Sasha.

Yoko.

Nadine.

Nadene.

Claude.

Anthamae.

Anna.

So as you know I have been working hard on my portfolio for the last couple of weeks and after countless photo shoots, and many painful hours in front of the computer, I can finally say that my portfolio is just about complete, not to mention us photography students have since then become alcoholics overnight. This journey has really taught me a few things not only about the people I have had the pleasure of working with but also about myself, But this blog isn't about me and my poor writing skills, but my work and journey as a photographer. 

Durbanville Hills - Fashion

So here is a preview of our shoot that took place in the Durbanville Hills yesterday. I just had to take advantage of the beautiful weather that Cape town was blessed with. As you know Im currently working on my book for my exhibition at the end of the year so Ive been working on building my portfolio.This image is one of my favourites,I don't usually place my subject in the center of the  composition as I am so drawn to negative space, but I somehow feel that it works for this image.

Last week a friend approached me and asked me if I could take over her matric ball shoot as she was unable to do it, I was a little nervous in the beginning as this was the first paid Matric ball shoot I've done and I have very little little experience with such shoots so I didn't know what to expect, but of course I accepted. Like I said I had almost no idea what I was doing and I had to improve a lot as the light wasn't always on my side. Luckily once again I was fortunate enough to work with some lovely human beings who I worked really well with. Special thanks to Renate and Jane, and also to Nicole Faria for the opportunity.

"When I'm shooting, I'll take about 200 to 300 photographs, but I only ever use one. I only need one"

Model: Nadine Van Doesburgh 

Make up Artist: Amy Rossouw 

Photographer: Andrea Ruth

Empty space

Okay so you would not believe what I had to go through today to get this photograph.. The family decided that we were ganna road trip to Mossel bay, and on the way we drove past this abandoned house. Needless to say my dad turned back, and while my mom kept watch in the car my dad and my sister and I snuck onto this private property. After a long walk we finally reached this house, just to find out that the house was closed off with barb wire! I decided that I did not just walk all this way to not be able to go inside so what else could I do but jump over the barbed wire fence, with help from my dad of course. I probably had about 2 minutes to mission through the house and get what I needed to before someone would notice us. Here is a preview of the abandoned house, more to come soon. 

Yet another successful shoot with the lovely Amy Rossouw, and the youngest model I have ever had the pleasure of working with. Feeling really proud of what we accomplished today. Also feeling quite fortunate to constantly be able to work with such interesting and lovely human beings. 

Call It What You Will

Okay..I know what you're thinking, But believe me, I have no idea what I was doing either. Call it fashion, or call it absolutely nothing at all, call it what you will.

Interior Photography - Church

Evening,

So this week, I missioned to every church in and around Cape Town for my architecture & interior assignment, because I was determined to shoot a church. I ended up going to five different churches, each with their own unique interiors. The last church however had me in awe, It was such a humbling experience to shoot in. here is just a preview of what the interior looked like. 

Good morning folks, some more of Friday's beauty shoot. All opinions and crits are welcome.

Portfolio work - Texture 1 of 3

Good morning friends, So yesterday, on my off day,I decided to get my lazy ass out of bed and do something productive, so I missioned to college to get started on some shoots for my end of year exhibition and book. I decided to start off with a beauty shoot with a beautiful young lady with the most defined cheek bones I ever did see. Once again I was so fortunate to work with such a lovely,patient group of people. Thanks again to Amy Roussow for being such a gem. Here is a preview of what We got up to yesterday. 

Model: Nadene Wickens

Make up artist: Amy Rossouw 

"Photographer" Andrea Ruth 

Abstraction is one of the greatest visionary tools ever invented by human beings to imagine,decipher and depict the world. Abstraction is real,
probably more real than nature.

Road trips, wrong turns, and other shenanigans.

Over the last few days I've been hiking, sleeping in tents and cars,complaining,swimming in rivers, complaining, making new friends, and funny enough not taking that many photos documenting my events. I did however take a few which will show more or less the beauty and wonder of Algeria.  Its completely off the map, and I do mean off the map....we couldn't even find it on our Irish GPS. This has been the first time I've been camping after who knows how many years. 

I cannot begin to explain how wonderful it felt to be off the map, and not know what the time or date was, to not be able to make contact with anyone from the outside world, to just get lost in the beauty that surrounded us. I am pleased to say that I've learnt a couple of things while camping. Firstly I've learnt that I'm too fat and undisciplined to go hiking, or climbing, or walking for that matter.. I've learnt that camp fires really do bring people together and you don't need reception to connect with the people around you, and I've spent a lot of time with a few strange people I'm happy to call friends.

Spring is when life is alive in everything.

Seek for the boldest colour possible. Content is irrelevant. 

So today was my first time working with two models, who also happened to be dancers as well. Aaaand, I have to admit that I struggled quite a bit in the beginning, but I was fortunate enough to work with such patient and lovely models and not to mention the brains behind the shoot who arranged it all. Special thanks to Deandra for organizing everything and for allowing me to be apart of her creative process.

Good morning friends, just thought I would share something small with you on this beautiful Friday morning. A couple of weeks ago we were told about a competition called the Fresh Cream Awards. All of the students were told to enter some of our best work. I was encouraged by my lecturer to enter his photograph into the competition. Yesterday I found out that I had in fact won the competition for excellence in photography for 1st year. I was completely overjoyed and was feeling all kinds of happy.. As you can imagine.
 I couldn't wait to share this with you all. Have a beautiful day further. 

Good afternoon beautiful people. Yesterday was probably the biggest shoot of my photographic journey so far. For this shoot we had to create a futuristic look for our models. The planning that went into this shoot was endless, there was so much to arrange and my stress levels were at an all time high. Needless to say I had the most relaxed and patient model with a beautiful bubbly soul. She was an absolute joy to shoot & I look forward to shooting with her again. She was a natural in front of the camera and my make up artist adored her. I would like to thank Danielle Moody, Amy Rossouw and Stephanie Van Niekerk for making yesterday possible. Here is just a taste of what to expect from yesterdays' shoot.

So ladies and gentlemen, after a long day of driving around, venturing through the tunnel of rape, yes you heard me correct, continuous photo taking, a very long and pointless misunderstanding,some Mexican food and well deserved drinks, we managed to get a couple of decent shots in between of  it all, including some of this beautiful creature. A job well done to all.

 So this is one of the first portrait photographs that I took in the year of 2012.

 This shy young lady was less than willing to have her picture taken, but I just had to convince her    otherwise. She was a gem.

In need of some new skin for my blog. Please excuse the constant changes.

The moon is a loyal companion.

Ok, so I know that my space has been quiet lately, aaand my photographs have been anything but good quality. But I just wanted to share with you this photograph that I took this morning while missioning to college. The scenery was something to capture, even though it was with my 3 megapixel Samsung Galaxy. But hey, breathtaking moments are worth capturing aand for the first time, I didn't have my Camera handy. So here you go, an attempt to capture the little piece of magic that is the moon. Yes I am talking about the tiny speck of light in the middle of the photo. I only hope to one day do this mystical rock justice.

Tea Time.

The sun is out, the birds are chirping, the view is spectacular and the company is good.. 

Oh and I have tea.

So this is me, one early morning getting ready for a walk in Mossel Bay, what a poser.

There is something so peaceful and soothing about going on a walk and just getting lost at night.

Bumped into this couple quite a few times on my journey in Mossel Bay. They were always on a mission. This lady's husband is blind so she has to lead him everywhere, I spent but a few moments observing them and I simply fell in love with her patience and compassion for her husband. I think this photograph captures their situation perfectly.

Light House.

Okay so this is one of my favourites, Simply adored the composition, 

This was taken on our way up to the light house in Mossel Bay.

Fish.

Good Morning friends, This photograph was taken on one of the beach walks I took with my old man, I came across this dead fish lying above a puddle of water. I simply loved the composition\, i thought it was beautifully composed and balanced. One of my favourites.

Mossel Bay

Goodmorning beautiful souls, My apologies for being so quiet lately, I've decided to take some time out and spend some quality time with the family. I've recently returned from my vacation in Mossel Bay and I just have the most beautiful photographs that shows of the beauty that lies within Mossel Bay. Cant wait to share them with you all.This is a landscape that was taken on one of the evening nature walks I took with my old man. 

'Whistler's Mother' - Beauty Assignment

'The lady without the pearl earring' - beauty Assignment

Beauty Assignment

Ahhh the sigh of relief when you know you're assignments are complete are ready to hand in.

So I've had one of the busiest, most stressful weeks of my college life, I've had assignment after assignment.I have just finished my beauty assignment. We basically had to come up with a concept that portrays 'beauty'. 

To me beauty is in your soul, its in what you do and in your actions rather than how you look or your physical appearance. I wanted to focus on that aspect in my photographs. I decided to recreate famous, classic artworks. I wanted to depict the glorification of artworks. My whole idea was that the beauty is in the artworks themselves rather than the people in it. Beauty can be found in the composition and in the elements in the photographs. I chose to recreate The Mona Lisa, Whistlers Mother, & one of Monet's paintings. I wanted to create a slightly more modern version, as I did not just want to replicate the artworks, I wanted to make it my own. The people in the artworks aren't particularly beautiful, for example, the model in The Mona Lisa doesn't have eyebrows, and people debate the fact the model in the painting was in fact a man, yet is known as the the most beautiful artwork in the world. 

I had such an incredible time recreating these pieces & I only hope that my attempt will live up to the standards of the original artworks. 

Beauty assignment preview

My apologies for being so quiet friends, I've been extremely busy with college assignments. Not to mention the exams are coming up..I'm currently working on my beauty assignment.
But here's a preview of what I've been working on. Anybody recognize this from anywhere?
(Ill explain later..)

Behind the scenes

Dont mind me, Im just uploading some more shots from behind the scenes of today's shoot

Behind the scenes

Don't mind me, Im just uploading some of the more attractive behind the scenes shots from today's BBM Creative shoot.

Behind the scenes

Dont mind me, Im just uploading some of the more attractive behind the scenes shots from today's BBM creative studies  shoot.

Lets Talk - Originality

Lets talk originality shall we? First of all let me say that nothing of me
 is original, I am the combined effort of everyone I've ever known.

Entering college as an "individual" and being surrounded by new people
 and ideas has lead to believe that nothing and no one is actually as original
as they claim. Although people have the nerve of calling themselves , their style
and their work original. Lecturers,friends and just plain strangers have always
said that you need to be original to get ahead. You need to push boundaries and
come up with your own ideas. And then you'll think to yourself "An original idea?
that cant be too hard, the library must be full of them."
My dear friends I am hear to tell you that it is okay, in fact it is more than okay
. Because there is absolutely nothing new expect that what has been forgetting,
 so don't bother concealing your thievery- celebrate it if you feel like it. All our
 ideas come from somewhere. This is called inspiration.

Who is original these days anyway?
originality is nothing but judicious imitation.
if everyone is original, does that mean no one is actually really original?
These are the questions that haunt me..
 Everyone claims to be original but I need you to understand that you are not.
The sad reality is that the brilliant idea you have in your head right now was
probably thought of before.
All I ask is that you don't look down  or think less of those who are fine with
 imitating something or someone they admire because you yourself have also
done something because it was cool or because "everyone was doing it"  So next time
please, don't pretend that when you painted that painting or when you took that photograph,
just because you replaced that with this and the original meant that when yours
means something different that it is original. Its not. Give credit where credit is
 due friends.
So many people have a thirst for being different and I admire people who
strive to be eccentric & original, because in the end a poor original is better than
 a good imitation.
So please, next time you see someone and you feel you need to comment on their
 work and the way that they dress and you may feel the need to call that person
 "unoriginal', Please tell me again what original things have you done lately darling?
 Because I have yet to meet someone truly original.
But- if all else fails, remember what jean-Luc Godard said. "Its not where you
 take things from. Its where to take them too."