Joretha Taljaard Wedding Photography

Oliver & Chantel – October 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Joretha Taljaard) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 16:19:00 +0000

Oliver and Chantel got married at Galagos Country Estate on the 31’st October 2009. We did their engagements shoot (e-session / pre-shoot) at Galagos as well during August.

Oliver’s brother came all the way from Germany where he is studying for a degree in Industrial Engineering to be by his brother’s side as his best man. No shortage of brains in this family – Oliver is an Actuary for Pete’s sake! The room where they got dressed had lovely natural light flowing and had a white ceiling for great bounce flash shots to fill in the shadows.

Chantel’s dad was quite emotional when he handed her over to Oliver. I wonder what he knew…?

The wedding chapel / lapa at Galagos is one of the most challenging places we’ve had the privilege of photographing weddings in. It is very dark and has no white or light-coloured surfaces to bounce flashes off. You also can’t walk around freely as the seating is right up to both sides. As a wedding photographer you really have to pull out all the stops to get some nice looking wedding ceremony photos there.

As difficult as it is inside, so awesome is it outside. There is nice walkways and lots of vantage points to take photos from. We normally ask the guests to form a guard of honour for the throwing of confetti to allow us ample photo opportunities as the bride and groom walk past, but at Galagos the walkways kind of “forces” people into that formation automatically.

Oliver and Chantel were great sports and we had loads of fun – getting the best of both worlds. We took a lot of spontaneous fun shots and they played along just as hard for some serious posers.

Ah, the reception venue. Another stunner with a grass roof :-( Beautiful to look at and have your wedding reception in, but EXTREMELY challenging for your wedding photographers. Hey wedding planners – photo = light and graph = draw. We draw with light…

What is awesome about Galagos’ wedding reception venue is the size and layout thereof. It is quite huge and has a balcony area right around as well – offering cool places to shoot photos from. That is when the 70-200mm F2 VR Nikkor lens really comes in handy: you get to zoom in quite tightly and can make use of the little light there is available.

OK, this is now starting to sound like a technical article… Sorry guys – I’ll stop it.

The first dance was so beautiful. A minute or so into the dance a Galagos staff member started to release rose petals from above – waaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyy above. I reckon the reception venue’s ceiling is probably 6 – 10m high! In the low light it looked like it was raining or snowing on them as the gently swayed to and fro.

When the party started it REALLY started. It sure helps when you’ve got loads of young, energetic people at your reception. They had their own clowns there as well, as you can see above – nope, they’re not a couple or that way inclined: they just did it to tease their real partners!

Thank you for making us part of your special day Oliver and Chantel.

Mike & Tanya – September 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Joretha Taljaard) — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 14:06:00 +0000

Mike and Tanya got married at Mongena Lodge north of Pretoria. We had time to explore the venue a bit during their engagement or pre-wedding shoot we did during August. They are a super couple and we enjoyed spending time with them!

My husband shot Mike’s getting ready photos while I spend my time with Tanya. It’s such a privilege to spend this quiet time with wedding couples. Few people get to experience the excited, nervous, apprehensive, silly etc. emotions during this time.

To Mike’s (and everybody else’s) surprise, Tanya recorded a special message for him. It was played just before she entered the church and had all of us teary eyed. Poor Mike was totally overcome with emotion!

Both Tanya’s and Mike’s mothers could not hold back the tears. It really was a very special message and so apt for the beautiful ceremony that followed.

The reverend conducted a stunning service filled with beautiful symbolism. As she started, she requested Mike and Tanya to drink in their surroundings and each other’s appearance – as most wedding couples barely remember what happens during their wedding day.

After the wedding ceremony, Mike and Tanya walked through a guard of honour and was treated like rock stars. They walked straight to their wedding cake and cut it there and then – a nice way of sharing that with all the guests and reducing the time needed for formalities during the reception.

For their wedding photo shoot we drove out to a nice open spot in the veld. Mongena Lodge has abundant wild life and we saw various species of game as we drove. Tanya wanted to take a photo of her with a rhinoceros in the background – luckily for our nerves, the rhino did not feel like smiling for the camera at that moment!

We arrived as the African sun was setting and had the luxury of a golden dusk to photograph the wedding party in. It had not rained yet and the veld was covered in golden grass and leafless bushveld trees. I mean – how can you not get stunning photographs with scenery like this!?

Mongena Lodge’s reception area is beautiful for wedding couples and their guests, but hell on earth for us photographers! The seated area is covered by a thatch roof, whilst the food serving area and dance floor is out in the open, under the stars. This makes providing adequate lighting extremely difficult.

We used our light stands and umbrellas to get some sort of usable light on the dance floor. Unfortunately the wind did not play along and a stand blew over – destroying an umbrella and damaging a flash unit. We got the shots in the end, so it was well worth it.

We thoroughly enjoyed our time at Mongena lodge. The staff is great and the manager’s catered to our every whim - they even asked us where we would like to have some of the furniture face in order to help us get the photos we want.

If you want to get married there, please bear in mind that your photographer will have to use extra light sources – make sure to ask before booking someone’s service.

Nathan Smith Project at The Barnyard in Menlyn

noreply@blogger.com (Joretha Taljaard) — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 16:19:00 +0000

We went to see a friend of mine’s band, The Nathan Smith Project, perform at the Barnyard in Menlyn the other night. I’ve known Nathan for about 10 years now. His dad made backtracks for me when we still lived in Thabazimbi and I’ve sang some songs with them at Club Regeneration.
Nathan is such an awesome talent – you’ve got to see him and his band! Check out this live performance from 2007 and their music video Grown up to become a child.
I took some shots while we were at the show and I’m quite satisfied with how they came out. The stage lighting looked great and made for some dramatic photos.

These photos were taken with my Nikon D300 with a Nikkor 70-200 F2 VR lens. In settings like these you can’t use a flash – it will ruin the ambiance and / or it would not help much sitting a distance from the stage. I like experimenting with photography in dark situations: if you can shoot good photos in low light you can really rock at weddings!

Isak & Irene – August 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Joretha Taljaard) — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 06:10:00 +0000

Irene and Isak has a wonderful love story.

Living and working in London they met while staying in the same building. Irene did not find Isak “compatible” – only realising her true feelings after moving out. their romance caught alight and was brought to a point whilst attending an Angus Buchan sermon in London. With sweaty palms, Isak took Angus’ sermon to heart and answered the call to marry the love of his life. They got married there and then together with 11 other South African couples.

They flew back to South Africa in August to get married with their family present. I’m friends with Isak’s mother and was asked a day or two before the day to take their wedding photos. That’s what friends are for!

The wedding ceremony was held inside the house and conducted by a family friend.

Afterwards we caught the last golden rays of sunshine to capture their love for each other on African soil. I hope that they will look back at this day with fond memories.

Oliver and Chantel – August 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Joretha Taljaard) — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 20:58:00 +0000

We shot Oliver and Chantel’s engagement photos at Galagos Country Estate. They are getting married there in October. They were also referred to us by Altmar and Marelize. This is our second wedding at Galagos, our first was Willem and Robaix’s.

The main feature at Galagos is the trees – there are loads of them. Thin, high trees. We started off slowly; easing into the shoot and getting to know them better. What a nice couple! They’ve know each other for five years already and at first dated in English, only realising a nit later that he was German and she Afrikaans…

As the time passed and we all found our groove together, we even got them to lie down in the dirt for a couple of shots. Yay!!! Thank you for being such good sports!

Being a wedding photographer, I try to keep some shots for the wedding and not do them during the engagement shoot or so called “e-session”. Luckily with Galagos being a big venue on big grounds, there are a bucket load of interesting nooks and crannies where to get all kinds of interesting images.

We can’t wait for October!

Flip and Santie - July 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Joretha Taljaard) — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 13:45:00 +0000

We took the whole family plus my eldest daughter’s friend along on this relaxed engagement shoot at Casablanca Manor and the Sammy Marks Museum. Flip and Santie was referred to us by Altmar and Marelize who’s e-session and wedding we photographed last year April – as you can see here.

We started off at Casablanca Manor. It was our first time at the venue and we spent quite a bit of time exploring all the photo opportunities. My youngest daughter aged 6 also grabbed a camera and snapped a couple of keepers!

We then relocated to the Sammy Marks Museum a couple of kilometres down the road back to Pretoria. It is virtually impossible NOT to get nice shots there!

Flip and Santie are getting married in December and we can’t wait! Thank you guys for a fun, relaxed outing and for being such great models.

Joretha and Cobus

Pimp my Site

noreply@blogger.com (Joretha Taljaard) — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 07:49:00 +0000

Phew – we’ve been absent from this blog site for far too long now, but for good reason!

We have totally overhauled my web site, migrating from Joomla! 1.0 to 1.5 and moving all of our close to 3000 online wedding photos to an all new gallery platform: Menalto Gallery. This move makes the site easier to maintain and more secure. Menalto’s Gallery also helps with organising and managing large quantities of image files. Hop on over to http://www.joretha.com/ and explore! And yea, we’ll soon start updating this blog on a regular basis.

ps: The new site also features tweets from our Twitter account.

bye
Joretha and Cobus

Arnold and Reinette - July 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Joretha Taljaard) — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 07:17:00 +0000

Arnold and Reinette held their wedding ceremony and reception at Diep in die Berg in Wapadrand, Pretoria. We photographed Reinette’s niece’s wedding last year in Polokwane (Pietersburg) and blogged about it >HERE<.

It was a morning wedding, which was nice for a change. We took our eldest daughter along (AFTER clearing it with Arnold and Reinette) and gave her one of our backup cameras to play with. For a nine-year-old she actually shot quite few keepers!

This was my second wedding at Diep in die Berg; my first was back in 2006. Their chapel is surprisingly light on the inside and makes it possible to photograph with fast lenses without flash or with moderate bounced flash with normal zoom lenses.

Her father brought her in and my hubby snapped away from behind. If you look closely you can see him behind her left elbow… We have been complimented on how out-of-sight we operate during ceremonies and receptions.

After the service, rose petal throwing and well wishes we had a couple of minutes alone with the bride and groom. We started in the chapel and used the soft natural light for a couple of classic portrait shots.

Diep in die Berg has beautiful gardens and a couple of nice water features as well. We walked all around the grounds and snapped away. Arnold has since let me know MORE than once that this was the absolute best photo session he’s ever had in his life! Hubby dryly asked - “so how many others did he have?” It’s still funny for us when just about every couple afterwards say that they’ve had loads of fun and thank us for it. It sure is nice to fun with all these different couples.

Their function rooms are also photographers’ dreams, as the ceilings are low and white. This reflects incoming natural and flash light beautifully and provides warm, soft portrait shots. Soooooooo much easier for us photographers than thatch roofs etc. Remember people: photo = light & graph = draw. If we don’t have enough light, we can’t draw the way we’d like to.

Reinette’s brother delivered a great intro speech in the style of old testament family registers. Boy did we laugh at the funny used of words and presidential terms to indicate dates!

It was a family focussed wedding, with the ceremony involving the children and underlining the importance of joining the two families and not just the bride and groom.

Diep in die Berg is an excellent wedding venue for small to medium weddings. Their coordinator was very professional and the food and general service top notch. It comes away with a Joretha Taljaard Wedding Photography “Highly Recommended” badge. Batteries not included…

Joretha and Cobus Taljaard

Leo & Maliska – February 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Joretha Taljaard) — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 13:56:00 +0000

Leo and Maliska got married in Polokwane at the Grincourt Private Nature Reserve. Maliska’s mother booked me and made all the arrangements, which at first seemed a bit strange to me, as it is usually the bride who’s all excited about her wedding photos. Apparently her mother also arranged her sister’s wedding photographer etc. Lucky for her, her mother has great taste… *ahem*

The preparation or “getting ready” session took place at the Meropa Casino just outside Polokwane.

Maliska and her bridesmaids had loads of fun all through the morning which resulted in lots of spontaneous pictures filled with emotion, laughter and funny looks! Maliska was such a beautiful bride and the natural lighting sifting into the room allowed me to capture some stunning bridal portraits during the “getting ready” session.

Cobus stayed with the ~~boys~~ men and captured them ~~playing~~ relaxing in the pool.

It seems so unfair! Us ladies spend HOURS getting ready while the men have fun and then clean up within a couple of minutes…

We spent a couple minutes at Meropa’s grounds to shoot Maliska and her wedding party before heading off to Grincourt for the wedding ceremony and reception.

After the ceremony we had the wedding couple prance around in the hot afternoon sun in the veld for an hour or so. They had a videographer for the day as well and he was quite demanding – even to the point of limiting our shots AND time.

Luckily the setting sun and beautiful couple provided some nice shots in the end.

Leo and Maliska had lots of friends at their wedding and after the main activities at the reception we had some fun with group photos. We had the girls “bullying” Leo for a while and then handed him over to the guys for some aerial acrobatics.

Grincourt is a new wedding venue in Polokwane (Pietersburg). It has good potential and can host small to medium wedding with ease. The surrounding veld and dirt roads etc provide great scenic photo backdrops, although it’s not a fairytale / theme wedding venue. The food and service was good with a large reception hall with lots of space for dancing etc.

Holger and Urszula – January 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Joretha Taljaard) — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 05:41:00 +0000

Holger and Urszula got married at the Casalinga Restaurant in Muldersdrift. What a lovely venue: a chapel, restaurant and HUGE lawn with a forest at the one end. My ideal combination – good food and a scenic backdrop!

We really enjoyed working with Holger and Urszula. A super cool, down-to-earth couple radiating love for each other. Urszula was very emotional at stages and wacky during our photo shoots.

I am very impressed by the calibre of our grooms. I mean these guys are playing model like it’s their meal ticket. Nice. We roamed around Casalinga’s grounds and had to tear ourselves away from the shoot – otherwise we would’ve stayed for hours!

I absolutely love trees in photos – especially tall, closely spaced ones like we had available at Casalinga.

The melding of German and Polish families was a lovely day with Casalinga being the ideal venue for their small wedding. The food was superb and the scenery something to die for. If you want to get married and have not found your venue yet, give Casalinga a thought.

Chris & Ilandia – December 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Joretha Taljaard) — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 07:17:00 +0000

The Safari Garden Centre in The Willows, Pretoria hosted Chris and Ilandia’s wedding.

With it being a garden centre and all, there are loads of lush vegetation, water features and interesting paths and buildings to make use of. The one thing people don’t realise is that when taking wedding photos with lots of greenery around, you get a green cast on all your photos which can be quite difficult to remove afterwards.

When i first met Chris and Ilandia, he seemed like the kind of guy that would not want more than two photos taken of him! What a lovely surprise we had – he was a great sport and we got lots of nice wedding photos of them together. It is so important for both the bride and the groom to actively take part in the wedding shoot because you will not have many photo opportunities like your wedding day again and without both people having fun and being committed you won’t get the shots you long for.

The Safari Garden Centre’s chapel is a faux stonework and lead glass windows job with a tremendously high roof. It is a nice backdrop for wedding photos, although the high thatch roof slurps up flash light like a sponge.

A plus factor is balcony seating at the back, which provides a good vantage point for photos of guests and the bride and groom in front of the altar.

The Safari Garden Centre offers a couple of reception halls. Catering was good and the staff was friendly. Another big plus is the abundant, secure parking within the premises.

Willem and Robaix – November 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Joretha Taljaard) — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 21:04:00 +0000

Willem and Robaix’s wedding was held at Galagos Country Estate to the east of Pretoria. Galagos is a huge wedding venue situated on a vast piece of property with really cool gardens featuring a mini forest.

Most of their facilities are great, but I must admit that I was a bit disappointed with the room where Robaix got dressed. It felt somewhat like a vacation bungalow at an Aventura holiday resort… The rest of the rooms where Willem and other members of the wedding party got dressed were much better looking inside and out.

Willem and Robaix also opted to have their wedding shoot done before the wedding to make use of natural light. I always advise my clients do have a good look at their wedding day’s program together with a sunrise/sunset table to make sure that they make optimal use of daylight.

We walked Willem and Robaix all over the place! If you want to get married at a big venue I suggest you wear comfortable shoes… We also need time to get enough nice photos as we need to move around and have fun. Plan for about two hours if you can. If we finish before that, you can spend some relaxing quality time together.

Galagos has thatched roofs throughout it’s facilities. Although thatch does look nice and rustic, it’s a wedding photographers nightmare as it does not allow us to bounce our flashes from it. We then have to make all kinds of other creative plans to get enough light onto our subjects. Make sure you ask for some thatch roof photos shot in dark conditions if you plan to get married in a similar venue to see if the photographer can create the feeling you are looking for in such difficult conditions.

The feature we liked most about Galagos is that there are a lot of raised vantage points from where you can snap some interesting angled photos.

Their HUGE reception hall is a two level affair with loft seating running all the way around. It is beautifully decorated and has a nice cosy atmosphere contrary to it’s size

Galagos is a quality venue with professional staff, great food and good photo opportunities.

Johan & Melissa – October 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Joretha Taljaard) — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 17:24:00 +0000

I did an e-session with Johan and Melissa a while back at the Union Buildings in Pretoria which helped us establish a good vibe going into the wedding. Relaxed subjects always make the lives of wedding photographers so much easier!

They got married at Thaba Ya Batswana in the Klipriversberg Nature Reserve.

Thaba Ya Batswana is an excellent venue with great potential. The Africa-themed venue covers a large area and is surrounded by the most beautiful natural vistas. We unfortunately had a rainy day so we were limited to mostly indoor photos after the wedding ceremony.

One of the few outdoor photos we got to shoot after the wedding was this one of Johan and Melissa under an umbrella.

Our creative juices were really tapped dry during this shoot. We ventured behind every closed door we could find and luckily found some spots with potential.

The reception hall for this wedding was HUGE. This was a fairly big wedding and the guests did not even fill it up halfway. The bride and groom had a tennis court sized dance floor on which to strut their stuff.

Lighting this huge cavern of a room was rather difficult. In times like these it sure helps to have two photographers on the job who understands the limits of their equipment and how to overcome them.

I found this venue it bit too big to get a continuous cosy party feeling going amongst the guests. There were tables of people having fun, but it seemed as if people felt exposed on the huge dance floor. In terms of overall impression and the quality of service from staff etc I would rate Thaba Ya Batswana as a top class venue.

Kabelo & Marion – October 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Joretha Taljaard) — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 12:13:00 +0000

Kabelo and Marion got married at Avianto in Muldersdirft.

There are so many nooks and crannies on this vast property with its stunning gardens and European village themed architecture that you’ll really have to try very hard if you want to take ugly wedding photos ;-)

Kabelo and Marion also opted to have the bulk of their bride and groom wedding photos to be taken before their wedding ceremony. This helps a lot in terms of time, but I must admit that I’m a hopeless romantic and still prefer it when a groom sees his bride to be for the first time as she enters the church.

Marion and Kabelo did not have their wedding ceremony in the chapel. They had a videographer as well. This guy had these huge garage lights in the back and in front of the room, which in some instances helped. Most of the time however it was a pain in the backside because we had to move around and angle shots so as not to have glare or overexposed light spots in the frame.

My husband always stay behind the couple when they walk out towards the guests after the ceremony to capture the confetti throwing from behind, while I wait outside to get them from the front.

It was very dark in the reception hall as the videographer only switched his lights on when he needed them and there was very little other light. It does create a ultra-romantic atmosphere, but it sure makes it difficult for us photographers to get the shots.

But what do “they” say – practise makes perfect…

Mokete & Jaqui – September 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Joretha Taljaard) — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 12:53:00 +0000

I nearly didn’t do their wedding. Jaqui contacted me long before the wedding and I never heard from her again until a month or two before the wedding date. I normally don’t do weddings on such short notice, but she begged. Seems she thought that she booked me even though they did not pay a deposit or fill in a service agreement.

She got dressed at her mother’s house just outside Polokwane (Pietersburg). The caterer decided not to pitch and her mother and her friends had to cook up a storm.

The wedding service was held in the Lutheran church in Polokwane. A plain and simple little church with LOTS of atmosphere and warm natural lighting. The white ceiling helped us to augment the natural light here and there with our bounced strobes.

Afterwards we spent an hour or two at the Meropa Casino outside Polokwane to get some shots of the wedding party. We arranged beforehand with their local and regional management to go and take shots there on the wedding day. When we rocked up there, there were about five other wedding parties also taking pictures!

The reception was held in a lapa at the Polokwane Bird Sanctuary. It was a tad small and about a third of the guests had to sit and stand outside. As with it being a lapa and all, the thatch grass roof soaked up our flash units’ light like a sponge and we had to rely on slower shutter speeds and wider aperatures to get enough light into the camera bodies.

The one BIG difference between a stereotypical white wedding and a black wedding is the amount of dancing. Mokete and Jaqui danced into the church, they danced out of the church, they danced in front of the reception venue, they danced into the reception venue and then when they did the opening dance, EVERYBODY joined within a minute or so.

There sure was a lot of dancing. They had a live band as well. These guys were excellent, but when I asked for a business card they just laughed… I wonder what that was all about?

Ignus and Marle – September 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Joretha Taljaard) — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 14:00:00 +0000

Ignus and Marle wanted a dusk wedding on the roof of the Veroz Boutique Hotel in Pretoria, but a storm and sudden cold gusty wind forced the wedding inside. The staff read the weather well and by the time guests started arriving the whole function was set up inside.

Marle had full control over the design and layout of the theme and decorations.

Veroz’s rooms are very luxurious and helped to create a romantic, plush atmosphere.

For the bride and groom’s photo shoot before the wedding we went to “The Paddock” horse riding academy and snapped a couple of pictures with some horses. A couple of them turned out quite all right in the end.

Thereafter we scooted off to an unfinished hardware warehouse. I arranged with the owner beforehand and got some very strange looks: “Why on earth would somebody want to have wedding photos taken in a warehouse?!” Well, this is why:

It was a very small wedding with about 40 guests in total and the ceremony and reception was held in Veroz’s restaurant area. It was lovely and extremely intimate.

After the wedding ceremony we did venture out onto the roof for a couple of photographs of the bride and groom. It was totally dark by then and very difficult to get good looking shots.

Inside we used some of our fast lenses and cranked up the ISO to get some nice shots of what was happening around us.

Veroz definitely has great potential to host your small dream wedding. Their venue is not the prettiest from outside, but on the inside it matches the best out there.

Michael and Melanie – August 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Joretha Taljaard) — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 09:20:00 +0000

L’Aquila hosted Michael and Melanie's wedding. This was the first double wedding I have had to do. Michael’s sister got married on the same day. They also wanted to book me as their wedding photographer, but Melanie booked me first!

We did the wedding party and wedding couple shoot before the wedding. Some of the shots we took at L’Aquila and then moved 5km down the road to the Sammy Marks Museum.

L’Aquila’s gardens are beautiful and they have a couple of nice water features with birds, including swans, wandering around. The Sammy Marks museum on the other hand has a lot more buildings to play around with. The old stables and sheds especially provides loads of great photo backdrops.

Michael and Melanie were very relaxed. I think the fact that I did their friends’ wedding the previous year helped. They knew me a bit and they had an idea of what to expect. We had loads of fun.

The wedding ceremony was beautiful. A bit difficult to photograph as we were two wedding photography companies and a videographer present. L’Aquila’s chapel is not the biggest in the business and we had to really watch our steps not to trip over one another or to get in each others way. I wouldn’t recommend this kind of setup, but on the other hand we would also not like to photograph a double wedding on our own.

As mentioned in a previous post, L’Aquila’s reception hall is stunning and their staff five star quality. The venue is extremely spacious inside and decorated in a classy and romantic way.

So what would a Greek wedding be without smashing and stomping of plates! Plates were carried in by the waiters in loads and the guests wasted no time in smashing them to pieces. As soon as the stomping turned slippery the staff cleaned up the floor within a minute or two and the dancing could go on.

Both brides threw their bouquets at the same time. I wonder how the all the single ladies chose which bouquet to dive for?

Nelius & Charlene – July 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Joretha Taljaard) — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 08:48:00 +0000

Nelius and Charlene's wedding was held at the Onderstepoort Lapa. It was Nelius’ second wedding and his children were best man and maid of honour.

Charlene was with child and we incorporated it into some of the shots.

The Onderstepoort Lapa or “Grasdak” is not the greatest of venues in terms of architectural photographic opportunities. What helps is the large garden and spaciousness of the lapa itself.

The food was simple, but very good and the service was on par. The area is big with lots of parking. I don’t know what they charge, but I assume you can have a nice big wedding for a good price here.

There was lots of space for the kids to run around outside and even enough space inside for them to join in the fun of dancing as well.

Lohann & Paulien – July 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Joretha Taljaard) — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 21:04:00 +0000

Lohann and Paulien’s wedding took place in Polokwane (Pietersburg) in the Dutch Reformed Church’s “Moedergemeente”.

I grew up in Pietersburg and even though it can get quite chilly in winter, I have never such a cold day as this day. The light wind cut through clothes like a scalpel!

It was a morning wedding and we first had the ceremony and then directly thereafter the reception in the adjacent church hall. It was the first “traditional” wedding I have done where the wedding and reception took place on the church grounds.

After the reception I kidnapped the wedding party for some shots. The poor girls had purple blotches on their skin from the cold!

I tried to get a wintery feel into the photos, playing a bit with the grey, brown and orange colours.

At the end of the photo session Pauline was in tears. The cold got to her and she was not feeling well. Now who said wedding photography is an easy job?!

Eric & Mandi – June 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Joretha Taljaard) — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 13:02:00 +0000

Eric and Mandi chose the Voortrekker Monument as their wedding venue. I was quite apprehensive about doing a wedding shoot their as I was not sure if I would be able to get a romantic look with that backdrop.

It was an emotional service with Eric and Mandi’s child also involved. They presented her with a necklace after the vows to make her feel special and to remember the day.

We used the monument itself and took lots of shots outside, inside and even on top!

Luckily this June day was not too cold and we had clear blue skies to work with.

If you have enough time available this venue would be great. The area is huge with lots of panoramic nature and cityscapes. The chapel and reception hall is not the greatest and needs a bit of TLC.

Avinash & Claudia – April 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Joretha Taljaard) — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 13:27:00 +0000

Avinash and Claudia were married at L’Aquila to the east of Pretoria. The bride was over an hour late, which gave us lots of time to capture some special moments of their guests and to scout photo op locations.

L’Aquila is a very professional wedding venue. The staff is friendly and extremely helpful and the facilities are beautiful and top-notch with a large, established garden.

It is a little dark inside the venue which poses a bit of a challenge. In situations like these it sure helps to have Nikon equipment with multiple flashes. Nikon’s Creative Lighting System remote triggering helped to keep the ambience and get the shots.

The party really got started when the thumping Indian music started playing!

Johan & Anel – April 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Joretha Taljaard) — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 13:25:00 +0000

Johan and Anel got married at a bush camp near Mokopane (Potgietersrus). We did a shoot of them and their entourage before the ceremony on the Moorddrift Dairy farm’s premises.

It really makes a wedding photographer’s job very easy when you have beautiful subject to work with ;-)

The farm offered great grass fields and wide open vistas. South Africa is such a beautiful country with loads and loads of gorgeous places to have weddings!

Anel gave me lots of lovely poignant poses, whilst Johan was working his magic…

The ceremony was held at a private bush camp right on the banks of the Nyl river in the open air. It was the perfect time of day with the dimming sunlight providing soft natural lighting.

The reception was held in a marquis tent on the premises. It was beautifully decorated and the catering was superb. The white canvas of the tent helped a lot with the lighting of the interior with our multiple flash units.

Although it was a bit cramped in the tent, it provided a warm and cosy atmosphere and resulted in a great party with lots of laughter and dancing.

Altmar and Marelize – April 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Joretha Taljaard) — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 09:24:00 +0000

I had an e-session with Altmar and Marelize before their wedding.

I love to have engagement sessions with couples because it helps the couple to be more relaxed with me on their wedding day. It also gives them confidence in my ability to make them look good.

They got married at Camelotte just outside Hartebeespoortdam. Theirs was one of the first weddings at the venue. As a wedding venue it’s ok, with a chapel and reception hall on one plot. From a photographers point of view it is a bit limited in terms of photo opportunities and I really had to work it to get some nice shots.

The facade is faux castle. The venue has a nice garden and some water features. The plot is a tad on the small side though and we had to venture outside as well. A big plus is their air-conditioning system, both in the chapel as well as in the reception hall.

The big reception hall with en-suite bar and food court had a very cosy feel to it.

All in all it was a fun wedding to shoot. Altmar and Marelize was great and we loved doing their wedding.

Paulo and Tammy – March 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Joretha Taljaard) — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 15:47:00 +0000

Paulo and Tammy were lucky enough to have their wedding and reception at a private farm near Lydenburg. If I remember correctly, the farm and farmhouse was the property of the Swiss embassy in South Africa a couple of decades ago. I can see why – it must have evoked memories of home.

I did their engagement shoot as well and we communicated quite a lot before and directly after the wedding. I get really close to my clients and it feels like I make new friends the whole year through. The wedding photographer is the person that spends the most time with the bride on her wedding day – from having her make-up done and getting dressed right through to the party afterwards. The downer is that I feel like losing friends after I’ve completed an order!

These types of wedding settings make it so much easier to get stunning shots. It’s about as easy as point and shoot! The farm has a river running through it which boasts a waterfall as well. The ochre colours of the surrounding rocks, the green foliage, blue skies and silver water gave us the perfect backdrop.

Oh – I forget to mention the clouds. I love clouds in the sky. It gives wide angle shots such a nice texture and sense of grandeur don’t you think?

And what would a wedding shoot in open air be without a classic “bride in the grassy field” shot? Again the colours blended perfectly with Tammy’s red hair and goldish dress.

The farmhouse is built right on a small lake and has a wooden deck spanning a bit over the lake. We quickly commandeered a couch and some draping from the house to stage some really awesome group shots.

The good and the bad about the venue: well the bad was the cramped space next to the swimming pool during the wedding ceremony and the threatening thunder storm and the good was the picture perfect surroundings and madly in love wedding couple.

Ian and Tania – March 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Joretha Taljaard) — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 14:17:00 +0000

Ian and Tania got married at The Ranch (Protea Hotel) just outside Polokwane (Pietersburg). I met Tania during a earlier wedding I did of one of her friends. Both she and Ian got dressed at The Ranch, which helps a lot, because then me and my husband can capture the bride and groom getting ready without having to drive around and worry about meeting up again in time for the ceremony.

What is really nice about The Ranch is that they offer weddings in various locations on their huge property. Ian and Tania got married in the chapel. It is a good venue to get married in from a photographer’s viewpoint, as the ceiling is white and not extremely high – meaning that we can bounce our flashes from the ceiling to achieve a soft, natural looking atmosphere.

Another great thing about The Ranch is that there are lots of spots to use for wedding shots. There are lots of structures and natural settings to choose from.

Tania’s choice of colours for their reception posed a bit of a challenge for us. They held their reception in a big tent on the premises and chose black and white as their colour scheme. Luckily we have extra remote flash units and umbrellas. My husband followed me everywhere and provided much needed extra lighting for shots taken during the night.