A few years ago (two or three, I can't remember exactly) I was a judge for the Miss Winelands Teen pageant here in Paarl. I don't know how or why I got roped into this position but it was quite an experience! Even though I have not had any involvement with the pageant since then I have followed the competition on Facebook and that is where I first saw this beautiful lady.
All of the girls entering this year are absolutely beautiful, but when I saw Kim I just knew I had to do a shoot with her! We ended up working together for the first time on a recent styled bridal shoot I did (that I still have to blog!) and I really enjoyed working with her so much that we started talking about a shoot there and then!
It was at that very shoot where I met Olga-Maré (who happened to be the model who posed with Kim in the same scene!) and she quickly showed me some of the pieces she designed and made while studying fashion design and it just all came together. This shoot was mostly so we could showcase Olga-Maré's amazing designs as well as try something different - Cecilia does incredible bridal makeup, but I wanted her to 'think out of the wedding box' for a change and I wanted to try out some different lighting techniques.
So, after much back and forth (we just couldn't settle on a date as we're all so busy this time of year!) we met at the Stellenbosch University's wonderful Botanical Gardens this weekend and these are the result!
MODEL: Kim de Vries
PHOTOGRAPHY AND RETOUCHING: Grethe Rosseaux
MAKEUP, HAIR AND STYLING: Cecilia Eloff (The Exquisite Look)
WARDROBE: Olga-Maré Möller