WOW!  Taryn, you made my week!  I soooo enjoyed editing your wedding, that I lost track of time.   Lance, you married one of the most beautiful and sensual woman that I have shot thus far!

Lance & Taryn got married at the quaint St George’s Anglican church near Franschhoek and then hosted their reception at Dieu Donne Restaurant in Franschhoek – perfect conditions – perfect couple – what more can you ask for!

Photography by Stefan Steenkamp

Taryn & Lance’s preps happened at Le Franschhoek Hotel & Spa, just outside Franschhoek.  This hotel has the most spacious and airy free standing cottages set between and enclave of mountains and vineyards.

Lance and the boys got ready in another cottage, also at Le Franschhoek.   Lance is the distributor of a leading surfing gear and clothing label – being in that industry, he spends more time in the water than in a suit – but I must say he looked very handsome in that three piece – I think Taryn might get you to dress up a bit more after this bout!

Dieu Donne Restaurant is the perfect romantic setting with spectacular views over the Franschhoek Valley.  It can cater for weddings of up to 140 guests.

Photography Assistant -  Jessica de Bruin

Dress – Augusta Jones

Make-Up – TBC

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I must have the best job in the world!   I love every moment of it!  In what other profession do you get to see the world and meet people from all walks of life and witness the most incredible moments ?

When Nic contacted me to do their engagement shoot in Paris, how could I resist?  Nic is a true romantic!  He had planned to asked Derryn for her hand in Paris and then for me to do their E-sessions the next day.  Nic must have been super confident that Derryn would say yes, because all these plans were made about 4 months before the pre-wedding shoot.

It all worked out as planned!  For Derryn, it was a total surprise when Nic went down on one knee at the Palace of Versailles.    And when I met up with them the next day, they were still in seventh heaven.

Photography by Stefan Steenkamp

We spent about 3 hours together around Paris, stopping off at some of the famous landmarks, like the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Pompidou Centre and Sacre Coeur.   It was amazing to shoot in this romantic French city!  It oozes with the old-world-feel and culture – I just love it!

If you would like to do a pre-wedding shoot in London, Paris, Venice or New York, contact us to book.

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The photographer is one of the first wedding suppliers booked when it comes to planning your wedding.  Here are a few tips and advice you should follow when choosing your wedding photographer:

Before rushing out to buy 20 wedding magazines, do the following:

1. Update your Facebook & Twitter status and ask your friends for referrals to photographers that covered their weddings.
2. Visit the blogs of these photographers and short list them if their recent work looks good – beware of recommendations from people that got married more than 3 years ago – this is a fast changing industry with new talent emerging regularly.

Then:

1. Do a Google search for “Wedding Photography [Your Venue] – This will churn out the blogs of most of the top photographers in your area.
2. Skip the results that take you to online wedding directories
3. Look at the photography blog results for at least 3 pages of the results produced by the search.
4. A photography blog is used by the photographer to showcase his latest work, and it is on that form that you want to book a photographer.  Most websites will have dated photos, because it is more difficult to update than in the case of blogs.
5. Look for the style you like.  (This will be discussed in more detail later)
6. Make a short list of photographers you like and send an enquiry for their packages.

Once you have received their package details:

• Keep your budget in mind, but be open to increase or lower it.
• Do not discard the highest quotes because they are out of your price range.  A mistake that might cost you dearly!
• Look at the length of  the service.  The photographer needs to cover at least 8 hours.  This will ensure him being there from the preparations though to the dancing.
• Do they include an album?  – This might bump up the price.  If the price is above your budget, ask whether you could take the cost of the album out.
• Most people nowadays receive cash gifts for their wedding.  You can use this to buy the same album after the wedding.
• Make sure a disk with high resolution images is included.  This is standard nowadays and can save you a lot of money in the long run if you want to print some of your wedding photos.  Some photographers charge exorbitant rates to do reprints.

After careful consideration, choose your top 5 photographers and give them a ring for a chat.  After the chat, choose 3 and book a face to face meeting with them.  Meet them at their workplace / studio as you will be able to see the most examples of their work there:

At the face to face meeting:

• Make sure you will get along with him / her.  You will be spending about 2 hours before the ceremony and an hour after the ceremony with this person.  An irritating personality or too intrusive style can make you stressed in a time that you want to relax and enjoy.  An easy going person without too many rules and regulations is a good bet.
• Make sure he / she is assertive, but not bossy.  The photographer must have a clear modus operandi, but must still be able to accommodate your unique requirements.
• Most photographers will give you their “best of” album to look through.  Make sure you also look through an album of a full wedding.  By looking through a full wedding, you will easily be able to judge whether their skills are shaped all round and not just fin certain areas.  You want the whole wedding covered, don’t you??
• By this time you will have a good idea whether you want to book this photographer or not.  If you got a bad impression, politely end the meeting and move on.
• If you really think of booking the photographer, then discuss their rates, deposit needed and future payments
• Make sure the product they offer is clear and that you are aware of the delivery time after the wedding.
• Make sure you discuss overtime charges and hidden extras like travel and accommodation fees (if applicable)

Contracts:

• Make sure you sign a contract with the photographer – it will bind him to that date.
• The contract should list the package and details of the product he will deliver and stipulate a time frame for delivery

If you follow this procedure, you can be guaranteed that you will choose a good photographer that will deliver the product you’re after.

Good luck with the planning!

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These tips were compiled by Stefan Steenkamp (International & Award Winning Wedding Photographer)

1

I’m not even done editing this TTD shoot, but Shahnaz wanted a few pics up… so here they are.  Plenty more of this shoot to follow in the coming week.

I did a bit of experimenting with the editing in this one.  So, some you might like…. some you might not.

Please leave some comments about the images and editing style you favour and the reason.  I’ve numbered the photos for your convenience.

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Photography by Stefan Steenkamp & Andre van Niekerk.

In the last week I had to retouch an old photo and was intrigued by the way photos age.  So I tried to replicate the look and feel.  What do you think about the next few shots ?

No 18 below – I know this one will not be favoured by all, but I still think the processing is quite interesting.  It reminds me of a scene in the movie SIN CITY – don’t you think?  I love the strong pose…  She just needed a Uzi or a pistol in the right hand… Shahnaz, you rock!!

I did Shahnaz an Rob’s TTD (Trash the Dress) shoot on the harbour wall close to the Heli Port at the V&A Waterfront.  Its the coolest spot!!

Remember, I’ll post more photos of this TTD session in Part 2, later this week – Keep a look out.

Although the Trash the Dress session sounds dangerous, it’s really a lot more tame than its name.  We should rather call it a post-wedding shoot, but I must agree that “Trash the Dress” sounds a lot more sensational.  Don’t worry, we will look after your dress very well – the worst that will happen is getting it a bit wet.   In reality, we just risk a little bit more than on the wedding day… so nothing to fear.

The ZaraZoo Trash the Dress session is worth R4000.

Your input and comments will be appreciated – At this stage, after a long wedding season, we look at our work and think it’s stale and unimaginative…  So thats why I tried out a few different styles while editing these shots.

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Our good friend Didi de Wit of Didi Couture sponsored the dresses.  The Didi Couture Bridal sale is on in Worcester at the moment where you can pick up dresses from the likes of Paul van Zyl, Cindy Bam, Robyn Roberts and Susan Ellis Steinhauser for next to nothing.

The residents of Nduli was really curious and by the end of the shoot, we had close to 200 people watching us and it was impossible to keep them from being in the background.

The brief for this shoot was one word CONTRAST.

1.  The contrast between the beautiful wedding dresses and the well worn clothes of the township residents.

2.  The contrast in hair, make-up and styling

3.  The contr ast in mor als – leaning towards a bride with a darker side.

Rouxmia was just great – she took the brief and played it out perfectly!  With every snap, she changed her pose and almost no direction was needed.  She is such a experienced and professional model!

Our crew for the day was super.  Lynette (my sister) and Gastao Cardoso of Mamarosa’ s Bakery in Cere s gave their house as a base.

Photographer:  Stefan Steenkamp & Andre van Niekerk

Assistants:  Stoffel & Paulus (residents of Nduli)

Make-up:  Karla Oettler of Absolute Wedding and Event Coordination

Hair Stylist:  Wian van der Westhuizen of Perfect Profile

Models:  Rouxmia Bougas & Janine Beaufort

Shooting in the full african sun like we did here, is quite tricky.  It throws harsh shadows that is difficult to fill in with flash.  We should have shaded her with a scrim in the above shot, but the crowd was just too mad.  Her left hand side was filled with a Canon 580EX II speedlite with a Gary Fong diffuser.

Most of the shoot was done with 3 x 580EX II flashes.  We used the fl ash sync facility and also set the ratios of the fl ashes as needed.

If you are a photographer and have a tip on outdoor fashion photography please post a comment below – We can all learn from eachother!