Berry spritz 

 September in South Africa, means Spring is here, there are many debates and theories as to the actual official start of Spring. With the arrival of a new family member last week, I do feel there is much to celebrate and what better way with wine! I saw the recipe from Donna Hay and immediately felt inclined to recreate it. I used one of my favourite’s Pierre Jourdan Tranquille Blush from the Haute Cabriére wine estate and a lovely strawberry and mint syrup(store bought from Woolworths) with soda water and fresh berries and mint to garnish. Top tip: instead of ice which will water down your cocktails or wine spritz, freeze some grapes or berries and add to your drinks.

Last week I took the practical experience gained recently from the workshop and put it to use doing what I love best, shooting food. I took some beautiful photos of the berries and whilst loading on to the laptop most of them somehow disappeared into (I’m assuming) an untouchable dark abyss. Feeling rather defeated and being rather busy, eventually picked myself up and dusted myself off and admitted to the rookie mistake and tried my hand again at another shoot, I really wanted to recreate the feel and mood of those I took last week. Moral of the story, don’t give up even if the task at hand seems monstrous or impossible. This does not just apply to my little faux pas last week, but to so many life lessons learnt along the way.

Berries always signify a start of a new season ahead, a brighter more festive one. The photos of the berries were taken just before 13:00 yesterday. The photos of the berry spritz were taken last week round about the same time. And yes, that is a charger plate which I have repurposed and sprayed to use as a prop for my photography. I decided to try both moody shots and lighter ones, I love the juxtaposition of the light in the shots and how the berries and drinks are portrayed in different light. Personally I adore the darker, moodier shots, to me, it creates so much depth. But like many other things it’s all about the photographers preference and style.

Happy Spring! x