I've done another wedding shoot! This one I was actualy paid for :) Yay! I teamed up with a photography friend of mine and we are doing weddings together now. Unfortunately I cannot publish too many of the actual photos yet, but here's a little preview - These are some of my favourites :)

I am also teaching myself Lightroom at the moment (there is a wonderful book that I am busy working through - 'Lightroom2 book for digital photographers' by Scott Kelby - it's really worth buying and working through - I found it absolutely easy to follow and it takes u thru all Lightroom has to offer, from the beginning till the end) Thus I have stumbled onto the wonderful 'Aged photo' effect. I absolutely love the look and feel it gives to my pictures! It gives them a character of their own and when printed, the photos look fantastic! :)

I couldn't resist including this photo - I tried to creat a little bit of 'mood' with this detail shot...LOVE it!!! :)

I've been playing with my lens & flash some more :)

My first wedding shoot!

My - how time just flies again! Started my full time job and unfortunately my photography has been taking the 'backseat for a little while again. I also started teaching a Photoshop Intro course in the evenings which kept me very busy and on my toes this past month :)Besides teaching and starting my full-time job, I did my first ever 'solo' wedding on the 7th Jan. Yay! I really wanted to try it out and see if this is something I could do and lo!! I LOVED DOING IT!!! :) I needed to get some photos together to start a portfolio for myself.Shooting the wedding was a little nerve wrecking(!!!) ...actually tons! but also awesome at the same time. I went to the venue beforehand (3 times) to decide how and where I wanted to take my photos - I even created little cards with pose ideas on them in case I would hit a 'blank' & forget. Somehow, I managed to remeber all the poses that I liked best and yes, some parts left me feeling a bit frustrated, but all in all I am very pleased with the result. I didn't have much time to photograph the couple and had to think very quick on my feet to get the results I wanted. Phew!! And I managed to do it :) Firstly, I feel so honoured to have been asked to take these pictures...it feels like such a huge responsibillity, but at the same time it is also so very special to see two people who are so in love and to be able to document it in a photo. Im always such a sucker for romance! :) I'd love to hear what you think of the photos. I edited some in Adobe, to get a greater colour effect. I struggled using my off camera flash and exposing correctly for the background - so in some pics I needed to get a bit creative to wow the bride :) but I dare say, most of my photos came out beautifully and I am very pleased with the end result. I am actually very proud of myself! I managed to give the couple 600 pics to that in itself is realy awesome!

Happy 2009! Hope this year is filled with fun, laughter and many blessings for everyone!I cannot believe that we are in 2009 already...time flies when u are having fun! And tons of it is what I have been having these past 2 weeks :) I just bought myself an off camera flash and 18-200mm lens. A Christmas present to myself, from myself. My goodness!! I haven't stopped playing since I got them!! I am so intrigued by the fact that I can now take wide angle photo's of i.e. landscapes or zoom inn closely to take more detailed landscapes. ...exactly what I needed to get this year off to a fantatstic start! The below picture was taken in the Villiersdorp area. We spent Christmas there. I just love the fact that I could zoom into these beautiful rocks, with; here it comes...my new lens :) :) I am planning to try and do a solo exhibition at the end of this year with some of my work...my first ever. Hopefully I will get enough time to get all my photo's together by then. My theme is 'reflections' - quite a nice one I thought and open to do almost anything really.

Here's another pic : my handsome hubby, who patiently poses for me on occasion :) This was taken at Hermanus. Aint he adorable? :) With that said: I am being 'summoned' by little barks from below. My Daxies are hungry and want to be fed...till next time.

When I got my camera I was blissfully unaware of ISO, shutter speed and aperture. All I knew was the 'auto' dial at the top of the camera body and that it would allow me to take all the scenes, people and landscapes my little eye would 'spy'. I decided to take things one step further and go on a photography course, to learn everything I could about my camera and taking photos. It ran for 8weeks and opened up a whole new world for me. I have learnt how important light is in a photo - after all, photography is 'painting with light'.
I sometimes feel a little frustrated, as I am still struggling with the concept of 'light' and correct exposure. Sometimes I get the most beautiful photo ever and sometimes I totally miss the plot and my photos are either too bright, or too dark. I guess that's the thing with learning something new, one has to go through all the stages to get to the top. Just wish it could be a little easier sometimes...I just have to keep telling myself; 'when the going gets tough, the tough get going'. I cannot quit. I won't quit. I must just push through to the end - it will b worth it in the end.

Don't get me wrong: I am very glad I did the course, it helped me to understand my camera much more and to know what it can do for me. It has also made me realize that this is what I really want and love to do and what I am passionate about. As a little girl, I never realized that photography could be a job and that people were actually making a living from it. Had I known this, I most probably would have studied this a long time ago already and not gone into the textile industry :) I won't dwell on the past though, this is the future...my future and i will make the most of it, learn all I can and have fun all along the way as I go...