Archive for September, 2008

I just love taking photos of newborns and bigger babies – they are just so special and so beautiful. These photographs were taken in studio of baby Demi-Leigh who is  just the most precious little girl in the whole world!!

Studio photography is really cool as it allows you to get creative with your lighting. In the one pic, we had a bunch of balloons for an upcoming 70th birthday party and Demi just loved the balloons. they made a really fun prop to use in the studio. Children and babies and all kids in general, love posing with props. It makes the whole photoshoot less formal and more fun, which allows you get fun, candid photographs. Once you know how to connect with the babies or children, taking the photos is a piece of cake. Now there’s an idea for a studio prop……. 

I recently did a corporate photoshoot for a company called CFT Labels – a wonderful company that specialises in manufacturing high-quality self-adhesive labels. They were recently feautured in a prominent magazine for the manufacturing industry called ‘Packaging Review’. 

I love doing corporate photoshoots or professional business photoshoots as some people call them because you get to learn. In this case, my photos were published in a magazine which is always nice. What I really love about CFT Labels is the people that work there. They are a fun, dedicated team of professionals who aim to give the best possible service to their clients (okay, I must confess, I own CFT Labels so I am biased!!!) Anyway, here is the article that was published in the September issue of Packaging Review.

A photographic and design service for labels
CFT Labels, Turfontein-based supplier of self-adhesive labels, is currently in the process of expanding its premises to provide new office space and additional capacity to its factory, and is also offering a newly-launched, full photographic and design service, not only for labels but for all print and marketing requirements.

‘We had reached our full capacity – running permanent double shifts and at weekends,’ says Louise Diesel, the company’s director. ‘In order to meet customer demand, we are also investing in new technologies that will position us to provide a strong focus on high-quality labels.’
To this end, the company is considering the purchase of a new eight-colour ELS Servo Aquaflex printing press, with full UV flexo capabilities as well as complete multi-substrate versatility. The other alternative is a new Mark Andy 2200 press which offers similar printing capabilities. CFT Labels is celebrating its 10th anniversary in February next year, having originally been established by husband-and-wife team, Louise and Ryan, and remains a family-run business. Current equipment includes two Aquaflexes (one six and one seven colour) and three-colour flexo die cutters and a foiling machine.

A complete design solution
Louise Diesel recently launched her own photographic studio, following successful completion of several photography courses at the National College of Photography in Bedfordview. ‘I started taking pictures for family and friends, but it grew so phenomenally that it was a natural progression for me to explore ways of incorporating this skill into our business,’ she says.
‘Obviously, many clients need photographs to be taken for their labels or product shots, as well as corporate photos for financial reports. I have just employed a qualified photographer so that we are able to offer clients a complete design service for their labels, as well as for packaging and printed materials such as cartons, brochures and containers as well as online marketing material’

CFT Labels also supplies peel-and-read labels which list the ingredients of a given product on the reverse side. ‘We were originally approached by Revlon to find such a solution and we had to get approval from the Cosmetic, Toiletry & Fragrance Association (CTFA). The smallest peel-and-read label that we offer is only 36 x 13mm in size!’ This unique type of printing offers many other applications such as competitions, double-sided labels, etc.

On completion of every job, CFT Labels supplies the client with a barcode verification certificate to GSI specifications, and an overall rating. ‘This is becoming increasingly important as many retailers are now fining suppliers for barcodes that are not up to specification,’ says Louise Diesel. ‘It’s no longer sufficient that the barcode can simply scan. It also needs to be verified.’

Diesel owes the company’s success to several factors, not least of which include lead times of just a week and a no-minimum-quantity requirement for any label.
Its customers include huge multinationals, national listed companies as well as small privately-owned entities with primary markets being food and beverage and pharmaceutical and cosmetic; and secondary ones being agricultural and chemical.
CFT Labels: T +2711 683 1155 www.cft.co.za

There comes a time in everyone’s life when the need become an independent organ of society is our top priority, this is the case of weddings. This sacred ritual in which to people are united before friends, loved ones and God, is in fact the product of love, which is the cornerstone of every home. Since weddings represent such crucial and decisive times in our lives it is important to keep as many momentous which would remind us in the future about those precious occasions we lived in the past.

Most of the time, families are brought together by doing something they all enjoy; sometimes it may be going to the beach, going to a park, spending some quality time talking about the common interests or watching a family photo album, these activities are sure to bring everyone together. Regarding the last activity mentioned, we often hear from mature people that “By recalling special memories they feel like they have lived that very same moment all over again”, actually that is true for most of us, that is the power of a good picture.

Through professional photography, family members have the joy of having a good time re-living all of fun moments they spent together at the very moment the core of their family was born. It is also true that if an amateur took an important picture and the results were less than perfect, he/she will be remembered by failing to capture a special occasion; this is something that shouldn’t happen. A wedding is a special occasion which happens only once (involving the same couple at least!) as such all of the moments should be captured by a professional which is going to provide high quality pictures to be enjoyed by the family in the near future.

A picture is worth a thousand words, it can make us laugh at all of the little things that might have gone wrong but luckily no one noticed! Pictures capture a quick moment in time which is precious to us. Weddings, graduations, birthdays are all special occasions which need to be remembered because at the end, the few things that we leave behind as proof of our existence are the great memories we make with our loved ones and the great pictures taken during each special moment.

Spending quality time with your family, that’s what good parenting is all about and what better way to do so than by flipping through a professional-made family photo album.

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DmitriMarkine.com is one of the best destination wedding photographers which provide quality services for special occasions. Visit us today and see why http://www.dmitimarkine.com is among the best Toronto photographers

I just love maternity photography!!! It doesn’t matter how many times I photograph a pregnant woman, I get all sentimental and feel a connection to the unborn baby!! Maybe it’s because I love babies so much because I thought I would never have any of my own – who knows?? But I feel honoured every time I get to do a pregnancy photo shoot…..
I was lucky enough to do a maternity photo shoot for a lovely couple from Malawi the other day. They had come up to Johannesburg for a check-up and a major scan and their cousin organised for them to come for a maternity photoshoot while they were in town. As a result, Sonia was not as far as she would have liked to have been for the photos but her tummy was showing enough to capture the miracle of pregnancy (and the love between her and Miguel)

Hopefully, they will be back soon with their precious bundle so we can do a newborn photo shoot as well (and I can get to meet another newborn baby in person….) 

We have just completed our wedding photography video – you can view it on Revver or Youtube.

or you could search in youtube or google for louise diesel wedding photographer johannesburg….

Enjoy – we certainly love photographing weddings!!

I often get asked the question by young couples looking to get married, whether or not the wedding venue makes a difference to the wedding photographs. There is no simple answer to this question – it is actually yes and no.

I say ‘yes’ because obviously a beautiful wedding venue such as the many in Muldersdrift, have both beautiful landcsapes and gardens in which to take unique wedding photos. I got married at a wedding venue called Glenburn lodge which I absolutely loved (and still do – I am such a sentimental fool…) but the gardens and the chapel and the whole setting is just so intimate and romantic….. I just love it!! One of my favourite wedding photographs is one where ryan and I are standing on the bridge over the river looking into each others eyes and the lighting is beautiful.

Having said that, I think any photo where ryan & I are looking into each other’s eyes would be special to me, regardless of the background or the lighting or the setting. It is precisely for that reason, that I also say ‘no’ to the question about wedding venues making a difference to the photographs. Well that and also because a good photographer can usually work around most settings and find ways to make the photographs beautiful and unique.

All in all, I always recommend that you choose a venue that you feel comfortable with, that you resonate with and that you really love, for no rational or logical reason – but simply because it feels good to you. Trust me, when you feel good, the photographs will show it and you will be the most beautiful bride and groom in your own unique way.

I wish you the wedding of your dreams and photos that you will cherish forever!!

Johannesburg Wedding Photographer

Wedding Photography is a subject so vast and so varied, I could write for hours on the subject. Just google the term ‘wedding photography’ and you get over 6 million results!!! Being a professional wedding photographer, many people seem to think that I am an expert on Johannesburg Wedding Photography. However, the subject of wedding photography is a really, really subjective one, so it would be wise to be careful who you take advice from.

Let’s take wedding budgets as an example – budgeting for wedding photography is a cause for huge debate. Google that and you get 403 000 results!! Many people spend years planning their wedding day, right down to the finest details (after all, most of us plan to only do this once in a lifetime – so we want it to be perfect) and budgets are normally huge considering everything that goes into making a ‘perfect wedding’….. from the wedding dress, to the colour of the table cloths, to the wedding venue, to the flowers, to the music, to the food, the rings, the first song, to the wedding favours and on and on and on….

If I think back to my own wedding, I think my husband was so relieved once our wedding was finally over because he was so tired of hearing about all the details (I planned it for nearly a year and that’s all my friends & I spoke about for a whole year!!! He always used to say: ‘Why are you asking for my opinion? You aren’t interested in what I have to say anyway!’)

So considering all of that, I just don’t understand why so many people budget so little for their wedding photographs??? Some even forget to budget for a wedding photographer at all! Okay, I admit I am biased (after all I am a professional wedding photographer….) but once all is said and done, photographs are all you have left of your wedding day (and possibly a video).

You spend a lifetime planning your wedding, probably a lifetime of savings too, so you want to have more than memories to show for your special day – and that’s where you photos come in. So my advice to you (and I said this was subjective) is to budget a decent amount for a professional wedding photographer.

It could be the single most important thing that you do because at the end of it all, no-one really remembers the cake or what the song was for the first dance (I don’t think my husband even remembers ours…. no, just kidding!!) but you get the point, so your wedding photos will become one of your most prized possessions for years to come. So considering Johannesburg wedding photography and all that it entails, expert or no expert, one thing I can guarantee is that a good photographer will capture those special moments in a way that will allow you to relive your special day again and again and again – and that is priceless!!