It has been an exciting last couple of months, besides having the World Cup here in South Africa, and having some nice cool refreshing weather, my studio has been so busy, and all of a sudden I seem to be getting a lot of attention…And Its kind of overwhelming.  This month weddings I shot were featured in Top Billing (Rob and Lauren), Destiny Magazine (Andreas and Janine) and next month or in the next edition of My Day (Jaco and Lojanka) will be featured.

I would guess the biggest news or the coolest of it all would be making it on to the Junebug World Best Wedding Photographers list.  Junebug is kind of the like the unofficial/Official portal for the leading wedding trends and photographers list based in the USA.  Pretty much every bride to be globally visits the site to get inspiration and to plan their day.

Although I totally feel there are many photographers globally and nationally that deserve to be on the site im totally honoured and proud to be in this list with world famous photographers like Jerry Ghionis and Yervant to name a few.  My good friends Jean-Pierre Uys, Eric Uys and Christine Meintjies are the only other South African photographers to be on this list.  Where is amazing Dror Eyal?  Anyway, I don’t want to sound to full of myself, however IM proud that I am now listed on the Junebug Best Wedding Photographers Worldwide list.

The other super exciting news for me is that I am about to launch a brand new website that will replace all my current websites.  It should be online in early August, and I will send out a newsletter to all to let them know that it is “ALIVE”.  The site will be very interactive and more of a portal for easy and extensive navigation.  SO come back soon to check it out.

All future photoshoots will be on the new site, but in the meanwhile our studios are open and I still have some availability and am taking bookings for March – May in Cape Town.

Peace!

Ian.

Check out the rest of this shoot with Paulus and Chanel….CLICK HERE.

Chanel and Paulus are to be married in October 2010 in Darling (an awesome area for a wedding). Recently we got together to do their pre wedding shoot that I do with all my wedding bookings. It was lots of fun and we had great weather. In fact this winter so far has been awesome, not too much rain and the days are generally pleasant. Im sure there are a few of you out there who would beg to disagree and say it has been cold, but coming from Canada we think its a nice day if its above 0C…When I was a kid at school, and the day would go from -10C to 0C the next day all the kids would be running around in tshirts like it was the middle of summer. Well, you can imaging my shock when moving to Cape Town to find people dressed like they are in the arctic and its like 14C….Madness all around!!

Anyway, these two were a pleasure to work with and besides being a good looking and fun couple they are also both doctors!! Impressive. I mentioned to Paulus that Im currently doing my pilots license training and he mentioned he wants to do it too. Paulus!! In the words of “Nike in the 80s”….JUST DO IT!

VIEW ALL OF THE IMAGES FROM PHILIP AND LAURENS WEDDING COLLECTION CLICK HERE!!

Philip and Lauren were married at the 5 Star Relaix and Chateaux “The Marine” in Hermanus. Awesome venue and totally recommend the hotel and area for a wedding. I dont get that many weddings in Hermanus so it is always nice to shoot there.

Philip and Lauren are from Jozie but decided rather than get married in the hustle and bustle of the big whistle stop, they would do it in style in the most beautiful place in the world!! WEST COAST BABY!!

Anyway the wedding rocked, was tons of fun, loads of people down from up north, and the decor, food, and venue added to the incredible atmosphere. I have two more weddings to post from this past season, and then finally will update my portfolio website and its almost time to start prepping for next season. NO REST FOR THE WICKED!

A few months back I was fortunate enough to capture the spectacular wedding of Rob and Lauren. The wedding was really one to remember, and this month it is featured for Wedding of the Month for Julys edition of Top Billing.  So obviously go at top speed to your nearest outlet selling the mag and buy as many copies that your bank account affords!!

Or you can download the pdf here to see the complete layout!
View Rob and Laurens Wedding Collection overly spectacularly spectacular wedding photography post here to see all the images.

The Goosen family met me at the wedding of Huibre and Schalk. They are from Pretoria side but wanted some nice family shots for their holiday house in Strand. Being the off season, I have time now to shoot family portraits and stuff like that. It was an awesome day and we went to a couple secret spots on the massive hill beside my office.

See more images from this portrait session.

Matt and Andrea were actually married prior to coming to SA (in, you guessed it the UK) but seeing as they are from ol’ Sunny South Africa they decided to come here and have a reception. I was hired to shoot portraits of them and the venue was cool to do so. It was my first time shooting at Clara Anna Fontein in Durbanville. I didnt know that we had small African villages right in the heart of Durbanville. But I do now!! Its a great venue if you want a rustic African experience and cant leave the Cape.

Click here to view the Rest of Matt and Shelley Wedding Photography Collection.

Matt and Shelley had their wedding day an one of the most perfect days of the season. Matt and Shelley live in the UK, and met over there too. Shelley is orignally from this side, but they both live over there now. Well at least the weather this time of year is lekker in the UK, but Shelley convince your man that Cape Town is where its at, and Repatriate!! You don’t have to though, South Africa misses all her children!!

Although the “season” is busiest in December to March to mid May are the best times of the year in the Cape to have a wedding celebration. Besides the night starting at a decent time, the weather is usually perfect and not to hot or windy, or too cold and rainy……generally!!! Anyway, because of the time of day I shot the portraits I was able to have more effective and harsher (which I love) lighting.

You can have harsh lighting in any scenario really, one just needs sufficient lighting and usually it is very expensive (that’s why most wedding photographers want to shoot in the shade, because they dont have sufficient lighting or know how to use lights for that matter). I personally consider myself a lighting snob and am proud that I use only Profoto generators and heads (the most “zef” lights out there), and have up to 1200 watts of light at any time (thats a s&@t load!!). Lots of photographers, use “off camera flash” (a term generally used to say that their flash gun are on a stand and come from an angle other than the direction of the lens), but besides the light being hard to shape, it really isnt very powerful and has little control. I dont use any flash guns (little lights that one puts on a camera or stand with a wireless transmitter), because unless you have a low light scenario the light generally acts as a fill light and it kind of gives the image a cheap feel.

Why am I all of a sudden talking technical, just because lots of people ask me about weather on the day, and to be honest, if a photographer can light well then it doesn’t matter what time of day the portraits are taken. Going back to me loving March and April. Well Its just comfortable to shoot and nothing is worse than when the heat makes the portrait session and wedding in general hard to bare because its lekker stinking hot. Why am I saying all of this. I dont know, I guess I just figured I would!

Did I mention that the season is over? Oh, did I mention I have soo much news? Oh did I mention anything?

I think I used the word “Zef” incorrectly. But I like Die Antwoord now, IM a Ninja!

Click Here to See Matt and Shelleys Pre Wedding Shoot.

Click here to see more images from Matt and Sarahs wedding at Tokara Wine Estate.

Ok, so its been a long time since I have been able to update my site with some weddings I have shot. Its the end of my season now and it just got to the point that I had invest the time I had in actually getting all the jobs edited and out to everyone. We are finally at the stage where I think Ill have about 2 or 3 more weeks of editing and then all the weddings from this season will be complete!! I look forward to being able to go through all the work I have done this year and to pick out my best shots, and the work that im proud of. Or most proud of, as I am proud of all my work!!

Matt and Sarah besides being a great couple to shoot, are lots of fun and if you saw shots from their pre wedding shoot you may have read that I am better pole dancer than Sarah. Yes, we have all gone and Jolled (im from Canada so excuse the great attempts of sounding South African!!) together!!

The wedding was held at Tokara, and it was tons of fun. After the wedding we just hung out like guests as we have all become friends.. Great place to have a wedding but late in the season be careful as it can get very chilly on the balcony and also its sooo dark, so the photographer needs serious lighting. Its no worries though we have it!

Enjoy, and come back soon as I will be posting many many weddings over the next few weeks, and also announcing some new projects and news…..if your interested ofcourse!

click here to view Celeste’s Cherish Image at www.thecherishseries.com

As you may know The Cherish Series, is a special series of images that was created by myself and Rudi Silbermann. I think if you have visited my site before then you will know all about it.

Also you may know that recently I did a very special shoot of amazing Celeste De Kock. Celeste story has effected many people, all over South Africa and all over the world infact.

Celeste and I decided to take away the images as they were taken and also displayed publicly for a specific purpose and that purpose was closure for Celeste. We agreed that the images had helped her move on to a new phase in her life, and also as mentioned had effected so many people.

We like the idea that the images were there. People saw them, some people were shocked, some people were moved and others simply interested in the profound story and moving portraits. I don’t like the idea of people coming to see the images in a voyeuristic way, and I am a true believer in the idea of “its better to burn out than fade away”.

So, as in the way that death ends life, and the way that the images and Celeste’s story was suddenly there. Suddenly they are gone.

So for all those wondering about the images, or wanting to see them, I have decided to leave you with the Cherish Image, the final image in the Cherish Series. The images are designed so that the subjects will cherish the image, and the time, and meaning of whatever is depicted, for life.

The symbolism of Celeste’s Cherish Image is this. (in Celeste’s words)

Hope – (I have to have hope)
Faith – (I have to have faith to hope)
Love – (I strongly believe this is the “glue” that keeps life together)

See more images from Mark and Kate’s pre shoot click here.

Mark and Kate’s wedding will be my final wedding for the 2009 and 2010 season. I still am editing all the last few jobs from the season and looking forward to a bit of a break. Its been the most exciting and busy season of my life. I have had so many things happen that maybe ill even try sum it up for those of you that like to look at my site and my work.

Anyway, Mark is from Zimbabwe and Kate is from Chicago. Besides doing the pre shoot we also made a little video that we are working on that is kind of a tounge in cheek video about Kate Town, I mean Cape Town and also with some stellar acting by both these two in some of their favourite spots in CT. Ill post the video when it is ready.

Also, which is kind of cool is that Mark and Kate are getting married in Bree Street Studios and I live across the road from it. SO it will be the officially closest wedding to my window. I think it is about 70 foot away! Should I drive? Should I swim? or shall I just fly?