JC Crafford Photography

Andre and René’s wedding at Thaba ya Batswana in Gauteng

johan — Fri, 18 May 2012 11:34:54 +0000

René and Andre met 12 years ago. Her sister arranged a blind date for her with Andre at her house. René was NOT impressed with the guy and didn’t even go out with him. Two years ago she saw him for the first time again in 10 years, he asked her out…and she decided to go out with him. She decided he wasn’t “to bad” and they have been together ever since. René clearly decided to wait for the right man before she got married, she is now 42 and it is the first time she is getting married.

Talk about a waste of time…haha.

I don’t know what went wrong with the first meeting, but when I met them to discuss the possibility of being their wedding photographer I thought they are an ideal match.

They got married at the beautiful Thaba Ya Batswana. in the South of Johannesburg.

We were VERY lucky with the rain, it rained very hard when we were in the church, and it stopped the moment we came out.

Her make up was done by the incredibly talented Janell Donders. Whenever I must photograph a bride and I see Janell there I’m always feel better, she his any photographer’s dream make up artist. If you are getting married and are still looking for a make up artist, check out Janell’s website. You won’t be sorry. Not only is she a VERY good make up artist, she will get any bride relaxed with her bubbly personality.

Thanks for the incredible honor of being your wedding photographer, you two are the nicest people ever….you deserve each other. I wish you many many happy years together.

JC Crafford Photography is a specialist wedding and studio photographer. If you need someone that is just as enthusiastic about your wedding as you are please give me a call on 0741 334 755 or email me at smile@jccrafford.com. I live in Gauteng but travel all over South Africa to photograph weddings, Cape Town – Messina!

Pieter & Marischke’s wedding at Goose Hill in Bloemfontein

johan — Fri, 11 May 2012 17:01:42 +0000

Pieter and Marischke got married at Goose Hill in Bloemfontein. A wet rainy day. But that didn’t dampen the spirits. Marischke must have been the bravest bride I have ever photographed. I suggested that I will do the photo shoot the next morning when it might not be raining, but Marischke insisted that we do it right after the service…in the rain. Not very many brides will be prepared to get their hair and make up so messed up, but we all had a lot of fun.

I’ll tell you one thing, these people from Bloem know how to party, I was invited to a braai at Marischke’s dad Kobus’s house the Friday evening already, I went to bed later on to rest for the wedding the next day, just as well…their party went on until 02:00!

One thing that was very funny at the wedding was during Pieter’s speech, his friends gave him a lot of flack, and the one guy grabbed his speech. Pieter was at a loss for words for a while, until his bride came marching in, grabbed the speech from his friend’s hand and gave it back to Pieter. Clearly not a woman you mess with.

Marischke and Pieter met each other at a dance about 6 years ago. For a year they were dance partners, after that friends for the next two years. They then decided to give love a chance…and it worked.

Her dress was made by Leehra.

Hair by Hannes Oosthuizen and

Make up by Charlene Strydom email: charlene.strydom@yahoo.com phone: 0769991555

She got dressed at Bel Tramonto Guest House 083 422 0235

I really enjoy being your wedding photographer Pieter and Marischke, I hope you enjoy the photos. It sure brought back very fond memories of the day when I was editing it.

You can also watch the following slideshow that I have loaded unto the internet. It might take a while to load as it is 11 min long.

Pieter & Marischke’s Wedding from JC Crafford on Vimeo.

Baby Photo Shoot – KGATONTLE DIRE

johan — Thu, 10 May 2012 01:46:35 +0000

I photographed Kgatontle recently in my studio in Krugersdorp, Gauteng. What a little cutie, and so friendly. He was a real little professional during the shoot.

If you want to photograph your baby give JC Crafford Photography a call, my tel number is 0741 334 755 or you can email me at smile@jccrafford.com

Kim and Emile’s wedding at Valverde Country hotel (Muldersdrift)

johan — Wed, 09 May 2012 12:06:42 +0000

A preview of Kim and Emile’s wedding. They got married at the beautiful Valverde Country Hotel in Muldersdrift

A very busy month

johan — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 09:25:51 +0000

Wow, what a busy month.

I’ve been to Cape Town, Durban, Clarens, Kroonstad and Bloemfontein.

One of the advantages of being a wedding photographer, you get to see the country (hopefully the world as well…anybody getting married in Italy that needs a wedding photographer?)

One of the highlights of the month has definitely been my new IMac that I bought this week, this is so much faster than a pc. I am now fully committed to Apple with my iphone, ipad and Imac all in sync. I think it is necessary in my line of work to be connected to the internet wherever you go and to have the best computers to work on. If you spend 9 hours a day editing photos you want to be working on the best computer and not be restarting all the time. (I mean, if you are a racing driver you want to drive ion the fastest car?)

My weekend to Clarens was a nice break, my wife Surika and I went there with friends to there weekend home. What a beautiful place. Our friends are very keen on walking all oner the place and they dragged us along, I never walked as much in my life, but also never felt better. Surika and I subsequently bought an exercise bike at Makro this week, I really want to put in an effort to get more exercise.

Here is Hantie and Frans on our first walk on the first day.

On top of the mountain after our first days walk. A “Rocky” Moment for me. Being a photographer my camera went everywhere, I think I would have been less tired if I didn’t have to carry it around! But then I wouldn’t have had the photos would I?

It was also our 3 year anniversary, I took Surika for a surprise visit to Durban, it was her first time flying, I’m glad I could have shared the moment with her. here we are at a restaurant, can’t remember the name now, but it was at Ushaka marine world, this photo was taken with my iphone, I decided to travel light this time. (Note to myself…make time to get away from the kids more often)

Last weekend I was off to Bloemfontein for a wedding. Are these people friendly. I enjoyed it, the Friday evening they invited me to a braai at the bride’s dad’s house. Luckily I asked them to take me home earlier so that I can get some rest for the wedding the next day, the party lasted till 02:00.

It was raining almost the whole day during the wedding in Bloemfontein, luckily it was just a light drizzle and the bride was VERY courageous, she didn’t even complained once and insisted that I kept on photographing outside.

Here is one of the shots, I was just as courageous, laying down in the mud for this shot.

Here is a fun moment where the bride was nearly dropped. The wedding was at Goose Hill wedding venue in Bloemfontein.

Today I’m off photographing a wedding at Thaba ya Batswana and tomorrow’s wedding is at Glenburn Lodge

Cheers

JC Crafford

Renzo and Tamsynn’s wedding in Paarl

johan — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 07:04:39 +0000

I first met Renzo and Tamsynn in December 2011 in Cape Town, at that stage they have already booked me as their wedding photographer months ago…thanks to modern technology like facebook, websites etc that make it so easy to find out more about a person without seeing him of her. I remember two things about the day at the V&A Waterfront, my little two year old daughter was EXTREMELY naughty and I was VERY impressed with the two people I have just met, two down to earth, friendly and decent people. Tammy….the perfect lady!

I flew down (or is it up?) to Cape Town on the Friday evening for their wedding the Saturday and Drove through to Mooikelder in Paarl where I was to stay for the two evenings. Thanks to the directions of owner Adri Louw and my GPS I managed to get there, it was dark when I landed, so I couldn’t see anything, but were I surprised the next morning, this place is so beautiful I couldn’t wait to start photographing there. Adri’s husband made me a HUGE breakfast. If you ever need a place to stay in Paarl, make sure you give Adri a call on 082 749 8936 or 021 869 8787, this is what a guest house must be like, friendly people, good food and beautiful surroundings.

Tammy and Renzo got dressed in Cape Town so I drove back there after planning where I will take all the photos for the wedding, they were getting married at Mayerskraal, but the photos were to be taken at Mooikelder.

I was worried about the rain, the wedding was outside, and their was definitely rain coming.

Eventually it was raining most of the day, but somehow we managed to get through the service without rain and we did the photo shoot during the rain, it was literally taking three photos outside, running inside because it started raining, three or four photos inside…and outside again. But we managed to get the shots

A very enjoyable reception, everything was very nice, but two thins I will never forget:

1: The lamb curry stew (I had two plates) and

2. The best MC I hace ever heard at a wedding, this guy must become a motivational speaker.

After the wedding I went back to Mooikelder for three hours sleep before I had to go back to Cape Town to catch my flight home. That was not to be….my wife was at a wedding in Thabazimbi and phoned me soon after I went to sleep, we chatted so long over the telephone that I decided it was a waste to sleep, it just got up and went to the airport and waited in the Mugg & Bean for the next 4 hours (try their strawberry cheesecake…divine)

Tammy and Renzo…you two are meant for each other, it was so nice to see two people that not only love each other, but also respect each other so much. Thanks for making me part of your wedding and your incredible group of friends and family, I will always treasure the memories of your wedding day.

Willie & Yolandé’s Wedding at Lechwe Lodge

johan — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 22:15:53 +0000

Willie and Yolandé were high school sweethearts. Yolande and her friends all knew Willie as the guy with the beautiful blue eyes, but they weren’t really friends. The one day during exams he just looked at her and refused to look away. It was awkward, but the seed for their relationship was sown. They started dating seriously soon after that. When they were out of school they were in the mall in Bloemfontein one day and he said they were going to look for a ring for her, she thought it was just a normal ring as he buys her a lot of jewellery…but it was an engagement ring!

Willie asked her in front of a lot of people…which says a lot as he is very shy, Yolandé said he “sort of” went on his one knee.

They got married at the beautiful Lechwe Lodge Game farm in the Free State,as always friendly people, AWESOME food and the hall is decorated BEAUTIFULLY.

Yolandé and Willie, it was an incredible privilege to photograph the wedding of two such stunning people as yourselves, thank you!

Liezel, 0823515523, from Hair Trends did Yolandé’s hair and Melissa, 0745858826, her make up.

Marcel and Megan’s wedding at the Royal Elephant Hotel in Centurion

johan — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 07:37:24 +0000

Marcel and Megan. What can I say. Everybody that knows them know that this is a match made in heaven. Every moment you spend with these two is a worthwhile moment.

Megan is family of mine, which made the photography and editing part just about 100 time more difficult than any other wedding I have ever photographed, I mean, your whole family is going to see the photos!

Thy got married at the incredibly, incredibly beautiful Royal Elephant Hotel in Centurion. This place is paradise for a photographer…and their food? Without a doubt the best I have ever eaten. (excluding my wife’s meat balls of course)

Marcel and Megan first saw each other in 2008 at the University of Pretoria, Megan saw Marcel, but ignored him and kept on chatting to her friend. The next time she saw him was in 2009, she smiled at him when he walked past (because she remembered him from somewhere) and from that moment she couldn’t get him out of her mind.

The started seeing each other more and more.

Megan was head over heels in love and told all her friends about Marcel. So was Marcel.

He made a fictitious advertisement with a photo of Megan that said “EVE is looking for her Adam” and posted it to Megan, these two names stuck until today.

In August 2009 they started going steady, in December 2010 Marcel asked Megan to marry him…on her 21st birthday. But they both had to finish their degrees first, and 15 months later the big day arrived.

Megan and Marcel, thanks for asking me to be your wedding photographer, it was an incredible privilege to share your big day with you!

Edgar and Sharne’s wedding at Red Ivory in Hartbeespoortdam

johan — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 06:03:31 +0000

I remember the day I met Edgar and Sharné, my first thoughts of them were that they are two very nice, very decent people that really belong together.

Their wedding was at the incredibly beautiful Red Ivory at Hartbeespoortdam

Edgar and Sharné met each other at Deloittes whilst working on the same client, went out for about a year, and then made out, he went to Canada for a year for work. They started going out again about two years ago.

They got engaged in the Pilanesberg, he planned a whole series of very special events for them that she didn’t know about, starting with a half day spa (take note guys) , after that he made her a private lunch under the trees…and that is where Edgar popped the big question.

They would have gotten engaged earlier, he had asked her parents permission a while ago, but then Sharné had to go to Australia for three weeks for work and Edgar had to put all his plans on hold. When she came back from Australia he almost had to beg her to take holiday so that they could get engaged, she initially didn’t want to take more time off seeing that she just came back from three weeks overseas.

She feels he make her a better person,he makes her happy. Edgar liked her from the moment he first saw her.

Sharné make-up was done by the incredibly talented and VERY nice to work with Janell Donders, 082 292 3083, donders@worldonline.co.za, www.wedding-makeup.co.za. I am always in a good mood when I see Janell is a bride’s make-up artist.

Edgar and Sharné, I enjoyed your wedding tremendously, it was an honor to be a part of it.

Ben and Lizelda’s wedding at Makiti

johan — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 06:19:02 +0000

I didn’t get to meet Ben when they decided to use me as their wedding photographer, I only saw Lizelda on the day. The reason…Ben locked himself between his security gate and his door and had to wait for somebody to get him out, I thought that was hilarious, it’s the first time I have ever heard about something like that.

But I’m glad they eventually chose me as their wedding photographer, they are two incredible people and it was really fun to work with them on their wedding day.

They met each other three and a half years ago at a club called Presley’s in Boksburg, when he walked in Lizelda recalled that she immediately though”Wow, where does he come from?”

Lizelda said there were immediately chemistry between them, although they haven’t talked one word yet.

He was dancing with another girl when the song: Do you wanna be my girl” was playing, he was however pointing at Lizelda during the dance, the other girl got cross and left, for the first time that evening Ben and Lizelda talked to each other…and they haven’t stopped since.

A little while after that Ben was in a big car accident, he said while the car was rolling over and over he only saw Lizelda’s face in front of him, the first time he saw her after that he told her that he loves her, and they started going out.

They got engaged at Umdloti on the rocks, Ben has been carrying the ring for three days in his pocket waiting for better weather, they got engaged at sunset….how romantic.

Lizelda loves him because he is down to earth and make her feel like a princess, he loves her because he is a better person with her.

Ben and Lizelda, I feel honored that you have chosen me as your wedding photographer, it was an incredible privilege to spend the day with you and your family and friends.

They got married at Makiti Wedding Venue.

Lizelda’s hair was done by Lilanie from Artistic Hair, tel 083 297 7022, email: lilanier@mweb.co.za

Make up: Lizanne from Art of Make-up, tel 083 326 4714, email: lizanne@artofmakeup.co.za