Dror Eyal Photography » Weddings

Memoire Wedding – Kelly and Fred

dror — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:01:49 +0000

Most mornings on the way to the gym I pass by this tire dealership, the name escapes me, it has a red exterior. The guys that work there are usually hanging out outside having a coffee and chatting away. I sometimes think that it must be nice to just leave your work at the end of the day, to know that tomorrow will be the same thing. Of course a lot of people treat wedding photography that way, so I’m not saying that. Just kind of wondering.

By the time I get home from a shoot I’ve already mentally gone through all the images in my cards. I know which one’s I’m looking forward to and most Sundays I’m up until breakfast time, backing up and editing images. This weekend was no exception there were a couple of images there, a couple that I had mentally filed away that seemed to me to capture Fred and Kelly, just that excitement and happiness at being married, the sun setting behind them and an insane landscape of rolling hills and picturesque clouds. Both of them bringing serious swagger and humor to our photoshoot. So hours later, I’d already edited those images, posted them to our facebook page and I was ready for some sleep. Fat chance. Just try sleeping on the amount of coffee I’d had over the last couple of hours. Only one thing to do. Go to gym, work off that caffeine.

Big thank you to Kelly and Fred’s parents for being such rockstars and making the day go so smoothly.

Ok, so, as always there are more photos from Kelly and Fred’s badass wedding on our facebook page, if you were there or know them, you’re welcome to leave them a message or tag yourself.

I love that look

More photos from Kelly and Fred’s badass wedding on our facebook page, if you were there or know them, you’re welcome to leave them a message or tag yourself.

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turbine hall structural drawings,

Kerri and Quintis forever

dror — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 01:07:40 +0000

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 …

is that not the coolest thank you image ever? They were already wet when I realised we hadn’t shot the Thank You image yet, might as well do it underwater right?

tag:

couple under water, gar ter pat heaton, under water dress, underwater wedding photography image, wedding wet dress,

Dunkeld Country Estate Wedding – Alison & Jonathan

dror — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 18:20:25 +0000

The December break is over, summer in Jo’burg is here with a vengeance, heat like you wouldn’t believe, rolling thunderstorms every evening and that smell of freshness that you only get after a thunderstorm – not that we get much fresh air in Jo’burg.

So we did what any true jo’burger (Joe Burger?) would do, we left the city and headed for the country. Dullstroom to be exact – a weekend away photographing Alison and Jonathan’s very very pastoral wedding at the Dunkeld Country Estate. Rolling green hills, fish jumping in ponds, horses grazing in the fields, light filtering through a very flammable forest, it was like stepping into a Thomas Cole painting.

Along the way we managed to discover the world’s worst cup of coffee at the Mugg & Bean in Alzu, and were grateful when we arrived at Dunkeld to be greeted by Jonathan with a care package that contained amongst other things …. fresh milk for coffee. Someone give that man a Bells. Thank you guys for taking such good care of us.

I didn’t get any vendor details but I did notice that the guys were drinking Johnny Walker Gold Label before the ceremony.

There are more pics of Alison and Jon’s very very pastoral Dullstroom wedding on our Facebook page. If you were a guest or know them, you’re welcome to tag yourself in or leave them a message.

tag:

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Turbine Hall Wedding – Angela + Patrick

dror — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 17:40:19 +0000

We’d kind of gotten turned around in the one way streets that cluster around the Carlton Centre, in the inner city, turned the corner and a huge plume of yellow and purple smoke was erupting out of a car. Someone carrying some sort of implement of destruction rushed to the smoking car and started banging on the driver’s window. A film crew had closed off the road, they were shooting a scene. It’s tough trying to find a quiet location on a Saturday afternoon in the Johannesburg city centre.

That’s ok though, today our venue is none other than Turbine Hall. I remember it back from the old days when I went to watch Faithless play there – it was one of V and I’s first official dates. Today we get to shoot Angela and Patrick’s wedding in some of the nicest concrete chic structures in Jo’burg. Nice. I love industrial backdrops.

Two incredibly photogenic people, the nicest bridal party, ex-Rhodents galore and edgy chic decor. What a way to end an incredible year.

Reception: Turbine Hall – where Lance, the Ops Manager was just a rockstar.
Ceremony: St George’s Anglican Church ( Parktown )
Getting Ready: The Westcliff

More images from Angela and Patrick’s chic wedding can be found on our Facebook page. If you know them you’re welcome to leave them a message or tag yourself.

I chuckle every time I think about the Checkers marketing department having to promote turducken, imagine having to punt a food where the first four letters spell …

tag:

turbine hall wedding, weddings at turbine hall, wedding turbine hall, wedding photography the westcliff, wedding venues rooftop jhb, wedding night, wedding in st george\s parktown,

Villa Arcadia Wedding – Lili and Cameron

dror — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 16:31:46 +0000

not many words this week, just pics.

Dress: Marianne Fassler (yes, there was a leopard print garter)
Ceremony: St George’s Anglican Church ( Parktown )
Reception: Villa Arcadia
Videographers: DVI
DJ: DJ Luis Almeida

More pics from Lili and Cameron’s rocking wedding can be found on our Facebook page. If you know them or were a guest you’re welcome to tag yourself in or leave them a message.

tag:

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The Cradle – Natasha & Sebastian

dror — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 13:10:09 +0000

On Friday we got to go to one of the most fun weddings we’ve been to in a long time. Natasha and Sebastian were just relaxed, impossibly cool and looked liked they were having a blast. It was also our first no Facebook wedding, where the MC asked the guests to not post anything to Facebook or online.

V and I are super sensitive to our clients’ privacy, if we have posted a pic of you ( whether you’re a client or guest ) and you would prefer to not be online, just drop us an email and we will remove it.

Summer Place Wedding – Bronwen + Andries

dror — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 16:06:19 +0000

It seems I’m always posting blogs late at night these days, we’re deep into summer madness, trying to keep up with the latest weddings. A lot of the other wedding photographers in our circle are also still up, I can see them on Skype. I’m kind of half listening to the new Black Keys on my earphones – V is asleep, it’s an early morning for her tomorrow.

We were at Summer Place this weekend for Bronwen and Andries’ wedding, two people who I couldn’t imagine more in love (and two of the nicest people you’re likely to meet). You know it’s easy to get jaded in this industry, another wedding, another bride in a beautiful white dress, but looking at these two smiling at each other, sneaking crafty looks and kisses on the staircase, your heart can’t help smiling. So now, late at night, my new lava lamp keeping me company, editing those images and seeing the sneaky glances, I’m smiling again to myself, very grateful to have been able to capture those moments. The cats are still looking at me strangely.

I did get vendor details this week:

Dress: Gideon
Shoes: Jimmy Choo
Getting Ready: Le Chatelat Boutique Guest House – stunning venue
Ceremony: St Martins in the Veld – can’t actually explain how beautiful the light is in this 100 year old church.
Reception: Summer Place – our co-ordinator was Simon who was on the ball and really accommodating.
Decor: Lorraine at Papillo Designs, rapidly becoming one of our favorite decor/wedding coordination people. Just a rockstar really.
DJ: The man, the myth, the legend, DJ Luis Almeida
Videographers: Andre from Freeman Productions – professional and unobtrusive, a pleasure to work with as always.

pretty good huh?

ok, some pics, but before that, there are more pics of Bronwen and Andries’ super stylish Summer Place wedding. If you were a guest or know them, you’re welcome to tag yourself in or leave them a message.

There are more pics of Bronwen and Andries’ super stylish Summer Place wedding. If you were a guest or know them, you’re welcome to tag yourself in or leave them a message.

tag:

st martins in the veld, bronwyns boutique, weddings in the veld, wedding deesses for the veld, summer place weddings, summer place wedding venue, summer place wedding pictures,

Thaba Ya Batswana Wedding – Kate + Paulo

dror — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 16:31:43 +0000

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.

tag:

rand airport, wedding venues kliprivier, wedding at thaba ya batswana photography, ta ya batswana, 2011 wedding at thaba yabatswana, wedding venue kliprivier, wedding venue klipriver,

Randfontein NGK – Irma en Jan

dror — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 05:53:20 +0000

I haven’t been sleeping much lately, I think it’s the weather. It’s keeping the cats indoors at night and they tend to chase each other around the house loudly. That and the fact that I don’t sleep much most of the time anyway. So it’s almost dawn and I’m staring at the mac’s screen again, trying to figure out what to say about last Saturday’s wedding. I’m drawing a blank, I’m not sure any words, or photos can convey the sense of community and family that characterized this wedding. Just a huge outpouring of love for Irma and Jan. We’re talking an entire hall decorated and set up with blue china, and memorabilia, we’re talking a bicycle made especially for the day, 37 flowergirls in identical outfits, over a 1000 people arriving for the service. A sermon by Irma’s dad that even with my very slow Afrikaans to English translating brain … let’s just say that at this point I was thinking V and I should probably move to Randfontein …

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone, who made an effort to make us feel welcome, those that made an effort to speak to us in English, those that listened to our terrible Afrikaans, to both the Van Rensburgs and the Nels. We really appreciated everything and had a blast hanging out with you. Next time at our place?

There are more pics on our Facebook page, you’re welcome to tag yourself in or leave Jan and Irma a message.

tag:

ngk wedding,

Red Ivory Lodge Wedding – Christelle and Jonathan

dror — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 16:33:45 +0000

Late Friday night, Saturday morning. It’s still hot, too hot to sleep, too hot to have another cup of coffee. All the cards have been downloaded to the Drobo, there’s nothing on the telly that you wouldn’t regret committing an hour to watching. I don’t want to turn on the air cooler in case it wakes V up.

I’m still cruising on adrenaline from today’s wedding at Red Ivory. Christelle and Jonathan, two of the nicest people you’re likely to meet. A gathering of friends and family who came together to see them get married after a nine year engagement. Just being themselves, having a blast, always smiling, Christelle doing little dances she was so excited. That kind of excitement is infectious. Then there was Jonathan who reduced pretty much everyone to tears with his groom’s speech.

Hours later, traveling home on that very dark highway, I’m mentally going through the images, ticking off the one’s I liked for the blog. One keeps jumping out, it’s of Christelle’s sisters helping her get ready, the look on their faces says everything.

We were joined at Red Ivory by DJ and lighting maestro – DJ Paul and saxophonist Rike Coetzer.

You can see more images from their rocking Red Ivory wedding on our facebook page. If you know the couple you’re welcome to leave them a message or tag yourself in.

tag:

red ivy wedding venue, red ivory wedding photos, red ivory lodge wedding, ivory weddings, red ivory wedding venue map, red ivory winter wedding, a red wedding,

Country Club of Johannesburg – Esmari + Eugene

dror — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 14:31:19 +0000

Monday afternoon in Jo’burg and it’s sweltering, even the mad fluffy one looks like he may need a swim. The summer is going to be hot. The kind of hot where the edges of the viewfinder feel a bit wobbly and the glue that holds the rubber grips on the camera starts to go soft. These are the days where we kind of pray for a bit of cloud cover, maybe even a bit of rain to cool things down out here on the highveld.

I’m just wrapping up the Facebook edit on Esmari and Eugene’s wedding, I’m just smiling to myself, Jay-Z on the speakers, you can’t help smiling when you’re looking at images where everyone is having such a blast.

I only really have two things to say:
One, thank you guys, it was a real joy to photograph the two of you. I’m not sure what the ring bearer was on about, but from looking at the pics, I suspect he wanted his rings back.
Two, why is it that the life of the party is always a pilot? Don’t I suffer enough with my fear of flying :^)

You can view more from Esmari and Eugene’s Country Club wedding on our Facebook page, if you were a guest feel free to tag yourself in or leave them a message.

If you’ve come to my workshops, or heard me speak, you’d have heard me say that there isn’t such a thing as wedding photography. It’s something that the magazines and blogs define for brides and they in turn request that from their photographer who shoots it, and then it becomes the standard. So this weekend as I watched Esmari being laced into her dress, I wondered who thought that the best way to showcase a wedding dress which is designed for someone’s body, was to put in on a hanger and hang it somewhere interesting.

tag:

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The Westcliff Wedding – Samantha and Sean

dror — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 14:59:59 +0000

It’s monday, our daily dose of Joburg rain is coming down outside, driving the cats indoors. They aren’t looking impressed. I’ve been in front of this screen for the last ten hours or so, my eyes are starting to go a bit funny, and the white noise of the rain coming down is lulling me to sleep, so I’m going to make this one quick.

We were at The Westcliff this weekend, for Samantha and Sean’s wedding. The Westcliff, especially Jacaranda Hill, always makes think of the kind of weddings that they would have had in the roaring twenties, all dressed in slick white, hats and fascinators. Rolls Royces in the driveway and string quartets playing on the lawns. Add the whole Johannesburg in Spring aspect to it – I’m talking serious Jacaranda’s in bloom all over the place, the smell of approaching rain, and it’s one of those weddings that just seems in it’s own space in time.

Dress: Pronovias
Suits: Fabiani
Ceremony: Rosebank Catholic Church
Reception: The Westcliff
Rolls: Spirit of Ecstacy (Ferdi is a really nice guy)

You can view more from Samantha and Sean’s Westcliff wedding on our Facebook page, if you were a guest feel free to tag yourself in or leave them a message.

tag:

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Red Ivory Lodge Wedding – Chantel & Rossouw

dror — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 08:08:06 +0000

Saturday at the new bridal suite, really cool to see Chantel so excited to be getting married, like literally bouncing up and down with excitement. It’s completely infectious. You just can’t help walking around smiling when someone is so excited about their dress, excited about the pictures of the donkeys she got as a gift, excited to be getting married.

We were at the always killer bee Red Ivory Lodge for Chantel and Rossouw’s wedding. Romanz was (were?) singing under the huge tree, the crystal tree ornaments were catching the late afternoon sun, James and the always-on-the-ball staff at Red Ivory were serving some of their out of this world cold berry drinks. In the background the sun was setting over the Magaliesberg Mountain range. It was a gorgeous day.

If you weren’t there, I could tell you that Chantel wore a seriously killer bee Gert Van Der Merwe dress, that her father officiated over the ceremony (there was suspiciously no youmaykissthebride – Rossouw went for it anyway), I could also tell you that it was a super relaxed day in the country, the view of the sunset was amazing.

I just want to thank Chantel and Rossouw’s families for just being rockstars and making us feel welcome, and making an effort to speak to us in English. Much much appreciated. Thank you.

Ok, to the vendors.
Reception: Red Ivory Lodge obviously
Band: Romanz
Dress: Gert Van Der Merwe
Coordinator: Lorraine at Papilio Designs – On the ball, organized and such a pleasure to work with. Always replied to our emails within 24 hours and was happy to work with us to make sure that the bride and groom got the best photos.

… almost put my foot in it. My second shooter for the day was the very talented Corinna Tannian who just kicks ass.

more pics from Chantel and Rossouw’s wedding on our facebook page, you’re welcome to tag yourself in or leave them a message.

I get a lot of questions about the 50mm lens that I use and why I don’t switch to a newer lens, faster lens, an f/1.4 or f/1.2. I was telling someone at the Photo & Film Expo last week, I believe that lenses have personalities, two identical 50mm lenses will each have their own quirks and after almost 20 years of using mine, I feel that we know each other. I know what it can do and I know how to use it to get what I want out of it. As for the f/1.4 or f/1.2, aperture is only one of a couple of factors that determine DOF, and it’s not even the most important one. Fact.

tag:

dror eyal recent weddings, red ivory chantel en rossouw, red ivory weddings, redivory pictures, red ivory tree, red ivory lodge photos, red ivory lodge 24 october 2011,

Red Ivory Lodge Wedding – Cara and Clive

dror — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 08:31:19 +0000

Spring in the highveld seems to bring with it so much pollen, and this year kind of feels worse than last year. Beautiful blue skies, great swathes of light brown veld, green trees and pollen. I’m considering having my sinuses surgically removed.
By now you know I love Red Ivory as a wedding venue, it always looks really amazing and you can’t go wrong with the view. They seem to have added some chandeliers since I was last there which make shooting the reception so much nicer and add that opulent feeling to the images. So Rianka and I headed this Friday for Cara and Clive’s wedding. Serious swagger, fun, guitar poses, fun, schmodelling, fun, and a very rock n roll dress. We got some killer bee images, so I couldn’t really wait to post them.

Before I do though, I got to shoot this weekend with the super talented Rianka, who is going to be a big name in our industry in the next year. Keep an eye out for her. We were accompanied by the rockstar videographers of DVI, Rob and Santi – who make me smile and shoot some serious video.

As always more images on our Facebook page, you’re welcome to tag yourself in or leave Cara and Clive a message.

As always more images on our Facebook page, you’re welcome to tag yourself in or leave Cara and Clive a message.

After my presentation yesterday at The Photo & Film Expo, a couple of people came by and asked why I didn’t talk about marketing, getting clients, word of mouth, social marketing, SEO, branding, logos, all that kind of stuff that people think is essential to being a successful photographer. I talked about mastering our craft because I think at the end of the day successful photographers are those that take great photos (I could be wrong, but I suspect that I’m not). If you take the three tactics that I gave and practiced them, you will be successful regardless of what your logo or advert looks like.

tag:

red ivory lodge wedding photos, dror eyal photography blog, real weddings in south africa, redivory, red ivory wedding, droreyal,

Intundla Wedding – Catherine and Michael

dror — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 20:35:55 +0000

So it’s Sunday evening, this week has been kind of brutal. I’m way behind on the blog posts, at least the Facebook page is up to date. If you came through to the Photo&Film expo to listen to me talk about becoming a master photographer, thank you. I was kind of worried at one point that I’d be talking to a handful of people, it turned out to be standing room only. There was even some clapping.

Ok, I’m very late on posting this wedding, but it’s been up on our Facebook page for a while and it has gotten some very cool comments. We don’t often go out to photograph the evening before rehearsal dinner/get together braai, because not much really happens, but you guys rocked it. Really too easy to photograph you guys and the retinue, such a pleasure meeting you both. I think I’m just going to add that Catherine and Michael, and their crew, partied like it was the eighties. Nice.

Our videographers on the day were the guys from Freeman Productions who are always a pleasure to have around.

More from their wedding on our Facebook page.

tag:

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De Hoop wedding – Rozanne and Souli

dror — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 09:18:08 +0000

It’s just past midnight, we finally made it to the hotel in Cape Town, there’s a dent in the rental car and I’m feeling a little crispy around the edges. I think we’ve had about six hours sleep in total over the last three days, not counting the hour or so on the plane, the only thing keeping me awake at the moment is nasty hotel coffee and what I think is Mao’s Last Dancer on the television. I listen to it in Chinese, I’m too tired to read the subtitles. I wanted to write down some thoughts about this weekend’s wedding before I pass out for the night.

I often hear people saying that after the wedding all you have are the photos. I think more important than the photos are the memories. I’m not sure that any photo can evoke waking up on your first day of being married, watching the sunrise over perfect white dunes near the southern most tip of Africa, freezing cold wind coming from the south, whales breaching the water less than 200 meters away. Hugging each other, wrapped in his jacket, smiling, happy. I like to capture those moments, but I’m not sure that any photos can be a patch on those memories.

I did write down some stuff in my journal, but they are early morning ramblings. Awake because it’s too silent, I can almost hear my neurons snap. For someone used to the snap snap of an electric fence, sleep is difficult. I spent a lot of time staring across the vlei, De Hoop is one of those microspots that make you believe that the world is a beautiful place.

I was going to write a separate post about Souli and Rozanne’s day after shoot, up and awake at 6am after being asleep for only two hours because their photographer promised them the best sunrise on the dunes. The night before a smudged memory of family and friends partying and hollering de hoop hoop. Greek dancing and emotions. Plates and a whole lot of shooters – most common heard phrase of the night, “let’s have some shooters!” We saw whales, many whales, leaping out of the water like National Geographic was auditioning. Amazing people, out of this world decor and location … I could carry on.

So I didn’t get any vendor details, cause I’m terrible at that. I can tell you that De Hoop was incredible in terms of service, food and pretty much everything. The decor, as you can see was insane, I did ask where the cutout pop-up bird place mats came from (Kaalkop) ’cause I thought they rocked.

[ quick update : 12 Oct ] – the wedding was put together by the rockstars at Antoinette Events. V and I were super impressed with the organisation and efficiency, and I know that Rozanne and Souli were as well.

The videographer was Jacques from Guava Graphics who was very unobtrusive and generally a nice guy – highly recommended if you need a videographer in the Cape area.

Ok, once last thing, we take on very few destination weddings every year, I am petrified of flying, and V and I are both very grateful to have been able to shoot this one for you guys.

More pics from Rozanne and Souli’s off the map wedding on our facebook page.

and from their day after shoot

More pics from Rozanne and Souli’s off the map wedding on our facebook page.

tag:

real weddings, de hoop nature reserve weddings, avatara weddings cape town, trash the dress nighttime photography, rozanne and souli, nature procession, gujarati love poems,

De Hoop Wedding

dror — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 04:32:53 +0000

you won’t believe where we were this weekend

~~just backing up the images … a full set a bit later~~ – I’ve put up a selection on our facebook page.

tag:

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Longmeadow Piano Lounge Wedding – Sam and James

dror — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 08:28:23 +0000

It occurred to me yesterday that I prefer small weddings, it was a thought that was immediately followed by the realization that I have a preference about weddings!? I think I’ve only ever been to one wedding where I wasn’t the photographer, and that includes siblings and even extended family.

I think it has to do with the fact that the bride and groom know everyone and it’s just a close group of people having a blast. Saturday was one of those kinds of weddings, you could tell everyone was having fun. Of course the whole Benoni factor didn’t hurt, and the fact that Sam went to Rhodes … well … we all know about Rhodes people.

The venue was the Londmeadow Piano Lounge which is probably one of the most relaxed, hang-out-in-the-garden-while-the-sun-sets venues in Johannesburg. All my memories of this place are of really friendly people having fun. Lots of photos of friends and family being themselves.

Right, some pics, but before that our usual facebook announcement that you can find more photos from Sam and James’ very very casual wedding on our Facebook page.

you can find more photos from Sam and James’ very very casual wedding on our Facebook page.

tag:

long meadows fourways, wedding poses, wedding poses photography, wedding photo poses, long meadow fourways, longmeadow wedding venue fourways, longmeadow,

Shepstone Gardens – Dominique and Bryan

dror — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 11:31:14 +0000

If you’re a wedding photographer you often get the ‘what is the wildest/weirdest/oddest/coolest thing you’ve seen at a wedding’ question. I go blank, nothing, nada, my mind is a Siberian landscape, empty. Yesterday at Shepstone Gardens the groom hypnotized a chicken. There, I’ve said it, the coolest/oddest thing that’s happened to me at a wedding is the groom hypnotizing a chicken. Right, so back to our regularly scheduled blog post.

You’ve got to admit that a groom who can hypnotize a chicken is pretty cool, and after the obligatory banter from the groomsmen having to do with how he managed to get the bride to go out with him our photoshoot got underway. I still think it was cool, and I guess most guys at heart are still that 15-year-old who think hypnotizing chickens is cool. Ok, ok, back to the wedding.

Bryan and Dom were supercool to hang out with, Dom even brought a chocolate bar because there is a rumor floating about that I’m hypoglycemic, just fun and always keen for a bit of a laugh and a royal wave. They, or is it just Bryan, have a serious book fetish which they incorporated into their decor and for a while I wanted to just post that bit from ‘The Notebook’ that Bryan quoted in his speech, but then I wouldn’t have been able to tell you about the chicken.

Before we post some of the wedding photos, I just wanted to give a shout out to Eve from Splendid Affairs who did the co-ordination, decor and flowers. Every email we sent out over the last month was swiftly responded to, she and V worked on the timelines so that we had time to do everything and nothing was rushed and Dom and Bryan even had a few minutes to watch the sunset, and here comes the quote, simply one of the best coordinators we’ve worked with in a long time.

I even have a list of the other suppliers so I can mention them. The food was by Taste Explosion (fantastic as always, although I couldn’t bring myself to eat the chicken kebabs with the now unhypnotized chicken watching me), and Ultramel was the DJ who kept the dancefloor going without resorting to the usual wedding tunes.

more images from their rocking wedding on our facebook page, and a reminder about respecting our copyright.

more images from their rocking wedding on our facebook page.

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The Westcliff – Dom and Alroy

dror — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 23:47:51 +0000

Even though it sometimes feels like we spend half of our lives there, The Westcliff is one of our favorite wedding venues in Johannesburg. Elegant and classic and for some reason we seem to photograph a lot of people from the East Rand here. Being a not quite reformed ex-Benoni boy myself, we tend to get along. Funny story here, not sure where I heard it, but someone’s cousin or friend (let’s go with cousin) came through from the States and the first place they wanted to go to was Benoni, because really gorgeous women come from there.

Anyway, we had a blast. Alroy and I spent a lot of time joking about until V pointed out that I should probably be taking more photos. Yeah, ok. I already had tons of killer bee images, you couldn’t really mess up with two very natural people who were massively in love. Let’s see what else, it’s been a couple of days and my memory isn’t that great. Dominique was just cool and fun to hang out with, completely unstressed and just being herself, Alroy gave one of the nicest groom speeches we’ve heard in a while, sincere and genuine and full of love for his wife. Just a really cool genuine bunch of people.

Oh, I almost forgot the cake, you had to be there to actually appreciate this cake. I took a lot of photos, but you really had to be there to see all the tiny exquisite details. Dom’s father is a Chef de Patisserie (I hope I got that right) and made the cake himself. There was some discussion in the Eyal household as to whether the cake should have its own blog post.

Check out Dom and Alroy’s super elegant wedding on our facebook page.

this was our first wedding where fingerprints were taken, you don’t want to know what I thought when I first saw it

Check out Dom and Alroy’s super elegant wedding on our facebook page.

Shepstone Gardens Wedding – Sarika and Nico

dror — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 23:05:13 +0000

We were at Shepstone Gardens this weekend for Sarika and Nico’s seriously classic wedding, filled with symbolism and family history. I love weddings with a really strong sense of the coming together of two families and a sense of having come from somewhere, framed photos of past weddings and mom’s dress incorporated into Sarika’s style. In case you didn’t notice Sarika rocked a serious Marilyn vibe, she also couldn’t stop smiling and laughing, actually neither did Nico. Too easy photographing such happy people.

Do you remember Madel and De Clercq? She’s the bride in that image where the tree bark looks like a wing at Anderland – one of my favorite photos. Anyway, they’re good friends with Sarika and Nico and we got to see them this weekend. Really cool to see old clients and have a quick catch up.

We were out in the sun, a warm winter’s day, beautiful views across Johannesburg, the sound of the upright bass mixing with the hooting of taxis and a classical guitar, a very chilled happy afternoon. Killer bee wedding. I also got to shoot with our super stylish friend Andrea, who is always a pleasure to spend an afternoon with.

more images from Nico and Sarika’s wedding can be found on our facebook page.

Another quick note to please not steal our images – you can find our usage fees and conditions on our vendor page.

more images from Nico and Sarika’s wedding can be found on our facebook page.

tag:

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The Cradle Wedding – Linda & Sean

dror — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 16:02:10 +0000

I hate being photographed, by anyone. Not even on holidays. Not even at Christmas, which thankfully I attend with V’s family who are notorious camera dodgers, so no-one makes us line-up for a family photo. When I have to get an ID or passport photo taken I pretend I’m not there and kind of stare at a point just past the person taking the photo, willing them to get the ordeal over with. I never really look like how imagine myself, getting the photos back, there’s always a stranger gawking at me from my ID photo, looking like a cross between my father and a dorkier version of myself, staring vacantly into space against a white background.

I’d rather be at the dentist, at least I don’t recognize myself in X-rays of my teeth. If it wasn’t for V we’d have no photos of the two of us in all the odd places we’ve been to, or photos of our friends at picnics and social gatherings. This week I had to go through a whole bunch of images of us from the last 12 years that we have been together, sorting them into folders, arranging them neatly to go into an album. My conclusion after four days of this is that I’d rather not know I was being photographed and I can understand why our grooms are so nervous about the photos. I’m with you, we do try make it painless. V on the other hand looks good in all her photos.

So with this in mind, we travelled out to The Cradle Restaurant for Linda and Sean’s rocking wedding which was filled with emotion, beauty and just happiness. I do love The Cradle and it’s amazing views, my favorite part of the day had to be the groom’s prayer which took place just before Linda walked down the aisle. It was a nice moment. Oh, and we had a bunch of the kids tracking us through the bush while we went for our photoshoot as the sun was setting. You really can’t beat the soft Highveld winter sunset.

Right, more images from Linda and Sean’s Cradle wedding can be found on our Facebook page.

More images from Linda and Sean’s Cradle wedding can be found on our Facebook page.

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Shepstone Gardens Wedding – Maria and Craig

dror — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 14:11:00 +0000

Did I ever tell you that my mother’s side of the family is Italian? When I was young, like in single figures, they used to speak to me in a mixture of Italian, Hebrew and Arabic – I was a very confused toddler. So Saturday I was at Shepstone Gardens and Maria’s mom turns to her and says something in Italian, and I’m instantly transported to my grandmother’s balcony, sun shining on my face and everything just being ok. The kind of ok that you grow out once you hit teenagedom. Earlier I’d spotted them setting up a cappuccino machine in the lobby, and I could hear the throaty sounds of the Maserati that had arrived to take Maria to the church. It was promising to be an awesome wedding.

Ok, so pretty much everyone was a rockstar at this wedding. Craig and Maria, just super fun to be around, kind of shy at being photographed, but in a cool 1930s Hollywood kind of way. Everyone was just cool, and it was just a huge big family affair, kind like I imagine a backyard wedding in Italy would go down, right down to Maria’s dad handing out grappa at the end of the evening.

Not really much to add to that, my hand still won’t bend to the right, I feel like I’ve gone 12 rounds with that guy in the Twista Chopper infomercial. That beautiful winter light we’ve been having is coming to an end and the richer yellower tones of spring are starting to kick in. I will blog about RE.INVENT at some point, if you came, thank you we really appreciated it.

Ok, some pics, more pics of Maria and Craig’s killer bee winter wedding can be found on our Facebook page. Also a reminder to please not steal our images.

our assistants seem to get younger every year, but they have serious Italian style

Phew, that was a lot of pics, errrm there are more on our facebook page.

BTW if you’re thinking of going unplugged for your wedding, apparently all the cool kids are doing it (who knew!), we spotted some templates for wording at Offbeat Bride – I do really like Ariel and her badass brides.

I generally don’t mind other people photographing as long as it isn’t during the ceremony or the portrait shoot, but if you’re worried, have a chat to us, we’ve been to a lot of weddings.

tag:

wedding garden decoration, weddings at shepstone gardens,

Avianto Wedding – Liesl & Quinton

dror — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 09:12:41 +0000

Our neighbor wakes up at 3am every morning, plays some music with a trumpet in it while he shaves and gets ready for work. That jazzy trumpet wakes me up during the week. I don’t mind, it could be me getting ready for work in a cubicle somewhere, and that music is perfect for an early morning. Anyways, I like waking up early and getting some editing done before V wakes up. Drinking that first cup of coffee while watching the shadows blend back into reality, jazz and the hopeful sounds of another day starting.

I seem to have become fascinated lately by the photo of the father of the bride walking her down the aisle, they always look so proud and chuffed with themselves. I suspect it’s a pivotal moment in every dad’s life. V seems to always nail the images of the bride outside the just before the doors open, but for me the moment is when they walk down the aisle, just before the groom sees her for the first time.

We get a lot of comments about how lucky we are to always have gorgeous clients, good light, amazing venues and really beautiful edgy spots to shoot at – around the world previous and future clients are nodding their heads, yep, gorgeous clients – I think those are the easy photos for wedding photographers. Trying to capture the emotion of the moment when you’re walking down the aisle and your stomach feels like it’s dropped somewhere around your knees … that’s a little bit harder.

So now it’s days later, I’m editing those moments with a stupid grin on my face, a good indicator that the emotions of the day are reflected in the images (or that the cappuccino machine is working again). You can see that Liesl looked killer bee and that Quinton brought rockstar swagger to their photoshoot, hopefully you can also see some of the joy and pride and happiness that marked their day. We have even more pics from their rocking Avianto wedding on our facebook page.

We have even more pics from their rocking Avianto wedding on our facebook page.

tag:

avianto, avianto wedding venue, avianto wedding photography, liesl douman, avianto wedding photos, jewish wedding, wedding photography at avianto,

Cool Hand Luke

dror — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 09:27:10 +0000

If you’ve seen me in the last two weeks, you’ll have probably noticed my bandaged right hand. Not fantastic when you’re trying to balance a camera at 1/15th of a second, also not great when you’re editing. Anyway, it’s slowing me down a bit. It may take me a couple of days longer than usual to get this weekend’s blog posts finished. They’re pretty killer bee though, and well worth the extra couple of days.