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Teaser! Botha Wedding | Bell Amour, Pretoria
Wow, another great wedding from this weekend! Super privileged! Here’s a sneak peak.
“A hundred hearts would be too few to carry all my love for you.”
—Unknown
Mickey Mouse and a Praying Mantis | #stayathome
Am I going crazy or did a Praying Mantis dance with Mickey Mouse?
Am I going crazy or did a Praying Mantis dance with Mickey Mouse? Perhaps not.
I used to own a macro lens when I had Canon equipment (a long time ago), and since then I have been using Nikon equipment and I resorted to borrowing an extension tube from a friend. It can turn any lens into a macro lens, but the downside is that it’s not as quick to use and precise as a macro lens, and also not as sharp…but it does work. These were shot at 12:00am which means the sun is blazing on all cylinders, but my trusty Godox AD200 allows me to shoot using high speed sync, so I can shoot at any shutterspeed I choose. And its powerful enough to balance the sun, and also darken the background. Without the flash, the background would be completely over exposed and I won’t be able to isolate the the subject. It is not as powerful as the bigger Godox flashes, that can completely over power the sun, and in some cases even darken the effect of the sun. I would be able to get this effect if I add another AD200 next to mine and to fire them at the same time with the same power, but I only own one flash. Long story short, this is an amazing piece of equipment. I have seen that Godox is launching their AD300 Pro in SA soon, and it will give a kidney…hey…don’t judge…lockdown has dried up my income…just joking…I like my kidneys…but I would love to own one.
Enjoy the photos. I also sprayed the Praying Mantis with water, and my idea was to catch the spray behind the insect but it didn’t work so well, so I photographed the water droplets on him…which turned out super cool!
I also had some fun with my Lego Mickey Mouse minifigure! I thought it would be cute to make them dance! I used my AD200 with a Magmod grid and blue gel from the right, and my Nikon SB910 flash with orange gel from the left.
Mickey Mouse got hitched | #stayathome
Mickey mouse got hitched! #stayathome #lockdown2020 #covid19
My daughter has this cute little doll Lego, and just knew I wanted her to get married…and the only other Lego I could find with a tuxedo was Mickey Mouse. It’s the Mickey Mouse from the first cartoon Disney made, and I think they make a cute pair!
I used my LED light and flashlight (with a long carton tube, this focused the light) to light the toys, and I used my wedding tricks to photograph them.
My original idea was to photograph Mickey Mouse and Petunia (I am calling her Petunia) in a water droplet, and it turned out it is impossible…I guess I am going it wrong if it is not the case…hehehe. I then improvised by placing the subjects underneath the glass table and I made 2 big droplets on the table and I photographed their faces in these droplets. I also tried suspending them in the air underneath the table, and it resulted in very moody misty photos…which is also a cool effect. I also then improvised by placing the subjects on the glass table with droplets and I then placed color squares underneath to get the color pattern from the squares displayed in the droplets. I got this idea from Jacki Bruniquel a while ago and I have been dying to try this technique. This is magic and I love the results!
For the other photos I went around in my yard to photograph them. I used my LED light to light the subjects and I played around with my flashlight with effects. The carton tube, which focused the light, made for really interesting photos, and I also used a pattern with the photos at the end…if you light into a paper with cut-out stripes…then you get stripes in the shadows. The is easily done with a Magmod system, but I dont have the patterns. (yet)
Enjoy the photos and please comment and share with your friends!
Ryno and Simone | Urban couple shoot | Parkhurst
Ryno and Simoné beautiful urban coupe shoot in Parkhurst was so much fun!
I hosted a little competition on my Facebook page and Simone was one of the 2 winners!
Originally I wanted to create a super romantic Valentines Day shoot on a rooftop, but due to circumstances I postponed and postponed, up until I said to Simone let’s just do a normal Urban couple shoot. I am so glad we ended up doing an urban shoot because Ryno and Simone are such naturals. They were keen for me to experiment a lot, which I loved, because during couple shoots I have less stress to provide “perfect wedding or engagement” photos but rather very creative and personal photos for them as a couple. I am not saying that I dont create super cool photos for my clients during engagement shoots or weddings but rather that the stress to create them is less. (So I can play a bit more and experiment a bit more…which I love). I also use these platforms to practice shots I would not dare to try during a wedding shoot due to the time limit and error factor…during a wedding I can’t make mistakes!
We went to Parkhurst for photos in the streets, and Ryno and Simone are such a cool couple. They are not engaged…well not yet…wink wink. It’s actually quite funny how many people responded on the photos “I see wedding bells in the distance…!”
They looked absolutely beautiful and so much in love!
Enjoy the photos and please leave a comment at the end!
(Click on the image to enlarge)
Stuart and Nicole | Wedding | Hertford Country Hotel
Such a beautiful and wet wedding at Hertford Country Hotel. Stuart and Nicole looked amazing and I love all the colours!
A real man loves his wife, and places his family as the most important thing in life. Nothing has brought me more peace and content in life than simply being a good husband and father. Frank Abagnale
Wow, what a wet few days before the wedding, and also during the wedding. It started to rain on the Thursday and it never really stopped, and we had some good downpours during the wedding! But that doesn’t stop Stuart and Nicole and her guests…I have a smile in almost every photo I have taken! It was probably the most challenging wedding for me to date due to the weather, because it’s darker than normal and having people cramped in small spaces because they can’t be out in the rain makes it very difficult…and the rain delayed almost everyone getting to the venue…but I really love the outcome!
I told Stuart and Nicole that we will take photos in the rain during their couple shoot, and they were like “Yeah, sure!”…I mean Nicole woke up with a sore throat and she had 20% of her voice the whole day, but they were keen to tackle the rain. Luckily we didn’t have pouring rain during the couple shoot, and we even improvised a little by adding some water (one of the groomsmen squirted water on them to create lots of water for a really cool rain shot). I realised that with the really cool rain photos out there, there was lots and lots of rain, and we only had a little rain…so to make “lots of rain” I made holes in a water bottle to create a soft downpour on the couple…and it WORKED!
The bridesmaids were also full of ideas…I can’t take credit for the photos where they opened the umbrellas to get water on Stuart and Nicole…so I guess they are also to blame for making Nicole wet…hehehe.
This was my last wedding for 2019 and what a way to end of the year!
Enjoy the photos. Please be so kind and leave a comment at the end of the blog post! a little love goes a long way!
Here’s a list of all the suppliers who were involved to make the day special.
Venue: Hertford Country Hotel | Live Music: We Will Worship, Muneyi Romeo, Mpho Ntuli | Wedding dress: De La Vida (La Sposa design) | Shoes: Shwezu | Flowers and decor: Talita from Flowers Direct | DJ: Victor from Flash Mobile Studios | Makeup: Tash Studio | Stationery: Express Marketing
(Click on the image to enlarge)
Nabeel and Amina | Engagement session | Bryanston Pine Forest
Wow, I had a super amazing engagement session with Nabeel and Amina. We went to the beautiful Bryanston Pine Forest to create memories for them.
“Outer beauty attracts, but inner beauty captivates.”
― Kate Angell
Wow, I had a super special engagement session with Nabeel and Amina. We went to the beautiful Bryanston Pine Forest to create memories for them. I love the way Nabeel looks at Amina…yup he is completely in love with his bride-to-be!
I really had an amazing time, and thank you for allowing me to capture some memories for you! Enjoy the photos and please leave a comment at the end!
(Click on an image to enlarge)
Teaser! Stuart and Nicole | Wedding | Hertford Country Hotel
Such a beautiful and wet wedding at Hertford Country Hotel. Stuart and Nicole looked amazing and I love all the colours!
A real man loves his wife, and places his family as the most important thing in life. Nothing has brought me more peace and content in life than simply being a good husband and father. Frank Abagnale
Wow, what a wet few days before the wedding, and also during the wedding. It started to rain on the Thursday and it never really stopped, and we had some good downpours during the wedding! But that doesn’t stop Stuart and Nicole and her guests…I have a smile in almost every photo I have taken! It was probably the most challenging wedding for me to date due to the weather, because it’s darker than normal and having people cramped in small spaces because they can’t be out in the rain makes it very difficult…and the rain delayed almost everyone getting to the venue…but I really love the outcome!
I told Stuart and Nicole that we will take photos in the rain during their couple shoot, and they were like “Yeah, sure!”…I mean Nicole woke up with a sore throat and she had 20% of her voice the whole day, but they were keen to tackle the rain. Luckily we didn’t have pouring rain during the couple shoot, and we even improvised a little by adding some water (one of the groomsmen squirted water on them to create lots of water for a really cool rain shot). I realised that with the really cool rain photos out there, there was lots and lots of rain, and we only had a little rain…so to make “lots of rain” I made holes in a water bottle to create a soft downpour on the couple…and it WORKED!
The bridesmaids were also full of ideas…I can’t take credit for the photos where they opened the umbrellas to get water on Stuart and Nicole…so I guess they are also to blame for making Nicole wet…hehehe.
This was my last wedding for 2019 and what a way to end of the year!
Enjoy the photos. Please be so kind and leave a comment at the end of the blog post! a little love goes a long way!
Here’s a list of all the suppliers who were involved to make the day special.
Venue: Hertford Country Hotel | Live Music: We Will Worship, Muneyi Romeo, Mpho Ntuli | Wedding dress: De La Vida (La Sposa design) | Shoes: Shwezu | Flowers and decor: Talita from Flowers Direct | DJ: Victor from Flash Mobile Studios | Makeup: Tash Studio | Stationery: Express Marketing
(Click on the image to enlarge)
Teaser! Nabeel and Amina | Engaged | Bryanston Pine Forest
Wow, I had a super amazing engagement session yesterday with Nabeel and Amina. We went to the beautiful Bryanston Pine Forest to create memories for them.
“Outer beauty attracts, but inner beauty captivates.”
― Kate Angell
Wow, I had a super special engagement session with Nabeel and Amina yesterday. We went to the beautiful Bryanston Pine Forest to create memories for them. I love the way Nabeel looks at Amina, I mean he is completely in love with his bride-to-be!
I really had an amazing time, and thank you for allowing me to capture some memories for you! Enjoy the photos and please leave a comment at the end!
Melt, Ohna and the twins | Urban session | Melville, Jhb
This was one of the coolest shoots I have done and love the photos! Melt, Ohna and the twins are such a beautiful family!
I had the privilege to capture Melt and Ohna’s maternity shoot two years ago, and look at the twins now! Wow, they are soooo freakin cute and they were a breeze to shoot! They were doing their own thing, and I have learnt to follow what the kids do with family shoots, and it works amazingly! It also helped to show them the flash button on my camera, and they could press the button and “shoot” someone (I mean it looks like lightning going off when the flash fires) as incentive! They loved it! We did the maternity shoot in Melville one early morning, and they wanted to recreate some of the images but with the kids, and its amazing how a place can change. Many of the places were not there anymore, but I must say the “updated” Mellville looks amazing. I just loved the protea murial which wasnt there the last time!
Enough said. This was one of the coolest shoots I have done and love the photos! Please leave a comment at the end!
Werner and Elsa | Gender Reveal | Northcliff, Jhb
Congrats! Hadassah is going to be loved! Maternity shoot for Werner and Elsa was super special!
What do you get when you mix your own best friends Werner and Elsa, with a smoke grenade, Jacaranda tree flowers, the location where they got engaged, and lots and lots of wind? Really awesome memories!
Werner and Elsa is personally very good friends, they have been with us through the good and tough times…so they mean a lot to us! Elsa obviously wanted me to capture some really cool maternity and gender reveal photos of them and the baba that’s on the way, so it’s really special for me to be able to share in this special time of their lives. (I obviously knew they are getting a girl even before their parents knew, becuase I had to bring a pink smoke grenade! hehehe)
Elsa wanted to do a baby reveal shoot in September at around 16 weeks of her pregnancy, but baba didn’t want to reveal the gender, so the shoot was postponed by a month to 25 October 2019, and wow…we had such a special time.
We almost missed the Jacaranda tree flowers season, but we got some really cool spots close to Northcliff Koppie in Randburg. We also did most of the photos at the Watertower or Koppie because the place is special to them…that’s where Werner asked Elsa to marry him, and it’s special also because the views of the city and the sunsets are next level up there! We weren’t so lucky with the sunset, and on top of that we were greeted with crazy winds, so that’s why Elsa had a rather crazy hair-do in the photos…we had to stand with her face down-wind otherwise we wouldn’t have seen her face…hehehe!
We eventually revealed that they are going to have a little girl, Hadassah, and what a beautiful God-given name! Congrats you two! You are going to be such great parents, and she is going to be loved to the Moon and back! You guys are like Godparents to our kids, and if you are half the parents you are as with our kids, then you are going to be briliant!
Enough said, enjoy the photos and please leave a comment at the end!
Click on the image to enlarge!
Gizelle and Raiden | Matric Farewell | Gold Reef City
Raiden and Gizelle’s matric farewell shoot was fun-filled and so colourful! Just love playing with smoke grenades!
Raiden and Gizelle’s matric farewell was such a fun-filled and colourful day! And wow, Gizelle you looked absolutely stunning! And I just loved Raiden’s white suit and they truly complimented each other so well!
My new favourite toy is smoke grenades! I must say, it looks easy using a smoke grenade in the photos, but it gets interesting when the wind doesn’t play along. We did the creative shoot at Gold Reef City and I knew I couldn’t use the smoke grenades over there, so we did the smoke grenade photos at Greenfields Guest House in Alberton, on their little stoep on the roof. And here the wind sort-off twirled in many directions. The one moment its blowing in your face and then next moment it comes from behind…but hey…we got seriously cool results, and luckily we had 2 smoke grenades to play with!
At the end of the day I did a few fashion shots with Gizelle and geapers….she is amazing in front of camera! Just look at the results! I must say my Godox AD200 with softbox helped a lot. I also used my Godox AD200 flash with Magnetmod Grid with 1/2 CTO gel when we did the creative shoot at Gold Reef City!
Gizelle’s makeup was done by Pretty Little Things!
Enjoy the photos and please leave a comment at the end!
(CLICK ON AN IMAGE TO ENLARGE)
Teaser! Gizelle and Raiden | Matric Farewell | Gold Reef City
Here’s a sneak peak of Gizelle and Raiden’s matric farewell yesterday. Wow, Gizelle looked absolutely stunning and Raiden looked radiant in his white suit! We started at Gold Reef City and ended at Greenfields Guest House in Alberton!
Teaser! Gizelle and Raiden | Matric Farewell | Gold Reef City
Here’s a sneak peak of Gizelle and Raiden’s matric farewell yesterday. Wow, Gizelle looked absolutely stunning and Raiden looked radiant in his white suit! We started at Gold Reef City and ended at Greenfields Guest House in Alberton!
Enjoy the photos and please leave a comment at the end!
Teaser! Matric Farewell 2019 | Morrells and H/s Linden
A sneakpeak of the matric farewell photos I did today and OH BOY! I love them!
Teaser! Matric Farewell 2019 | Morrells and H/s Linden
Wow, I had fun with these young adults! Corlé de Villiers asked me to capture some memories for daughter, Menine, for her Matric Farewell. She booked a slot at Morrells for beautiful venue photos and pics with the family and Menine and her friends arranged for us to take pictures at their school H/s Linden, Johannesburg.
I brought along 2 smoke grenades (purple and orange) as a little gift and I must say those pictures came out amazing! I just love the emotion in them…..I almost felt like screaming “FREEDOOOOOM” when they shouted and jumped…and the orange smoke grenade definitely burnt longer than 90seconds. It was almost like it would never stop.
Oh yes, the pictures where they are standing on a table…welll…that is the desk of the vice principal at H/s Linden. He must be the coolest teacher on the planet. He said they can do whatever they want…”you can even stand on my desk if you want” and they did…!
Here’s a sneakpeak of 80+ photos because I know people these days want to Instagram almost immediately what they looked like…and I want my clients to Instagram my photos…heheh!
Please leave a comment at the end!
Zander & Mariska | Wedding | Memoire Wedding Venue
What an emotional and special wedding at MEMOIRE. Zander and Mariska, thank you for allowing me to capture your wedding love story. I enjoyed every second! and you had me to tears many times!
Zander & Mariska | Wedding | Memoire Wedding Venue
“Words are not enough to express the unconditional love that exists between a mother and a daughter.” – Caitlin Houston
What an emotional and special wedding at MEMOIRE. Zander and Mariska, thank you for allowing me to capture your wedding love story, to be cherished forever! Wow, Mariska, you looked absolutely gorgeous in your wedding dress made by Mubarak from the Goodluck Bridal. Fafa from FDK Styling made sure all the girls’ makeup looks amazing and Armon from Bridal by Armon did magic with their hair! Thank you for getting the girls done on time, and also the laughs and for keeping Mariska sane! Mariska really appreciated you guys!
There were many highlights for me during the day. First one, they didn’t have a wedding cake but instead a Pinata, made by Pinata Africa. I love the photos from when they “murdered” the pinata, and I also love their reactions afterwards…it almost looked like they got to let off some steam from the wedding!
The biggest highlight for me was Mariska’s mom. She has dementia, which means she doesn’t really understand what is going on around her. So a few minutes before Mariska needed to get in the wedding car (a supercool Chevrolet called Johanna) to go meet her prince-charming, she greeted her mom and due to her mom’s illness, she didn’t understood what was playing off in front of her...her daughter is almost getting married. Mariska told me that her mom thinks she got invited to a birthday party. I could see what it meant for Mariska to have her mom there and how it touched her heart to be able to share this with her mom, but also it broke her heart because her mom doesn’t understand. I captured a moment when her bridesmaids took a moment to pray with her alone to give her the strength to enjoy the day with her loved ones but also with her mom. There was another moment right after they said their “I-do”s when they spoke with her mom and for a glimpse it seemed she understood and that she was proud of her daughter and new son-in-law. The amazing thing about a photo is that it’s eternal, a moment captured to be cherished forever!
WOW! THIS IS WHY I DO WHAT I DO!
I love REAL moments at weddings! I really pray Mariska that you will remember your mom as the woman she once was and that you will believe your mom understood in that moment what was going on when you spoke to her at the wedding (even if she didn’t).
Great, now less words more photos. The day was truly amazing, and we had loads of fun. Enjoy the photos.
Thank you Lechien for second shooting for me! Was lovely having you with me!
Please leave a comment at the end, a little love goes a long way!
Ryan & Natalia | Engagement shoot | Nirox Sculpture Park
Ryan and Natalia had so much fun for their engagement shoot at the beautiful Nirox Sculpture Park.
Ryan & Natalia | Engagement shoot | Nirox Sculpture Park
Ryan and Natalia had so much fun for their engagement shoot at the beautiful Nirox Sculpture Park.
The Nirox Park is for the ART fans, but also for the garden enthusiasts….I mean it looks like a botanical gardens with huge sculptures and artwork placed everywhere…which makes for very creative photos…which I love! I am not a ART person in bone and marrow, but I am very creative so I just loved doing this shoot for them!
Enjoy the photos and please leave a comment at the end!
Dane & Ashleigh | Fun in Parkhurst | Engagement shoot
Wow, I had fun with these two for their engagement shoot. Dane and Ashleigh are adventurous souls and they were almost silly in every photo...which I loved.
Dane & Ashleigh | Fun in Parkhurst | Engagement shoot
A hundred hearts would be too few to carry all my love for you. Unknown
Wow, I had fun with these two. Dane and Ashleigh are adventurous souls and they were almost silly in every photo...which I loved.
They were a bit on their nerves but its understandable. The reason why I love doing engagement shoots is for my clients to get over the awkwardness of being photographed and I want it to be during their engagement shoot (I mean everybody who is not a model is a little unconfortable in front of the camera), and not the during the wedding. They will be much more relaxed during the wedding, and I am sure their personalities will shine even more during their wedding especially when they are at ease!
Ashleigh really wanted an urban shoot so we went to Parkhurst, Johannesburg, and walked the streets. We also had a quick coffee at Vovo Telo and did some creative shots in the restaurant.
They are getting married at Rosemary Hill later this year and they need photos for their save-the-date and wedding invite website, and they told me their computers were stolen very recently so they don't have any pictures of them together! Now I am even more convinced their engagement shoot photos will be super special to them!
Makeup: Face by Geraldi (Geraldi Spurling)
Enjoy the photos and please leave a comment at the end!
Teaser! Dane & Ashleigh | Fun in Parkhurst | Engagement shoot
Wow, I had fun with these two. Dane and Ashleigh are adventurous souls and they were almost silly in every photo...which I loved.
Teaser! Dane & Ashleigh | Fun in Parkhurst | Engagement shoot
A hundred hearts would be too few to carry all my love for you. Unknown
Wow, I had fun with these two. Dane and Ashleigh are adventurous souls and they were almost silly in every photo...which I loved.
They were a bit on their nerves but its understandable. The reason why I love doing engagement shoots is for my clients to get over the awkwardness of being photographed and I want it to be during their engagement shoot (I mean everybody who is not a model is a little unconfortable in front of the camera), and not the during the wedding. They will be much more relaxed during the wedding, and I am sure their personalities will shine even more during their wedding especially when they are at ease!
Ashleigh really wanted an urban shoot so we went to Parkhurst, Johannesburg, and walked the streets. We also had a quick coffee at Vovo Telo and did some creative shots in the restaurant.
They are getting married at Rosemary Hill later this year and they need photos for their save-the-date and wedding invite website, and they told me their computers were stolen very recently so they don't have any pictures of them together! Now I am even more convinced their engagement shoot photos will be super special to them!
Enjoy the photos and please leave a comment at the end!
