I met up with Debs and Dax at Ellerman House in Bantry Bay a few days before their wedding to do an engagement shoot as well as a stunning boudoir shoot with Debs. We started off with the boudoir shoot while Dax lurked around the swimming pool and by the time we got to the engagement part, I think Debs was all photo-ed out, although I don't think you'd say so looking at these which we took in a couple of minutes in the gardens. Maybe sometime I'll post one or 2 of the more innocent photos from the boudoir so watch this space!

Anyone who knows me will know that I have a possibly abnormal respect for any creature larger than myself (birds and parktown prawns too, but that's another story). So when Ryan mentioned he'd like to do the bridal party photos in a paddock of cows at Rockhaven Farm, I did wonder at the sense of this, but imagined a field of docile, grass-chomping cows lazily flicking their tails and blinkedly observing us - and thought it was an awesome idea.

Fast forward to the bridal party and myself in the said paddock where the docile cows were actually two bulls and came running straight towards us when we arrived. (In our minds visions of Pamplona and RAGING bulls). It must have been a hilarious sight to any observer as the bridesmaids, bride and photographer squealed in fear and all panickedly crammed into the backseat of the nearby car. Man, was I grateful for that car. Apologies to anyone I may have squashed in the mad rush.

We tentatively got out the car when we were sure that the bulls were a distance away and were being herded by a farm-worker. As I lay down in the grass to take a group shot, aware of the black bulls behind me, I was joking that they would get me first - when suddenly out of the corner of my eye I saw a black shadow rapidly approaching me, accompanied by the sounds of heavy stomping. Of course, the sensible thing to do when you think you're about to be stampeded is to curl up in the fetal position and let out a high-pitched scream, which is precisely what I did - much to my mortification as I discovered that the raging bull was actually Gail's brother-in-law sneaking up on me.

'Near-death' experiences aside, Gail and Ryan's wedding was so relaxed and stunning and it was awesome to share it with you guys. Aidan, I'll be sending you my therapist's bill shortly :-) Enough babbling for this entry - here are some images:  

Si is a musician and was playing on a street in East Croydon in London when he looked up and saw a most beautiful face in the crowd...so starts the story of Tamu and Si who came out from the UK to get married in the Elgin Valley. They apparently had spent 7 weeks apart between South African and the UK before the big day and the first time they saw each other again was at the altar in the quaint 1850's tin-roofed chapel at the Houw Hoek Inn. Maybe that had something to do with the way they literally beamed the with happiness the whole day long!

SUCH a pleasure to witness and capture such immense love between you guys and the rest of your family!

OK, I went hugely overboard on this engagement session...I had suggested to Gail and Ryan something a little less 'pretty' and a bit more 'rustic' for a location, but I nearly went into overdrive when they took me to an abandoned brick factory to do their engagement shoot. I was in heaven.Crumbling burned down walls, piles of rubble, loads of nooks and crannies and even an old skanky green couch. And once again, an awesome and 'up-for-anything-couple' who are so cute together, what a pleasure! 

I'm so looking forward to your wedding next week after having so much fun at the engagement shoot and I'm intrigued to see the cow paddock :-) 

So I promise that next time I REALLY will narrow them down a bit more...here are 'just a few' (sigh):

Take a cool and creative couple, a stunning location in the Elgin Valley just outside of Cape Town, a 1920's theme with super-amazing details, a touch of Portuguese, an eclectix mix of appropriately-dressed guests (including some ultra-funky groomsmen), a sultry jazz band, many bottles of tequila consumed and you have yourself a dream wedding to shoot! Not to mention the killer African light that came through late afternoon...

And yip, this was one of THOSE weddings... the ones where the bride and groom are creatives themselves and who work for a film company. That and the numerous large lenses lurking around was all a bit daunting, but Bronwyn and Marcos were so great to shoot and just let me do my thing!

I seriously struggled to narrow these down as there were just so many that I love so far...

Shannon and Jason live in Australia but decided to come out to Cape Town for their wedding and it was such a stunning day! It's  the first time that I've shot at the same venue in one week so it was good challenge to try and get something a bit different and go explore some other spots on this beautiful wine estate in Franschhoek. 

I hadn't met David or Michelle before their big day as they live in Surrey in the UK and only came out to South Africa a few days before their wedding. The first thing I found out when I met David is that he's an art director for an advertising agency in London and sources photographers for all kinds of briefs, so it was a bit daunting to match his expectations!

The entire day unfolded at the beautiful location of Vrede en Lust in Franschhoek and every detail was organised to perfection by Hannes and Kim at Wedding Concepts . What a stunning day in Africa, thank you for letting me be part of it!

 

Having grown up in Joburg, one of my favourite things in the world is the rumble of thunder and smell of rain hitting the earth. I'm seriously deprived of thunderstorms in Cape Town so it's worth just flying up for one - even if the heavens break open as you're about to do the creative shots at a wedding.

It was awesome to have the very talented and passionate Andrea Carlyle come to shoot with me and a while after we had done some creative shots under cover, she came running out excitedly exclaiming that the rain had cleared and there was a stunning rainbow that we had to take some shots with! I'm so stoked that she spotted it as it's not every day you get a beautiful black sky and rainbow as a background...

Busi and Peter's wedding was a stunning cosmopolitan-African event, with tons of guests from Germany, the USA, Nigeria and South Africa coming together at The Cradle.  Thanks guys for flying me up for the occasion and for obliging us with lots of photos. You can see a few more shots of 'the rainbow' on Andrea's blog. Shots no 7 and 11 here were also taken by her. 

Rizanne is one of the most organised brides I've come across. As a graphic designer, she personally designed all the wedding stationery, compiled lists, maps and directions for everyone involved in the wedding and had about 20 piles of labelled goodies neatly stacked at Blackheath Lodge in Seapoint when I arrived to shoot some getting ready action. 

The predicted 'light South-Easter' was actually more like a gale force wind - I usually like a bit of wind for motion of hair and veils, but this was more like a rip-the-veil-apart type wind... so it turned out that the most sheltered place for photos was the undercover parking lot at The 12 Apostles .

James and Rizanne and hugely cute together and totally prove that true love can be found in a dark corner of a wine bar...Oblivion in Claremont was the place where it all started a few years back! 

On a different topic - for any blog-stalkers out there, you'll notice that we've added a comments section now so if you've been wanting to leave any comments, you can do so. I'd love to know who's reading this and to get some feedback!

A large number of friends and family came out from Brussels, England and Canada to witness Rachel and Dan committing their lives to each other in the tiny chapel at the Grande Roche Hotel in Paarl. It was a truly 'happy to be in Africa day' - a down-to earth and fun couple, beautiful sunshine, a braai overlooking the Paarl mountains and an amazing percussion band Abavuki , who set  the African vibe. The guests were entertained with a wine-tasting session while Rachel and Dan went off to have their creative couple shots, which I thought was a brilliant idea too!

A few shots from the day:

I met Rizanne and James at the Twelve Apostles Hotel last night to do a bit of a venue scout as well as an engagement shoot.  We traipsed around winding paths of the fynbos garden up to a helipad and down to some parking garages on site - I have to admit that the parking garage inspired me more than the fynbos garden!

Rizanne is a graphic designer and so I'm really excited to see all the cool details she's put together for her wedding next Saturday. Anyway, here are a few photos from last night: 

Rachel and Dan are quite the cosmopolitan couple: she's British, he's Canadian, they met while they were living in Brussels but have now moved to Mumbai in India and thought that South Africa would be an interesting place to have their wedding even though the first time they came here was last week!

So last night we headed out to the beach in Blouberg and I met them for the first time. So chilled out and lovely together, I'm sure that their wedding on Friday at Grande Roche in Paarl is going to be great! 

It never ceases to amaze me how much the Internet has changed our lives and what a powerful means of communication it is. Caroline and David met on an internet site a few years back and seem to be absolutely perfect together.

I felt like I really was in Provence for their English-style wedding at Le Petite Dauphine - a gorgeously quaint and intimate venue just outside of Franschhoek. Every detail was organised to perfection by Wedding Concepts and the summer day flowed by beautifully and without any hitches. 

I have to admit that I was a bit daunted to shoot Nick and Sam's wedding as Nick is apparently a bit of a hotshot photographer himself! Anyway, I was really looking forward to it as they're not your average kind of couple and were looking for images that were 'unwedding-gy' and a little bit different.

The private location just outside of Hermanus was stunning, the guests were colourful and arty, the vibe was so relaxed and unconventional, and I think that this is one of the first times I've seen a FIVE course meal served... ALL DELICIOUS! 

One of the reasons I found this wedding so chilled out was that Sam and Nick had left 2 hours between the ceremony and reception. They served loads of yummy canapes so that no one was too ravenous and it gave them time to mingle and socialise for a while with their guests as well as having plenty of time for family and couple shots...too often people don't leave enough time and then it's a mad rush to get to the reception.

Anyway, enough babbling, here are some images from the day: