The day before the actual shoot took place, Joe and myself popped in at the community to finalise arrangements with all the parents and to ensure all the kids will be there early the next morning. It's been years since I've visited this little community and there where many happy faces around to greet me on my arrival.
We arrived at 6:00 am on a Saturday morning to avoid any disruptions with the school but I have to admit I felt very guilty for kicking the kids out off bed so early. And it was a pretty chilly morning too. None the less, when they put on their bright coloured shirts their faces became as bright as their shirts. We started out to make an athletic field that will fit in with the rural look to result in more authentic shots. For this we used some maize meal to create contrasty white lines on the red-brown soil. Keeping the lines straight was a different story though.
As usual, they all LOVE the camera and it quickly became challenging to only photograph the kids with their Olympic coloured shirts. On this note I have to give a special thanks to Dorah for making sure everything is in order; my right-hand woman in the community ;-) She helped keeping the bystanders from running into the shots - all out of excitement and maybe getting a chance of being in a photo. She was also translating to the kids most of the times since, understandably, neither their English nor their Afrikaans is at a level to understand commands on a photo shoot.
This truly was one of the best shoots I've ever done!
Now over to the Oscars and Medals. Firstly, a humongous congratulations to Oscar Pistorius for just being at the Olympics. Even though you didn't qualify to run in the final you have qualified for much more then many, many other people on this planet! WOW!! You truly are an inspiration and I keep on wondering what South Africa would be like if everyone in the country had just a quarter of the spirit and determination that you have. You are a hero!
The same goes to each and every participant at the Paralympics bringing home a total of 29 medals... Totally amazing! Seeing all of you participating in a world event really pushes me further to reach my goals! Inspiration, determination and passion is an understatement! See some images here
To each and everyone bringing home a medal, you've done us proud!! All your hard work and severe determination paid off and it's amazing how sport can unite a nation to grow closer and be more proudly South African.
Me and my awesome models.
The full crew.
See my Olympic themed images here: stock images available
Be sure to contact me to shoot such an awesome assignment for you!
So, what was your favourite moment from the Olympics?
