Let’s start off by wishing all of you a very happy new year – may it be nothing short of spectacular! I ended 2011 on a real bang, kicking the wedding season into gear with an chocker November before shooting my first wedding in the US over December… even made a quick stop in Vegas! But more on that in a later post. That working holiday came and went in the blink of an eye. Before I knew it the long awaited trip was something of the past and I was back in the fair Cape licking my wounds after a veritable traveling marathon, which included no less than 11 flights and a 46hour journey home – complete with 12 hour layover in Paris. YAY for awesome travel agents… The meek might well inherit the earth, but they certainly won’t spend much time traveling back and forth between SA and the States.

Sadly, I hardly had any time to feel properly sorry for myself whilst Mr. Jetlag was giving me a good old going over – what with a Kilimanjaro rivaling pile of editing staring me in the face! No rest for the wicked and all that. I had spent the weeks leading up to my trip doing much shooting and rather little editing! As any photographer will tell you, that sort of thing is bound to catch up with you… So 2012 hadn’t even had the time to put on its pants and there I was, already playing catch-up… come to think of it, 2012 might not have required pants for what it had in mind for me! Be that as it may, despite the rogering and many late nights spent in front of the small screen, I am glad to report that I’m making short work of the backlog and I’m well and truly back in the saddle. To prove it, I shall now blog a wedding! ta-ddaaaaaaa!.. and then for my next trick…

So before I left our sunny shores for the land of the brave and home of the not so well versed in international current affairs I shot the wedding of Ruth and Des, who I first met whilst covering another wedding – that of their very good friends, Adel and Marnus… and let me just say that, as I enter my third year as wedding photographer, it’s brilliant to now have the privilege of covering the weddings of friends and family of my former clients – who are all AWESOME! None more so than Adel and Marnus… if I close my eyes I can still taste the Namibian biltong they presented me with that evening of their wedding. A whole bag full! hmmmm… biltong… WAIT! what was I saying? O yes, Des and Ruth – the latest addition to a growing list of AWESOME couples I’ve had the pleasure of working with!

Now I’ve given this quite a bit of thought and I have decided to award Ruth the title of Most Relaxed Bride In The World… Ever! I’m looking into having a badge made… or maybe a floating trophy. Anyhoo, if Ruth was ever – for even a second – anything other than chilled like a mousse, I didn’t notice. I’m pretty sure you’ll pick up on that in the pics too. All smiles and laughs. In fact both Ruth and Des seemed to just breeze through the formalities of the day, almost effortlessly. No faff, no stress.. they seemed to just take it all in whilst thoroughly enjoying every moment. As you can imagine, this makes my job pretty darn easy.

As the night unfolded, there was also a fair bit of dancing taking place… much of it done with great fervor and zeal by Ruth’s two sisters! I am looking into having another badge (or possibly a trophy) made as an award for their singularly stellar performances on the dance floor. I’m not entirely sure what the award will be called just yet, but I do think it should be the subject of an extensive facebook post and dedicated album. If ever someone was to ask “who ROCKED the dance floor at Des and Ruth’s wedding?”… let it be known – they did!

So without any more yammering and messing about – here are the pretty pics! Enjoy… and if you did enjoy them, please leave a comment or like our facebook page here!

Toodles

I haven’t done a maternity shoot in a while – loooong story that, but let’s not get into it right now. Anyhoo… i do so enjoy them, because it gives me an opportunity to try things out, to experiment, to play around with ideas and techniques. Weddings don’t really afford you that sort of luxury. Weddings are fast paced, high pressure environments where you get one shot, one chance, and you have to nail it – every time! No “if”s, “but”s or do-overs! The “Second kiss” just hasn’t got that same ring to it, has it? Pretty hectic if you sit down and think about it for a bit. So I love the freedom of these low-pressure shoots and the chance to do something different… and much of that translates into what I end up doing at weddings. On the flip side, a lot of it doesn’t work out at all and you spend a fair amount of time looking like a complete knob… comes with the territory, I guess!

Photography, much like real-estate, is very much about LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION! Now, I rather enjoy doing maternity shoots in the comfort of my client’s home. I don’t mind popping out for a quickie with some more alternative backdrops, but I do prefer the majority of the shoot to be in someone’s home. However that comes with a few challenges… Like trying to make a picture in every room (even the loo). Or just trying to make an extraordinary image in an – well, I don’t want to say ordinary environment, but an environment that is real, natural, normal and lived in. A couple on their own bed. A mom-to-be in the newly decorated baby’s room – it just adds something, I think.

But you can’t just walk in and say “righto, pop onto the bed there, folks”, snap a pic of them sitting on the bed and be off again. It’ll just look like 2 people sitting on their bed, wont it! Just a boring picture taken in your own house… where’s the fun in that? The picture at the top there, for instance, was shot in the bathroom – yeah, you heard right.. in the loo! If I pulled out a little point and shoot or a polaroid camera and made a frame of that scene, you would have nothing more than a pregnant lady standing in front of the bog! Not exactly the stuff dreams are made of, is it? But I had this idea in my head for a while now – flooding a room with light (took about 4 flashes) and having the model/subject/pregnant person stand in the doorway, to block out the spill, and me in the room across passage with a long-ish lens. Didn’t turn out too badly I don’t think… but I already have a few improvements brewing in the ol’ noggin! Next time, next time….

So on this particular shoot I pulled out just about every trick in the book – or at least every one at my disposal! I used every light shaping tool I own… snoots, softboxes, gels, white double-bed sheet – you name it! I even had to use some toilet paper as diffuser material when the flash was still too strong, after moving as far away and dialing it down as much as it allowed. I shot at shutter speeds WAY slower than anyone should be trying to shoot hand-held and I used wider lenses than the know-it-all types say one is supposed to use for portraiture… Heck I even broke the one sacred rule of photography when we finally did shoot outside – we did it right smack bang in the middle of the day! No “golden hour”, no warm backlight, no setting sun.. no, no, no! HARD, FLAT, UGLY mid-day sun – that’s how we role! So all ‘n all, I really challenged myself with this shoot… I could have done a lot of things differently to make it easier on yours truly, but I got way more out of it this way… plus, I quite like the pics!

I hadn’t been to Vredendal since the “Rittlefees” was at the very heights of its powers (a few years ago for those not in the know), but one thing I had vivid memories of was the absolutely blistering heat! Quite literally seared into my memory, I think. You can get a tan just thinking of Vredendal in November… 40 degrees in the shade and there aint no shade! So I might be forgiven for the level of trepidation I approached this wedding with. I had visions of heatstroke, dehydration, of eggs cooking on car bonnets and having to dig out roots of plants for some moisture in order to survive – very Bear Grills! I think the very thought of Vredendal in summertime would have ol’ Bear quaffing a pint of his own urine or squeezing the last water from a dead Camel’s rumen!

But turns out I was way off and my fears were completely misplaced… unfounded even! Turns out the hottest thing in Vredendal in early November was was in fact YOUNG LOVE… burnin’ strong! And the closest I got to drinking urine was a shot of Witblits – although, sometimes I’m not 100% sure which I prefer, truth be told! Be that as it may, we were treated to a perfectly cool evening in the countryside (What a blessing), with very little uncomfortable sweating – For which I was ever so thankful. But whilst outside it might have been quiet and cool, with only a slight breeze stirring through the trees… Inside it was quite a different story alltogether! more like a STORM! At least, that’s what the guests were dishing up on the dance floor! Rockstar moves, I tell ya… Would make the Jackson Five look like first round contestants on “so you think you can dance”!

In my expert opinion, a crazy good time was had by all! And that certainly extends to yours truly here, who had a ball trying out some interesting new lighting setups and shooting some late night portraits of the lovely couple, who were up for anything! YAY for my awesome couples… YET AGAIN! Now look, you might be inclined to think that this is just the sort of thing every photographer says – you know, to be nice, and what not. But let’s be quite honest, it’s not every bride who willingly plonks down on the ground in her beautiful white dress when the loon holding the camera mentions that “lying down in the dirt” might be a good idea! Of course, that wasn’t the only “bright idea” the loon with the camera had on the night… making out under various lighting fixtures was another reoccurring theme… oh, and don’t forget the little game I like to call “everyone puff the cigar and make smoke”! hehe… but it was all done for a good cause! that cause being awesome pictures, of course!

So thanks a bunch to Hannes and Anelle for letting me enjoy their lovely wedding with them – it was an absolute pleasure and they have extended my long run of having only the best and coolest couples! As is always my wish, I hope that these memories will last them a lifetime. It was a great occasion and if ever that age old question is asked: “wie maak vir Vredendal lekker?” …well… these folks right here – they do!

Constance and Ferdi tied the knot at the spectacular Allee Bleue estate, just outside Franschoek, on the most perfect of spring days. Those not so new to the blog might recall their engagement shoot from a few weeks back — shot at the same awesome location. As part of my prep for that shoot I scouted a couple of locations before Constance and Ferdi arrived and found some loooooovely orchards (and man-eating, killer squirrels, but that’s a different story altogether). I also found the smallest of hints of what was to come… just one small little white flower. The trees were just about to bloom, or so I figured, not being a botanist of any great acclaim! Nevertheless I made a wild, completely unscientific estimate of blooming times for unspecified trees with white blossoms and decided that we would have perfect white blossoms everywhere, just in time for the big day – and then marked the spot with a big mental X in the back of my mind!

The weeks flew by and on rolled the wedding. My Secret Orchard was somewhat secluded – about 3 days on horseback from the main venue… Bear Grills would no doubt have needed to drink his own urine on the way over there… But apart from simply being “far”, the distance also meant that I wasn’t going to get there and check it out before our couple shoot, so I had no way of knowing whether my botanical stab in the dark had been even remotely close to the mark. Only thing to do was hope for the best and then take Constance and Ferdi on a roundabout trip of shooting locations, each one slightly further into the woods and edging ever so slightly closer to where I hoped to discover the awesomeness of an entire orchard dressed in white… either that, or a witch’s house made entirely of candy! As it turned out, the sun was just about to set behind the mountains and we were nearing the end of the shoot. We had walked about as far one could ask of a bride in full bridal attire – which doesn’t include hiking boots – when I caught a glimpse of the orchard around the next bend. IN! FULL! BLOOM!

I nearly pee’d my pants!

anyhoo… was my first shoot with white blossoms, OK! so I was just a little excited – gimme a break! But the excitement didn’t stop me from noticing that Constance looked an absolute vision and Ferdi was as relaxed and fun as he was when we did their engagement shoot… so it all made for a great day — Great couple (cause I always have the best couples! touch wood!), great weather, yummy food, stunning venue, guests who had a BALL on the dance floor and those awesome white blossoms. YAY!

Thanks to Natelee Koen for assisting me and Jaypee Malherbe for doing such top notch make-up work! Nice one!

Evening folks! I’ve been dragging my heels a little and this post is long overdue, but I feel absolutely inspired to get it up tonight. What with these two rapidly turning into my favorite couple of all time… I met Charlene just a couple of months before the wedding when she was interviewing potential photographers for her and Divan’s big day. I was meeting both her and the wedding coordinators for the first time – a little chat over coffee to see if we “clicked”, as one does… and click we did! Me and Charlene got there first and by the time Mary-Ann and Charlene from Dream Catchers (wedding planning) arrived, we had already had a meeting of the minds. We hit it off right from the get-go and got on like a house on fire. Charlene’s excitement about her coming wedding was nothing short of infectious and I couldn’t help but get caught up in it myself.

After that we had some really good fun shooting their e-session, on a day when the weather threatened to derail the whole thing. With the wedding fast approaching and the weather not doing us any favors, we decided to just go out and see what we could get, no matter what. Come hell or high water… or Cape Town winter, for that matter! We ended up having to shoot in the rain on a day most people would much rather have spent under the duvet or in front of the telly, but there was never a complaint or so much as a hint of negativity… and it showed in the photos, I think. Two awesome people, very in love, caught up in the excitement of their big day and just having fun. We got some really nice shots too and I think it just fuelled that flame of theirs even more.

Watching them on their big day, it was just a pleasure to see all of that excitement and planning and effort and waiting all come together and unfold into a perfect evening. In typical Cape Town fashion, it went from pouring rain and freezing cold during the week to balmy summertime on the Saturday. Sunny and hot with a 100% chance of happiness! I hope I’ve done a good enough job of capturing that happiness and that these images will give them a lifetime of memories. They definitely deserve it!

And so it is that I write this with a tummy so full that I can hardly see, let alone type. Divan, being and avid fisherman, was able to organise me some fresh tuna steaks — which I promptly seared and popped on a lush bed of mash! Those babies never even made it to the fridge. Overindulgence is a vice I have long struggled with… and I’m afraid if I get my hands on any more of that tuna, those struggles are sure to continue. So before I take a little cat-nap (or raid the kitchen for seconds), let me share the pretty pics from the wedding!

Enjoy!

ps. Big shout out to the Dream Catchers team for putting everything together! Was an absolute pleasure working with you guys… long may it continue!

So with jiffybags on everything electronic and umbrellas on everything recently engaged we braved the elements, risking life and limb and conquering a very real fear of melting. Yes, lesser men would no doubt have been sipping hot chocolate and watching reruns of Frazier or the OC, but not us… oh no, not us! Fearlessly we soldiered on! Through mildly cool air. Through intermittent drizzle. Through icky wet grass that soaked your shoes and made you slosh-slosh when you walked. Ignoring the very real threat of trench foot – the careless photographers greatest enemy, I like to think of it – we soldiered on!

In the end we did get to take some pretty photos. We certainly got to know each other a bit better (which is the real point of these sessions) and we definitely shared a good few laughs! Once again the feedback from the soon-to-be-weds was great and I think they got a great deal out of it. Not just the nice pics, but confidence. Confidence in me, the process and confidence in front of the camera. Not only does it take the pressure off before the big day, but it really helps build the excitement.

As luck would have it, the weather also started to clear up nicely just as we were finishing up… Mother nature – she is a cruel mistress.

As a precursor to Wedding Season, which is just ’round the corner, we have now entered Engagement Shoot season. With some clients engagement shoots also mean a long awaited first meeting with yours truly here. Me and Constance, for instance, have been liaising over the phone or by way of emails for the past couple of months and their E-session was a chance for us to finally catch up – face to face. I always meet with clients in the lead-up to the big day, just to go over the last little details and discuss the program, but if you can do that at a beautiful venue on a balmy spring day and throw in a bit of a photo shoot – well, why not? And oh boy did we have a nice venue… Allee Bleue is practically legendary in the Cape Winelands wedding industry and not without good reason either. I spent a leisurely half-hour just walking all over the place. Down to the river. Through the orchards and into some bushes where a squirrel gave me the fright of my life and I nearly died! All part of the job… you have to be fearless as a photographer – even when dealing with dangerous wild animals like squirrels! They can take your arm clean of, you know!

So after a quick change of pants and a shot of sugar water, we were off to take some pics… and I was reminded again how good these sessions are, both for me as a photographer and for the soon-to-be-wed couple. The feedback I get after e-shoots is always so positive and each couple will generally echo the same sentiments: “we had so much fun and it’s just made us so much more excited about the wedding day and the photos!”. Time and again! An engagement shoot is really the 2 hours it takes you to go from “we really don’t enjoying being in front of the camera” to “we can’t wait for the photos on our wedding day”. Dare I say, this was no exception… Ferdi and Constance are so quick to have a laugh together, I basically just had to leave them alone for a second and then stand back and start shooting. Easy. as. that!

Can’t wait for their wedding next weekend! Happy people, awesome venue and – as a kicker – I have it on good authority that we’ll see some white blossoms in the orchards! Holding thumbs!

It feels like AGES ago that Arnelle and Luca got married, but here we are preparing for baby #2… and if little Eliah is anything to go by, Arnelle’s gonna have her hands full once his brother arrives. Eliah is quite possibly the busiest little, red headed, Italian boerseun you’re likely to encounter. He makes Dennis the
Menace look like a choir boy on Xanax. The mental picture of him dragging The_Girlfriend’s big handbag towards the swimming pool brings an instant smile to my face… but the image of Arnelle, highly pregnant, running after him sends me all the way over the edge, right into the giggles.

Unfortunately the gang have left our shores for their other home in Italy and we won’t see them for a few more months, until the next SA visit. By then this little bump will be gone and Eliah will have some much needed help getting that handbag to the pool! Spare a thought for Arnelle though… She just wanted two things. 1. Some peace and quiet. 2. Some nice black and whites of her in her very pregnant state. Well, unless she picks up a magic lantern (complete with wish granting genie voiced by Robin Williams), wish 1 is about as likely as a successful return to show biz for New Kids On The Block… So I tried to do what I can to make at least one of her wishes come true! You know, I do what I can! hehe… And why not? I LOVE a nice black and white photo — who doesn’t, right?

When it comes to Boudoir shoots, I’ve found that its very much like buying a house… Location, location, LOCATION! So a big, HUGE thanks must go out to Ann Solot from Summerwood Guesthouse in Stellenbosch, who was super kind in letting us run wild in her beautiful palace of a house. It was a fantastic setting and made for a great shoot. From a photography and lighting side, I used between 1 and 3 flashes in most of these images. I found that the windows often gave me all the light I needed for a key light, so I would just put up a flash behind the subject (the Beautiful Safeya, thankya very much) as a kicker for some highlights or bounce it for some fill in order to compress the dynamic range a bit. When I did use the flash as a main light, I was shooting it through my little 30xmx40cm softbox, which hardly seems to come off the light stand these days… I love that thing! In close it gives me a nice soft light, good for this sort of shoot, but when moved just a smidgen further off, it gives something quite interesting – somewhere in between “glamour soft” and “bare-flash hard” – which I’m really starting to like.

I only used one lens – the 50mm f1.4 – and shot on anything from wide open to f5.6… mostly at fairly reasonable ISOs of about 640 or 800 and then up to ISO1600 for the odd shot. So why the 50? Well, I found with some earlier shoots that the distortion you get at wider focal lengths can be terribly unflattering. For instance, a leg or arm close to the camera can be made to look.. hmm.. well.. shall we simply say “bigger”! And when you’re shooting a lady in her unmentionables, that is most certainly not the look you’re after! I’d be using a 70-200, at the long end, for the average portrait session but the very nature of these shoots generally tend to put you in a smallish room and the 70-200 doesn’t fare so well in close quarter combat. You just can’t back away far enough. So something more-or-less in the middle, like the 50, seems to be right in the sweet-spot. Plus, the image quality will knocks spots off the 24-70. For pixel peepers like myself who value that extra bit of sharpness, it’s an easy choice!

Sadly I can’t show all the pics from the day, but Safeya has been kind enough to let me put up a small selection. Have a look!

It’s kind of a long story and I don’t want to land up in the hot water, so lets just say they were only going to get married early next year, but then… Visa.. papers… work permits.. illegal immigrants! You know, stuff happened. Ever see that movie with Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reanolds? whatsitcalled? The PROPOSAL! well just like that… except slightly less drama and a bit more comedy.. and more of a Meg Ryan feel than Sandra Bullock, truth be told.

So 2 weeks – read it: “TWO”!! yes, ladies and gents, apparently that’s more or less what one needs to put together a proper wedding bash these days… I feel a Wayne’s World reference coming on and at the risk of completely losing my audience and giving away my age: “If you book them, they will come”… And so they did… and the people they did have the fun and they did eat and they did dance and they did rejoice. And me? I did take the pretty pictures of course!

A big THANKS to Yolande Marx for helping out again. You’re a star! Enjoy the pics and drop us a comment…

Toodles
Jan