World’s Best Wedding Photos: The Impeccable Portrait

World’s Best Wedding Photos: The Impeccable Portrait

Just before the crazy Coronocoaster hit the world I received a very exciting invite, but then the world went mad and I forgot to tell you all about it!

I was invited to be a part of an international wedding directory which recognises the best wedding photographers in the world. This is run by the incredible Blair DeLaubefels who started Junebug weddings. Some of my photography idols are on this list so I was blown away to be included and am at present the only South African on the directory.

They recently ran a competition titled The Impeccable Portrait and I decided to enter. I don’t actually enter many competitions besides the Fearless photographers awards when I remember. So I was very honoured when I received an email from Blair which said : “After days of deliberation your work stood out from the crowd and our iconic judges chose 3 of your attached portraits as three of the 50 Best Wedding Portraits of the Decade!”

Wow! Thanks so much to the judges and thanks to my amazing clients!

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How To Stay Inspired

How To Stay Inspired

If you’re a wedding photographer who only looks at wedding photography, your work is probably boring.

Harsh

I know!

If you’re guilty of this and I am pushing your buttons I apologise. I don’t want to rile you, I want to get you out of your rut!

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The fact of the matter is, if your work isn’t distinctive you’re always going to be competing on price!

There are so many photographers out there these days.

You need to stand out in order to be noticed.

Humans are so bombarded with imagery these days, it’s going to take something exceptional to make people stop and really look at your work.

Otherwise it will just come down to money.

Creativity needs to be nurtured and if you want to create exciting work and stay inspired you need to make time for this.

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  • Go to art galleries and look at work that is not of your genre
  • Go to bookshops and look at the art and photography section
  • Watch films and study how cinematographers use composition, light and colour
  • Hang out with interesting people who inspire you
  • Journal
  • Carry a book with you to scribble down ideas
  • Write lists of your favourite photographers and figure out why you love them
  • Drink in all the beautiful imagery that you possibly can
  • Diarise time in your schedule to inspire yourself – this is as much of a priority as eating properly

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  • Get enough sleep
  • Eat properly – A healthy body is a healthy mind
  • Meditate – this has been proven to improve stress, anxiety, EQ, creativity, empathy. If you battle you can use an app like Calm or Insight timer.
  • Get off your phone – Give yourself the time and space to day-dream. It has been proven that allowing your mind to wonder whilst walking or doing the ironing actually improves creativity. If you’re always on your phone whilst doing other things your brain doesn’t have the chance to access your creative ideas.
  • Exercise increases serotonin and endorphins, which improves mental help which will ultimately improve mind-set which will help you with negative thought patterns.
  • Read books
  • Shoot for free! In other words don’t only make work for clients. This is where you can play, experiment and grow.
  • If you’re feeling burnt out and uninspired take the day off, or even better take the weekend off, or better yet take a couple of weeks off. You only live once and having time and space away from your normal life will enable you to put things into perspective and hopefully inspire your creative heart.

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Be more present. Be more curious. Stop and smell the roses. The magic is always found in the moment!

Stop making excuses and just do it! You start by stilling the mind and then putting one foot in front of the other!

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How to shoot in tricky locations

How to shoot in tricky locations

Oh my gosh, it smells like pee here!

Yip that literally came out of one of my bride’s mouths as I directed her into a vacant plot festooned with litter!

Why in gods name would I ask her to pose there?

Well it was day two of a very busy Hindu wedding and she was getting ready in her family home which was teeming with people. The house was chockas with family who were all directing her this way and that way, demanding her attention and taking pics over my shoulder with their cell phones. They all meant well, but I had to get her outside and away from all the humans for some portraits. There wasn’t time to drive to a fancy hotel or a pretty beach and most of the garden had been tented for a function. I had to make do with what was around and so I had to think a bit differently!

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As wedding photographers we are often challenged with tricky shooting situations and not so pretty locations.
If you are a good problem solver and have a creative mind plus a good dollop of technical ability, chances are you will be able to turn these situations into creative possibilities.

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Top-South-African-Creative-Family-Portrait-Photographer-Jacki-Bruniquel

It’s so easy to panic and get stuck in a thought process that says, “I can’t possibly make anything interesting here. It’s all a mess. I just can’t do this” The mind loves to amplify fear and when things look difficult and this fear mode might kick in which can spiral into panic. When you’re in a flap you’re so busy thinking about all the reason why you can’t that there isn’t much space for all the reason HOW you can.

If you battle with this the first step is to BREATHE!

  • And then stand back and really look at the situation.
  • Don’t look at all the problems. Look at the possibilities.
  • Look at the light. Look for compositions. Look for interesting shapes.
  • Look for things that can help you block the ugly bits out.
  • Look for blocks of colour.
  • What will happen if you change your point of view?
  • What will happen if you introduce flash?
  • What about using a different lens?
  • What about opening up your aperture?
  • What if you hold something up to the lens?
  • What about using lens compression?
  • What about exposing for the highlights?

Here’s another example of me being challenged by the surroundings!

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Top-South-African-Creative-Family-Portrait-Photographer-Jacki-Bruniquel

Top-South-African-Creative-Family-Portrait-Photographer-Jacki-Bruniquel

Top-South-African-Creative-Family-Portrait-Photographer-Jacki-Bruniquel

If you would like to learn more about how to problem solve in tricky shooting circumstances. This is one of the many things that will be covered in my upcoming Unstuck Yourself Creative Photography workshops, which are happening in:

Jozi on the 5 + 6th June 2019 – Bookings close 30th May – Only 5 spots left!

Durban 26 + 27th June 2019 – Bookings close  25th May – Only 4 Spots left!

Click here for more information about my Unstuck Yourself Workshop.

I’m currently offering a “Friends Special” – where 2 friends booking will pay R8000 each for the two-day workshop as opposed to the R11.5K price.

Click here for  a bit more info about that.

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