When you start getting into photography your style tends to lean more to one principle or the other like food or fashion or products.  It’s not that you try harder when you photograph that particular subject it is just your thing.  You don’t even have to think when you photograph it, everything just comes naturally better than everything else.  The trick is to make everything you photograph look that good.  To work hard at everything else that you become a well-rounded photographer.   As an “artist” you must always strive to broaden your horisons…

The Radisson Blu Hotel in Sandton was so kind as to allowing me to photograph food in their beautiful restaurant.  The food their chef’s prepared especially for my food photography looked absolutely divine.  When photographing food I think the lighting and styling is the two most important factors.  If your lighting isn’t up to par, your food will look terrible.  You need to catch the subtle highlights on the food and accentuate only the most important part of this equisite bowl of food.

I know people eat a whole salad but if you try to photograph this exactly the way it is served you might find that it all looks too busy.  Rather use a smaller plate with a smaller portion to make sure that you don’t visually overload the client’s senses.  Keep it simple and shoot from an angle between 40-60 degrees (this is the angle that people usually look at their food when they are getting ready to eat it) 

I cannot begin to tell you how important it is to keep experimenting with different angles and lenses.  The food photo may look perfect in the back of your camera’s little LCD display but once you upload them onto the pc you will often see that you prefer a different angle that what you chose in the beginning.

Riani

Let me start off by telling you how grateful Louise and I am for getting the great opportunity of doing a shoot for TOP BILLING which was broadcasted on National TV and for the chance to meet and photograph Lady Lira and her wonderfully dynamic family   TO everyone who has helped and supported my passion I am forever grateful to each and everyone of you!

As all of you know by now we did an Unconventional Family Photoshoot for multi-SAMA-award winning Lady Lira and her Mom and Baby Sister.  WOW did we have fun.  But let me start at the beginning…

Louise and I had to leave at the crack of dawn for our profesisonal studio because we had been advised to be “camera-ready” and so had gotten the help of a Make-Up artist to make us look “natural & camera-ready”  If you know me you will have noted that I don’t wear make-up except Mascara and on the off chance Base.  So everytime I have to sit and have a make-up artist do my make-up for me it’s a whole big story   

Lady Lira’s make-up artist and wardrobe stylist arrived first and the camera crew’s followed shortly on their heels.  Lady Lira is such a free-spirit and let me tell you she has both feet planted firmly on the ground. (Her mom is such an inspirational woman and made sure Lira has her priorities right) 

We shared so many laughs during this dynamic family photoshoot… We incorporate something I like to call interactive posing which consists in guiding Lira and her family rather that formally posing your them.  We put some great music on to play in the background (Lady Lira’s new CD    ) and then we got her and her mom to sing and dance to it.  According to Lira’s mother, Lady Lira used to sing with the wooden spoon when she was little probably hinting at what her life passion is…  

At this year’s SAMA awards held at the Sun City Resort just outside Johannesburg Afro-Soul artist Lady Lira took home the night’s big award – album of the year – along with three other SAMAs including female artist of the year and best adult contemporary album: English.

We just appeared in a segment on the national lifestyle magazine programme “Top Billing” on SABC 3. Riani and I photographed South African Female Artist of the year “Lira” and Top Billing filmed it all. It was an absolute blast and Riani and I loved it. Lira and her mother and baby sister were so wonderful to work with – they have an incredible bond and really enjoy each other’s company. It’s always such a pleasure to photograph families that are so close as it makes it so easy to photograph those special images… you know the ones that capture a giggle between 2 sisters or the look of love and understanding between mother and daughter or the naughty pose of a young woman not wanting to grow up completely….. It’s what makes our job so special and is the reason we love what we do!

But it dawned on me tonight that it takes a lot of people to make the special things in our lives a reality….. I was thinking about how far we have come as a photographic studio, feeling quite proud of myself, quite puffed up after appearing on national television, when I realised that I didn’t make this happen, at least not on my own anyway….. and so this blog is dedicated to all the special people in my life who have helped me to do what I love and to do it successfully. It is a blog of gratitude…..

First if all, I need to thank my father John. Because he was the one who taught me to take photographs when I was a very young girl. As a mother of 3 children of my own, I now realise how much patience he had and how much he loved teaching me because he never worried about me using his expensive Pentax or Nikon (whatever the best camera’s were at the time) and he always encouraged me. He would praise me for a job well done (even of the photographs weren’t that great) and then he would suggest ways to improve the composition or the lighting the next time and so I developed a good eye for composition at a very early age. Because of him, I developed confidence and certainty that I could do anything I choose and for that I will always be grateful.

Then I have to thank my mom. Because she was never very good at taking photographs (which meant I got to take more – my dad would rather ask me even though I was very little because my mom would always end up cutting someone’s head off LOL) but that’s not the reason I am grateful. I am grateful to my mom because there is nothing more important in her life than her family. Her family is her wealth and because of that, I learnt to value family too. As a result, we both had an incredible passion for family photographs so guess where my inspiration came from….

When I had children of my own, I decided to study photography formally so that I could take even better portraits of my children. I had no intention of ever doing it professionally, I just loved taking photographs…… So the next person I need to thank is my husband Ryan who encouraged me to follow my passion and looked after the children while I did course after course after course…. I just loved it and eventually Ryan encouraged me to start taking photographs professionally. He has been my biggest supporter ever since and is now very instrumental in marketing the business online (not to mention looking after the children on weekends when I am photographing families or weddings or functions) Some of the school mom’s call him super dad because he arrives at the kiddies parties with 3 children and has a great time. I also need to thank my children for understanding that mom is working and doing what she loves even though she misses special family time on many weekends. I am grateful for their support and love the fact that they are so proud of me. It really means a lot.

Again, I need to thank my dad as he was instrumental in establishing and marketing our website – he is an international expert on Search Engine Optimization and online marketing and was able to get our site ranked on the top pages of Google in a very short time. This accelerated our growth along with all the support and referrals from friends. To all my friends and family that offered to be our guinea pigs when we first started shooting in studio, I am eternally grateful. And even more so for all the referrals and connections that you all send my way.Without you all,Louise Diesel Photography would still be a dream rather than a reality.

Next I need to thank Riani – our young, dynamic professional photographer who is so inspired by what she does that you can;t help being inspired yourself when you are around her. She is a package of dynamite and an incredible asset to our business. She loves what she does and it comes through in every image that she photographs. She connects with people in such a special way, that clients love dealing with her and return again and again. It’s not just about the photographs, it’s also about the experience and Riani ensures that you walk away from one of our photo shoots with incredible photographs as well as a special and memorable experience. It’s what makes us unique as professional photographers – our work is all about inspiration and feeling…..

I would also like to thank Kerry for ensuring that all our accounts are up to date and that we actually get paid for all our hard work and Althea for organising all our collections and deliveries and Nelson for all our design and marketing materials and everyone else at CFT Labels (our design and printing company) You are an incredible source of support and I am truly grateful to all of you.

To my friends that have stood by me and encouraged me and supported me (and challenged me) I am very grateful – you are all very special and my life is richer because of all of you.

And of course, I would like to thank all of our clients. Without you we would not have a business. But more than that, we would not have experienced all the love and laughter and tears and drama and inspiration, the honour of photographing your wedding celebrations, or your children’s birthday parties or your precious newborn. We fall in love with our subjects and find it an absolute honour to be a part of a special moment in your loves. Our lives are forever changed because of our interactions with all of you. We see a little of ourselves in all of you and discover new ways of experiencing love and that is why we love what we do.

Finally, I would like to thank myself. For believing in myself, for working hard, for realising that I could not have done this alone and for creating a vision for my life that is inspiring, challenging, rewarding and fulfilling. Watch out world, we are just beginning…..

Thank You – I am truly grateful!!!

I am so excited to announce that today is the big day!!  We did an unconventional photoshoot for the 4 times SAMA award winning singer Lira which is going to be on TOP BILLING tonight on SABC 3 @ 19:30. 

Don’t miss it!!

The Louise Diesel Photography Team

Louise and I had the absolute pleasure of photographing Lionel & Katarzyna’s wedding which was held at the incredible wedding venue Avianto situated in Muldersdrift.  Let me tell you, Avianto is everything it’s made out to be and MUCH more….

Katarzyna is from Poland and Lionel has been working there for a while and that is where they met and fell in love…   Kasia looked absolutely gorgeous in her slightly off-white dress and her bouquet of Red Roses just rounded everything off.  This girl is not only gorgeous but she has a a personality to match.  Very sincere and bubbly, and her sense of humour….

Take a minute and think about the soppiest Romantic Comedy that you have ever watched, then you have an idea of how in love Lionel & Kasia is…  You can actually see it in their eyes, it was so beautiful

Look, having a couple who is so in love with each other makes for very intimate wedding photos, but having a that couple and a beautiful tuscan venue with that is just a dream come true for any photographer.  I had to keep myself in check because I just wanted to photograph these two lovebirds in every corner of the venue.  Creative juices was flowing as strong as the Niagra falls…

Let me take a minute and tell you all about Lionel & Katarzyna’s special day.  I got to the venue early to have a look at all the beautiful locations this South-African wedding venue has to offer.  (I wanted to steer away from the “classic Avianto” wedding photos and create something unique)  I then took a stroll through “The Village” and went to meet the lovely bride for the first time (Seeing that this was an international wedding and Kasia is from Poland)  We just “clicked” and that was that, it felt like we were old friends.  Kasia has such an open personality and she exuded happiness.

The groom was late as he and the bride’s father was involved in a slight crash (just a dent and a scrape or two on the car)  When they finally arrived we heard that the pastor was also running a little bit late so in the end the wedding was just over an hour behind schedule.  None the less they tied the knot in a beautiful ceremony which led to the mother of the bride and the bride sharing a tear of joy afterwards.

Being female South-African photographers we incorporate interactive posing during our couple photoshoot.  We introduce a very relaxed pose and then just go with the flow (which was super easy with this bride and groom)  Needless to say their wedding photos are stunning and they’re reception was so small and intimate with only about 20 guests all sharing the same table.

It was just amazing!  Katarzyna & Lionel, all the best for the future!  I can see that you are truly blessed to share such an amazing connection! Riani

I received a call form Kelly on Friday asking me if we had any openings on Saturday as she needed to have maternity photos taken ASAP.  Her doctor had told her that they might have to do a caesarean this week Wednesday but that he couldn’t say for sure.  So she decided rather safe than sorry and booked her professional photoshoot with us for the following day.  I have to tell you that they are such a cute couple and despite having to overcome the fact that his family is very Afrikaans and he married an “English girl” their love for each other shines through…

When I asked them if they were excited about baby arriving I remember Frans saying that he can’t wait for Kelly not to be pregnant anymore…   They are not quite sure what they are going to name the little guy yet but somehow little angels always seem to get the perfect name one way or the other. 

It was lovely to photograph a couple who was willing to try most things on terms of posing and outfits.  Kelly even brought some gorgeous shirts with for her pics.  It just makes your shoot so much more personal don’t you think?

Kelly has such a beautiful pregnant tummy, no stretch marks not even that little line running down the centre over her navel.  She has been having a lot of heartburn though which according to the rukle of thumb means that their little one will be born with a lot of hair We had so much fun in the studio, laughing, photographing and connecting…  I can’t wait to see what the little guy looks like!  Good luck with the rest of the pregnancy!!

Riani

Coffee Table Photobooks are the new way to display your precious memories! It’s still very new in South Africa and make the perfect gift for Granny and Granddad or even mom.  Also very handy for displaying your memories from your trip overseas.  No more photos falling our of your album and photos getting a little dog-eared!  These books are created digitally (we can even scan some of your old prints and add them in between all the digital photos, no problem.    Photobooks are the perfect solution and makes for a great unique gift for evey individual.  Contact us on info@louisedieselphotography.co.za for more info about this affordable photobook!

Riani