There is this special time in a girl’s life when she isn’t fully a teenager yet, but no more a small girl, and in that gap, is when they are at their sweetest.  We have had quite a few shoots with girls this age, and always find it a pleasure working with them. They provide for some precious moments, and it’s at this age where you want to keep them right where they are, and not have them grow up too fast.

When they’re small it’s easy to whip out gifts for them, as a toy would suffice, but when they get a bit older, they want more exciting ways to celebrate their birthdays, and a shoot for the birthday girl, and her friends, is the ideal way to capture the stage they’re at.

We have done quite a few shoots such as these, and we provide a very professional service, making sure, every girl is photographed, the birthday girl, is treated especially special, and that we get fun, spontaneous group photos that will make you remember the celebrated birthday with fondness. If not sure what to do with a tween’s birthday, let them have their own fun shoot, with a group of friends, we’ll e sure to provide you with an outstanding product.

Yolandi Jacobsz & Riani Labuschagne

Teenage birthday party photo session

Over the years we have had the privilege to take photos for literally hundreds of families, a lot of who are return customers and we really strive to give them a professionally unique product which they can cherish (and scrapbook J )

This specific family is very close to my heart as I have known them for quite a few years and I have very special memories pertaining to each and every one of them.  Some taught me how to play darts and others just always look after my wellbeing no matter what.  Over time I have found being a photographer is like a wildfire, as you learn and grow a lot from within your own respective friend and family units to make your art what it is.  There is always someone willing to spend an afternoon posing for you (in the beginning while you are still learning), advising you on what they like and dislike and why – to such an extent that it sometimes influences your work and for this I am grateful.

Now with this in mind imagine taking photos for these very people who have helped shape your art into what it is and you have an idea of how proud it makes us feel have them in our studio’s…

Guys, I loved spending time with you in the studio (again) and I just want to say how grateful I am for having you in my life J

Riani Labuschagne

Family Photoshoots

We had a Mom visit our studio once, who has three children, and with each of them she did their own special shoot when they reached a certain age. We had amazing fun with this little boy in the studio, because he had such an interactive personality, and did everyone we wanted him to; he smiled and jumped and giggled, and was a pleasure to photograph.

Mom is such a lovely lady, and she had fun as well, enjoying little one’s crazy tricks and obviously used to a boy’s wacky nature. We always try and shoot a family’s shoot, as modern and unique as possible, because you still want to look back at your photos in a few years’ time, and remember an amazing time, not that it was stiff and quite posed. It’s our strive to give our clients good, quality products, with it being shot correctly from moment one, with good colour and contrast, and edited in such a way as well.

Children have this ability to grow way faster than we think, and before we know it, they are taller, have a lot more to say, and they had completely changed from the babies they once were. Enjoying their growing-up, by having a shoot done of their milestones will let you remember their childhood with fondness.

Yolandi Jacobsz & Riani Labuschagne

The real life studio

For very few people, we would know exactly what to buy as a gift for them. People have such different tastes and interests and it’s quite hard to tell what would be something that would be viable to them. A photo shoot as gift, is something that would work for absolutely anyone, no matter how their family is put together or what it consist out of.

We have the great privilege to work with an amazingly wide variety of people, each family different, each model unique, and they always enjoy the shoot tremendously. So a photo shoot gift voucher is the perfect gift, and a great idea, as everyone would want to have great photos of themselves taken, and have the chance to have fun in a professional photo studio.

We always take great care, to make sure everyone that visits our studio, know that we are professionals, using professional high-end cameras and equipment, and we use skill to technically create great images – but apart for everything, we connect with our clients, and they always feel like family to us. Treat yourself, or a loved one or friend, to a shoot at Louise Diesel Photography, The Real Life Studio, it’s the perfect gift, and will create a lifetime of memories.

Yolandi Jacobsz & Riani Labuschagne

Ideal Christmas presents

Long gone are the days when any type of shoot should be stiff and boring. When we shoot any type of shoot, we do it with as much fun as possible, because one wants to look back at those photos and remember it as such a great time, and the photos must definitely display exactly that. And when you have a couple that already has this chemistry between them, the moments just flow.

This couple was such a blast in the studio, I truly enjoyed photographing them. People come to a studio to get mostly one thing – professionally taken photos of them – wanting to get a product with something extraordinary, something they might not be able to get at home themselves, so they trust us as professionals to use what we know, and do best, to get these amazing shots, not only with some spark, but technically to have it taken well, because we use professional high-end cameras and good lighting.

It’s such a fun idea to come for a couple shoot, two people enjoying their time in the studio, a place that can intimidate a lot of people, makes our day. Know that you will receive such an awesome product, taken by professionals to the best of our abilities.

Yolandi Jacobsz

Fun couples photography

Here at The Real Life Studio we incoporate your lifestyle into your photos.  So no more “mottled brown” backdrop and your Sunday best, from now on it’s all fun and games interactive shoots.  We have even had clients tell us that our photoshoots feel more like a playdate than a photo session and that’s exactly what we are aiming for.  Small kids tend to give rather “cheesy” smiles are certain ages and our solution is to play and entertain them until they have no other way than to laugh at our silliness…

Our skills range from Professional photography (obviously), singing various nursery rhymes, Barney theme songs and Spongebob Squarepants as well as juggling three coloured balls as good as any circus clown.  Playing hide and seek behind the camera or blowing magical bubbles and all this to get your little angels to smile (welcome to out normal work day…)

I think the patience we show in the studio stems from our absolute passion for photography.  We know that if we keep pulling faces and tickling the kiddies they will give us a beautiful smile which we can capture and you can have forever.  In essence it is similiar to having the power to freeze time.  We always welcome personalised props into our studio so if you think your family kind of resembles the mafia and should have had a surname like Figueiredo then you are more than welcome to bring your sunglasses, cigars and serious expressions along to your shoot.

Riani Labuschagne

The Real Life Studio  

Kids are definitely the ones who rule this world, as they will do exactly what they want to do, at their own time, and if they don’t feel like laughing, they certainly will not. We try everything but stand on our heads to make those little people smile, and a giggle coming from someone that size, is just precious.

Kids are quite unpredictable, but we always suggest to all parents before a shoot, that some good advice is that to feed them, and if they are still young enough to nap – to have had them go down for a nap earlier in the day, is when we’ll get some good smiles. A tired kid just won’t give you much, even if you try any type of bribery. They are quite spent after a while. As our studio really try and focus more on the emotion of a shoot, where parents play with their children, or the kids get to enjoy themselves by playing with their cousins or siblings who came along, makes for lovely spontaneous laughs, rather than using props, which you might looks back on in a few years and maybe not like the look of in anymore.

We do quite a lot of e

ntertaining for them, but we truly do it for the love of the art, as we too – feel very proud when we get to look back at the gorgeous smiles of our little people.

Yolandi Jacobsz

Real Life Studio Photography