Hans Joachim & Irene | 24 July 2010 | Steenberg boutique hotel

Hans and Irene are two of the kindest, soft natured and talented individuals I have yet worked with. Irene grew up in Camps Bay and studied music at the University of Stellenbosch after which she packed her bags and left for Frankfurt, Germany, to continue her music studies. Hans was born in Schwetzingen and grew up in the Black Forest. When this tall guy, who is an extremely gifted violinist, saw the pretty Afrikaans girl with the big smile at the Frankfurt Music University he knew that he would love to get to know her better. At the beginning the language barrier was a small problem and caused many humourous incidents, but now Irene speaks German fluently and their love for music (in particular baroque) and life drew them closer to each other each day. Besides their mutual passion for music, they share a love for nature, good food and the arts. It was my first time at Steenberg Hotel and I can understand why this gifted couple chose this venue – the surroundings are breathtaking and I loved the sculpted garden with lavender flower beds. The weather played along nicely and I enjoyed seeing the fresh green of the vineyards and saturated pink-red colours of the bridesmaid dresses and bow detail of Irene’s dress dancing into the lens. Irene’s talented mom did all the flower arrangements and bouquets. The plated menu was a culinary feast and I loved the mini cupcakes which were part of the dessert.

Dear Hans & Irene, thank you for allowing me to capture this memorable day for you!

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For photographers: After watching Orms‘ lens prices with a hawk’s eye for 18 months now I could at last buy the lens I have always wanted  - the canon 50mm f1.2 L series lens. Up till now I have used my 50mm f1.4 lens for almost 60% of all weddings and it never failed to amaze me. The f1.2 however is definitely a step up! This is my first shoot with the new 50mm and I love how creamy and smooth the images are straight out of the lens. The bokeh is also very impressive. After playing around with my talented friend Lizelle Lotter’s 50mm f1.2 I just knew that this new buy will definitely be a welcome upgrade and definitely enrich the image quality of my work. The reason why I prefer shooting with a lens like the fixed 50mm as supposed to zoom lenses like the 70 – 200 f2.8 lens, is so that I can work closely with my clients to ensure that there are enough interaction . Although I get very excited about a beautifully posed shot, I definitely prefer spontaneous moments to happen.