A touch of Marie Antoinette

A historical shoot is always fun, but when you do it with these two ladies, it goes EPIC. I wanted to create a historical character shoot for stock purposes, set in the Rococo period, using Madame Déficit herself as our inspiration. The first order of business was to research the dress styles of the period,...

Sugar and Spice and all things Purple

A behind the scenes look at creating location family photography.

Photographing ghosts – a series in a deserted Namibian Town

Recently I had the privilege to spend an afternoon in one of Africa's authentic 'ghost towns'. It is the historical town of Kolmanskop (or as it was spelt under the Germans, Kolmanskuppe), near the harbour town of Luderitz in Namibia. The town is named for Johnny Coleman (hence Coleman's Hill, or Kolmanskop), a transport driver,...

Staying authentic and finding your voice amidst the screaming

So a colleague of mine phoned me yesterday. After some idle chit chat about this and that, she told me that she's looked at my work and one can see that I come from a medical background. I asked her what she meant, and she said that you can see that I am always in...

Know when you’re the tail, and when you are actually the dog

So it has taken me more than a year to write my newest blog post. Mostly because I fell pregnant, had a very complicated pregnancy with a super premature little baby girl, and it has taken me a long time to adjust to all these events. I can happily state that my whole family and...

Makeup artists- What not to do to get your photographer to love you

Let me start this blog by saying that I am a photographer who've worked with some fantastic makeup artists. Their creative input is essential to the success of my fashion and beauty photography. I have the greatest respect for what they do, and completely believe in a collaborative process when shooting. That being said, however,...

Ballerina Project: Urban Ballerina

As a photographer, I feel very strongly that it is so easy to fall into a comfort zone. One where you know exactly what to do to get your shots. I like to challenge myself constantly. Not only does it keep photography interesting for me, but it also forces one to master all aspects of...

Aspirin, Red Bull and Safety Pins – Gear for wedding photographers

It being a Friday, most people are relaxing and easing in to the weekend. Us photographers, on the other hand, are gearing up for the busiest time of the week for us. While I was getting ready and packing my equipment for another wedding, I realized that I had developed my own strategy of getting...

Wedding Photography Woes – Creative differences between bride and photographer

The world has been a strange place to me lately, and for the first time ever, I have had a bride who told me that she was not satisfied with my work after her wedding. Now I always believe in starting with yourself whenever criticism on your work arises, to see whether there is room...

Matrimonial Mayhem – surviving a wedding, for brides from a photographer

Let's start off the new year by getting into some kind of a retro- and introspective mood. As a wedding industry service provider, I often get asked for tips when people are organizing The Biggest Day of their Lives. Now, although I have developed several definite opinions on a vast number of wedding related subjects,...