Today I had the pleasure of shooting the Staffords media lunch which was held at their offices in Modderfontein. It is an event that they try to hold annually, relevant and select media are invited to come and experience Staffords’ extensive and delicious range of products. It also gives the media the opportunity to meet and interact with the brand manager and PR contact.
The catering was done by Kym Norris of Tantalizing Taste Events. They really do make the most amazing mouth-watering food. They will cater any event, from a birthday, wedding to large corporate gatherings. At the end of the month, I am shooting some more of Kym’s amazing food for a different client…watch this space for more divine food pics
Here are a few pics of the food from the day :
P.S – Just so that you all know (in case you were wondering), my other brand is Brush with Film which is all the other photography I do other than Boudoir. I do a lot of corporate, lifestyle, event and food photography for a large range of clients. I am loving food photography, it is such fun and so delish
I recently had a cupcake and champagne birthday party…What a hit with the guests! They loved it! I had 14 different flavours of cupcakes – making it very difficult to choose which one you wanted to try first. Some of the flavours were Peppermint Crisp, Black Forest, Red Velvet and Bar One, to name but a few.
If you are ever looking for some divine and delectable cupcakes for a birthday, wedding or just a little treat…you must try Cupcake Boutique in Lonehill Shopping Centre. You can order online – which I used and thought was fab or pop into their store! They even do customised orders for that special occasion.
Below are a few pics that I took of the cupcakes…this is a photography blog after all…hehe!
Here are some pics of the beautiful and sexy Miss N.
I had such fun photographing Miss N, she was a little reserved in the beginning but after a short while and a glass of champagne she got into the shoot and we had such fun!
A big thank you to Shandre for her fab make-up…Miss P’s smoky eyes were super stunning!
Look out for this beautiful face on TV as she is a rising super star
Just a selection of images of the sassy and sexy Miss C…she is stunning, isn’t she!
She was such a pleasure to work with and lots of fun to photograph. She was up for anything and has such an easy-going and fun-loving personality. This lady really has a beautiful and expressive face…Wow and the smouldering hot looks she gives…can just imagine what they must do to her fiancé (Congrads to Miss C on her recent engagement…wishing you all the best…think u may need a bridal shoot ;)) Thanks Miss C, you are fab and hope we can work together again soon!
Another big thank you to Candida from Decadently U Lingerie for the sponsorship of this beautiful and sexy lingerie. If you are looking for any lingerie or just something sexy, give me a shout for Candida’s details (her website is still under construction).
A final thank you to Shandre for her fab make-up…Miss C’s eye were stunning! If anyone is looking for a talented MUA…get hold of Shandre!
If you want to see some more images of Miss C, visit my colleague and friend Chantal Drummond‘s blog.
If you are a photographer that only works with natural light then you can and will run into some difficulties. For example, a lack of light on a rainy day. I personally prefer natural, as it is much easier and quicker to work with but I am just as happy with studio lights.
Lately, in Joburg we have been having a lot of miserable rainy weather, which is not ideal if you want to use natural light like I did last week-end. I was lucky enough to wake-up to some sunshine on the Saturday morning. However, there were still a lot of clouds so it was really frustrating because as I was about to take the shot the light changed. You do not want to show the client that you are frustrated as it will make them uncomfortable, which is the last thing you want!
The only solution was to change my setting as quickly as possible because I had a client waiting on me and her shoot was only one hour. While I was changing my setting, I chatting to her about how great she looked in that corset and how amazing the colour was on her. She wasn’t posing the entire time but as soon as I was almost ready again, I asked her to please move her arm back to her hip and then hold it for a second and *snap* I had it. Phew!
The one thing you need to watch out for in these light conditions is the possible change in skin tone as the colour of the light changes when the clouds come out. Therefore, I was on the wrong white balance (which can be fixed in CS but I like to get it right in-camera), so I quickly changed my white balance (tip : just remember to change it back when the sun is out again).
I also know that, if I crank up the ISO on my camera, my shots will be over exposed even if the light meter is telling me they are not…this is something I am aware of and I compensate for immediately by dropping an f-stop. These are the kind of things that go through my mind in a split second to ensure that I get that ‘perfect shot‘.
Later during the day, I experienced the opposite, we wanted to shoot outside but the sun was so bright there were hot spots and harsh shadows on the client’s face. To solve the problem, we got the MUA to hold the reflector – black side down over the client to cover most of her so that she was all in ‘shade’…MUA’s are so useful, they don’t just do make-up This worked really well and we ended up with some great shots. Sometimes it is about thinking outside the box.
To sum up, the most important thing to remember when you find yourself in these tricky situations… and you will…is to take a deep breath and think what can I do, how can I improvise. As photographers we are problem solvers…how can you solve the problem you are facing? ‘Wherever there is a problem there is a solution, you just need to find it‘.
Here are a few pics that were taken out in the bright African sun :
As you can see some of the background is blown out and there are a few hot spots on her legs (which do not bother me) but her face and most of her body is perfectly exposed.
I am often asked why don’t you shoot weddings, surely you will make a lot of money from shooting them. Yes, I probably would but it is not about the money at the end of the day. I just don’t love it and I am a firm believer in if you are not passionate about it then it will show up in your images. If I was a bride, I would not want a photographer who wasn’t super excited about photographing every moment of my wedding. Yes, there are aspects of it that I do enjoy it is not my passion.
A few weeks back, I did a TFCD shoot with Chantal Drummond Photography, it was originally meant to be a fashion shoot…I was pretty excited because then i could practice some ‘fashion’ poses, do a little glamour…all in all get some great shots for my portfolio.
Anyway last minute, the model decides she wants to do a bridal shoot…totally not my cup of tea. I went along with it as I had agreed to do the make-up and thought oh well i can’t use it in my photography portfolio but it could be fun.
I have to admit it wasn’t that bad but I definitely was not feeling the passion and excitement I usually do when I shoot. Meanwhile, Chantal (being a really good wedding photographer) was oozing enough love and passion for us both…hehe!
So basically it boils down to…I can shoot weddings but choose not to. I would rather leave those fantastic wedding photographers to it.
Here are two of my shots from the day (not too bad…if I must say so myself)
There is nothing worse than being let down by a supplier when you have planned your photo shoot. It is so important to build good relationships with your suppliers. I have been lucky and about 99% of the people I have worked with have been fantastic…not only in the quality of their work and products but also their level professionalism.
I did a shoot last week-end and decided to work with a new MUA, as I just knew I wouldn’t manage make-up and shooting. I am always nervous when working with someone new but what a fantastic experience…I worked with Shandre from Make-Up by Shandre. She was easy going, friendly, professional and the quality of her work was WOW! Make’s me realise that my make-up is just average.
So if you are looking for a fab MUA – contact Shandre!
Here are some pics of her work…sadly there are none of her as she didn’t want to pose for us…hehe
I decided that it was time to put my boudoir skills to the test and see if I was able to photograph a number of ladies in a day. I contacted a very good friend of mine Chantal from Chantal Drummond Photography and ran idea by her, she loved it and wanted in on the action.
So, we set out and found a beautiful location : The Wesley boutique hotel in Bryanston, a talented make-up artist : Shandre and some gorgeous ladies. We also organised to have some of the lingerie sponsored by Dedicatedly You, which added some variety to the outfits.
Thanks to all those involved for making it such a successful, fun and fantastic day!
Here is a sneak peak of the photo’s from the day :
