Up till March 2010 I had called myself many things, a sister, a daughter, an artist, a girlfriend, a vegetarian, a surfer, a photographer, a friend, a world traveler, a South African, a creative, a food lover, a cat lover,…………  but never ever a wedding photographer.

And this year … things changed.

You see, I have photographed many weddings in my life but never, ever done this wedding photography stuff as a business, In fact I have never done anything as a business.

I studied fine art, I traveled, I studied more, I worked, I loved, I lived, I was…..an artist who happened to be a photographer who happened to sometimes photograph weddings.

2010 rolled in and all of a sudden I was buying new very expensive  equipment, thinking about branding, websites, blog sites, corporate identities, business plans, the cost of new equipment versus a year plan of gross overall profit, massive insurance costs, workflow and the type of software and knowledge that could help me to make it a bit easier. I was hiring staff to take the pressure off, learning about new lighting, learning more about retouching, learning more about business and thinking about the best photographers in the world and how I could better myself to not only be me but also a me that could hold up to an international standard, tax……..

My initial plan back in the beginning of 2010, was to set up a proper, well run business with a focus on wedding photography to support myself , so that I could make the art that I wanted when I wanted.

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I couldn’t resist doing a quick sneak peak of my last shoot of 2010. Dave and Candice are getting married next year and as they are both musos who often perform at a local theatre we had to do part of their e.session on stage. What a way to end off the year! Cands and Dave you were great and I am loving working with you both. Oh, by the way, Dave and Candice run Hautefish web design and built my website and this very blog!

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This year has been a ridiculously huge one work wise. My work has pretty much taken over my whole life and there have been moments where I have felt like I was on breaking point with all the crazy long hours. I am one of those people who gets rather obsessive about work and start loosing a sense of what is around me. The great thing about actually taking photos rather then editing them is that you are forced right into the present, and as someone who can live in the clouds somewhat, picking up my camera is the best thing for me.

I live in the most wonderful town, Umdloti Beach with the most wonderful people in the most wonderful house with a tropical garden, a view of the ocean (i have actually spotted dolphins swimming past from my bedroom window), 2 beautiful main coon cats called Darwin and Ruby …. and I started taking these photos to remind myself to look out from behind the computer. I feel very lucky to live the life that I do. Taking photographs of my every day things and recording the bits around me is a good reminder! My aim is to do a post a month with our town Umdloti Beach and our house being the theme!

The first pic here is of myself and Ruby and was taken by my housemate and brother in law Tyrone Bradley who is a very gifted photographer and graphic designer, he is responsible for my website, CI and blog. The other human is my other housemate and amazing sister Lis, isn’t she just too pretty?!

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You may remember Tarryn and Jacques from their engagement pics where I hopped into bed with them! They got married on Saturday and I am not going to say too much today seeing as this is just a sneak peak. Big thanks to both of you for choosing me to be your lady! Have a wonderful Christmas and a good relaaaaaaxxx!

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I am a perfectionist to my own detriment at times!! And when it comes to editing and retouching I am a huge perfectionist. My family is constantly berating me for the amount of time i spend in front of the computer, but I am much more about delivering a quality product rather then mass producing or becoming a photo factory. Often my clients don’t understand when I tell them that a one and a half hour shoot can sometimes result in 5 hours of retouching, processing, burning DVDs, then there is running to the lab for prints and so on and so forth. Anyway I thought today i would show you an image that has been edited and then the image as it was as a RAW file.

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I have always loved  being spontaneous, picking up my backpack and heading off to some unknown destination on a whim. I love meeting new people and experiencing new places. Unfortunately with all this growing up business, I don’t really get to do much of that anymore (sob sob! ha ha) So when Nicci called me to enquire whether i would come up to Wartberg to do some family portraits for herself and her friend Kerry, my interest was tickled. I mean … where on earth is Wartberg??? A place i haven’t been to in South Africa! Yaaay! Both families are farming familes which made it all the more interesting for me. I love taking in a bit of someone else’s life. First up we have the Erskines and then the Wichmann’s. And in case you don’t know where Wartberg is …. its in the middle of the farmlands somewhere inland from Tongaat! Thanks so much to both families for such a lovely time. You live in such a gorgeous part of the world!!! We really had fun!

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Amanda and Adrian got married at the gorgeous luxury game lodge Leopard Mountain in far Northern Kwa-Zulu Natal. Their wedding was small and intimate with only close friends and family who had flown in from all over the world (one guest even came all the way from Iceland!) Adrian is South African but has been living abroad for many many years, first in the UK and then in Canada. Amanda is English and also moved out to Canada some time back. This is where they both met , fell in love and now live together. These two are definitely the no fuss fun types, they love the great outdoors, sports, exercising and more sport! Amanda in particular has a huge love for animals and that is part of the reason they chose to get married on a game farm. I am always up for a weekend away and a new adventure so I jumped at the chance to photograph this wedding and what a lovely wedding it was. I was given very strict instructions that they wanted mainly documentary style pics capturing the day and nothing too posed. (my best!) I do so love relaxed weddings. Noreen from Timeless Weddings planned this whole affair

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