Form submitted successfully, thank you.

Error submitting form, please try again.

A 16th birthday party with a difference!

Monday, June 29, 2009 Posted in Inside my head, Portrait

So what do you do when you have a daughter about to turn 16 and every other party idea has been covered or would require re-financing your house? Think out of the box of course, that’s what Debra a long time client did.

Her idea, do a photoshoot, not any photoshoot but a shoot with a pro photographer, pro lighting and bunch of sixteen year old’s all dying to have fun on camera! Brilliant!! When she spoke to me about the idea I loved it, something different which is always right up my alley!! We discussed options and came up with using a theatre (if possible) along with props and lots of vibrant colour! The rest was shooting from the hip!

I’d bring my lighting gear and Debra would get hold of a whole bunch of props, the girls invited had to dress as wildly as they could and the ingredients were ready.

I have to say while I’m  experienced at working in an “unscripted” enviromnent this was a little different, 19 girls all wanting the shot!! Eisch!! I got on my horse whipped out my sabre and charged blindly forth like Custer! (see night at the museum 2!!!)

2 hours later, a little post production and funky border and Viola, happy birthday Jessie!

Tech info: Canon 5D MII, various lenses, Alien Bee Octobox 1.2, SB28s X 2 Triggered by pocket wizards - aperture mostly f5.6 - 8, ISO 1000 allowing the SB28’s to keep up and shutter ranging depending how much ambient I wanted to mix.

See more photos here...

by Greg Lumley

2 comments

add a comment link to this post email a friend

June 29, 2009 - 9:20 pm Tiffany - Awesome shots you made them all look like top models! Love the feet one!!

July 1, 2009 - 8:20 am Kavish Rajpaul - Amazing photos greg. The funky border really adds to the crazy party theme.

Me vs. Schumacher in a race, what do you think?

Wednesday, June 24, 2009 Posted in Uncategorized

I figure Schumacher makes a fortune and I want in! I can drive too so I thought I’d challenge him to a race, win it, get sponsored and make lot’s of dosh yay!!! Of course I’d have to have the same car as him because everyone knows that it’s that nice F1 car that does the job right?

So before I get into this who is willing to bet on me winning… [silence] … anyone? … [more silence] … don’t you think I can??!!? [loud laughter!] … [okay really really loud laughter!!!]

People often look at photos I’ve taken and remark “You must have a nice camera” Heck Michael Schumacher would drill me if he was in an old VW Beetle and I was in the latest M3! Why??? Because he has skill, experience and has somehow amassed more hours driving than he has spent on mother earth! (case #2214432 X-Files)

The point? When it counts get the right person for the job! A few days ago I got the following email from a bride to be:

“We are very sorry to mess you around, but my sister does photography and so we have decided to use her instead.”

If you are one of above types of people be sure your photos are not that important to you and you will not be disappointed. That nice camera is not going to substitute the experience of a seasoned wedding photographer no matter how “good” it is.

The moral of the story, unless you have no budget look for a professional, sure give the sister a chance but as second shooter NOT as first (Always clear this with the professional first!). The top photographers are expensive but there are cheaper ones to suite most budgets, they will give you a better output than someone who just “does” photography.

Most of us “do” driving but it does not make us experts by ANY means. With digital camera’s being as they are today just about everyone “does” photography, it’s those who do it professionally getting repeat clients and making a living from it who count, especially when it comes to a non repeatable event like your wedding.

Besides the rings,  each other,  your photos and video will be the only things left from that all important day you spent months planning and a fortune to make happen.

If you do your research and choose wisely their cost will be nothing compared to the mistake of choosing the wrong person for the job when all is said and done.

  • I’m sure I could do the odd cold flu jab and prescribe an antibiotic so will you come and see “DR” Lumley
  • I  have a pen and can write - am I a writer?

Get the point :)

by Greg Lumley

2 comments

add a comment link to this post email a friend

June 26, 2009 - 3:42 pm Ian - Hi Greg, Read your post and couldnt agree with you more. I guess I could make a comment further, but you have pretty much said it. Regards, Ian

June 26, 2009 - 4:25 pm Jilda - I could not agree with you more!

Under a velvet sky…

Friday, June 19, 2009 Posted in Inside my head, Weddings

Anyone who knows me knows I love cloudy skies!! Sure blue skies are pretty but the cloudy ones make for better drama! The shot below is no exception!

It was Lieze and JP’s wedding at Blomhuis in Betty’s bay, it was getting dark and the sky was heavily overcast, light was dropping faster than our faith in bankers and we still needed to do the romantic shoot… eisch!! (”eisch” the South African equivalent of “eeeep!” (See Calvin and Hobbes) pronounced “aish” but I digress…)

By the time we got down to the beach I knew what it was like to be one of the three blind mice, lets just say I’m not planning to join the gang any time soon! I wondered around aimlessly trying to think what I could get out of the darkness, the sky still had some life left, else was all but pitch black, so start with the sky!

When using ambient light you always expose for the areas you can’t alter, since I don’t have divine powers that would be… yes you got it sparky! The sky! 1/4 s, f4 at a massive ISO 6400!!! (that’s quite something if you are into nerdy technical photographer talk!)

The next step was to adjust my flashes to balance, I decided to use two, one behind Lieze as a rim light and to highlight the veil, the other from the front, I also snooted the front one so I could concentrate the light on Lieze and exclude any bleed from hitting the ground.

Tech info: 5D MII, 24-105 f4 IS, 1/4 s, F4, ISO 6400, 2 x SB28’s triggered by Pocket Wizards.

by Greg Lumley

no comments

add a comment link to this post email a friend

Ballet made my day!

Friday, June 5, 2009 Posted in Commercial

Internationally renowned Gaynor Minden uses top ballet dancers from all over the world to promote their product (pointe shoes)

Up till recently “all over the world” did not include South Africa. That has since changed thanks to Louise Cole who set up a shoot a with a few of the dancers from “Romeo and Juliet” which was being held at the Artscape in Cape Town a few months ago.

If you are a female ballet dancer then the pointe shoes you dream of performing in are made by Gaynor Minden!

I was lucky enough to do the shoot and the images came out beautifully, I wish I could say it was my creative lighting magic but I suspect that the gorgeous not to mention brilliant dancers had quite a bit to do with it as well :P I’d also like to thank the lighting guys at Artscape for their assistance as well!

As I said that was a few months ago, today I got the following overly flattering but nonetheless very cool email from Louise:

“Dear Greg

We did it!!! Laura is on the Gaynor Minden posters and of course it was your absolutely stunning shot of her that did it.

Thank you so very much for all your enthusiasm and your great work. We will be organising a signed poster for you and will let you know as soon as they have arrived in South Africa.

Laura Bosenberg is on the Gaynor Minden website if you want to check it out…

http://www.dancer.com/artistDetail.php?id=56

This poster and adverts using your photo will be in all the dance magazines around the world as well as any CTCB promo work we do for them. And of course your name is mentioned :)

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

We hope to work with you again soon.

Kind Regards,

Louise and all the dancers at LSC international and CTCB.

Louise Cole
The Ballet Shop
LSC International
mobile: +27835615929
fax: +27215540933″

Yup ballet made my day!!

by Greg Lumley

no comments

add a comment link to this post email a friend

Wild wedding…

Wednesday, May 27, 2009 Posted in Travel, Weddings

Over the weekend I shot Sam and Siobhan’s wedding at Tala Game Reserve in Durban. Actually Tala is like a big open zoo more than a game reserve, I’ve been up to the Kruger Park a number of times, on game drives there is always a tracker (those guys are amazing) and you don’t bump into anything unless you are lucky! At Tala the animals are literally on your doorstep, I mean literally! There I was brushing my teeth looking out the window to rhino (3 of them), wildebeest, impala (of course!) and a couple of other antelope.

Even better Siobhan and Sam invited me to come a day early as their guest (I love my job!!) It was a small wedding with only 35 invited guests which meant I got to know everyone by name at the end of the stay :)

One of Tala’s signature wedding photos at the moment is of a bride and groom kissing with a giraffe in the background (great shot!), I really wanted to do a variation on that with a giraffe as well, actually I wanted to do one with rhino but the the last thing I needed was to turn the photo shoot into a reality shoot! Although the bride and groom with a 2 tonne rhino close on their heels would make for quite a good shot… hmmmmm next time perhaps :P

Did I say the animals were on the doorstep?!?! I’m convinced Giraffe secretly live in underground den’s scurrying away at the site of a wedding couple with a photographer, well at least that’s what happened to us on the day, go figure because the night before we saw 7 of them!! I was told there is no such thing as a giraffe den.. I beg to differ! They are 3 meters tall… how well can that camouflage actually work!! (There is a reason I failed game ranger school!)

In the end we made the call to simply shoot as we went, if the giraffe’s came out of their dens then so be it :P

When we got back there were Zulu dancers waiting for the Sam and Siobhan, the guests were also surprised by them… well not surprised as in “look over your shoulder and there is a Zulu warrior with a massive spear behind me eeeeep!!!” more like oh look Zulu dancers … goody!!

I love watching these guys, and it often goes through my head as to just how scary it must have been living your life as a British soldier with a few thousand of these guys bearing down on you, all of them in very bad moods!

by Greg Lumley

2 comments

add a comment link to this post email a friend

May 27, 2009 - 11:56 pm Yvette - Awesome stuff Greg!! Just LOVE the pic of the little flower girl spilling the petals :)

June 1, 2009 - 12:10 pm Clare Marks - Just writing to say hello and check out the blog. What a place to get married in, the photos are amazing ! You really can take a photo and your efforts last year in NZ inspired me to get my first 'real' camera, a Nikon DX60 and I am terrible at it but hey I'm in there. Hope all is well. cheers Clare