I spent another afternoon with a rumbly-grumbling tummy at Tiffany’s restaurant in the Cresta Jameson Hotel recently in Harare, where I was tasked with photographing their mouth-watering menu for their imminent re-opening. The restaurant had just undergone some renovations so in addition to some gourmet food photography I was also tasked with capturing the restaurant space as well as a few lifestyle images for Cresta’s social media platforms. Can you get through the gallery without salivating?
photographer
Helping develop Zimbabwe's communities....
During my career as a professional photographer I have been fortunate enough to work with some exceptional organisations and corporates dedicated to uplifting Zimbabwean communities through their Corporate Social Responsibility and community development programmes. Covering these programmes has taken me all over Zimbabwe and I have been fortunate enough to meet some amazing people in areas I had never travelled to before. I always walk away from a trip inspired by the efforts of both the communities and the organisations running the development programmes.
Garfunkels Grill...
I was approached by Garfunkels in 2018 to help create a variety of food and lifestyle images to promote their restaurants in Harare, the Garfunkels Grill and their takeaway business. Naturally I am always happy photographing food, even if it means I am drooling for several hours in a row! Check out some of the delicious results below.
In addition to the food photography I was also tasked with creating some lifestyle pics of their staff at work in the restaurant as well as some staged images of guests having a great time. We shot in both venues to get a variety of different shots, don’t you love the beaming smile on the Pizza makers face?
The campaign would have been incomplete without some great exterior and interior shots of the restaurant spaces, so a good amount of time was spent shooting at different times of the day to get the best results possible.
The kind of Trouble we love having in our studio....
I am a great lover of Chilli sauce, and Dr Trouble is about as good as it gets! I have photographed Dr Trouble in the studio before and so was more than excited when I was asked to photograph their new bottles which had been re-labeled. The brief was to get a variety of shots of the front and back of each bottle, as well as a variety of creative shots of individual and groups of bottles. I am very happy with the results, let me what your favourite shot is in the comments below!
Zooming in on Zimplats...
I was thrilled to have been contracted this year to photograph one of Zimbabwe’s largest mining groups, Zimplats for their 2018 Annual Report. The assignment entailed 3 full days of photography at their main Ngezi mining operation, in their surrounding community and at their ore smelter. The scope of the Zimplats operation is massive and despite running around like a headless chicken for the duration of the assignment I felt that I only really scratched the surface in terms of the potential images on offer.
One of the requirements in the brief was to capture new, alluring images of their mining infrastructure, so I was up and about capturing images in the soft early morning light as well as the wonderfully complimentary evening blue light. I was also asked to capture as many intriguing pictures of the Zimplats employees at work, with an emphasis on capturing as many different woman in their varied roles at the mine. Check out some of the resulting images below, and be sure to see their annual report here.
After shooting the mining operations I turned my lens to the Selous Metallurgical Complex (SMC) where the mined ore is smelted down for transport to and further refining in South Africa. Again the emphasis was to be on the scope of the infrastructure as well as people at work in their various roles at the SMC.
The shear size of the infrastructure at Zimplats is nothing less than overwhelming, and there is no better way to show this this then with a drone, I flew my aerial buddy a lot during my shoot and managed to capture some wonderful images that give the perspective of size and scope well.
Zimplats is no stranger to their local, regional and countrywide community and they have consistently implemented and supported projects aimed at uplifting both the infrastructure and people within those communities. No corporate shoot would be complete without a focus on these community development efforts.
Overall I had a manic but enjoyable time shooting for Zimplats, and I am sure you can agree that I managed to capture the essence of their operations, people and community efforts well. I am very happy with the results and thoroughly enjoyed my time working with the team at Zimplats! I would like to extend my thanks to the Zimplats team for all their hard work involved in making this shoot a success.
Peeling back Nyanga's layers...
Nyanga is home to some of Zimbabwe’s most dramatic landscapes, and because of this it is a landscape photographers dream! The weather is also often dramatic and this combined with the beautiful surroundings can leave you running from heather to fern trying to capture all the camera worthy vistas.
I am often a twitching, nervous wreck when I am trying to enjoy a family break in the Eastern Highlands as I never leave the house without my camera, much to my patient families annoyance.
That being said, with easy access to some of the best views in the area, who can blame me? Check out a selection of images from my last few visits to the Eastern Highlands below and feel free to leave a comment!
Deloitte
When the worldwide accounting giant Deloitte asked me to photograph their new offices in Harare recently I was more than thrilled by the opportunity. Housed in one of the more recently completed office parks in Zimbabwe's capital Harare the space leant itself well to being photographed. I was asked to capture a variety of angles of the externals of the building at sunset as well as in the evening, placing emphasis on their brand name as far as possible.
Which image do you like the best? Feel free to email me and let me know your thoughts! A big thank you to the team at Deloitte Zimbabwe for the continued support.
All about the Architecture...
I am lucky enough to do a lot of architecture photography and so when Geoff and Graham from Architectural and Planning Studio got hold of me I was literally rubbing my hands together! APS have worked on a number of amazing projects around Zimbabwe and the region and they wanted me to visit their recent sites and capture a variety of images for their new website. So I was happily dispatched to the 4 corners of Zimbabwe as well as Mozambique to photograph all their hard work. The brief was to get a good variety of wide shots showcasing the project in its entirety and then focus in and look for engaging, abstract shots that really emphasise the design elements in each project. I covered some great projects including the shiny new Megahey library at Peterhouse school, KFC outlets in Harare, Bulawayo and Victoria Falls to name a few. The project is ongoing but I think if you have a look at the results I have managed to produce so far you should be as happy as I am with the results!
I would like to extend a big thank you to the team at APS for their trust and continued support!
Batonka and the beautiful Blue...
Batonka Guest Lodge must be one of the most well appointed small boutique lodges in Victoria Falls so when they asked me to help them update their marketing gallery I was thrilled! Although the focus was to create some fresh material to be used as signature images for the lodge's new marketing strategies some more general shots of the public areas and rooms where required to replace older images. You can see some of the great results below.
The owners of the lodge really love the look and vibe of the property in the 'blue light' just after sunset so as the sun started to dip over the horizon there was some frantic activity to ensure that all the areas we wanted to cover were well prepped and looking fantastic. I'm sure you will agree that the character of the lodge is really accentuated by the soft tones and poppy colours of that magical blue hour.
In addition to the beautiful blue images above we took to the air to look for some unique angles of the lodge that really showcase the green haven that it is. As usual my drone did not disappoint and I was able to capture a stunning sunset above the lodge.
All in all I am sure you will agree with me that the shoot was a great success, thankfully so did the owners of Batonka Guest Lodge who where thrilled with some of the fresh angles that we managed to capture! I had great fun shooting Batonka and would like to thank the owners for the opportunity to shoot and showcase the lodge.
Focusing on Food...
Food is certainly a large part of the overall experience that we have come to expect from modern travel and so a large part of my job when photographing hotels and safari lodges is to showcase the amazing food on offer. So when Zimbabwean hotel giant Rainbow Tourism Group wanted to showcase some of the premier dishes available at their hotels I was all too happy to rise to the occasion. I would like to let the food do all the talking here, so below are some of the delicious results...