Colin Browne Photography

Ed & Dana – Ishona Langa

Colin — Thu, 02 May 2013 07:40:00 +0000

Ed and Dana’s wedding was a party of note. It was wet, muddy and raining the whole day but they didn’t let that bother them at all. All the decor was made by Dana with the help of friends and family, and it had a real African DIY theme to it. Dana is from the USA, and she met Ed on her travels. This was their South African wedding, with another to follow in New York. Guests came from all over the world to be with them on their special day.

One moment that really stood out for me is that their first dance was split in to two, they did the normal ‘slow song shuffle’ then broke out into a thumping choreographed hip-hop dance. It was a real pleasure being part of your big day guys, hope you enjoy the pics.

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Damiano & Yuly – Nauntons Guest House

Colin — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 14:14:44 +0000

Yuly first contacted me in September 2011, saying that they were getting married sometime in 2012. Things changed, life happened and the wedding was postponed. Then a full year later she contacted me again saying that they’d settled on a date and venue, the only problem was that I already had a booking for her new date. So she simply changed the date again to two weeks earlier when I was free. Thank you so much Yuly, it truly is an honour that you considered me when picking your dates, and I was honoured to be part of your guys big day. I sincerely hope I’ve been able to live up to your expectations.

The wedding day itself went off so smoothly that I can’t think of anything that went wrong at all. Photographers always talk about weather, because the weather not only makes or breaks a wedding day, but it’s the difference between having good photos and having great photos. It’s all about the light, as you will see from Damiano and Yuly’s creative photo shoot. I had never been to this venue before Damiano & Yuly booked me, and it’s absolutely stunning. I love shooting at new venues, it’s exciting and keeps things fresh and interesting, like going on a first date.

Congratulations Damiano & Yuly!

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Zamani & Nkule – Collisheen Estate

Colin — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 14:13:20 +0000

I do so many weddings at Collisheen that there’s no way I can blog them all, but there was something special about this one. Zamani & Nkule were a great couple who invited 400 guests to their wedding. I felt like it was also strange to be shooting a wedding for a couple who are from Durban, because nearly all my couples are from either Joburg or overseas. Dave and his second shooter Terrence from Brand New Day Imaging did the video and were great to work with as usual.

Congratulations Zamani & Nkule!

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Three Corporate Shoots – April 2013

Colin — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 19:08:24 +0000

First up is a team building event which incorporated staff walking on coals. It was held in a shed at The Windmills in Nottingham Road. I arrived a bit early, just as the sun was setting, so I breathed in the fresh air and grabbed a few shots while I was waiting for the ‘walking on coals’ to begin. I’ve shot many weddings there so it was strange to be there and just relax for a bit.

The ‘walking on coals’ was the toughest lighting scenario I’ve ever had to shoot in, in that there was no light at all. When I say ‘no light at all’ I mean nothing, as in pitch black, I couldn’t even see my hand in front of my face. Then the coals and a 10 watt LED arrived and that was it for my lighting. The company boss came up to me and told me he didn’t want me to use any flash because it make the coals look grey, and he wanted to see the burning orange-ness of them in the photos. The photographers reading this will know what ISO 3200, f/1.4, 1/60th of a second exposure means. And it still wasn’t enough.

Next up is a joint launch event for HP and Microsoft at The Oyster Box Hotel in Umhlanga. There was a bit of speaking and then they wanted photos of the delegates holding and interacting with the products, and that was it. I was there for about an hour and a half. Done. Someone from Independent Newspapers was there wanting images, so you may see one or more of these shots in the paper some time.

Finally, I shot a very fancy event at the ICC. There were doctors from all over the world there, Jonathan from Top Billing was the MC, a professor from Norway (if my memory serves me) was the keynote speaker, the excellent instrumental band Sterling EQ performed and they ended off with 5FM DJ Catherine. Not bad for a nights work.

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Gareth & Kerrey – The duBoirs

Colin — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 18:56:55 +0000

Gareth and Kerrey came down from Joburg to get married at The duBoirs near Hillcrest, it was a great day and they were really fun to work with. Gareth is the organiser between the two, while Kerrey seemed calm and collected. The ceremony was held under the big tree in The duBoirs gardens followed by some heartfelt speeches and a good party at the reception. There wasn’t much afternoon light to work with when it came to doing the creative photos, so I had to use the surroundings to create some mood.

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