You know, I’d love to shoot weddings every weekend. I love them. I absolutely love them. When I’m shooting a wedding, I feel truly alive. It’s inspiring stuff. Everything is just so positive and vibrant. Emotions run high and rightly so. And it’s just such a privilege to be given the honour of recording it for a bridal couple. The energy is amazing. But there are quiet periods (come on guys, get married in winter!) It’s during these quieter periods that I concentrate more on my family portraits side of the business (but more about that another day). So what do I do when I have a bit of off time? Well, I grab my camera and head off. Sometimes I plan where I’m going to go, other times I just climb into the car and drive. Over the past 6 years I’ve shot a lot of images up on the Cape West Coast, mainly of boats. I love boats. In fact, I’ve recently published a book on the boats of the West Coast. Nice, even if I say so myself. Anyway, here are some of my other photographs. I hope you enjoy them and I promise to add to this from time to time.

I took this photograph just outside Plettenberg Bay. I pulled over onto the side of the road and as I was composing the shot the chap who lived there came out and started waving his arms wildly. If you look carefully you can see the top of his head near the door. I’m not sure if he was inviting me in for a beer or signalling that he was going to break my neck. I wasn’t about to find out, so I took the shot and disappeared quickly.

Saturday mornings during winter in the Williams household is generally taken up with mini-rugby. The boys love it, especially when the fields are a mudbath. This little chap ended up flat on his back after a full-blooded tackle. Two minutes and a whole lot of tears later he was back on his feet and laying into the opposition.

The West Coast is a really special place. It’s a hard land and not for the faint-hearted. Hard men fish the seas and their women-folk cook the best food I’ve ever tasted. The next few photographs are all taken on the coastline between Langebaan and St. Helena Bay. Oh, and the West Coast is also home to The Strandkombuis, The Strandloper and Boesmanland Plaaskombuis – great wedding venues all.

This is one of my favourite photographs. I shot it early one winter morning. The little hut is no longer there today.

I have no idea where this gate is! I took the shot while driving aimlessly along some road somewhere between here and wherever (as one does!)

This old-timer has a store up in the Bo-Kaap. I wandered in and asked if I could take a photograph. He was delighted and we ended up having a long chat about his little cafe which was more than 100 years old.

I took these few pics of the kids one evening between eating crayfish and having a beer or two while camping at Tietiesbaai. If you haven’t been there yet and you like a bit of photography, go – you won’t be sorry. Get up early, shoot some landscapes for two hours or so , then make breakfast over a fire. Let the day pass you by and when evening comes, take out your tripod and believe me, you’ll be having a lot of fun in no time.

]]> http://www.warrenwilliams.co.za/2008/11/what-wedding-photographers-do-in-their-spare-time/feed/ 3 http://www.warrenwilliams.co.za/2008/11/youll-find-some-of-my-portrait-photography-here/ http://www.warrenwilliams.co.za/2008/11/youll-find-some-of-my-portrait-photography-here/#comments Mon, 17 Nov 2008 08:33:28 +0000 Warren http://www.warrenwilliams.co.za/?p=399

I get a lot of people mailing me and asking whether I shoot anything else other than weddings. The recurring questions are: ‘do you photograph families?’  and ‘do you shoot model portfolios?’  The answer of course, is yes. On Tuesday and Wednesday I shot Mandoza which was pretty cool. Since the wedding season has died down a little (for the moment anyway), it’s given me a chance to get stuck into my portraiture. These are usually a bit different from wedding shoots because I really make my subjects work their backsides off during these shoots. But everyone has a really good time and we laugh and play a lot! Here are some examples for you. I’ll add to this post from time to time so that you can see what I’m up to, so please come back to check it out!