I have had a whirlwind couple of weeks and its time to start posting the photographic activity’s Ive been up to. Lots of news not enough time but here are some Pics from December 2009. They remind me how much i need a holiday.

I was playing a bit with HDR “without a tripod”, didn’t really work but at least i played a bit. Ive been Neglecting my camera of late. so i’m back to editing 2 friends Wedding pics so they can hopefully have them soon. Sorry girls promise once the move is over ill have them for you.  Have a good weekend otherwise.

I had the pleasure of joining Kat Forsyth as second shooter this last weekend at Shoana and Chris’s wedding. Take some time to look at her work i think Shona and Chris will be very happy. It was such a unique day, their family and friends came together to help out on their big day, and it turned out just perfect. The bride was so relaxed we should bottle her and sell her to other brides. I think that’s what made this wedding for me, the relaxed laid back tone, where the only thing that mattered was that it was shared with close friends and family and that they soon would be husband and wife. congrats guys, thank you for sharing your day with us. here are a couple more photos from the day

I had the privilege to attend the RE.INVENT workshop hosted by Dror Eyal and Andrea Carlyle at Forum Homini on Tuesday. It was quite an experience I would love to do it again. I learnt so much in one day, more than I expected.

I just want to say a quick thank you to both the hosts the day was really a great opportunity for me, thank you for awarding me the bursary even if my name was drawn out of a hat I’m glad I was the lucky person that got to be there. I picked up so much, besides my nice collection of mossie bites I think I walked away a more “enlightened” photographer.

The more I dabble into wedding photography the more respect and admiration I have for it. On that note a collection of my shots from the day I really couldn’t decide on just a handful they are all so different, so I thought id share all of my favorites.

So here is my application for the seat:

Young, ambitious, talented but misguided amateur photographer looking to RE.INVENT herself.
Misguided Student that needs to be pushed in the right direction.
Looking for the opportunity to further her skills and knowledge, learning from two talented yet down to earth photographers who are willing to part with there valuable know how.
Willing to be sold into slavery, for the opportunity to learn from and work with said down to earth photographers.
Avid blog stalker for over 2 years following Dror and Andrea , being inspired on new levels everyday.
Craving the opportunity to glimpse into their work, figure out how they see things and how they developed their unique styles.
Willing to make a fool of herself for the opportunity of a life time.
Please consider this application for the Bursary to the RE.INVENT workshop, an opportunity I would hate to miss.

Mandy Pietersen.

I’ve been having a rough time lately, my father is not well and I’m really worried about him. So please keep him in your prayers.
As for my photography, you must of gathered A friend of mine is pregnant and due very soon, and we decide to get together to get my mind off things and to have some fun and take pictures of the belly, or as her little Boy Travis AKA Trav calls  it “the Ball”. Well getting Trav to love the ball, and play with the “ball” was hard work, he much rather came to jump on and love Aunty Mandy, he is such a cutie.
Carey my friend I really hope you love your photos as much as I do. I really had such a good time taking them and editing them. You are a beautiful pregnant woman, and even better mum.
Let me know what you guys think. Here are a few more

As most of you know photography is my hobby, i enjoy trying all sorts of different types and like i said in my last post i have a new found respect for wedding photographers, i follow allot of your blogs and i just don’t know how you get some of the photos you do, i guess that’s what makes each photographer unique.. they all have there own style. i don’t think i have one yet i just take photos of what appeals to me..

this weekend ill be taking photos of my friends 9month and popping tummy could be allot of fun.. will post those soon. for now here are a couple more of the wedding i helped out at well lets say tagged along at hopefully Ursula and john from Harvestmoon photography can use a couple of the photos. Thanks for letting me tag along guys it really was allot of fun.

A while ago I was chatting to a friend Ursula, about the photography course’s I’ve been on and the course im doing.
she is a wedding photographer and actually did my wedding. I offered if they ever needed someone to tag along to help at a wedding im defiantly keen, and she was so welcoming next thing I know i’m “second” shooter at a wedding with her partner John.

When I started photography I never gave myself any limits, I told myself if you have a camera in your hands you can photograph anything, and from there on i’ve just gone full throttle, enjoying myself immensely from puppies,elephants, kids to models. I jumped at the opportunities even  though I was way over my head and nervous as hell, but every time I was done I could say.. I enjoyed that..

Life is to short not to try and do everything.. So if I think about it I have like a photography bucket list and I want to try everything.. Anyway back to the wedding, Ursula who I’m glad to say is becoming a friend, asked me to tag along. Luckily I wasn’t under to much pressure, although if you saw me that morning before you’d think it was me getting married.
All I can say is I’ve found a brand new amazing respect for wedding photographers, you guys are super human. Its such a tough job and the pressure wow.. I thought I had it bad as a multimedia designer but you guys.. YOU ROCK..
It was an awesome awesome day did I say awesome experience id if you asked me just after I left the wedding I thought sooooo not soon again and now after editing a couple of photos I’m like yes would love to again..

I’m rambling on anyway I’m just going to post the images that I like that I would choose if it was my album but for now just a sneak preview of the fist photo I edited, I never know if I go to far but then again this is a personal blog where I can be creative and post anything but I would love your comments the more input the more I can learn and the more exciting it is.
Anyone reading this I hope you all have a wonderful festive season
And be blessed in the new year.
All my love and wishes Mandy

We spent the day at the elephant sanctuary, two weekends ago, it was really such an amazing day you really get up close and personal with them and they are so fun to photograph. I also received my new Imac on monday and while i was going through some old pics i noticed flaws that i never picked up on my old screens before, especially with the puppy photos, i feel the need to touch them up a bit really i don’t like the fact that all the imperfections stick out so badly…  anyway no time like the present..

A week ago our lectures from The academy of creative photography invited us to do a shoot for the Guide dog association of their new puppy’s, what more can I say I spent more time cuddling then taking photos.
They are the most gorgeous little pups you will ever lay your eyes on and there were nine of them to play with just heaven. We had a ball here are the results just follow the Pups TeeHee

K.O the poor reindeer and puppy over indulged this Christmas..

Look u can see the lighting set up “stupid” Baubles

Ohh mommy I want to take him home…

 The lack of posting these last few weeks, are due to the excessive amount of work I’m experiencing at the moment, but finally I’ve taken 15min for myself to upload some of the last few photos I took on course.
We used our home made light boxes and went mad, here are some of the results. I’ve had so many interesting things to photograph lately so hopefully ill get a chance to post them soon, especially the Puppy shoot ..

But for now these are the unedited “class pics”  the best out of the couple I handed in. Let me know what you think.

About 2 weeks ago I was asked to take a couple of pictures for one of the brands I design for to put up on there social media platforms, so I tagged along to FHM poker party which was hosted by Piggs Peak Casino home of All Africa Poker. I was interested to see the “brains” behind the Magazine and there General readers.  It was allot of fun and I got to take some really cool shots, but such a busy environment where the guys don’t generally pose for Pics is difficult, anyway the winner of the night is above, Leanne Liebenberg, she is stunning so its difficult to screw up any picture with her in.

The photos are “Property” of Piggs Peak home of All Africa poker, as Part of there marketing Campaign with Leanne Liebenberg.  Here are some more photos…

These are the photos that I took, and were picked to show in class. I haven’t edited them at all, it feels like cheating when the other people in my group don’t know how to use Photoshop so I’ve upload my unedited ones. Let me know what you think.

This past Saturday I spent the day with my Photography buddies at a studio open day. It was amazing, basically the guys there have started an Academy for photography, and they spoke a bit about what they do & plan to do.
Then we got to play and well we played allot, it was so much fun, they had set up the studio lights and told us a bit about it all (wet our appetites) then we got to take as many photos as we wanted.
They basically gave us the day to do what we wanted, we organized models and a make up artist Michelle Billson, this is her email shadowmagnet@gmail.com she did a fantastic job.

Then here are a few more images I took…

Our photography group was so excited about it all we have booked our next course at the studio…
Let me know what you think of the photos..

A friend of mine is getting married next year, and ill be taking the photos, really looking forward to it, So I’m getting allot of “practice” in. This last Friday night I had camera withdrawals and bought myself a bunch of roses, and decided to take some typical Ring pictures, I gave myself a few challenges, I had to take the photos indoors on a flat surface, bellow Tungsten light (with a globe that’s only half functions)

I was only allowed to use my rings and the red roses, I had to try and remove all other backgrounds and the main focus needed to be either the rings or the rose..

After I played around with the different settings, on the camera and flash, I got the exposure I was happy with. I under exposed allot to get the dark backgrounds..
I tried to think of a way of taking the photos that wouldn’t be the “first solution” so tried all sorts of different angles and with allot of trial and even more error, with fast dissipating flash batteries, I came up with these solutions. They all seem quite traditional but then I think the dark effect works well.

I did edit in Photoshop,  I played with the curves and levels, I used the Stamp tool to get rid of the “rose blemishes” And I used unsharp mask…
Rose’s are so unforgiving….. They show every little bump and kink and flaw, I suppose were all so used to seeing the perfect 5 roses rose now days that when you take a picture of the average joe rose, it doesn’t cut it..
I’ve decide not to Guilt trip myself anymore on editing the photos, that’s what I can do, know how to do and studied for 5 years to do…
So I suppose ill forgive myself. Ask me tomorrow again though ill probably change my mind.

I have a studio session on Saturday, an introduction to studio photography, where a couple of our lectures that gave us our first course have started their own Photography school http://www.photoacademy.co.za/
Have a look, I’m hoping to soak it all up, and then decide which is the next best class for me to do, but in the mean time ill just carry on playing, and experimenting on my own. To view the larger images and a couple of extras click the more link.

I haven’t had a chance to work with my camera in a while and I’m missing it, but in the mean time I’ve edited a couple more from the Make up Trial.  Also allot of images, constructive criticism welcome..
Let me know if you like the layout of the images, i found a new option in my admin that i haven’t used before.

My sister is a make up artist and needs new images for her portfolio, so I tagged along this last weekend and took these “wedding Pictures.” The two models are stunning and made my job very easy, hope you like them sister. I’m very happy with how they turned out. Any suggestions and comments are welcome, still learning and would love some feedback.  There are allot of pictures so enjoy….

It was my little Brother in laws 6^th Birthday this last weekend, and of course the camera came with. I took a whole bunch of candid family photos, but luckily I got these two treasures, I just love them, the expressions on their faces, are just magic. This is probably the first time I’ve taken pictures of kids, after all the “refresher” training. 

A portion of my studies at Design center was all about photography, we worked in Dark rooms, and had a fabulous time, it all feels like so long ago, and I’m so glad I did a recap. I’m not to sure where to go from here, Clearly I want my photography skills to improve, and I’m sure ill do a couple of more courses, I think once I’m more confident ill approach some of the well known photographers in my area, to offer my slave services in the hope of picking up some new skills.

But in the mean time My Cam is attached to my hip and its practice, practice, play and have fun… and more Practice.. ok ill also admit the occasional blog stalking.. but its only to learn more & more…

This last long weekend we spent it in The berg, We were expecting freezing temperatures but it was so hot, this is what I was doing while everyone else was watching rugby, Id much rather be outside enjoying my camera than squealing at the TV, man does sound travel in the berg..  love the “blue” night sky..

I had my final class on Saturday we went over all the images we took on the class outing and a couple of other’s, There were some amazing ones, some people really surprised me with the images they took, I was actually a bit jealous.

 This one above seems to be the winner out of my lot I handed in, it had the best feed back, it needed to be cropped a bit more and some adjustments made, I worked on this one a bit in Photoshop.

If I had to go back and do it again id get even closer to the dead leaf and have a very narrow depth of field.

Yesterday, I was asked to take a couple of pictures of MontBlanc products. The company I work for is giving these away in a promotion.
They weren’t able to source decent images to use, and as the nature of my job entails, if you can’t get the resources you make a plan, So I spent my morning, in the office with My tripod (I don’t have a flash) trying to take decent enough images that we can use in our Tv AD.

I’m not a professional and I’m worried I’ve broken some carnal rule of photography and I will forever be punished.

That said the product of my morning above, I took tons of pictures and just picked a couple to edit quickly, I’m not sure if I over did the editing but I’m pretty pleased with the result.
This is now where I need advice from the Pros..  pretty please..