I often get really amazing comments and compliments as far as my wedding photography goes. The truth, however, is that most of the time it’s not me, but rather my couples who deserve the praise. They’re the one’s who put in the hard yards. And sometimes (actually, more often than not), I demand an incredible amount of commitment from them. Sure, I try to make it fun, but the leap of faith and the trust the guys have to put into how I see things happening can often scare the living daylights out of people. Take Charl and Jo for instance. I arrived in the La Vierge in the Hemel & Aarde Valley quite early and then just drove around aimlessly looking for a few locations to shoot at. Eventually I came to this gravel road where there were a whole lot of roadworks taking place. I got out of the car and scrambled down the embankment. It was freezing, the ground was muddy and sloshy from the heavy rains that had ensued all week. Over in the distance some pigs were grunting. It smelt a bit. ‘Perfect,’ I thought to myself. ‘This is even generic duloxetine price scaring me a bit so I reckon this is where we’ll do the bridal party pics.’ I jumped back into the car and headed for Jo-Anne in Onrus. I got to the house, said hi, knocked over a full glass of champagne and got to work. The mood was good, the bridesmaids delightful, Jo-Anne was calm and relaxed, it was game on. Ceremony time came, Jo-Anne couldn’t keep those emotions in, out plopped the tears. Fantastic. Then we did the family pics before jumping into the cars and heading for the land of slosh and gravel. As we climbed out of the cars I heard Jo say to Charl: ‘Awesome.’ And that my friends, was that. We climbed over rocks and tree stumps, the boys had to circumnavigate some marshlands and a hidden river, the bridesmaids didn’t stop chirping for one minute – it was all good energy and everything came together brilliantly. Good on you guys! Love your work! Take a bow! Oh, and as for La Vierge, man, they get it right – excellent staff, brilliant food – they’re pros through and through.