you in the pictures? (yeah, a bit of long distance flirting lol)
Second, I love the largest picture with the garden and the thing that looks like it could be a fountain. My wife has wanted to do something like that here (in good weather), but we have too many deer and other wild things running around to keep it protected from.
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Shai Coggins 02.02.10 at 12:45 pm
@Mitch… Aww… Thanks. (*blush*) And yeah, the fountain’s really cool. Wish I can have something like it in my own garden too. But here, the weather conditions aren’t the best either.
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