Somedays I get up and the air still smells faintly of roses and I kind of wonder about Johannesburg and the people that grow roses in the suburbs. This morning, the imac’s screen telling me it’s 2:43AM, I can smell those roses again, it’s silent out here in whitebreadland, not a sound. In about an hour or so, we’ll be back to the usual Johannesburg chaos. For the next couple of minutes this is my favorite time of the day.

I half consider going back to bed, but these days I don’t sleep so well. Insomnia and a 1997 Tiburon are all that are left from my days in the corporate world. So I fire up lightroom, get some coffee going and start doing some editing. I’ve already edited the images from Kerri and Quintis’ actual wedding, but we also did a underwater photoshoot for their day after shoot – I saw a couple of people on our Facebook page comment on the underwater photo that I posted that Kerri and Quintis must have been an amazing couple to work with, and they were. You can’t go wrong when a couple trusts you to do what you do. That’s when we do our best work.

more pics from Kerri and Quintis’ killer bee wedding and day after shoot can be found on our facebook page. If you were a guest or know them you’re welcome to tag yourself in or leave them a message.

and from their day after shoot …

more pics from Kerri and Quintis’ killer bee wedding and day after shoot can be found on our facebook page. If you were a guest or know them you’re welcome to tag yourself in or leave them a message.

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Call them trash the dress or drown the gown or whatever you want, we’re getting a lot of requests lately for underwater photoshoots in wedding dresses – I blame it on this. I love these shoots, besides the fact that it’s one of the few times that I actually get into a pool, I’m not the strongest swimmer, the photos you get tend to be out of this world. Dresses floating in slow motion, the kind of silence that you only find underwater, the contrast of white on white. This Sunday’s underwater photoshoot delivered a couple of stunning images and I couldn’t be happier.

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Guess what arrived this morning. Both Alvina & Andrew and Rozanne & Souli are featured in the real weddings sections and we get to congratulate both couples – I told you guys you are rockstars.

we only submit photos to magazines, blogs etc at our clients request and with their permission.

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So I know by now you’re tired of me telling you how we enjoy hanging out with our clients and how rocking they are. Shivanee and Indiran are all of those things, and they do hold the record for the most ‘likes’ on our facebook page, but they’re also big fans of Johannesburg’s architecture, the inner city (they live in Pritchard street), and the history and authenticity of it all. I love Johannesburg’s inner city, I love hanging out on Sunday or Saturday just making images. So when they suggested that we do an inner city shoot for their day after shoot I was excited, I had plans. This is how they worked out.

Ooh, before the pics, a quick quote from Christopher Hope, it comes from From Joburg to Jozi, which is well worth a read (the royalties are destined for Cotlands, to benefit children with HIV and AIDS). I think this pretty much sums up Jo’burg for me.

“This is a town that thought mine dumps were pretty, that had a soft spot for slimes dams, and thanked God he had given it a reef of gold beneath its feet. The mine dumps are shrinking. Years ago they hung around town like drunks on day release from the detox clinic. The sandy equivalents of meths drinkers in Joubert Park. Scrubby grass like fierce unshaven stubble grew over their yellow faces. Thing was – you liked them, you blushed a bit when visitors said ‘what do you do with them?’
Some bright spark took one of these sandcastles, sheered off its head and planted a drive-in movie on the crest. Great stuff. Someone had an even better idea. What about tearing down the dumps and taking them to the cleaners all over again, for the pinpoints of gold they didn’t give up first time round?
Very Jo’burg.”

More from Shivanee and Indiran’s rocking Joburg day after shoot can be seen on our facebook page

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We almost always plan a day-after shoot when we do destination weddings, they almost never happen. You have to get up early, put the dress back on, get up early, oh, you also have to get up early the day after your wedding when all you want to do is sleep in late and have breakfast in bed. Alvina was determined, Andrew was game and I was kind of grumpy until I pulled back the curtains and saw the amazing light we had to work with. So, four hours after we went to sleep, I pulled on my swimming gear, put fresh batteries in the big black camera, sucked down all the caffeine in sight and we headed to Alvina and Andrew’s room. I was hoping that they had woken up, V was hoping that the caffeine would hit me some time soon. At one point she turned around and said to me, ‘Andrew must hate us right now’, I may have said out loud, ‘I hate us right now’.

The caffeine kicked in, the light was soft and subdued, Alvina was ready, in makeup, in her dress – what a rockstar!! – Andrew was sipping coffee in the corner when we arrived, also ready. Minutes later, the images on the back of the camera were looking out of this world. All was good, and then it was time for the underwater shoot. One day I’ll post some of the outtakes, let’s just say that buoyancy is a big issue when you’re dealing with such a shallow depth. We were also racing against the rain which in Mauritius doesn’t so much fall down softly as bounce off the ground. Anyway, I’m going to let you look at these pics on facebook, and just post a couple of behind the scene images

One underwater image – the rest of Alvina and Andrew’s day after shoot can be found on our facebook page

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7h30 photo call, its early, way too early, but in an hour or so the soft light will turn into harsh contrast and way too much African sun, and in four hours Claudio and Ivana will be on a plane to Mauritius and we’ll be trying to catch up on sleep. Got to work quickly, we have an hour and a bit to create some killer bee pics.

So sunglasses on, take out coffee clutched in my hand, a couple of memory cards shoved into my jeans pocket. We’re outside the Market Theatre, caffeinated to the gills, its been a long weekend of very little sleep and V and I are feeling it. I’d torn my rotator cuff two weeks ago and my physio had recommended I rest my arm. Yeah, right, rest the arm that holds up the camera during our busiest season. That’s likely. I’m slightly gratified when Claudio rolls down the car window and him and Ivana both look slightly shattered.

We take it slowly, a couple of images under the highway, super chilled, swapping tips about Mauritius, Claudio and Ivana are the most calm relaxed couple, just unfussed about anything,letting us do our thing. Catching some killer bee images before the sun turns the day into a washed out mess. Its not a trash the dress session, there’s no water anywhere, but Newtown is pretty dirty, and some of the images I’m wanting to make require a bit of bravery. Ivana’s answer is … its a dress.

Three quarters of an hour later and its a quick trip to the center of town, historical buildings, authentic backgrounds, just around the corner from the ANC building. A bit more of a Joburg scene. A million miles away from yesterday’s shoot at Summerplace, I silently wish I’d brought a couch.

Hang on to your bellbottoms I’m going to post the previous couple of shoots in random order.

Hey, a preview for Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland just came on the telly. I can hardly wait, and its in 3D. I may have to break my no-cinemas-not-ever-again rule and head out into popcorn land.

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Just finished editing Deborah and Michele’s couples session. For me this image is made by the guy on the bicycle, he gives the image a sense of place and second focal point.