.the princess portal.

Last weekend I visited the studio of a local photographer to collaborate on a photoshoot. Will has a lot of experience in model photography and used to be a professional photographer, so he had a wealth of advice and helpful tips to give me and I had a lot of fun shooting with him.

I styled the outfits and hair myself, and tried to achieve a contrasting theme with something innocent and feminine and then gothic and mysterious. I made the choker in the gothic set myself, it was a fun little craft project and helped pull together the look I had in mind.

Thanks to Will for the great shoot, I’m really happy with how the images turned out!

In the heart of this city, right on the edge of the central business district is a vacant block. For most of the year its just sand and weeds, nothing special and barely noticed by the hundreds of cars that drive by it each day. However, for just a couple of weeks in early spring it is transformed in to a sea of pink and white flowers, everlastings, with tall green stems and petals dry as paper. Noone who drives past can help but gaze at this unusual sight, and some stop to pick flowers, or walk through the field. It is a brief but beautiful change and I go there every year to pick a bunch for the Queen’s Birthday.

This year, Sab and I went for a little photoshoot. It was quite early in the morning and we were the only ones there, although several cars stopped to watch and were consequently honked when they missed the lights. You can read more about the photoshoot over at Sab’s blog. I had a lot of fun doing this shoot, having my hair french braided and making a flower wreath. I’m really happy with how the photos came out! Sab managed to give them a light, airy, nostalgic feel that fits perfectly with my vintage dress.

I’ve had a very busy weekend and it just seems to have flown by! On Saturday I saw Donican off at the airport, she is heading to Japan to live for a year and it was sad to see her go, but I am excited to know she is now safely in Tokyo and will be heading to her new home soon. We all miss her very much. In the evening I went to a Quiz night held by the local convention organization. It was a lot of fun, even if I was still a bit tired. Our team came third!

Today Mirai and I decided to do an impromptu photoshoot idea we had come up with late Friday night. There are some really beautiful doors and gates in our city, and I had just recieved a new dress (I love the floral lace fabric and high backed collar!) so we thought it would be interesting to take a few photos around the city. We ended up mixing in a few other ideas as well and buying a big bunch of lilies to carry around. Steph was also in the city so she joined us in our gallivanting. We shared a jaffa icecream and posed with tourists who wanted photos of us aswell. This is my favourite shot from the day, you can see the rest in the gallery, they were all taken by Mirai. It was lovely to spend the day with the girls messing around and taking some photos with whatever inspired us. Thank you both for your time and company!

We all have our guilty pleasures, and one of mine is a tv show called Gossip Girl. Its a bit silly and overly dramatic really, but I find it a lot of fun to watch. It reminds me of a modern day version of the court of Versailles, with all its decadance, beautiful clothes and scandals. In fact, one of the characters even has Marie Antoinette painted on her bedroom wall and they make comparisons to the monarchy in several episodes too! Of course the best part of the series is the fashion, I especially love Blair’s wardrobe.

On Sunday I caught up with some friends to watch a few episodes of the show and make our own school ties! Sab and I are both big GG fans and we saw these crossover ties in several episodes and decided to make our own. Lee and Paula joined us for a sewing session and we each made a tie, Sab also made a cute Colonel Tie which looks like a bow.

We ordered Thai for dinner and took a few photos, imitating the poses from some of the promo shots for the show. It was a fun afternoon, thanks to the girls for joining me for a bit of silly indulgence, and thank you to Sab for the gorgeous photo above!