Entries from September 2010 ↓

This week’s interview is with Joe Photographer. I found Joe’s advertising blurb on a website that lists photographers by province, and I was intrigued simply by the name of the company! Visiting his site and going through his galleries made me want to see more.

How do you describe your photographic style? Classic, elegant and where weddings are concerned – romantic,
uncluttered and as unobtrusive as possible.

How did you get into photography? I completed a Bachelors of Fine Art Degree, specializing in Fine
Art Photography at Rhodes University in Grahamstown. To study under renowned photographer Obie Oberholzer was only a privilege.

How long have you been photographing weddings? For the last ten years, starting out in the Western Cape and now doing weddings around the country and abroad.

Where are you based? I’m based in Somerset-West, with an office in Stellenbosch and a part-time studio close to Paarl on a wine farm.

What has been the highlight of your career as a wedding photographer so far? Winning the SARIE Bruid /FAIR LADY Bride’s competition for photographer of the year and the prize being a holiday in Bali, which ended up being my own wonderful honeymoon!

Which are your five favourite wedding photographs and why? I don’t have five all-time favourite wedding shots, because I am continuously trying to improve on every wedding shoot. But of course every season brings with it some unforgettable images.

How do you market yourself? Getting a lot of your work published is always a great advantage, keeping a web presence and also, most definitely producing quality work so word-of-mouth can do the rest by itself.

What type of camera do you use? Canon

What would you love to add to your equipment? I would love to get a digital back for my old Hasselblad 500C.

How important is a tool like Photoshop in your work and do you retouch at all? I don’t believe one should overuse Photoshop, because the work must be done on site through the camera and not afterwards through a computer. Obviously I do use Photoshop to retouch sensor spots.

If you could be invisible – with your camera – for a day, you would… photograph the Kernel’s secret recipe!

Which are your five favourite outrageous/ creative/ artistic/ unusual photographs and why?

What advice do you have for photographers who are just starting out? Be enthusiastic and passionate and keep taking photographs. Keep the faith!

This week, I am interviewing Yvette van Rensburg of Fairy Bad Photography. I found Yvette’s website on a photography list site, and her gallery intrigued me.

How do you describe your photographic style? My photographic style is a bit hard to define because I do not focus on one particular thing like portraits or landscapes. I would say that my work tends to be natural, almost photo-journalistic and mostly include people, so no landscapes. I don’t do obviously posed photos or direct flash photography. I process the pictures to be slightly overexposed to bring out contrast and colour. I love black and white and sepia so a lot of my favourite shots are either black and white or sepia.

How did you get into photography? My husband was the one initially interested in photography so he bought himself a camera. Then one day I was bored and started taking pictures and I found that I loved it! I loved setting up the shot just right and processing the picture just so that I quickly found myself immersed in it. So am basically self trained.

How long have you been photographing weddings? I have been photographing weddings for just over five years now. Initially I was a bit apprehensive but after the first one I just could not stop. I love the romance, atmosphere and the detail of weddings. Now I am almost exclusively a wedding photographer.

Where are you based? I am based in Pretoria, Centurion to be exact, but I have worked all over the country. From a beach wedding in Knysna to weddings in Nylstroom and Nelspruit.

What has been the highlight of your career as a wedding photographer so far? I cannot really single out a specific wedding. I really try to be unobtrusive and make the day as enjoyable as possible for the couple and giving them the best possible service so when I received seven Stars Of the Day Awards from Sabia for my last seven weddings, I felt that I actually accomplished what I set out to do.

Which are your favourite wedding photographs, and why? These are my five favourite photographs from various weddings. I picked these because they show my wedding photography style the best. I love it when I get the shot  that tells you something, or show you something specific of the day.

How do you market yourself? In the beginning I marketed myself through advertisements and doing weddings for free just to get the word out. These days most of my weddings come from word of mouth referrals or people finding my website on the web. I do not place ads in magazines as they are expensive and people rarely choose a photographer from an ad. They would rather trust one that did a wedding of someone they know well.

What type of camera do you use? Canon. I mainly use a Canon 50D, but also have a 30D as backup.

What would you love to add to your equipment? More lenses, you cannot have enough lenses!

How important is a tool like Photoshop in your work, and do you retouch at all? Photoshop not so much, I do use it occasionally especially if the bride requests that I remove a spots or marks from the photos. I use Adobe Lightroom for my work flow processing the images from raw. I use it to do colour and exposure adjustments etc.

Which are your five favourite outrageous/ creative/ artistic/ unusual photographs and why? Again I feel these are representative of my style as a photographer. I love creating photos using outrageous colours or costumes when I photograph models. I also sometimes do nude, or semi-nude modelling shoots.

If you could be invisible- with your camera- for a day, you would… take photos at a funeral. I would love to be able to capture the emotion, the sadness and despair of the people mourning.

What advice do you have for photographers who are just starting out? Don’t buy outrageously expensive cameras and equipment. Start small with an entry level DSLR and learn to use it. Rent proper lenses for a start. Do what you love and you will find your style. Later when you want to start making money with your photography you can go out and buy a more expensive camera. Your first camera will then be your backup.

Where on the web can people find you? My website can be found at www.fairybadphotography.com and I’m on Facebook.

Where would you love to go for a wedding shoot? Wow there are so many places. But if I could go anywhere in the world I would go to Mykonos, Greece. The beaches and buildings would make such beautiful photos.

Is there anything you’re learning to do? I am practising my photo manipulation skills in Photoshop, but that is more for making arty pictures. Photography to me is a continuous learning process. I learn from every wedding and every shoot.

What will you be up to in 2010? 2010 is almost gone now and I have not been up to much this year. I am pregnant with my first baby and I stopped taking on weddings after May this year. I plan to start again in November and I have a couple of specific projects lined up for 2011.

While you’re having your wedding photographs taken, or during your Trash-The-Dress (AKA Rock The Frock) shoot, or during your “day-after” photoshoot, take a photograph of the two of you- smiling directly into the camera- with a sign of some sort that says “Thank You”.

Make a sign that looks cool and suits you or suits the theme of your wedding. You can write a pretty message on a white board you can both hold. Make a sign out of cardboard. Stick wooden letters onto some bright cardboard. Paint a banner even. Anything you can think of.

Ask your photographer to take some of the same shot in portrait and in landscape format so that you can use either one on your thank you cards.

And looking directly into the camera for this shot makes it look like you are looking at the recipient, and you are saying thank you specifically to the person looking at the card after you send them out.