Photographing a wedding anywhere always poses a challenge…but half way around the world? So many questions and concerns arise…what will the location be like? The weather? Customs won’t give us a hard time with our gear will they? Will we even be able to keep it all on us as we travel as carry on? No way are we sending it in luggage! What if something does go wrong with the equipment? Can we get it fixed or replaced in time? And the list goes on. In all honesty though we encountered no problems when we flew to South Africa to cover Orlando based , but South African by birth, Joani & Derick’s June 2nd wedding, except for one tiny little obstacle…no light! You see , June in South Africa is winter time. Cold short days with early sunsets. The ceremony was scheduled for 4p.m and once Stan and I arrived at the location, where all the guests were staying for the weekend, we realized what was going to happen. After we’d come all this way, we weren’t going to be able to do the job we wanted to! By the time the ceremony finished we would be out of light! OMG!!! And considering we were staying at a game lodge on top of a hill , that was not the ideal situation, it was in fact the worst. I think that’s the only time I’ve truley panicked ! So, what happened? Well, that’s when it pays off to have amazing people involved. The bride , her parents, the groom and his parents all asked us what they could do to “fix” it. I laughed and said , “change the ceremony time and move it up 2 hours.” I almost hit the floor when the said “NO PROBLEM” Are you kidding me…really, would you really do that? YUP! Hah! The panic went away… that’s what happens when your clients want great pictures and understand what is a key ingredient to great pictures, great light, and as a result, we got it! All they did was make an announcement at dinner that Friday evening that the Saturday ceremony was now starting at 2p.m instead of 4p.m, , and no one had a problem with it! Not even the arrival of the flowers was impacted, flown all the way in from Orlando, made by the man himself, Mr. Lee James .The ceremony, held at the Hannah Lodge was beautiful and touching. The reception was a great party with fabulous local food. A huge fire, lit in the center of the room warmed the chill of the night, and Joani outdid herself with her decorations and attention to detail. We got our shots! I can’t tell you how happy , honored and thrilled we were to be included in this once in a life time journey…and relieved in the end that no one was eaten by a lion .

Posted by: editor on August 18, 2009