Love from Stockholm.

Petra and Barri told me about their wedding and their farm and what it was going to look like, but never did I imagine such an amazing experience!

I first met Petra when she attended my first workshop. She is also a wedding photographer . (I wish I could link this post to her blog, but she doesn’t have one yet…I suggested she get one asap and she promised me it will be up in the coming year. So keep a look out for Petra’s work.)

So..we arrived on Barri’s parents farm and this is something I have to admit, people from the country side are so friendly! I loved being there. You walk in, meet everyone and all of a sudden you’re part of the family for that weekend. It was awesome! The people, the place and the food, but the best of all was the amazing landscape!

The wedding took place on their farm, on a red sand pan. I don’t even know if that is the right word, but I think it is :) The wedding was literally in the middle of no where! Just to give you an idea, they only started having mobile reception there a few months ago! Seriously! No telephone lines! No electricity… they use a generator. They actually made a joke to say if the world is coming to an end we can just to move there, cause it will take a few more years before it will affect them. :)

Ok, so brace yourself, there are 56 images in the post. If I selected any less than these, it wouldn’t have told the full story and that’s what my photos are all about…telling the story. xox

ps. My second shooter: “Mr i” aka iaan van Niekerk! My fiance!

The word became popular after a marketing campaign of a local mobil company MTN. But apart from it being a clever marketing campaign the word is now used to express excitement or to say something is “cool”. In short it’s become a funky slang word :)

The weekend of the 12th of June, iaan and I traveled to Upington in the Northern Cape. I’ve never been there before and I was super excited to see it. Not only was iaan born in that area, but I’ve heard such great things about the people and the landscape. So I packed my bags for Petra & Barri’s wedding and off we went.

We arrived the Friday and we were warmly greeted by a friend of Petra’s. She picked us up and took us for a little sight seeing. Upington reminded me of the days when I was still a little girl. We would travel up to the Freestate to our family for holidays and stop at all the little farm stalls. All the home made cookies, biscuits and rusks. Sweeties in tins and glass bottles. Home made jam and all the dried fruit.

While we were driving I saw this guy. I just had to stop. I was in awe! He had no legs and he was working in a garden. I went over. Introduced myself and then he told me his story. In the 1970’s he had a pain in his legs. He then went to the doctor and they said he had some kind of virus. It was spreading through his legs and they had to put them off. Then he learned how to move around and today he is a gardener. He also proudly added that he’d never missed a days work! Wow, we can all learn from him!

Upington in my opinion was Ayoba :)

We chatted about the shoot and I asked them what kind of photos they were looking for. They just said relaxed and fun. Then I asked them what kind of things they love to do. What do they like. What makes them, “them”? For me that is one of the most important things when I do a couple shoot. It needs to be “them”! At first Nik was very concerned…”What do we like??” he asked, but then he got really excited and said “strawberries! She loves buying strawberries at the market.” So that’s exactly what we did, we bought some strawberries at the market and incorporated it into their shoot :)

And for me it was perfect, it gave the shoot a very European feel and I love it!!

For Photographers: You’ll see I edited some of these photos (and others from Germany) in a old school Polaroid kinda look…I’m currently working on a Polaroid combo Presets for LR, so keep an eye out for the launch of KIKI, where we will have a whole photography resource section. Exciting stuff coming…it’s just taking a bit longer than I hoped for :) But coming, that’s for sure!!

Even though Bafana didn’t make it through to the second round, I think they still did south Africa proud!

Before the wedding, iaan and I met Hendrik & Frauke for a beer (because that’s how they do it in Germany) As they say, there is a first time for everything :)

Hendrik and Frauke told me a bit more about themselves, as well as the wedding. Hendrik works for a television company and Frauke is a full time mom and they have the cutest little one, Lotte. They then also explained that the wedding ceremony was going to be a combination of Lotte’s baptism as well as their wedding. They also showed me a brochure of the estate & I when I saw the pictures I got really excited :)

The next day iaan and I were off to the countryside. Approximately 1 hour outside of München, we arrived in the cutest town, Benried, right next to the Starnberger See (The Sarnberger Lake). In the middle was the old Bavarian church that (if I remember correctly) dated back to the 1200’s.

The ceremony took place in the church and after the service all the guests moved over to the Höhenried Castle for drinks and snacks. I loved the relaxed way in which they spend time with their guests. Even some of the speeches were done outside, while guests were having drinks and enjoying the sun. The couple then went off with me for a small photo shoot and later everyone gathered again for the dinner. I think I’m definitely making a few notes from this one for my and iaan’s wedding :)

While going through all the photos I realized how many small details I loved about this wedding, so this is only part 1. More photos coming in part 2…

Annelize and I attended the same school and we grew up in the same town. Since school I didn’t see her much, but one day she mailed me for a quote and soon after booked me as her photographer, I was so excited. I knew this was going to be a super stylish. It’s just who she is. Beautiful, stylish, down to earth and so so humble! Henk you’re a super lucky man!

The catering and co-ordination was done by the girls from my favourite restaurant Cognito, in Stellenbosch. I have to give a big applause, you girls did a FANTASTIC job! The food was out of this world! (If you haven’t been to their restaurant you better make sure you visit them! It’s delicious!)

Obviously we did some sightseeing and had some beer and schnitzel, but I definitely don’t think iaan or I are typical tourist. When we travel we love to visit the non tourist spots. We don’t buy typical souvenirs, but rather buy some quirky things that remind us of the city. We love to meet local people and hang out at local spots…My favourite is the arty areas.

One of my favourite thing is to do in these areas (a part from having a Latte or ice cream) is to capture the details of the place. Its the little things that tell me about the people, the fashion, the art, the shops and area…For me the details tell the story.

These pics each tell a little story…

These were taken in my favourite area in Berlin: Prenzlauer Berg. Formally part of East Europe. Now its one of the creative outlets of Berlin. It’s an unpretentious, arty playground and seriously awesome!

The first set was taken at a small coffee spot, the second and third was a small flower shop. Ain’t it just super pretty!!