Hi and thank you for visiting my website
In short, I have been a photographer for most of my life. It all started at school in the 70, s when one day I picked up my dad’s old Yashica film camera and started taking photos. I was just mesmerized by the beauty of the images coming alive again later on a piece of photographic paper. To me this was magic. I was hooked for life! Later my dad bought me my very first camera, a Pentax K1000. Man, how I loved that camera.
Post matric I studied photography at the old School of Art at the Port Elizabeth Technicon for two years. This was back in the days of film cameras and I speedily learnt how to operate my own darkroom. Film photography was not for sissies and you really had to know what you were doing especially with something like colour slide-film back then. One small mistake with either the taking or developing process and your image was ruined forever. No Photoshop to save you back then. Yes, unlike the current digital camera computer era today the boys were soon separated from the men during the film photography days. There was no oversupply of so called “professional photographers” back then that is for sure.
While studying I started freelancing at a number of magazines as well as at the odd local newspaper. I really did not care about the pittance they paid me. Sometimes no money. It was all about getting your photos published and the experience that came with it. What a thrill that was.
In 1989 I landed a position as a permanent staff photographer at the Afrikaans Sunday newspaper, RAPPORT. Back then it was one of the biggest newspapers in South Africa and I spent the next twenty years there as both a photographer as well as a senior journalist.
During these years I covered every photographic subject imaginable. From international and national sport like Springbok and other provincial rugby and cricket matches right up to athletics and the Rapport Cycle tour that was part of the international cycling series back then. Besides sport photography there was the Miss.South Africa beauty campaigns of the 90, s advertising shots, portraits of newsmakers, crime scenes, paparazzi style photos, riots and politics, and the weddings and modelling photos of well known personalities.
In 2009 I left the media and started out on my own as a freelancer, trading as Silverzone Images. The name stemming from the silver bromide chemical used in developing photos during the film photography days.
I specialize in a wide field of photography subjects. From corporate shoots to industrial and product photography that I have done for some of the largest companies in the country. I have also done work for some of the major magazines like HUISGENOOT, DRUM, YOU, and MAGNUM magazine.
Besides this I cover subjects like Wedding, Family, and Maternity shoots as well as fine art Nude photography. I absolutely love and am passionate about each and every category that I cover.
To me photography is not just a job. It is a lifelong passion. I see the taking of a photo as way much more than just pressing a button on a mini-computer (unfortunately what cameras are these days). I see it as an art. A way of expressing yourself, capturing time, and those special moments in time that can never be repeated again. Photos will still be around long after we are gone.
Lastly, I know professional photography can be expensive. However, it does not always have to be. Therefore, I try my utter best to give my clients the best service and value for money possible. Tell me you budget and we can work out a photography plan that will be agreeable to both of us. Nothing is more important than a happy client in the end.
Thank you for visiting my website. I am sure you would not have been reading this far if you were not interested in me or my photography. Wishing you an awesome day and hope to hear from you soon!