Fotograf Jo-Ann Stokes

—Sunteți fotogenic?

—Unfortunately not ....but probably best that I am not because it makes me try extra hard to make my couples feel comfortable in front of the lens and capture beautiful photographs that they will love of themselves.

—Cum ați ajuns în industria fotografiei?

—Purely by accident to be honest! My trip into photography started by documenting my life, my kids and then into landscape photography. A friend saw my photos, told her friend who was getting married and they contacted me and asked me to do their wedding. I explained that I had never done a wedding but they were fine with that. I loved it ....and the rest ...is history! And my first clients are still one of my biggest fans!

—Care sunt cele mai importante componente ale unei fotografii bune, după părerea dvs?

—A photograph that touches your soul ...no matter the composition, the editing etc ...that makes for a good photo ...no actually, that makes for a "great" photo ....but if all you want is good ..then good composition, good lighting and good posing would make a good photo .....I continuously strive to take a "great" photo.

—Vă place să călătoriți?

—Do you seriously have to ask? I "love" to travel ...it feeds my soul, opens my eyes, enriches my life and makes me appreciate everything that God created for us.

—Ce vă place cel mai mult la profesia dvs?

—The creativity ...if you can visualise it ....you can photograph it! The continious learning curve....there are new things to learn all the time! I am continiously challenged and excited by my profession.

—Ce vă place cel mai puțin la profesia dvs?

—The admin!! Wish we were taking photographs 100% of the time ...unfortunately its only a small portion of our workload. And selling myself ...I find it so hard to do!

—Care va fi viitorul fotografiei?

—There will alwasy be a future for wedding photography ...people will continously fall in love and want to get married and start families of that I have no doubt ....I think how we photograph weddings will stay fundamentally the same ..but the way we grab our image might change. I see change coming in the fact that we will film the wedding and grab our photographs from the video ...and I am excited about that because a hair breadth of a second can make all the difference to an image.

—Ce este special la genul de fotografie în care sunteți specializat?

—Wedding photography is special because it makes you forget all the bad things in the world for a few brief moments. It makes you believe that the world is all rosy, full of love and that there is bright future ahead and there is truth in fairytales and the "happy ever after"

—Cum răspundeți criticilor?

—Well I am a creative ...so lets just say ...it can hurt! But I am also open-minded so I can take a step back and look at it through that persons eyes and see if their criticism is valuable. Good criticism is worth its weight in gold!

—Există tendințe în fotografia?

—There are always trends in photography! The question needs to be asked ..how will your images look in 30 years ...will the trend stand the test of time. Quality, timeless photography will never date.

—Care ar trebui să fie criteriile după care un client să aleagă un fotograf?

—Initially the couple should love the photography ...it should speak to them. But the most important criteria is that you like your photographer and feel comfortable with them....you will spend a large part of your day with this person in your space ..its best that you like them.

—Ce lucruri sunt complet nepermise când fotografiați?

—Cheesy!

—Ce detalii de obicei neobservate de alții pot fi observate de un fotograf?

—We can see moments that develop and are waiting for them to happen.

—Ce influențează valoarea fotografiei? Care sunt elementele ei?

—The emotion, the impact of the image!

—Ce persoană poate fi simbolul secolului XXI după părerea dvs?

—The co-founders of google, Larry Page and Sergey Brin. And our very own, Nelson Mandela!

—Pe cine doriți să fotografiați?

—My next bride!

—Aveți tabuuri profesionale?

—One or two ...nudity is not my thing!

—Cu cine ați vrea să faceți fotografii?

—Thats a tough one ...Jose Villa, ..I love his pastel, airy, film look but I also love the dark, moody look from Susan Stripling.

—Ce vă îngrijorează și de ce?

—I worry about my children ...I am first and foremost a Mom! From a wedding photographers perspective ..that I lose a wedding due to faulty cards, crashing computers & harddrives. I have made every provision to safeguard my clients weddings but it is natural to worry about their images.

—Care este cel mai impresionant moment din viața dvs?

—The birth of my sons. Everything else pales into insignificance in comparison to those moments.

—Dacă ați fi fost un personaj de desen animat, de carte sau de film, cine v-ar fi plăcut să fiți?

—I am enjoying the character, Elizabeth McCord from Madam Secretary at the moment. She handles problems with intelligence, respect and sensitivity in very fragile situations.

—Cine vă inspiră în viață și de ce?

—My family inspire me ...they inspire me to be better...they inspire me to prove to them that life is for living and that you make your own destiny with the choices and decisions that you make. Every action has a reaction. Mistakes are not always bad as the experience it teaches you is sometimes more valuable that getting something 100% correct.

—Cum definiți succesul? Cum îl măsurați?

—A successful person is a person who has balance in their life! A happy marriage, family life & career ..is my definition of success! Only having a successful career with money in the bank ...can make for a very lonely/empty life.

—V-ar plăcea să fiți mai degrabă plăcut sau respectat?

—Neither ....I would prefer to be loved!

—Care este cea mai mare greșeală pe care ați făcut-o în profesia dvs?

—When I worked in banking ....I paid a rather large sum of money into the wrong persons account!

—Când plecați în călătorie, ce luați cu dvs. și de ce?

—My camera and a lens ...do I need anything more?

—Există vreun lucru pe care vă doriți să nu-l fi cumpărat dintre aparatele pe care le aveți? De ce?

—a few items ...too numerous to mention

—Cum vă pregătiți pentru a face fotografii mai bune?

—I attend workshops, watch videos, practice, practice, practice!

—Activitatea cărei persoane v-a influențat cel mai mult în calitate de fotograf?

—Many of my photographer friends have in their own small way influenced me. Each one has at some stage dropped a pearl of wisdom on my eager ears.

—Care este lucrul pe care vă doriți să-l fi știut când ați început să faceți fotografii?

—I initially started to play around with a camera when i was a teenager ...I wish I had figured out then, that this was the career that I loved.

—Ce doriți să exprimați prin fotografiile dvs?

—I am not big into props ....I prefer the people in my photographs to be the focal point. It is their essence, emotions that tell the story.

—Ce vă motivează să continuați să faceți fotografii?

—I dont think there is anything that motivates me to continue to take photos ....I think it is an extension of who I am ...even when I dont have my camera with me ...I am still framing photos in my eye and taking a mental photo of a scene.

—Părinții dvs. ar fi trebuit să mai mai stricți sau mai puțin stricți?

—They were perfect. I like the way I turned out ...lol!

—Dacă v-ați putea întoarce în timp, ce ați face diferit?

—Nothing ...if i went back in time to change anything ...then my outcome might be very different to where I am now ....and I kind of like where I am now. And if I had actually done photography from a teenager then my people skills would not have been developed. I believe there was a reason for only discovering my love for photography later on.

—Ce credeți despre viața pe alte planete?

—Possible ...but have no interest in finding out ...its bad enough controlling the human race that we have here ...we sure as heck dont need the headache of another race somewhere else.

—Cine sunt eroii dvs?

—There are no heroes ....everyone is only human ...we all err on this road we call life. There are people who I respect i.e Nelson Mandela, FW De Klerk, Mother Theresa, Pope Francis, Thuli Madonsela

—Pentru cine nu aveți respect?

—Dictators, bad politicians, criminals, children and animal abusers! Our president, Jacob Zuma, Stupidity, Robert Mugabe.

—Ce faceți în timpul liber?

—My hubby has a Harley Davidson motorbike and we often will go on road trips around the Cape and needless to say ...I take photos. I enjoy socialising with fellow photographers. I walk in a farm close to my house with my dogs.

—Care este latura dvs. pe care publicul nu o vede niciodată?

—They dont see me stressed or worried. I show a calm face to the outside world and behind the scenes I make a plan. I also have a wicked sense of humour that I try to keep in check.

—Când sunteți complet mulțumit de munca dvs?

—I wish I knew the answer ...then i would create a formula and stick to it ..but there again then I might end up being bored!

—Credeți în rolurile tradiționale ale femeii și bărbatului?

—Yes and no ....I believe women can do anything they put their minds too ...but I also believe that men are traditionally the hunters and do not enjoy being the hunted. Let them enjoy the chase.

—Vă faceți prieteni ușor?

—Very easily. I can chat to complete strangers wherever I am.

—Unde v-ar plăcea să trăiți?

—If I couldnt live in Cape Town for whatever reason ...then I would go to the next extreme and live in London ...but only if I had a lot of money ;)

—Care este cel mai stupid lucru pe care ați fost de acord să-l faceți?

—A nude shoot

—Există viață după căsătorie?

—lol ...yes, definitely! I have done more and had more fun with my husband than with any other human being. He is the one who has my back, who I rely on, who I can be real with, who accepts me for who I am ...who will look after me when I am sick or sad ....to lend a Greys Anatomy line ..."he is my person" ...but yes there were times when I could have lovingly strangled his neck..he definitely still knows how to push my buttons!

—Aveți o glumă preferată? Spuneți-o.

—Yes ..I do ...but I think it might be a bit too dirty for a wedding blog ...especially for people considering getting married ...lol! Only old married couples would find it amusing!

—Vă plac câinii sau pisicile?

—Dogs ...grew up with them all my life! My dad was allergic to cats ..so was never allowed to have one ....so not too sure if I would have loved cats more!

—Pe cine sau ce urâți?

—People who are rigid and the world is black and white and do not see outside the box.

—Cel mai bun lucru în viață este:

—free!

—Cel mai neplăcut lucru în viață este:

—People who do not listen

—Este ceva în jur ce v-ar plăcea să schimbați?

—Yes, our incompetent government!

—Ce v-ar plăcea să schimbați la dvs?

—I wish I had more time!

—Ce v-ar plăcea să schimbați în lume?

—Evil

—Ne puteți da câteva sugestii pentru fotografii începători?

—Be unique ...find your own style ....do not be like sheep and copy everyone else! Trust in the way you see the world ..you will develop!

—Dacă extratereștrii ar veni pe Pământ și ați fi prima persoana care s-ar întâlni cu ei, ce le-ați spune?

—If you know whats good for you ...turn around and run in the opposite direction

—Dacă ați fi solicitat să faceți un film, ce gen ar fi?

—A romance or a drama

—Mâine mă voi duce să fac...

—some food shopping, a maternity shoot, some editing ...watch our national rugby team , the Springboks play their first game at the Rugby World Cup 15 in England against Japan!