This past week, or so, has been spent relooking how we process images.

The down side of this, is that sleep deprivation has taken its toll, I look tired terrible and today I am a grumpy old bat on a short fuse. Having "wasted" oodles of time solving programme errors and IT glitches that seem to come as a standard prerequisite when you change things.

On the positive side though, we will, fingers crossed, be able to process wedding images a little faster...and I will be able to sleep.

Update: An email that we received after this post that I wanted post separately, but did not get time. From Kim and Dale (pictured above):

" Now it is my turn to say a huge THANK YOU to you!!!

Our photo's are absolutely amazing and so worth the wait! We could not have asked for anything more and I am so glad that you agreed to share our special day with us because you captured ever moment in such detail and when I look through the photo's I am able to relive the day.

Words can truly not express how thankful I am for what you did for us and we will really treasure all these moments for years to come!"

Some may call me biased, but there is no doubt in my mind about the fact that I have super cool clients.
 
What you can't tell from the photo's is that Lohan is one of the sweetest guys I have met and that Anri painstakingly decorated every inch, and I mean every inch, of Avianto herself.

I know, I've been ridiculously slow about getting these up, but I've really been battling to format a 'blurb' that actually describes their beautiful day. The only words that spring to mind are classic glamour.
 
I will put aside my editorial inadequacies, which has delayed this post by a couple of days, accept defeat and finally post these...

As much as I love and cherish the daily dose of constant mayhem my boys churn out; be it through giggling, loud laughter, chattering, whining and fisticuffs, I also really value MY time - those rare occasions in the course of the evening, when I'm alone and all is quiet and calm.  My time.

It's during this time that I can actually sit in front of my PC, in total peace, going through moments, editing images and getting lost in thought.

Here is one I stumbled on, from last nights editing session.

Another fleeting second captured, which I once again failed to see during my selection for the Blog. It's funny how, when going about the editing process, I eventually get to see all those small moments that do not always immediately catch my eye for the Blog. I seem to be in too much of a hurry when scanning through about 4,000 thumbnail images; missing small, magical instants like this.

I suppose your wedding day is very much like this: so fast, so exciting, so filled with nerves and emotion, it's all over in the blink of an eye. Given the helter-skelter of any marriage day, I reckon you would also tend to miss some of the seemingly lesser significant moments.

Having shot over a hundred weddings, it's strange I have never photographed a ceremony at Avianto, which does seem to be one of the more popular Gauteng venues.

Every wedding is, of course, different and I love that.

I love the different personalities and circumstances of the day and the genuinely nice people I get to meet.  This one involved many, many emotional and tearful moments throughout the day.  There was also plenty of laughter to make up for the tears; the mother of the bride being locked in the bathroom; a petal-obsessed flower girl; an ancient Landy; a fun-loving and relaxed couple and a bride looking ever so graceful walking up a muddy hill. . . just so her selfish photographer could capture an image with the moody sky.

Thank you, both of you - we had a grand time.

 There she is, an angelic flowergirl very serious about her role on the day...the petals had no chance.