I’m terrible at keeping secrets. I can’t imagine how Paulo managed to not tell anyone about the helicopter that he had chartered for the wedding. No-one knew, not the groomsmen, not the bridesmaids, not the bride. I almost spilled the beans at one point. Don’t tell me to keep a secret, think of a hyperactive eight year old, I pretty much have a similar capacity for keeping quiet. I didn’t say a word.

All I can say is that Kate was surprised. The wedding rocked like the 80′s and Kate and Paulo brought serious rockstar swagger (and movie star good looks) to their photoshoot. The reception was at Thaba Ya Batswana, and kind of reminded me a lot of the purple lighting design I’ve been seeing from the New York photographers. We were joined by the videographers from DVI so we didn’t have to stress about the moody lighting, which is always nice. Just a rocking relaxed day with two of the nicest people, who made the day just too easy. Thank you.

btw I did have to smile to myself when it came out that Paulo went to Benoni High and spent a lot of time not studying. I did a lot of not studying at Benoni High myself. Lots of good memories.

Portraits: Rand Airport
Reception: Thaba Ya Batswana
Ceremony: Our Lady Of Lebanon (which is one of the nicest churches we’ve photographed at)
Videographers: DVI

more photos from Kate and Paulo’s rocking Thaba Ya Batswana wedding can be found on our facebook page – if you know them you’re welcome to tag yourself in or leave them a message.

more photos from Kate and Paulo’s rocking Thaba Ya Batswana wedding can be found on our facebook page – if you know them you’re welcome to tag yourself in or leave them a message.

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We were kind of nervous about this shoot. Despite Daisy and V’s best efforts it looked like the portrait shoot was going to be taking place in the blazing mid-afternoon sun and if you know Thaba Ya Batswana, the sun kind of sets right into the best view you’re going to get, giving you tight shadows across the eyes and cheeks. We needed another plan.

So we decided that we were going to overpower the sun and we brought softboxes, snoots, flashes, lightstands and enough equipment to make me feel like we needed an assistant to just carry stuff. Not my scene at all, I prefer things to remain as natural as possible, I don’t even use flash at the reception because I worry about destroying the atmosphere. If the choice is killer bee pics or going natural, we pick the killer bees every time, so we packed the car with more gear than we’ve ever taken to a wedding and said a little prayer for an overcast day. Not rain, but just some serious clouds that would block out the sun.

Two hours later as we were bombing down the M2, the skies started darkening, and around the same time the ceremony finished the sky turned into a killer bee tableaux of grey on grey – not a stray strand of bright sunlight to be seen, just soft beautiful light. Nice.

Just btw, Daisy and Ricardo, who no doubt are the nicest people, didn’t blink when I pointed out the spots I wanted to photograph at and brought serious swagger to their portrait shoot, have a dog called Rump, which I think is the coolest name I’ve ever heard for a dog.

You can also see Daisy and Ricardo’s uber cool Thaba Ya Batswana wedding on our facebook page.

You can also see Daisy and Ricardo’s uber cool Thaba Ya Batswana wedding on our facebook page.

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So Friday we were at Thaba Ya Batswana, out towards the south end of Joburg. Serious lightning, rain, one of those highveld thunderstorms that turn the world dark. I wasn’t worried, we were with Rob from DVI, he’s a tall guy and carries a steel tripod. I figured I’d take my chances with the lightning. Nicole and Donavan didn’t seem too stressed about the rain either, and brought the rock star swagger to our big veld/dark skies shoot. Add in some super cool family members, people I recognized from our recent Toadbury Hall wedding , and it turned into a pretty relaxed afternoon.

Hours later, leaving Thaba, the police were stopping people just outside the gates. Lights flashing in the dark, mixing in with flashes of lightning. I wasn’t worried, I’d been good, and I was in double-o super sexy.

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