What do you get when two engineers decide to get married with a keen eye on colour and a logical sense for precision? You get a cool wedding that is highlighted with serious pops of red, bags of spontaneous laughter and neatly typed schedules pasted almost everywhere just to make sure everything happens as planned. Stephan and Marike got married at the scenic Bona Bona in the direction of the great North West, about 30 kilometers from Wolmaransstad. What makes Bona Bona pretty much unique is that the reception area overlooks a watering hole visited by all kinds of wild life, including the odd rhino. When you arrive at Bona Bona you quickly realise that cell phones are just such an unnecessary accessory (also forget about a stable signal) and a “must now” attitude doesn’t apply. As for the weather, well the North West has a mind of its own. Almost schizophrenic to be exact.
I remember being awakened at Grootbosch (a few kilometers from Bona Bona) by the sound of rain and gusts of crazy wind on Saturday morning. My eyes scouted the room for whatever and then settled for the ceiling. Bloody rain! On a bloody Saturday! On a wedding day of all days! Today! Why today? The day before was just sunshine. Sunshine and even more sunshine. Beautiful. My mind thinks of all the possibilities what this could mean. On the positive we could have some showers in the morning and then glorious sunshine in the afternoon. Brilliant! On the negative it could rain the whole day and whole night and maybe just forever! By the time I was ready for breakfast the rain had stopped and a tiny bit of sunshine poured through the clouds nearby (see image 4 below). The wind was still set on MAX. There was hope at least and I was almost willing to bet my Calvins on it. Fast forward to long story short and by the time couple’s shoot came around the clouds were still the same – just there hanging in the sky like like a wet rag. The wind; also just the same – still on MAX. The creative in me said: work with it. The perfectionist said: I want some contrasting light! Again fast forward to the first image of this post. About 5 seconds after that specific shot was taken all hell broke loose from above. All I can remember was grabbing all the gear like it was my own children in a house on fire and running for the Land Cruiser to take us back to base. Safely back we had a laugh of what had happened. Twenty minutes later after hiding from the rain the weather calmed down and the sun decided to make its appearance. All a soft glow of yellow. As if nothing ever happened. Schizophrenic.
Off topic: Rest in peace Mr Jobs. May you create insanely great wherever you are.
by Hannes
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