Entries Tagged 'photography' ↓

This week I am interviewing Ursula Kors of Harvest Moon Photography. I’m sure you are going to be as blown away as I am with her work! Beautiful! Be sure to find the Facebook page as well.

Tell me a little bit about yourself. I tend to be a fairly quiet, reserved kind of person. Not at all the type you would typically associate with the artistic personalities predominantly found in the wedding photography industry. But at the same time I’m also a no-nonsense kind of person who won’t hesitate to assert myself when the situation warrants it. My ability to handle pressure and remain calm when the wheels come off has stood me in good stead in my nine years as a wedding photographer. Ironically, I never imagined any form of photography as a career path, having spent a substantial part of my working life in pharmaceutical quality control & research labs such as Adcock Ingram and Novartis . When I got bored of test tubes and chemicals after 13 years, I moved to IT, spending 4 years working as a networks and software support engineer at Dimension Data. As a child I tried taking photos of the family dog, and after the first few prints were developed, I summarily decided I was no good with a camera in my hands ; ) yet here I am, hundreds of thousands of wedding photos later…

Where are you based? In Pretoria, which is fairly central to many of the main wedding venues in Gauteng.

How did you get into photography? Quite a story, that… My husband was a passionate photographer, always trying to teach me the ropes. And a perfectionist, I must admit. I started toying with wedding photography as a hobby, nothing serious at the time. I still worked full time for Dimension Data, and with all the time spent commuting to work and back, I had very little time to spend with my family. One day I noticed disconcerting changes in my pre-teen son, and realized that my children had been suffering as a result of my corporate job. The next day I walked into the office and handed in my notice. So what now? The only thing I could think of doing was changing my hobby into a permanent occupation, and I put together a portfolio of photos from the weddings I had done for free up until then. The hardest part was that I never had any formal training or anyone to mentor me (and I can hear the shocked gasps from the other pros out there! LOL). No one to follow around and learn the ropes from. I had the technical knowledge that I gained from my husband, and that was it. But when I tackle a challenge, I put in a 110%. Failure was not an option. To my surprise I actually took to it like a duck to water, and the rest is history.

How do you describe your photographic style? I think it is a bit of a mix between traditional “formal” wedding photography, photo journalism and the more artistic “avant garde” style of photography. I prefer to keep things natural not staged, but there has to be a balance. Posed shots are almost inevitable. Each couple is different, and may lean towards certain style preferences. I always try to “read” my couples, and adjust the way I work with them accordingly. This inevitably influences what style dominates in the images I capture on their wedding day. If I have a bride that is willing to do a shoot in the middle of a busy street, the images I capture would be totally different to that of a more reserved, less “adventurous” couple.

How long have you been photographing weddings? It started as a hobby in 2003, turning to a full time occupation in 2004. That makes it nine years in all.

What type of camera do you use? I have two Canon 5DMK1 ‘s, A Canon 1D MK2 and a semi-retired Canon 10D as a back-up, which was my first digital camera after the film cameras I started out with. But still capturing perfectly crisp images, just a pity the sensor isn’t full frame.

How do you market yourself? Ouch, now you got me. Mainly word of mouth at the moment. Despite having worked in the IT industry for a number of years, I am by no means a techno junkie or a blogger. I am notoriously bad with updating my FB site, and my website is ancient. I haven’t updated it with images from the past year’s weddings. SHOCKING! I know, but hey, I am fairly busy and usually booked a year in advance. I did the magazine ad thing for a while, then dropped it. If I can find time between editing and being mom’ taxi service, I will give Facebook a bit more attention though : )

What advice do you have for photographers who are just starting out? Find a professional who is willing to take you under their wing and show you the ropes. There is no substitute for the experience they have gained over many years. And hard work. Lots of it. You will eventually find your own unique creative style on which you can build a successful career.

How do you put nervous or camera shy brides and couples at ease? I always insist on a final planning session with a couple one or two weeks prior to the wedding and during this session I try to “connect” with them a bit, and I remind them that it is their big day. Forget about me and my camera, focus on enjoying every minute of their wedding day, to share their experiences of the day with each other. Once they start chatting away, they forget I am there and voila, the natural moments just happen. They hardly even notice when I ask them to stand here, sit there… And the ace up my sleeve is always to show them one or two magical pics on the camera’s LCD screen, and the ice is broken.

What is your biggest challenge as a wedding photographer? (How much print space do I have here?)I am very adaptable, and weddings can be quite unpredictable. Things hardly ever run exactly according to plan (mine or the couple’s) But definitely “paparazzi” wedding guests! They fall over their own feet to get their “mik-en-druk” shots in, even shouldering you out of the way at times, often getting in the way of a really good candid shot. And the worst species is the SLR toting wannabee’s. They have no idea how limited a photographer’s time and opportunities are to accomplish the kind of work they get paid so much to deliver, that when a moment is lost just because they wanted to get their shot, IT IS LOST! I can say more, but you can’t print that!

What has been the highlight of your career as a wedding photographer? It’s hard to single out particular weddings, but certainly the ones where I have encountered down-to-earth couples with an obvious deep, sincere love for each other. Humble people that make an indelible impression on me and leave me with no doubt that they will weather any storm together. Then I don’t want to stop shooting, and have a hard time afterward limiting myself to the number of photos they have selected in their package ; ) Oh, and Muslim weddings. I am always treated with the utmost respect and consideration at their weddings, and observing how close knit and solid their families are, I always go home with a deep sense of respect for them, even though we are worlds apart in many respects.

Which of the wedding photographs you have taken are your favourite? Ag nee man, that’s not fair! By when did you say you needed this interview?

Despite inclement weather, this bride wasn’t going to let anything rain on her parade! I love the angle, the crispness of the light, the spontaneity of the moment, everything!

The total abandon with which other cultures celebrate makes time stand still and I forget about the troubled world out there for a moment.

In both these images love the lighting, the innocence of the moment.

What a man won’t do for love!

A pensive moment before that long walk down the aisle…And the light was just right to set the mood.

A crisp winter’s afternoon, a warm, stolen moment captured with a telephoto lens…Perfect memories!

How important is a tool like Photoshop in your work, and do you retouch at all? I mainly use Adobe Lightroom to do adjustments to the images, and really only use photoshop on the rare occasion that I need to edit something out of an image.

Do you have an assistant, or invite second shooters to assist at your weddings? I always work with a second shooter. I can’t be in two places at once, for instance when the groom is getting ready it helps if I have someone attending to him while I am with the bride. And a second shooter can often capture the same shot from a totally different angle, resulting in some interesting images.

Which of your photographs would you use to show off your creative and artistic side?

The way an image is framed can often take it from the mundane to the extra-ordinary, grab your attention in a way that a standard, fully framed image of her whole face would not have done.

The use of natural light as well as unusual angles in an image makes all the difference. Know what mood you want to evoke with an image when you are shooting and use your lighting to create striking “mood evoking” images.

Again, the angle makes all the difference.

Use of striking background colours, reflections in objects (water, mirrors, wheelcaps of cars) can give an image just that little extra to turn an ordinary picture into a work of art.

Use of striking background colours, reflections in objects (water, mirrors, wheelcaps of cars) can give an image just that little extra to turn an ordinary picture into a work of art.

What would you love to add to your equipment? For wedding photography, the Canon 5D MK3, and for commercial work (getting greedy here… ) the Hasselblad H4D-50MS

Where would you love to do a wedding shoot? Tuscany (Italy). I just love the quaint little Tuscan Villages and medieval castles, and the countryside is breathtakingly beautiful!

What is your work-flow after a wedding? I download the raw images and convert them to DNG (Digital negative), then select the ones I want to process according to the number a customer has chosen in their package. Then I do basic adjustments such as contrast, colour correction if need be etc. and then export to TIFF. I go through the images again to see if I need to do any corrections in Photoshop (blemish removal on the skin etc), then convert the images to high res Jpeg and convert a selected number of images to black and white or sepia.

How many images do you average for a wedding, and how many do you deliver to your clients? I average about 1 500 images per wedding, of which I usually end up giving between 400 -600 high resolution images on disk to the customer.

Is there a wedding photographer you admire? There are so many pro’s out there with unique styles it would be almost unfair to single one out, but a few of my favourites are Mario Sales, Monica Dart & Christopher Munton, to name a few.

Whether its animals, landscapes, nature or portraits, most photographers seem have a penchant for a particular subject. What is yours? Anything unconventional or that captures my attention, really. Whether it’s an interesting character, a vintage car, an Irish pub in China…

If you could be invisible- with your camera- for a day, you would… Photograph the children in rural settlements and the squatter camps. They have really tough lives, fighting for survival on a daily basis. I would use these images to bring their plight to society’s attention, make people realise that most of us live pampered lives and conveniently turn a blind eye to their desperate plight.

If you could photograph any musician, who would it be? George Michael. He has a very strong, brooding kind of face. I am sure he would make for some very interesting portraits.

Is there anything you’re learning to do? Lots! All the time. But the main thing I am learning at the moment is that there are only 24hours in the day, and no matter how much I want to cram into those 24, I have my limitations.

What will you be up to in 2011? Starting a new business, and venturing more into commercial & studio photography.

This week I am interviewing Stefan Steenkamp of ZaraZoo Exclusive Wedding Photography fame.

I’m sure once you read the interview and spend some time on their galleries you’ll see why I nagged for so long to be able to interview him! You can find ZaraZoo on Facebook and you can follow them on Twitter too.

Tell me a little bit about yourself. I am an idea man. Even as a kid I came up with the most wonderful business ideas and schemes. It started at 6 when I made paper South African flags and then flaunting them on the street corner to passers-by. Since then, my ventures have become a lot more refined though.  At Stellenbosch University I ended up all but studying art or photography and walked away with a degree in financial accounting in 1997.  From there I endeavoured on a 10 year stint in London.  In 2000, after doing about 3 years of boring banking, I made a life switch to videography and outlet to my creative side.  Creativity runs deeply through my veins.  Our family, especially on my mother’s side is riddled with artists and that includes both my sisters; a painter and a creative writer respectively.  In 2006, after starting a wedding photography and video business in London in 2003, we moved back to South Africa.  The mix of being back on home turf and experience helped our business to flourish, to a point where ZaraZoo Photography is now regarded as one of the premier photography outfits in South Africa.

Where are you based? We are based in Durbanville.  This is the perfect base – it takes us about 30 minutes to get to most of the wedding venues we often shoot at.

How did you get into photography? I was a relative late starter.  I dabbled with video since childhood but only got my first stills camera at University.  It was my mom’s old Kodak Instamatik she had used at college… I bought my first proper film camera in 1997 and in 1999 bought my first digital, semi-professional body.  At that stage, the 2.5 megapixel sensor was the best you could get!  In 2005, after doing professional video for 5 years, I made the move over to stills photography and have not looked back since.

How do you describe your photographic style? In short, reportage with a very small posed element. The less you interfere with the run of the wedding, the better you will capture the raw emotions and the natural stuff.  It might sound corny, but I can’t get enough of happy smiley faces and blue skies!

How long have you been photographing weddings? I shot my first wedding in September 2005, so that makes it nearly 6 years now.

What type of camera do you use? We shoot Canon and have the whole range:  1D mk4, 1D mk3, 5D mk2, 7D 5D mk1.  I shoot with the 1D mk4 most of the time but still love the crisp images that comes out of the 5D mk1.  The two full frame 5D’s in our arsenal is great for a predicted and static environment, but for moving objects and fast situations the two 1D’s with their superior focusing systems are essential

How do you market yourself? For print media, we advertise in the Little Pink Book as well as Engaged Magazine.  Apart from that, we are blog & social media junkies! We find that by loyally doing a few blog posts a week, we have now achieved an amazing web presence in Google and other search engines.  By staying active on Facebook, we have built up the Wedding Photography Page with the biggest fan base in South Africa!  We made a late entry to Twitter, but even here, out follower base is growing at a phenomenal speed.  Another crucial aspect of our marketing strategy is to do physical networking with people in the wedding industry – not just photographers.  Al lot of our work come from these relationships that we have built up over the years.

What advice do you have for photographers who are just starting out? Get out there and network with people in the industry.  Do freebies to build up your portfolio.   Work your butt off for the first year and you will reap the rewards for the rest of your career.

How do you put nervous or camera shy brides and couples at ease? Take a good photo of her and show it on the Camera LCD.  Most brides are worried that they do not look good.  If it is a good photo she will be at ease automatically.  If this does not work, make her laugh by making a fool of yourself.  Good spontaneous laughter is the key!

What is your biggest challenge as a wedding photographer? I like to play out the day and plan my shots before it happens.  This enables me to focus on the creative side of the photo – because I have planned the framing and know the lighting conditions.  I get thrown out when the bride or coordinator change things at the last moment.   By doing an E-session before the wedding, I get to know the bride and groom and rarely have difficulty on the day with brides being stroppy.

What has been the highlight of your career as a wedding photographer? I cannot single out one, but shooting weddings in New York, London, Paris and Thailand is definitely right up there.

Which of the wedding photographs you have taken are your favourite?

The light, white tone of the image together with the shallow depth of field and beautiful bride is I think they way every bride wants to see herself on her wedding day.

Nothing beats the emotion you get from a bride on her way to the church.  the image below was taken in London and got a bronze award at the Sony ProFoto awards.

Again, the focus, and deep thought of this bride just before she enters the church is a classic moment.  She seems totally unaware of everything else around her – just deep thought of what is about to happen.

The deep intimacy and concentration in this photo makes it one of my all time favourites.  It is blown up on a huge canvas in our studio.  It won a silver award at the ProFoto awards of 2009.

The intimacy and shy infatuation of each other, a real romantic moment.  This photo won a bronze award at the 2010 ProFoto awards.

The total jubilation as this couple enters the reception venue was amazing.  Photos like these is a window into an experience.  It is more than just a moment.

The 3 images below reflect our aim to push the boundaries of “normal” wedding photography, to explore and provoke reaction.  Even though our style is normally very photo-journalistic and unobtrusive, we still love to produce images that make people ask WHY?

How important is a tool like Photoshop in your work, and do you retouch at all? Adobe Lightroom is used for RAW conversion and 75% of the editing.  Then Photoshop is used for retouching and correction of blemishes.

Do you have an assistant, or invite second shooters to assist at your weddings? We always work with assistants/ second shooters.  Apart from helping with the kit, these guys get the most interesting, unobtrusive shots.

Which of your photographs would you use to show off your creative and artistic side?

An effective silhouette is very powerful.  Knowing when to underexpose to get this type of shot as opposed to flashing the subject comes with experience.

By altering the level of the lens, you will achieve different results.  This photo would not have been good at all if it was taken from a standing-up position.

Framing makes all the difference.  Even though it appears that the girl in the shot was cut off, it creates an exaggerated effect of the height of the girl swinging.

In the photo below we went “alternative”.  This shows that we can think out of the box when it is required.

A slower shutter speed at the right time – See how the blurred waiter with plates creates movement in the image.

Juxtaposition. Put a bride or any subject in an environment that you will not normally see it and you have created something different that will get attention.

Symmetry and sex appeal – this picture is a bit of both… ooh-la-la!

Effective use of depth of field created an interesting photo of the elephant. Quite scary as well.

What would you love to add to your equipment? What I want to add, I am afraid Canon has not developed yet!  I want a trusty low f-stop 50mm prime & a 24-70mm with an image stabiliser!

Where would you love to do a wedding shoot? Italy, the Colosseum!  Have you seen the Lavazza calendars shot by Annie Liebovitz?  I love dramatic architectural backdrops…  the Inca Temple in Peru also comes to mind!

What is your work-flow after a wedding? Download – choose 1000 best shots – edit in Lightroom and cull off weaker shots. Output 400-500 in JPEG and these shots are then retouched in Photoshop – blog the best 50-80 shots.

How many images do you average for a wedding, and how many do you deliver to your clients? I would say about 1000 unique images – you know there is sometimes a lot of the same thing.  My clients get between 300 and 500 photos in high res on disk.

Is there a wedding photographer you admire? I admire elements of the work of certain big name photographers but have made the decision 2 years ago to find my own inspiration, rather than idolising a photographer and inadvertently ending up as a copycat of his or her style.

Whether its animals, landscapes, nature or portraits, most photographers seem have a penchant for a particular subject. What is yours? I have a love of taking portraits of people- interesting people that the average Joe might not encounter in his life.  The portraits of the people in the images below give the viewer a risk free peek into other worlds!

If you could be invisible- with your camera- for a day, you would… Go into a township and document the poor conditions some of the people have to live in.  Cooking on a paraffin stove; the mulling around the communal tap; bathtime in a zinc bath and just general everyday living in the shacks.

If you could photograph any musician, who would it be? Flamboyant, self-loving, over the top, Liberace – he’s dead now, but I think this guy would have been so interesting to shoot!

Is there anything you’re learning to do? All the time! The moment you think you know it all is the moment you will start stagnating!  In the information age one cannot afford to stop learning or life will pass you by!

What will you be up to in 2011? Apart from having shoots lined up in Paris and Greece, Zarazoo is opening an academy for photography.  We are also involved in the launch of a new Magazine for the wedding industry, Engaged Magazine.

This photography workshop in Centurion, Gauteng, is for beginners and intermediate photographers alike. Come and learn from Richard Swemmer and share in his more than 30 years’ experience in the photography industry.

This week I am very pleased to showcase Shireen Louw, who is based in one of Cape Town’s Northern suburbs, Brackenfell.

You must go to her website and check out the galleries, and she has a blog- and I believe I have mentioned how I love to browse photographer’s blogs. You can also find Shireen on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.

Read on!

Tell me a little bit about yourself. I am an opinionated and passionate photographer. I am proud of who I am, and what I have accomplished so far in life. I love to travel, I love people and I am absolutely addicted to silly reality shows.

How did you get into photography? I have always had an interest in photography but my father was the one that helped me get into it professionally about five years ago. I started by assisting him when he photographed weddings, and later started Shireen Louw Photography.

How do you describe your photographic style? I think I offer a combination of styles. I have a mixture of journalistic, candid and portrait photography. My favourite style or kind of photography will definitely be the moments when I capture true emotion, unscripted, unedited, just raw, fantastic, and gripping emotion.

How long have you been photographing weddings? I have been professionally photographing weddings since 2007.

What type of camera do you use? I use the Nikon D700.

How do you market yourself? Nowadays I don’t really market myself, except on social media sites like Facebook & Twitter.

What advice do you have for photographers who are just starting out? Keep true to your own style! Don’t try to copy someone else’s work, since you will never be successful that way. To be successful you need to be unique, take risks and stay true to your own style.

How do you put nervous or camera shy brides and couples at ease? I honestly don’t have a set remedy, but I have found that when you approach a bride with an energetic, upbeat personality and never seem bothered about small things, and act professional, yet playful and always complimenting them on how good you think they look, they will soon forget to be nervous. I tend to talk to them while shooting, not always about how to pose etcetera, but literally about anything that is relevant at that moment. I joke and have fun with them. I honestly think it totally is about the person behind the camera and how you approach your clients on the day that sets them at ease.

What is your biggest challenge as a wedding photographer? When the couple do not allow enough time for the couple photo’s (aka RUSHED photography), bad weather conditions, and when the couple have friends and family with camera’s that keeps intervening with your poses, are in your way or just basically just makes your job so much harder with their constant flashing of point and shoot camera’s.

What has been the highlight of your career as a wedding photographer? I must be honest and say that to be part of so many wedding days is a big highlight in my life… but some of the highlights I would say are when I have been booked for destination weddings where I need to fly to the location.

Which of the wedding photographs you have taken are your favourite? I don’t have specific favourites, but I think my favourite photographs have happened when myself and the couple are having the time of our lives while their photographs were being taken.

How important is a tool like Photoshop in your work, and do you retouch at all? I absolutely love post production, where you can retouch, and tweak your photo’s to look exactly like you want them to look. When I open my images after a wedding in post-production, I feel like an artist putting my own stamp/feel/look on my photographs.

Do you have an assistant, or invite second shooters to assist at your weddings? I do have a permanent 2^nd shooter, but if she is not available, I most definitely invite outside second shooters to assist me with my weddings.

Which of your photographs would you use to show off your creative and artistic side? I think I am most creative with bridal portraits during the pre-wedding ceremony and during the couple’s photo session. This is where you have to take initiative and tell the couple what to do and how to stand.

What would you love to add to your equipment? Oh I do have my eye on a few lenses

Where would you love to do a wedding shoot? I would love to do a shoot in the Black Forest in South Western Germany just after it snowed. I would also like to shoot in the mid of Upper East Side New York at night.

What is your work-flow after a wedding? Downloading the images, backing them up and then I start editing.

How many images do you average for a wedding, and how many do you deliver to your clients? I take between 1000 and 1500 images at each wedding and I give the client the amount of photo’s stipulated in the package they have chosen.

Is there a wedding photographer you admire? There are quite a few that I like, but I recently started to follow a guy called Sam Hassas! He is brilliant!

Whether its animals, landscapes, nature or portraits, most photographers seem have a penchant for a particular subject. What is yours? I love people, I love expressions, candid moments!

If you could be invisible- with your camera- for a day, you would… walk around photographing people up-close when they think nobody is looking.

If you could photograph any musician, who would it be? BONO!

Is there anything you’re learning to do? I am learning to be patient

What will you be up to in 2011? Shireen Louw will be going from strength to strength in 2011!

This week, I am pleased to be interviewing Susan Nel. I found Susan’s website via Wedding Photojournalist Association and I was simply gob smacked by her gallery! You have got to visit her blog and see even more details on the shoots she does, you can find her on Facebook too.

She was kind enough to say yes to an interview, and you can read it- exclusively- right here!

Tell me a little bit about yourself. I started exploring photography when I was about 11 years old.  I got hooked on film photography and to this day I still think there is something magical and authentic about film photography and a dark room. I went on to digital but out of nostalgia I try doing a film shoot every now and again.  I am an absolute chocoholic and I love people, any people and all people and all the little moments that marks their lives.  I am also an active member of the WPJA and did the Namibian shoot for the Bridal Guide Magazine in 2008.

Where are you based? I am based in Windhoek, Namibia and I am very privileged to do a lot of destination weddings in the Dunes of the Namib Desert. I have done shoots all across Namibia & South Africa.

How did you get into photography? I’ve always had a special way of seeing images & emotion everywhere I go. I received my grandfather’s camera after he passed away when I was a little girl and from thereon I started to explore with photography.  From the first time I heard a shutter go off, I was hooked!

How do you describe your photographic style? I definitely have a photojournalistic style.  I love capturing moments that no one even knew happened or remember happening.

How long have you been photographing weddings? I have been photographing weddings since 2006.  My sister in law had enough faith in me to let me capture her big day.  I loved it and decided to go for it!

What type of camera do you use? Mostly my Canon EOS 50D.  Some of the images on my website were taken with Canon Mark 1D and 5D as well.

How do you market yourself? I would have to say that word-of-mouth is getting me very far… but I also have a website, a blog and Facebook page that does the job.

What advice do you have for photographers who are just starting out? Find your style and be true to it… when you have a gift, explore it, develop it and mostly, enjoy it!

How do you put nervous or camera shy brides and couples at ease? As my style is mainly documentary, I do not prep the couple too much as this will make them nervous.  When I see they need some guidance I try to remind them to focus on each other. Mostly I ask them to try and ignore me as far as possible – and then I disappear!

What is your biggest challenge as a wedding photographer? In Namibia my biggest challenge is harsh light.  Trying not to interfere with the natural happenings of the event by interfering with the location that the photos are taken I sometimes have to be VERY creative to avoid the harshness of light…

What has been the highlight of your career as a wedding photographer? I love sharing big moments with people even when they do not know I am sharing them.  The highlight for me is meeting new and exciting people and getting to understand a little piece of their life’s story… It’s boring I know, but it is exhilarating when a bride and groom love their images It’s always nice when your work is appreciated.  If I have to choose a specific moment during my career I would have to say it was when I got admitted as a member of the WPJA.

Which of the wedding photographs you have taken are your favourite?

I love capturing those small moments – especially the humorous ones. This one was a classic example of the stressful moment where the bride was not sure she will still fit in her dress… It makes me smile every time!

This is a shot where I conquered the harsh Namibian light – and it actually highlights the subjects and therefore the moment.

This couple crawled deep into my heart.  They share a deep love, intimate friendship and that something amazingly special that not all couples can bring to life.  This moment captured in this image speaks louder than words!

I love children at weddings! This little girl was in absolute AWE of the bride… so sweet. An absolute brilliant example of all girls dreaming about their own wedding day – even at such a young age!

The lines of the Namibian Desert – priceless!

To me this is such a romantic picture.  The wind was blowing sand EVERYWHERE, but these two managed to find that perfect moment in between all craziness!

So much fun reflected in everyone’s faces. This image makes me giggle every time!

How important is a tool like Photoshop in your work, and do you retouch at all? Photoshop is a smaller part of my work, as I mainly work with Adobe Lightroom to process a higher volume of images and use Photoshop only as an extra when necessary. Although Photoshop compliments Lightroom very well, retouching is not really my thing.  I try to retouch and edit as little as possible, as this could change a genuine moment into one that feels a little fake.

Do you have an assistant, or invite second shooters to assist at your weddings? I have two assistants, yes- one of whom I am happy to announce, is my husband!!

Which of your photographs would you use to show off your creative and artistic side?

I always loved to paint – but I could never get it as real as I wanted it.  This image gave me the creativity to “paint”. When you look closer it seems that there is a frame on the wall and the sand is pouring right out of it.

I can’t explain it, but I love the light in this image.

I see images in strange subjects. The black & white compliments the “old feeling” of the subject.

I took this image in the Cinque Terre Villages in Italy, 2009.  I just love the colour and contrast of the ocean and the little houses sitting on a cliff.

Again, I just loved the colour of the inside of this house in Kolmanskop, Luderitz.

This image was taken on a junkyard on my parents’ farm … maybe a bit sentimental, rather than a brilliant image, I know, but I love it.

Again, Kolmanskop. What can I say – I spent 7.5 hours there and loved every minute of it!

What would you love to add to your equipment? I am upgrading my Camera to Canon EOS 5D MarkII soon.. and would love to add a 100mm F1.2!

Where would you love to do a wedding shoot? I have been very fortunate to do weddings in a range of different venues, but I would LOVE to shoot one in India, Malaysia or Indonesia.  The colour in their weddings always amazes me!

What is your work-flow after a wedding? Downloading the images straight away and making a back-up.  Then sorting through the images to find the ones that best tells the story of the day.  Then I do start on the hands-on post production work.

How many images do you average for a wedding, and how many do you deliver to your clients? The average images I take per wedding = 2000 images.  I try to give nothing less than 600 images to the client, as I want to make sure we cover the entire story of the day!

Is there a wedding photographer you admire? I worked with Christian Keenan, a UK based photographer, in 2009 for a short while.  His work is absolutely breathtakingly beautiful.

Whether its animals, landscapes, nature or portraits, most photographers seem have a penchant for a particular subject. What is yours? It’s definitely people.  No doubt about it. People in their truest sense while life is happening around them.

If you could be invisible- with your camera- for a day, you would… walk into the squatter camps, aids orphanages etcetera, and capture the real need people experience every day.  I will then take those images to the separate associations and charities to inspire them to help those in need.

If you could photograph any musician, who would it be? I would love to follow a band or a group and capture the story of their entire tour.  For instance, I would love to join the Passion Conference group that takes place in USA with Louie Giglio & Chris Tomlin and take images for a part of the tour. That would be amazing!

Is there anything you’re learning to do? Yes, I am sharpening up on my knowledge on how to crack Sudokus…they are addictive!

What will you be up to in 2011? Hopefully I will be traveling to Switzerland in May, presenting a series of photography courses in June, July & August and carry on doing what I love doing!