Peartree Photography's Blog » Awards

Most Adventurous Wedding Photographer

Wil Punt — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 06:17:40 +0000

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I proudly received this award over a relaxed cup of coffee in Stellenbosch a couple of weeks ago! hehe! Cool hey!

See Ryan & Sachi‘s Wedding Pictures here. You guys rock – thanks for the special idea :)

Heeehaaaaa!!

Wil Punt — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 13:51:37 +0000

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Just arrived in my inbox!! Yeah baby!!

Mmmm, 12 August … I’m shooting the Rockies in BC, Canada then. Problemo …

100th of a Century Peartree Celebration | Part 2/2

Wil Punt — Wed, 26 May 2010 20:32:14 +0000

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Yesterday we looked at some quick highlights for the first 6 months of our Blog’s first year. Today we continue to look back at the exciting past 6 month journey through pictures & words that became memories for so many out there.

November 2009 : “If your pictures aren’t good enough, you aren’t close enough.” Robert Capa, War Photographer. Although this is a scary quote to present to a mainly wedding photography interested audience, we believe it is true when it comes to our unique Natural Environmental Portraiture style. That’s why we dug deep in November and invested in a rugged off road vehicle … to get closer to the places others can only dream about going to. And apart from a fast and effortless reach to the high places, the incredible shots in these spaces, are worth the couple’s trust in our effort to present them with the best product possible.

December 2009 : Decembers are the test for any wedding photographer. Long, hot days of continues shooting, scouting, backing up, little sleep and ‘kop hou’ while being extremely creative (and happy for the couple) day by day. I invite the critiques who look down on wedding photographers, to join us for this time of the year. You might just change your mind.

All weddings are extremely dear to me. The one session that stands out though must be the 24 hour dream of shooting in Namibia on 12 Dec. I finished a wedding at about 2230 the previous night at the Onrus beach and before I knew it, I was driving through the gates of the Otjiwa Game Farm just south of Otjiwarongo, Namibia late the next morning. The contrast was huge. The possibility to fail even bigger. But it was time to capture two lovely people in the real Africa I fell in love with. And it was His time to show off a bit as well …

January 2010 : The new year started with an exciting trip to a wedding in the Eastern Cape. There were many highlights in this equally busy month, but I must admit one instance quite stands out. It wasn’t part of our original planning, but the sun was setting and we needed a sea background as soon as possible. We turned off at an unknown turn off and flew down the road with our eyes fixed on the waving sun. We arrived, pointed the game-for-anything couple in the direction and shot this award winning shot close to one of my favourite venues. What an absolute rush it was … and totally worth it!

February 2010 : As all our editing are done by us personally, we know what we can get from our RAW files & software. So we always approach the shoot with the final product in mind. I will for instance decide to look for specific black & white potential in a vast environment. I remember seeing the potential of this shot. I just needed to get down very low. On a normal day, this would be peanuts, but February served us the most windy and warmest weddings of the year. This was the windy one … extremely windy one! There was no way that I could physically see if it would work. As soon as I would bend lower than my hips, a wall of sand hit me at a tremendous speed. I had no choice. I composed my stance, got down really low and with closed eyes, at the right moment, got the shot I was hoping for ( …and sand in every hole in my body of course!). Worth it!

March 2010 : This month saw my son‘s first birthday and was filled with joy from all over. I thought this shot (against a blue background with red filter converted to B&W in Aperture 3.1) summarized it all. PS From the above selection you could start to think we only shoot very wide. No no, catching our couple naturally is the most important to us. And we use our top equipment to get quite close & intimate.

April 2010 : We love our job. We get to meet and spend time with such interesting people. April was no difference. Apart from finally falling for Facebook and meeting up with some great people from the past and loads of new ones, we had the opportunity to shoot people of different backgrounds. The month was really an array of cultures, religions, friends and flavours. I really felt like traveling the world from my own voorstoep every weekend! An awesome privilege!

May 2010 : So here we are. Beautiful autumn scenery all around and stunning light for dramatic shots. In our Skype conversation for this destination wedding to South Africa, we planned in some extra time to play around with off camera flash. The wind acted as a friend and our pocketwizards painted the light. I love this!

I finish off with a shot of the two people who inspire and support me the most. It was just taken yesterday when beautiful laughter interrupted my work. Dankie aan my pragtige vrou Adri en seuntjie Elih. Julle is absoluut my hart se punt. Dankie vir al die bederf, aanmoediging, spasie, uit die werk uit hou, sorg en sommer al die lag & pret! Julle is my vars oë, nuwe denke en vreugdevolle dryfveer. Ek love julle ongelooflik baie! X

So we have come to the end of this one year journey. Thank you for all your support and interest as well. We only promise you more pleasure for the year to come … naturally!

100th of a Century Peartree Celebration | Part 1/2

Wil Punt — Tue, 25 May 2010 13:02:28 +0000

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It is the Peartree Blog’s 1st Birthday today (on Africa Day of course!). Happy birthday to us, happy birthday to us … traalalaa

My lovely wife always encourage and reminds me to celebrate the milestones in life … a time to reflect, rethink (or just to think!), dream and to thank. If you have the time, join us for a short snippet highlight journey through the Blog the past year …

May 2009 : Welcome to the Blogosphere Peartree! To celebrate the birth, we put together a Short Video explaining who we are and about our Natural Approach. And of course this shoot for a art piece that was blown up to 3 x 2 meters!

June 2009 : I visited the North of India for a wedding in the Himalayas. In retrospect, I am sure I picked up Swine Flu on the way there and worked my way through it during the 3 day wedding. India was needless to say really tough and amazing at the same time. This wedding featured on numerous blogs around the world and I believe, have established Peartree Photography as Destination Wedding Photographers.

July 2009 : I have just arrived back from India. I had 3 days to spend with my lovely family before I was airborne again for a Friday wedding in Natal. The very next morning I was back again in the Grabouw mountains for a wedding in the pouring rain. The fun we had that day will stand out for a long time!

August 2009 : We took you on a 7-part photographic journey through Africa. I did an exhibition in Esbjerk, Denmark on the theme “Instead of Ashes, The Oil of Gladness” and shared this 2004 journey in words and pictures.

September 2009 : We extended our range of equipment and redeveloped our Uniquely Fresh style in Natural Environmental Portraiture. We can really see the difference!

October 2009 : Apart from doing loads of weddings, we covered commercial and family shoots. Joel Potgieter is one of my son’s friends. I had the privilege to spend some time and captured this boy as he explored life in all his fullness. What a joy!

The last 6 months will be posted tomorrow as Part 2 / 2 of our 100th of a Century Peartree Celebration

I am Nikon

Wil Punt — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 09:19:46 +0000

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I have been an extremely happy Nikon user for the past 12 years. And just like my black Kenya Top Masai home roasted coffee, I am passionate about this brand and the bright future of Nikon in SA. The journey started with a compact Nikon at Uni, that was changed for the F60 SLR when I went overseas. This and the awesome F100 upgrade took me on several adventures before I switched to digital in 2006 (only). The D200, D300 and the current (superb) D700 have proven faithful over the years.

Will I make a change in future? Only if a Nikon upgrade counts as change! Why go generic when you can have the real mccoy?! hehe!

Nikon International has launched its global campaign a few weeks ago. I have posted one of my favourite videos from this compain below on the D90S.

And lastly, I have received this from the Nikon guys the other day. Holding thumbs!

Award & Publication

Wil Punt — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 14:53:48 +0000

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Francois & Nina‘s wedding has made some noteworthy headlines the past few months. First they were voted as the Allée Bleue Wedding of the Year 2009 – a decision made by the public based on their wedding pictures.

Now they also feature in the current Your Wedding Day Magazine under the Real Weddings Section. Congratulations guys!

We feel very privileged to have played a part in this and wish you as a couple all the best & happiness in your marriage. Our prayer for you, as for all the other couples we have photographed before, is that your blessed marriage will make even more headlines than your wedding day. Enjoy one another!

Gold Award

Wil Punt — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 10:35:45 +0000

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We’ve just received word that the above image took a Gold Award in a top UK competition! We are privileged to say that it is also the 2nd time this has been awarded to us by the Society of Wedding & Portrait Photographers and like you can imagine, we are over the moon! The photo is from a recent shoot of the lovely couple Doons & Esté close to Hermanus, SA.