Matric dance photography, done professionally. Heidelberg, Johannesburg, Pretoria – all over Gauteng.
Matric dance time in South Africa, is that magical time when there is a whole new feeling in the air. These young people, just have this new prospect of a life after school they can look forward to now. When we do a matric dance shoot we get to feel the excitement with them.
We had their shoot at his father’s farm in Heidelberg, and we had a blast outside, and so much fun.
The wonder of shooting outside, is you have a lot of environment to work with. With the Fuji mirrorless system I used, you get to see your image’s exposure live, in front of you, so you know what your exposure will look like before you take your image. So you get to play with some shadows and highlights, interesting backlight images, sunbursts, slanted and tilted images, and shooting through many of the environmental things such as leaves and trees.
Usually with couples, they probably already have a magical chemistry between them, while they don’t need much encouragement to engage with each other – you can shoot away.
The evening is full of promise, with dancing and a great time with friends to look forward to. Usually with these events, the young people go all out, and dress ever so smartly.
I’m always sure to get some of their preparation details as well, beforehand, as this adds to a full product you give them to remember the evening by.
My Fuji X-T1 seems to be such a trusted system in many different instances. On farms there usually are a lot of dust and wind. With a weather-sealed system, as a result, I do worry less about what the elements do to my gear.
A switch I don’t regret at all, – and it’s now such a joy to have my gear with me mostly – all of the time. Matric dances definitely are favourite shoots to do. When the next season come up, I’ll be happy to provide clients most of all, with amazing products to maybe remind them of their wonderful evenings to finish off their school careers.
Yolandi Jacobsz, Loci Photography