Old Balgowan - The Red Wedding

As our time at Old Balgowan draws to an end, the latest editition to be added to the "Old Balgowan Archive" is the wedding of Rowan and Pamela which is unlike any other wedding I've been to.  Not just with Old Balgowan... EVER.  Held on a Monday and the bride dressed in passionate red, this wedding had a very individual flair.

The dramatic red's scattered around the reception venue were set off by the crisp whites and silvers in the center pieces.

And the red's were in full bloom in the flowers flanking the bridal couple in the church.

But nothing was as dramatic as the brides dress... 

as it floated down the aisle...

and waiting for her at the end of the aisle was Rowan...

Old Balgowan is a fantastic venue that caters to every bridal couples needs, and more importantly, WANTS... If you're interested in Old Balgowan for your wedding, click here to download the booking form which includes all the details you'll need to know.

Alternatively you can give Judi a call on +27 33 234 4622 or else send her an email.

Chat soon

Denise & Rainer

Old Balgowan - All the Glamour

Working with Old Balgowan has been fantastic as we've seen all kinds of weddings.  This past Saturday all the bells and whistles were on show for the wedding of Stephan and Kellie.  With guests flying in from all corners of the world, it was time for Old Balgowan to put their best foot forward and pull out a stunner.  Judi and her team had been gearing up for this wedding for some time now and made the entire affair seem effortless.

The venue was exquisitely dressed, from the beautiful draping on the ceiling (a standard feature at Old Balgowan) down to the glass crystals sprinkled over the tables.   I'm always amazed at how the Old Balgowan team manages to make the same venue appear so differently at each of their weddings.  While the key elements are the same, the fine details are always so individual that no two weddings ever appear similar.  A grand achievement considering weddings is what they do.

The beautiful pale roses set off by the delicate gold trim, placed perfectly on the crisp white table clothes, gave the main table a freshness experienced at very few weddings.  And the beautiful gold detail found on all the tables was repeated in the chairs, which of course had a very special touch added to them.

The delicate peach, yellow, white and pale pink roses adorned every detail of the room, including the wedding cake.

While the details may be fabulous, the day certainly belongs to the bride and groom who in this case had flown out from the UK to spend their special day back on home turf.  The bride, Kellie, and her "team" looked as fabulous as they prepared to make their big entrance...

As did the groom, Stephan, and his "crew".

Even the littlest wedding guests were dressed to the tee and sharing beautiful smiles with everyone (especially the photographers at Old Balgowan).

And on leaving the church after the ceremony, the bridal couple were showered with rose petals by the happy onlookers...

before stopping on the step outside the main reception venue entrance to pose for photo's with family and friends.

Thanks to Judi and her team at Old Balgowan I'm sure Kellie and Stephan had the wedding of their dreams.

If you're looking at venues in the Natal Midlands, give Judi at Old Balgowan a call on +27 33 234 4622 or pop her an email.

A technical note:  We've been experiencing a few problems with our comments feature on the blog.  Hopefully it's all in working order now so please feel free to leave us a comment (preferably a nice one) and let us know what you think.  You'll also be doing us a huge favour because I'm desperately trying to get this to work.

Chat soon

Denise & Rainer.

Old Balgowan - On a Rainy Summers Day...

From the moment we stepped out the car I doubted wearing a dress.  The weather when we left Pietermaritzburg was decent but by the time we reached the Midlands I was regretting dressing for summer and wishing I could have pulled some long pants and a cosy scarf out of my Mary Poppins carpet bag!  However, this didn't dampen the spirit of the day.  Not one bit.

This past weekend, Rainer and I headed back out to Old Balgowan Farm in the Natal Midlands to photograph another wedding on their behalf.  

The Midlands charm is something quite special. No matter what the weather, come rain or shine, weddings and functions held out at Old Balgowan are something quite special.  The view is always spectacular and the fine details add the perfect touch.  Whether you chose a low key or high glam theme to your wedding, the Old Balgowan atmosphere seems to lend itself  suitably on all accounts.  

This past weekend was the wedding of Benn and Lauren, a more understated affair. While many bridal couples rush around frantically making sure that everything is perfect, Benn and Lauren went low key-simplicity.  While I say simplicity, don't be mistaken.  Who else can boast a full school choir entertaining your guests as they enter the chapel in anticipation of your arrival?

(If you look carefully, you'll see the choir dancing!)

While simplicity may have been the order of the day, the details certainly shone through and all the love and admiration the couple have for one another came out in the beautiful details of the day.

The beautiful flower arrangements on the tables, both inside and out, added a lovely freshness to country charm of Old Balgowan.

While the rain held up outside...

The bride couldn't help getting a little misty eyed inside...

And who could blame her when the two men who love her most said the most wonderful things about her.  Lauren's dad made a very emotional speech during the service which brought tears to many eyes.

And while not all the guests at the party were invited, they sure did dress for the occasion.

(That's just a joke.  This guy is just part of the deal if you chose Old Balgowan for your wedding)

Congratulations Benn and Lauren and well done Old Balgowan on yet another super successful wedding.  Don't forget that if you're interested in Old Balgowan for your wedding or function head along to their website, www.oldbalgowan.co.za or email Judi, the events co-ordinator at weddings@oldbalgowan.co.za.  Or better yet next time you're in the Natal Midlands and want to shop, wine taste or look at the beautiful view, why not stop in at Old Balgowan  Farm (click here for a map of how to get there) and do all three in one place.

Chat again soon

Denise & Rainer

Craig & Candice - The Family Jack

There's been a fair amount of discussion about this pending arrival.  In December, Craig and Candice are to become parents to a beautiful little boy.  We were contacted last week about doing some photo's as it is so near to Candice's due date and they realised that they don't as yet have any pictures of her / them.

If little baby Jack is as laid back as his folks were on this shoot, living with him should be a breeze.

We don't usually take on this kind of photography, we're usually all about engagements and weddings, but for Craig and Candice we were more than happy to give it a go.

The Pietermaritzburg Botanic Gardens makes such a beautiful backdrop.  I recommend it to anyone wishing to have family or couple photographs taken.

Here's to Craig and Candice.  Plus baby makes three!

Old Balgowan - It's all in the fine detail

Old Balgowan is the newest wedding venue on the Midlands Meander and it's exquisite!  Every last detail has been thought of and if not yet implemented, it's in the works.

a Guy & a Girl photography very nicely asked the owner of Old Balgowan if we could venture up there for the next few weekends doing wedding venue photography on behalf of them in order to get some superb shots for our portfolio and of course, which they will be able to use for their website.

The great thing about Old Balgowan is that it's not just a wedding venue...  No no, Old Balgowan has a shoe factory (Born in Africa) which produces Shisheka shoes among many others and also, a newly added winery, distillery and brewery.  The great thing about all this is that while the bridal couple heads off to take their photo's, the wedding guests can go to wine and sherry tastings or even indulge in some retail therapy...

Back to the reason we're here though, the wedding venue...

The venue hire includes use of the Old Balgowan Wedding Chapel situated 10m away from the reception venue which can seat 300 guests.  The stained glass windows add a lovely touch of romance while the bridal couple are wed under the lovely quaintness of the thatch roof.

And just 10m away from the chapel is the incredible reception venue with it's glamorous satin drapping and exquisite leather seats (these cannot be classified as chairs!).

All the small, finer details look perfect against the satin and fairy light "sky".  How dreamy...

Turquoise was the colour of the day and the brightness of it just made the details pop against the Old Balgowan backdrop.

For those interested in finding out more about Old Balgowan Farm and the many things it has to offer, head along to their website at www.oldbalgowan.co.za or email the events co-ordinater, Judi at weddings@oldbalgowan.co.za


Enjoy the read, chat soon
Denise & Rainer

EOS Roadshow

On Saturday this girl and her guy were lucky enough to attend the Durban leg of the annual Canon EOS Roadshow.  There were fab talks by two guest speakers, Lee Slabber and Trevor Hardaker, but for me the most exciting part of the day was the "launch" if you will, of the brand new Canon EOS 1DX.

The camera model was announced in mid October but now it is available to purchase.  While I'll need to save my pennies for a long time before I can afford one of the beauties, I'm sure those who can afford them are already waiting in line.

I won't bore everyone with the finer details of the camera (believe me, there are so many fine details to this camera and those in the know, prepare to be blown away) but for those interested hop along to the Canon site where you can read up on the specs.

Happy reading
Denise & Rainer

Getting our ducks in a row

Well it seems that all our ducks are falling into place and we've just updated our blog with our new price list!  Exciting times I tell you.

If you're interested in hiring us for your big day head along to our new packages page to see what we have on offer.

If you want to ask us some questions or simply send us some love then go to our contacts page or email us.

Look forward to hearing from you (unless you're a nasty spammer - you can stay away)
Denise & Rainer

Beach Engagement: Shane & Melissa

With the sun beating down and the wind howling, blowing hair and sand everywhere, we knew we'd have a tough shoot on our hands.  But perfect conditions can never be expected (in fact as a photographer you always prepare for the worst) and so we persevered.

Taking photo's of people who love to have fun, makes working not feel anything like work.  Shane and Mel sum that up perfectly.  An hour and a bit spent taking photo's under less than perfect conditions, flew by with  Shane's numerous jokes.

Usually on shoots like this it takes the couple a little while to get into posing and "acting" in front of the camera.  There's the awkwardness and shyness and usually the first few shots are a bit crooked.  Na ah, not this time.  Even more surprisingly, Shane was extremely comfortable making eyes at the camera.

This is one of the first photo's we took during the shoot...

Eventually Mel got the giggles because of Shane directing her to "look this way, "stare out to sea", "let's both look at the ground".  This fabulous art direction forced Shane to admit that he'd been watching America's Next Top Model for inspiration.  While he was joking (we hope he was joking although he did mention the name Nigel Barker...) we managed to get some very "model" like shots of the couple.

and fun people make for fun photo's...

and gentle moments make for loving photo's...

And kissy moments make for great ring shots...

Lots of love

Denise & Rainer

2011 Photo & Film Expo

Last weekend (sorry, it's taken a little while to write about this) Rainer & I traveled up to Johnessburg to attend the annual Photo and film Expo, hosted by Nikon and Adobe.  What an awesome experience.  Our trip up was very last minute so we were only able to spend a single day there, but the expo itself runs for 4 days and is about everything photographic.  Throughout the 4 days there are workshops and courses which are open to the visiting public.  We attended as many as we could although I would have loved to attend more.

Panoramic of the entire expo.

While we attended a talks on lighting and photography skills, for me the most interesting talk was on using your digital SLR for videography by Richard Finn Gregory of the Ginko Agency.  Wow!  What an eye opener.  It was so interesting to see how things are progressing in the industry.  We were very honoured to be the among the first viewers of the latest Watershed music video, which was shot using various Nikon DSLR's, by richard and his team at Ginko.

Richard getting ready for his talk on using your DSLR for videography

The view from the top

Nikon was one of the major sponsors of the event.

All the "big" names in the industry were there, including Epson who are the leaders in the printing world.

I can't wait for next years expo.  Also, I can recommend going for all 4 days as there are so many workshops and talks and many of them are simply once-off's.    We'll definately be there for the full expo next year. 

See you again soon

Denise & Rainer

For the love of art

"Old Balgowan"

So when I'm not off photographing people and I'm not tucked away in my office doing my day job (which is art reproduction and fine art printing), I'm making waves as an up and coming fine art photographer.  Well I like to think so anyway...

As I mentioned in our first post, I studied photography for 3 years at the Durban Institute of Technology (formally the Natal Tech).  Here I earned myself, after much hard work, a national diploma.  While I love my day job I would ideally love to spend all day taking photographs of beautiful things and seeing beautiful places.  In a perfect world I'd have oodles of cash and just spend my life drifting from one interesting place to another (with the guy of course).  Oh how I long for a perfect world.

For anyone interested all of my work, plus many works of other fabulous photographers and artists is all available to view and purchase (hint hint) on an online gallery set up by my daytime job.  The PictureBox Online Gallery is an ingenious website where artists and photographers can sell high quality prints of their work.  The best part of the Online Gallery is that you can tailor make an art work to suit your budget and your space.  Say you fall in love with a picture but you can't afford the big framed canvas you saw on exhibit somewhere.  Go to http://gallery/picturebox.co.za and find the image you like.  From here you can opt to have it printed on any of the five fine art papers on offer and at the size best suited to your home.  Seriously, it's that simple.  I encourage everyone to go browse and see what's on offer.

"Pietermaritzburg City Hall Organ"
(this is on of the largest pipe organ in the Southern Hemisphere)

"The Purple Rose"

"Yellow Clivia"

"The Avenue"

"Orange Flower"

Thanks for reading.  Chat soon
Denise (& Rainer)
a GUY & a GIRL