|
Friday, 20 March 2009 17:58 |
|
This afternoon we got a flash flood warning here in Pretoria. I never came across any flash floods but this is how it ended. 
PS. A really great song I'm loving at the moment Coldplay : Strawberry Swing
|
|
Thursday, 05 February 2009 18:32 |
|
The only place on earth where pure water is found is in a laboratory. Rain water always contains small amounts of impurities. These impurities come from dust particles or are absorbed from the gases in the air. 
|
|
Thursday, 15 January 2009 23:29 |
|
"One's comfort zone refers to the set of environments and behaviors with which one is comfortable, without creating a sense of risk. A person's personality can be described by his or her comfort zones." Wikipedia I tried to get out of my comfort zone during the last two weeks of 2008. I did as little people shooting as possible. We drove down to Scarborough and on to St Helena Bay. Its really difficult to shoot a landscape when youre use to brides.
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
.
|
Pricing Update
I have updated my pricing for next year. Have a look here
|
|
I was contacted by the girls of MKD for a portrait of the team. MKD is a recruitment company specializing in the health care industry, check them out. 
|
Pictures are an integral part of any wedding. Newlyweds are usually thrilled to get their pictures back from the photographer so they can relive their special day. But there are many special activities you can build into a wedding that involve photos.
One fun idea that many brides employ is to take photos of everyone as they arrive at the wedding, almost like you do at a high school prom or company Christmas party. You can provide a backdrop and couples can pose either for a paid photographer or for whoever happens to pick up the camera. These pictures can be taken with a Polaroid camera for instant fun or with a disposable camera. If you want slightly higher quality photos, go for a digital camera.
This can be an excellent way to keep guests busy and happy until the "official" reception begins with the arrival of the bride and groom.
As an extension of that idea, you can take instant photos and create scrapbook pages or memory book pages with the photos. There can be supplies on hand so guests can create pages on site, or pages can be pre-made and photos simply placed into the prepared spaces. If guests don't want to create pages on site, or the bride doesn't want this particular activity going on, the photos can be saved for later. As a gift for the bride and groom, someone can create memory books with these photos.
If Polaroid cameras are used, another option is to have the people in the photo sign the Polaroid photo and place that in a basket somewhere. The bride and groom will enjoy looking at the photos later.
While it's not a particularly unique idea, many brides like to provide disposable cameras on each table at the reception so guests can capture candid shots of the reception and the table guests. These photos can be added to the newlyweds' wedding album or they can be placed into a separate album showing the wedding from the guests' perspective.
Another fun activity sure to be entertaining is to create a "silent photo guess" area. Here's how this works: before the wedding, someone close to the bride and groom collects pictures of the bride and groom at various stages in life. The photos should depict the bride and groom doing things, not at Christmas or with their first birthday cake. In other words, the photos should include some action, but it shouldn't be obvious in the picture what has taken place or where the person is.
Much like a silent auction, people will come along and look at the photos, then take a silent guess as to what the photos show. They can write their guess on a piece of paper and put it in a numbered basket that corresponds with the number on the photo. Reading these guesses during the reception is entertaining and sure to be amusing. The bride or groom can provide the real answers. This is a particularly fun activity at a relatively small, family wedding where the participants know the bride and groom very well.
If you want to provide an area for guests to have their photos taken but aren't thrilled with the "prom night" idea, how about having a photo corner set up somewhere in the reception hall or facility. Here, the wedding photographer will take candid shots of wedding guests. They might be couples, but could also be entire families, friends having a good time, or the groom being carried on the shoulders of the best man. Whatever the pictures end up being, they provide a fun, "let it all hang out" area for the wedding guests and a surprise for the bride and groom. Since they will likely be busy with all the reception details and having the time of THEIR lives, they might appreciate knowing their guests had a pretty good time too, as evidenced in the photos.
|
|
Outdoor Wedding Reception Activities |
If you are having your wedding reception out of doors, that opens the door for many activities that would be hard to pull off indoors. You can plan games and activities based on the outdoor theme and carry that theme indoors if part of the reception is inside as well.
Depending on where the reception will be held, you can plan many activities based on the setting. Whether it is the park or on a farm, there are a myriad of activities you can plan.
Let's start with some basics based on popular wedding locations. One fun game for a winery wedding is a blindfolded wine tasting game. If the bride and groom are wine drinkers, this might not a game the bride and groom should be a part of, but instead guests and wedding party members. Blindfold perhaps a half dozen volunteers and have them do a blind taste test (provide something to clean the palate between sips). The volunteers should guess which wine is the pinot noir, which is the Cabernet, and so on. A bottle of wine is the obvious prize for the winner of this game.
Say you are having a reception at a country club on a golf course. It's possible your theme will include golf elements, so why not include golf in some reception activities or games? You certainly could head to the golf course for a "hole in one" contest, or have a driving contest to see which guest has the best stroke. As a simple, "who gets the centerpiece game", you could have people guess how many golf balls there are in the floral centerpiece (which could decorate a plain large glass vase filled with flowers). Similarly, there could be a large vase or other clear container filled with golf balls at the reception somewhere and guests could guess how many golf balls are in the vase.
A silly game could be made on the dance floor by asking everyone to include their best golf swing into their dancing for one particular song.
Now, if your reception and ceremony are both to be held outdoors and guests will be milling outdoors, think about games or activities that can take place outdoors and still keep to your level of formality or informality. For example, if the reception is being held at a park, perhaps guests might enjoy a "walk down memory lane". Prior to the reception, someone can use potted plants or arbors to create a little private lane, which guests can walk through. Along the path, guests will find pictures of the bride and groom at various stages in their lives. There should be a place for guests to record their thoughts and memories along the way as well.
If your wedding and reception are fairly casual, you can always tell guests ahead of time to prepare for a ball game or some other fun outdoor activity. Women can bring a pair of sneakers. Just imagine the fun photos you'll get out of a rousing game of football or baseball played by women in dresses and sneakers and men in suits and sneakers!
You can provide a challenge activity involving barefoot dancing in the grass or a Frisbee toss in the backyard. Is there a pool in the yard where the reception will be held? Why not have a swimming activity for after the whole of the reception is done?
|
|
Your Wedding Photography Checklist |
Hire a professional - Under no circumstances you should take any chances on this matter. There are many fine points that only a professional can handle well, and that is why you should go only for the best there is. If the photographer is an amateur he or she might not have experience with angles, tricky lighting situations, and so on.
Consultation sessions - After hiring your photographer, have a few sessions so the photographer would meet your family and will understand what you want included in your album. How many long shots, how many portraits, who to include in the group photos, the photographer should have a list of what you prefer. He or she should also know your best angle so your photographs come out great.
The rehearsal - You should have a person from your family who is not actively involved in the ceremony in charge of keeping people together for the family photographs. You should also allot a specific time for this purpose, which should be included in the program.
The style of the photography - This is the silent aspect of the wedding photography. Find out what style would be suitable for your wedding photographs. This will depend on whether the wedding takes place outdoors or indoors, inside a lighted hall or a dimly lit church or chapel, etc. When searching for professional wedding photographers, look at the different styles in his or her portfolio to see what you like. It is very important that you agree on the style in the beginning, so you have the best results. The contract - A wedding photography contract agreement is a formal document signed by the couple and the photographer that binds specific obligations to each other. It must be carefully looked over before you sign it and agree to the terms. It should not be difficult to understand; however, ask questions and make sure you understand each line of the form before signing. While the price is primary item in the contract, also discuss things like the exact date and times and possible overtime charges, whether the photographer will have back up equipment on site and who will take his or her place in case of an emergency, all the items in your chosen package, the delivery time for the completed prints, and who retains the rights to the photographs.
The package - Well before your wedding, decide on all the minute details of the wedding photography package. This will be a part of your contract and will be what you receive in the end. Talk to family members and look at their wedding albums. Do you like the size of their pictures? Do you want them to all be 8x10s or mix of 8x10s and 5x7s? Do you want all posed pictures or candids? Consider how many prints you may want to give as gifts.
Book enough time - Look at your event. Generally, the photographer will want to take pictures of the bride and bridal party about an hour before she walks down the aisle. They allot an entire hour so she's not rushed, and so that if there are out door pictures, the groom and other guests don't see the bride before she walks down the aisle. Include one hour before the event, the actual wedding, the cake, and the first few dances.
Location - After you've decided on the location of your ceremony and reception scour the surrounding areas for unique places to take your pictures. If you're having a traditional ceremony in a church, a lot of times you can find nice gardens or walkways on church grounds. Also look for interesting places within the church. Stained glass, for example, can provide a gorgeous backdrop for your wedding photography. Concentrate on smaller elements, not necessarily larger backgrounds, to create beautiful wedding portrait photography. Look for a doorway with an ornate frame, or a spot near a window that bathes you in sunlight. If the weather permits taking your wedding portrait photography outdoors is also a great idea.
There are so many details that surround the planning of your wedding, and the photography is just one of them. However, remember that your wedding photography will be your most important keepsake of your wedding, so taking the time to put some serious thought into the final product will be well worth it in years to come.
|
|
Wedding Photography Guide |
It can take a year to plan and lasts just one special day, so ensuring pictures of your wedding are captured as beautifully as possible is crucial. After the vicar, the photographer has the most important job as it's his responsibility to ensure your happy memories are preserved for posterity.
Getting the lighting right, ensuring the whole operation runs smoothly and captures the best impressions of you and your guests takes experience, expertise and the right equipment. So unfortunately, Uncle John with his new, shiny camera is not going to cut it. Weddings are expensive occasions, and employing the right photographer will, after the reception, probably be your second biggest expense, so make sure you hire the right one!
Once you've had a look at their website and spoken on the phone, you should arrange to meet the photographer several months before the big day. This will give you an opportunity to decide whether you gel, and that they'd be able to create the right rapport with you and your guests.
Make sure you see full albums of weddings they've photographed before, and not just a selection of their best work. This also gives you an opportunity to decide what style of pictures you'd like:
* Traditional/Classical - carefully posed pictures from a pre-selected shot list designed to capture you looking your best, and plenty of wide shots of friends and family.
* Reportage - unobtrusive, magazine style pictures that reflect genuine moments and record the day in a relaxed manner.
* Contemporary - a combination of formal shots and relaxed candid photos.
Once you've selected the package you want, you can then move on to discussing the price, but remember that photography is a skill and not a commodity. While people will forget whether there was a band and how the food tasted, a picture can last a lifetime.
On the big day, you can arrange for the photographer to capture the early morning preparations and then to capture specific moments of your reception such as your first dance. Or alternately, they can be there just to capture the ceremony and the cutting of the cake. The choice is yours, but don't forget to have them capture the unique wedding favors you selected!
Once he's returned to his studio, the photographer will be able to use the wonders of modern technology to remove incidences of red eye, crop the images to best fit the frame and even add special effects to produce the perfect wedding montage.
After the all cake's been eaten, the guests have left and the wedding presents opened, you can sit down and enjoy reminiscing over your beautiful photos. They can either be presented to you in a ready made album or on a DVD so you can sit back and watch a slideshow while scribbling down the numbers of the ones to be printed. Your favourite pictures can then be put in an album, presented to loved ones and put in frames so you can be reminded of your fairy tale wedding day for many years to come.
|
|
A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words - Wedding Photography |
There comes a time in everyone's life when the need become an independent organ of society is our top priority, this is the case of weddings. This sacred ritual in which to people are united before friends, loved ones and God, is in fact the product of love, which is the cornerstone of every home. Since weddings represent such crucial and decisive times in our lives it is important to keep as many momentous which would remind us in the future about those precious occasions we lived in the past.
Most of the time, families are brought together by doing something they all enjoy; sometimes it may be going to the beach, going to a park, spending some quality time talking about the common interests or watching a family photo album, these activities are sure to bring everyone together. Regarding the last activity mentioned, we often hear from mature people that "By recalling special memories they feel like they have lived that very same moment all over again", actually that is true for most of us, that is the power of a good picture.
Through professional photography, family members have the joy of having a good time re-living all of fun moments they spent together at the very moment the core of their family was born. It is also true that if an amateur took an important picture and the results were less than perfect, he/she will be remembered by failing to capture a special occasion; this is something that shouldn't happen. A wedding is a special occasion which happens only once (involving the same couple at least!) as such all of the moments should be captured by a professional which is going to provide high quality pictures to be enjoyed by the family in the near future.
A picture is worth a thousand words, it can make us laugh at all of the little things that might have gone wrong but luckily no one noticed! Pictures capture a quick moment in time which is precious to us. Weddings, graduations, birthdays are all special occasions which need to be remembered because at the end, the few things that we leave behind as proof of our existence are the great memories we make with our loved ones and the great pictures taken during each special moment.
Spending quality time with your family, that's what good parenting is all about and what better way to do so than by flipping through a professional-made family photo album.
|
|
How to Look Good in Wedding Photographs |
|
The dress was beautiful, you got through the ceremony and reception without a hitch, but just when you thought your wedding was perfect, your pictures come back and you look awful. What can you do to make sure that your photos are as beautiful as the memories you have?
Here are some of the things you should consider:
- Never scrimp on your photographer. Nobody's going to remember if your bouquets had daisies or rare, exotic orchids. But years from now, your great grand children will be looking at your wedding album. They're not just souvenirs, they're heirlooms. Spend on them.
- Avoid complicated hairstyles and veils. You'll be walking around, too busy talking to guests to check the mirror. You don't want your veil hanging to the side, or your bangs plastered to your face. Keep it simple and elegant. If you want a dramatic veil for your walk down the aisle, look for a style that allows you to detach part of it, leaving you with something less cumbersome at the reception.
- Buy or make a small clutch bag or pouch that matches your gown. It should carry blotting paper, pressed powder, lipstick and blush. Ask your maid of honor to keep it handy for you.
- Wear waterproof mascara. You will cry a lot. It's guaranteed. Black mascara will run and leave unflattering raccoon eyes.
- Don't wear heavy powder eyeshadow. Again, you will cry. You will also sweat from walking around in heavy makeup, a thick gown, and hundreds of guests milling around you. Powder smears and cakes, and ends up under your eyes.
- Don't wear sheer lipstick. You'll eat it off. Or if you do, wear a matte or semi-matte base and apply the sheer lipstick as a top coat. Be sure to blot well, or it'll end up around your mouth or on your teeth.
- Don't wear heavy shimmery makeup, unless it's applied by a professional makeup artist. It doesn't photograph well under less than perfect lighting conditions. If you do, apply only on the eyes.
- Bridal makeup should be soft and romantic, not harsh. Natural pinks are most flattering, and really make you look like a "blushing bride". Avoid hard-edged contouring and dramatic browns, unless blended well and kept close to the eyeline. Even lipsticks should stick to the pinks and brownish pinks. Bright reds look too harsh worn against a white dress.
- You'll need good foundation that lasts long but doesn't cake. The trick is to apply moisturizer first and let it "set". This will prime your skin. Apply a matte or cream foundation, then concealer. Dust powder foundation with a brush.
- Take good photographs right after the ceremony, when everyone's make up is still intact. You should have solo shots, couple shots, and group photos with your entourage, friends, family members.
- Ask for a few black and white photographs. They always have a soft, romantic feel.
- If you'll be having outdoor photographs, light is most flattering in the morning and at dusk. Avoid any outdoor shots from 11am to 2pm; everyone will just be squinting.
|
|
Have a 'green' Wedding, Hire a Digital Photographer! |
There are many simple ways to have a ‘Green’ wedding. Hiring a digital photographer is one of the easiest ways of all… Why go digital? Well, here are a few reasons:
Receiving your wedding or portrait photos on DVD and/or CD is more cost effective and more ecologically sound than paying for several hundred printed photos you may never even use.
If you want to share your pictures, these days it's so easy to post them online or to email your favourites to your friends and family. This not only saves you time and energy, it also saves you money!
In addition to the financial benefits to going digital with your wedding photography, the ecological reasons are pretty compelling as well.
It’s been known for years that the chemicals it takes to develop and print photos are toxic. - As is the process for making the paper to print them on. That paper is chemically treated in a variety of ways and photo-paper is not known for being recyclable or recycled.
And film itself is responsible for a large contribution to environmental pollution. Most especially because of the emissions of methylene chloride, which is a solvent used in the making of photographic film. Very, very toxic.
Then there’s the processing. For every roll of 24 film prints, at least 4 ounces of chemicals get poured down the drain during the processing. Down the drain means in our water systems and leaching out into the soil.
Silver is also used in the processing of film. As a matter of fact, around 40% of all the silver consumed in North America has been used to make photographic materials.
Silver is discharged from film processors, such as photo labs and hospital x-ray units, in the form of sewer sludge. Silver ions can be more toxic to water organisms than mercury.
Now all this doesn't mean you shouldn't get any prints made at all. Of course you’ll want to have a few pictures printed for framing, but when you receive your wedding photos in digital format, all you need to do is choose just a few shots to be professionally printed, instead of dozens. Or you can even do your own printing at home.
Another really great thing about having your images in digital format is that they’ll last forever… While film images will deteriorate over the years, digital images can be safely archived indefinitely without ever losing quality.
So does such a simple choice really make a difference? Yes. More than you might think...
Recently, the Stockholm Water Authority in Sweden noted that the rise of digital photography was a major reason why silver pollution had diminished by half in the city's sewers in just five years.
Proof that choosing a digital photographer really does have a positive effect on the environment!
|
|
|
