Elana Schilz Photography

2012-02-12T00:37:00.001-08:00

Geoff & Laurens Wedding Preview

Location: Selborne Estate, South Africa

Filmed & Edited by Pablo Ponzone

Assistant: Barry

Get-it Cover Article - January 2012

2011-12-26T21:59:00.000-08:00

BBC Journalist, Charlotte Windle Mikkelborg...

At Home with the Maurel's

2011-12-14T19:01:00.001-08:00

This photo shoot all came about one day after visiting Nicole at her home in Ballito. 2 Photographers, chatting, sipping on tea, talking photo's, and at the end of the day we came up with the idea of this shoot and photographing her family to try it out. We decided not to do the boring old, smile and pose, or fake pose, or fake un-pose, all those things us photographers do to try get that perfect picture. So no, we decided to scrap that idea and rather capture life as it happens. So a few days later, I woke up at the crack of dawn, packed my gear and headed off to Ballito to capture Nicole's family. I loved every minute and definitely want to look into doing more of this type of photo shoot. Thanx to Nicole, Marc, Courts, Ryen & Mica for letting me be the fly on the wall for the day. You are one amazing family!! I have tons of photo's from this shoot, but these are just a few of my favourites from the day.

Millar Family

2011-12-11T23:45:00.000-08:00

Van Dijk Family

2011-12-11T00:03:00.000-08:00

Norman, Margie & Caden - Family Shoot

2011-12-04T05:39:00.000-08:00

Nirvana's Maternity Shoot

2011-12-04T03:08:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Nay & Ton!!!

2011-11-28T04:22:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to wish my younger brother and sister a very Happy Birthday for today!!! Enjoy the last year of your 20's!!! Love you both lots!

Love Lans

Vernie's 50th Oscar Style Birthday Party

2011-11-25T04:33:00.000-08:00

Hannah Grace - Newborn

2011-11-07T09:02:00.000-08:00

Yolandi & Gerald Cyprianos Wedding

2011-11-05T21:20:00.000-07:00

Reshika & Reshma

2011-10-30T05:27:00.000-07:00

These 2 have been best friends for a whopping 18 years and decided to keep the memories going by having this photo shoot!

Jessica & Dane

2011-10-23T12:48:00.000-07:00

Shone Family

2011-10-22T10:55:00.000-07:00

Christine van Niekerk & Family .....

2011-10-17T19:18:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, Christine called me up to photograph Nicole's 1st birthday, but I was unavailable. So when she phoned this time around to do a family photo shoot, I jumped at the opportunity, especially because her sister was out from the UK. I managed to secure a date the day before she flew back to London... phew! This is one gorgeous family and I'm so glad I got to photograph them. There was a request to take lots of snaps of baby Mia, so apart from the few in the beginning, I've added a collage of her at the end. :)

How cute is she in the tea cup?? I just adore it!! Thank-you Rudy & Christine for inviting me to your beautiful home for this photo shoot.

Get-IT Magazine Cover - November 2011

2011-10-15T23:09:00.000-07:00

Jacqui & Pixie Stoltz' Wedding Day

2011-10-15T00:30:00.000-07:00

Location: T.O. Strand, Leisure Bay

Lonidwe + 1

2011-10-10T11:38:00.000-07:00

Another outdoor maternity shoot and I have to confess - the idea of ditching studio shoots is becoming more and more tempting. There is just so much more you can do outdoors! Londiwe is another brilliant mom-to-be that I had the pleasure of working with. She was a natural in front of the camera and I loved every minute of this shoot.

Aritha & Family ....

2011-10-09T20:41:00.000-07:00

I was so excited with Aritha contacted me to do this photo shoot - Twins!

Preash & Surasti at 6 Months Old.

Sonia's 1st Birthday

2011-10-09T06:00:00.000-07:00

Milla Sipcic - New Born

2011-10-07T04:53:00.000-07:00

A few more for Milla's entry....

I've been drowning in work these days, but I just could not wait to share these 2 photographs of the absolutely gorgeous Milla Sipcic, Born 30th September 2011. These were taken when she was just 1 week old! :)

Get-IT Magazine Cover - October 2011

2011-10-03T06:21:00.000-07:00

I know it's not Vogue Magazine, but I'm very proud of my 2nd Cover on the Get-IT magazine and I'm loving being involved with these photo shoots. x

Clint, Jenna & Kellan

2011-10-02T11:53:00.000-07:00

Another photo shoot in the Bay, but today I woke up to rain and grey skies! I called Jenna up and asked if they were still willing to come through from Empangeni for the shoot and chance the rain. They were still keen, so we postponed the shoot to an hour later in the hopes of the weather clearing up and thank goodness we did, because it turned out to be the most perfect weather to photograph in. Cloud cover all around with a hint of glare in the sky and most importantly - no rain! There couldn't be a better soft box in all the universe. I really enjoyed this shoot and loved the results even more. Jenna, Clint & Kellan, thanx for chancing the rain, especially with bringing those guitars outdoors. Hope you like these as much as I do. :)

Hennie, Leanne & Hayden Potas

2011-10-01T22:53:00.000-07:00

I arrived at Leanne & Hennie's last week Saturday to a sound asleep baby Hayden. After a quick squizz around the house to scout the location, we decided to give Hayden a rude awakening, which he was not very impressed about - especially after trying to put him into a tea cup. hmmmm! So we decided to all jump in the car and head down to the Waterfront for a quick bite while Hayden caught another 40 winks in the hopes of a happier awakening, and that is exactly what we achieved. (You'll notice Hennie pondering over the source of the Beer bubbles during lunch time. lol) We headed down to Pelican Island, only to find it closed due to a wedding, but were very fortunately directed to a old sunken canoe at the waters edge close by. After some outdoor photo's, we headed back home for some rugby with the boys to end off our busy morning!! :) Thanx Leanne & Hennie for allowing me to run the shoot for so long.

My nephew, Bradley Michael Clifford - 6 Months Old

2011-09-29T09:10:00.000-07:00

This post entry is one close to my heart. Recently my sister, Rene, asked me to baby sit her son, Bradley. Every minute that I spend with my nephew I fall more in love with him, especially now that he greets me with the biggest smile every time he sees me!! It melts my heart. I must confess though, I have been a bad aunt and haven't taken any photographs of him since his new born photographs. So I decided that since I'm spending the day with him, I would take a few snaps. So mom, from your son, "This is what I get up to while you're at work ...."

Me looking cute for Aunty Lans ...

Me chilling in my favourite chair watching DSTV...

Mmmmm, this channel isn't looking so great, Lans - where's that remote??????

That's better, think I'll surf a few channels ....

Awweeehhh, what's going on here?

awww awww, the Sharks don't look strong in this game, I can't watch anymore. Lans hand me that magazine, please.

Lets see what's the latest in Mens Health Mag

mmmmm, ok, that's enough reading, think it's time to play now...

Me being cute again!! I think I'll use this one as my face book profile.

Play time....

Is that mom's car I hear??? Yaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyy, Mommy's Home!!!!

The Pillay's at the Durban Botanic Gardens

2011-09-25T05:48:00.000-07:00

After spending the morning with the Pillay's, I realised how special their time together is. Marlon is rarely at home due to work, so I was humbled to capture their family photographs. Little Taslyn was so much fun to be around and was full of information - I'm guessing this has something to do with Discovery, BBC knowledge or Nat Geo channel! So I was happy to share the information of the Spoon Bill with her. :) Lorraine, you have a beautiful family and I hope these photographs do justice.

Simeon & Bongiwe's Wedding Day

2011-09-24T06:07:00.000-07:00

A lagoon walk with Candice, Vlado, Ripley and Baby Bump Milla

2011-09-23T09:10:00.001-07:00

I couldn't be happier to be the photographer for Vlado & Candice during this amazing time in their lives! I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but knowing the people you're photographing on a personal level adds that extra bit of magic to the images! And I also loved the fact that Ripley came along to the shoot. He was a natural in front of the camera and made sure no-one bothered us during the shoot. :) :) :) I cannot wait for the arrival of baby Milla and to capture the New Born Photoraphs. Keep watching this space!!!

At home with the Naidu's

2011-09-23T06:24:00.000-07:00

Harie Family

2011-09-18T01:28:00.000-07:00

A lot of the time when you're working with children, it's difficult to capture that picture perfect family portrait, which is why you capture those moments in between. This shoot was the perfect example. Soha and Seth are magic in front of the camera, but Soha wasn't too keen on posing for very long. Some of the best images I got of her were after the shoot when we went for a bite at Green with Envy on Vause Rd. I love the results and I'm thinking I should start doing lunch time shoots in the future. It really seems to work. :) Thanx Punam and Raj for an awesome morning! It was great seeing you again!

SOHA

SETH

Aisha's 1st Birthday Party

2011-09-11T08:40:00.000-07:00

... And back in 1986 I thought I had the most awesome parties ever!

But little did I know that 25 years later, I'd be "attending" to so many kids parties. And these aren't just any parties. Jumping Castles, Trampolines, Themed Table Decor, Balloons, Butterflies, Bunny Rabbits, Party Favours, Clown Acts you name it... Moms these days sure know how to throw a kiddies party.

And this one was for the beautiful Aisha on her special 1st birthday!!

Sheik Family Shoot

2011-09-11T04:38:00.000-07:00

Tea Party at The St. James on Venice

2011-09-09T15:23:00.000-07:00

Last week Friday I bravely drove to The St. James on Venice for my first attempt at a moms + babies group photo shoot. How we all managed to pull this photo shoot off so smoothly, I will never know, but 9 patient moms, 9 adorable babies and 1 tea cup later produced the following:

(**Please excuse the quality on the tea-cup photo's with my make-shift studio.

Not the best, but I think the subject makes up for it.
And sorry if names are spelt incorrectly ladies.)

Meet Evan, Damien, Connor, Lilly-Marie, Amelie, Jamie, Finlay, Connor and Oliver

Lauren & Amelie

Jacinta & Connor

Sherri & Connor

Lee-Ann and Damien

Tarryn & Evan

Bryony & Finlay

Sunet & Jamie

Kerry & Lilly-Marie

Tracy & Oliver

Thanx to Kerry for arranging the shoot, Suzette for organising the venue, Tracy Curran for the tip off on the location of the Tea Cup, my sister for all the support and thanx to all the ladies for the awesome morning!

Naidoo Maternity/Family Shoot

2011-09-04T11:52:00.000-07:00

Moodley Family Shoot

2011-09-03T11:45:00.000-07:00

Salmon Family Shoot

2011-09-03T10:20:00.000-07:00

I've known Chris and Peta for yonks now. Even their Wedding is a distant memory (what year was that Peta??) They're the type of friends you have in life who are just always there.... you know, the ones who you don't speak to for months and then you pick up right where you left off.

Peta & I have been speaking about doing a photo shoot for ages and last week it finally happened! Woohooooo! :) Plus Peta is expecting, so even better!! We met up last week at the Bot Gardens with a shy Mr Ciaran (mini-Chris as I like to call him), but he warmed up to me pretty quickly and soon he was posing like a pro in front of the camera. Mom was nothing less than super impressed with his modelling skills. It was an awesome shoot and ended off with a delicious breakie at Circus Circus on the Beach Front.
(Thanx again for that, it was yummy!!!.)

While putting this post together, I remembered a few snaps I took of them back in London when Ciaran was just a little baby boy. This was shot with my first digital camera - a Powershot A620, before purchasing my dslr so excuse the pic quality. ;) Oh.... and then just before I started uploading these pics, I remembered more snaps I took when Peta was still pregnant with Ciaran in London in August 2008.

And now I think it's time to get to the pics. Enjoy xxx

London 2008

London 2009

Durban, South Africa, 2011

My First Outdoor Maternity Shoot - Silondile Jali

2011-08-21T07:21:00.000-07:00

When Slo phoned me to do her maternity shoot, I was ecstatic! I used to work with her back in my programming days at Adapt-IT and I remember her always coming to work with the most stunning original outfits on with all sorts of accessories to match. So I knew this was going to be nothing short of a fun shoot where I could use a bit of creative flair. I've been waiting for someone like this to work on my first outdoor shoot, and Slo was the perfect girl. So Sunday morning , 6am, I got to her place and we packed the boot of my car to the brim with outfits, hats, shoes, accessories, bags... pretty much her entire warddrobe... and headed down to the beach to start with some sunrise shots! We had such a blast during this shoot and if it weren't for me having a prior engagement, we would've carried on all day! Thanx for the awesome shoot Slo. Phone me if you're up for a second round of photographs for all those outfits we didn't get to. :)

Here is a sneak peak of the photographs...

Noah's 4th Birthday Party, Ben Ten

2011-08-20T01:14:00.000-07:00

Baby Mishka explores the Botanic Gardens

2011-08-20T00:57:00.000-07:00

Sharon & Richard's Wedding Day

2011-08-13T08:57:00.000-07:00

Never before this day have I battled to select photographs for a blog entry, as much as I have today. And not because of shortage of photographs, but abundance. I've had to sit down and have a little one on one with myself to prevent posting any more photographs. So to Mr & Mrs Millar, sorry for the extremely lengthy "Sneak Preview", but I really just could not help myself. Your wedding was a photographers dream.

Now if you were there to witness Sharon & Richard's Wedding day, you'd understand the beauty of the day. Set up in the Midlands near Dargle, lies the small beautiful stone Chaple called Crab Apple and the wedding venue called The Cairn of Old Kilgobbin. Had I known the vast amount of detail there'd be at the wedding, I would've arrived a week earlier to make sure I don't miss a stitch of detail. Carl Bronner (of Old Kilgobinn) has the most amazing wedding venue and being the 2nd official wedding they've hosted, it was an honour being there. I'm not going to say too much and let the photographs speak for themselves, otherwise I'll be writing an essay here and I'm not really good at writing... Pictures are my thing.

Sharon & Richard, you're an amazing couple and it was an honour photographing, witnessing and sharing this special day with you both! I hope that one day, when you're sitting together on the porch in your rocking chairs, you'll look back to these photographs with much fondness.

PS. Thanx for the early morning coffee and muffins x

Cousins Family Shoot ...

2011-08-09T07:55:00.000-07:00

Baby Saranya

2011-07-31T20:38:00.000-07:00

I just fell in love with this family after their shoot. I've never come across so much character in one household.

Let me start with Prince, their dog. (a Daschund or in plain English - a sausage dog). He apparently barks at everyone that steps foot into the house. Now being a dog lover, I knew he'd eventually warm up to me. But mean while he was nipping away at me while I was trying to take Saranya's photographs, I couldn't help laughing and it eventually had me in hysterics! By the end of the shoot he was my big friend and I had to throw his toy for him! haha. There's a cute snap of him in between Sarayna's photographs.

Navin & Omashni (Saranya's parents) are my favourite kind of people. Very relaxed, a good sense of humour and smiles all around! So there was extremely good energy going on during the shoot! We had a coffee break (great coffee btw) during the shoot and I got to know them a bit better and found out that they actually know my neighbour. Small world hey? But seriously, such an amazing couple!!

Now lets get to the star of the moment.... Saranya!

I have met quite a few baby's over the last 2 years, and all of them are super cute, but this girl is like a Living Baby Doll. I can imagine her as a doll on the shelves at a toy store. When I walked into the house she was attached to daddy's arm, carrying the most amazing smile. I knew straight away we were going to get good photo's of her.

Well, enough said, this is supposed to be about the pics... so here they are...

Meeka's 1st Birthday Party

2011-07-30T02:02:00.000-07:00

Add caption

Baby Joshua Rumble

2011-07-29T02:31:00.000-07:00

Deen & Nirvana

2011-07-24T08:25:00.000-07:00

Ziyanda & Kheto....

2011-07-22T04:51:00.000-07:00

For those that haven't noticed yet, I'm not big into writing on my blog. I'm one of those who paged through magazines when I was younger and only looked at the pictures. If the pictures really caught my eye, then I'd maybe read the article. So there you have it, I'm not a big words girl... but...

Every now and then I feel inspired to write something.

Now this is another Platinum Group photo shoot and I had Ziyanda & Kheto from Jenni Button this time around. One thing I can tell you about these Platinum Group Gals, they sure know how to pick a shoot wardrobe. These 2 had matching outfits from A-Z. Kheto bought along like 7 outfits (just incase), I don't know how many shoes they had between them... but the final result was awesome!! We had so much fun... let me not get into tooo much detail, but the day included an offer to use someone's Penthouse (no thanx!) ,a shoot with a bunch of Maritime students (fun), clouds on the ground(random), and the famous 16 spot.

Check out the pics below:

Sam & Neil - Trash the Dress

2011-07-16T22:04:00.000-07:00

Family - Moodley

2011-07-09T04:22:00.000-07:00

Family - Haripersad

2011-07-03T11:18:00.000-07:00

Reeshavin's 2nd Birthday Party

2011-07-02T12:05:00.000-07:00

Family - The Currans

2011-06-27T03:02:00.000-07:00

I had great difficulty selecting which photo's to put up for this post!

Such a beautiful family and I loved pretty much all of the photo's!

A Sneak Peak into the family shoot of the Currans:

Baby Aleena Singh

2011-06-25T05:55:00.000-07:00

Romanda & Francois

2011-06-18T08:59:00.000-07:00

Romanda & Francois

Ghost Mountain Inn, Mkuze

18th June 2011

La Maison & Spencer's Dedication

2011-06-11T08:09:00.000-07:00

I recently had the pleasure of discovering one of Durban's little hidden treasures - Cafe La Maison!

Simone & Ryan Hathrill (from Aus) held the dedication of their son, Spencer, at this venue a few weeks back. Also being long-time friends of the family, I absolutely loved this event. Once all work was done, it was fantastic catching up with friends and having a tea treat or two. Tell me the food in these photographs doesn't make you want to run for the door while calling up some friends for Coffee at La Maison!!

The Dedication of Spencer...

Sienna, Spencer's sister

Sim & Ryan with Spencer

La Maison:

Location: 9 Ennisdale Drive, 4062 Durban North, South Africa

Hours: Mon - Fri: 7:15 am-4:30 pm

Sat: 8:00am-1:30 pm

http://www.facebook.com/pages/La-Maison/230232166987735?sk=info

Introducing ... Lilly Marie Niewehoudt

2011-06-07T11:51:00.000-07:00

Pinchin Family

2011-05-22T08:00:00.000-07:00

Diedericks Family

2011-05-21T05:08:00.000-07:00

Wedding - Catherine & Don

2011-05-14T22:57:00.000-07:00

Catherine & Don's Wedding, held at Caroline's White House in Hillcrest....

Getting Ready ...

My favourite picture of the day....

The Ceremony...

Creative shoot....

Reception ...

Kerry Niewoudt - Maternity Shoot

2011-05-10T04:52:00.000-07:00

Couples - Lyn & Gary

2011-05-02T23:10:00.000-07:00

There are 2 companies that I'm nicely making my way through and slowly getting to know the quite a few of the staff members... The Platinum Group (Jenni Button, Hilton Weiner,Vertigo, Urban, Acca Joe) & The Mr Price Group! This shoot is another Mr P couple. Lyn & Gary were absolute gems in front of the camera. Naturals I tell ya!! Here is a sneak peek at their couples shoot we did at the Botanic Gardens.

Emily Gillitt

2011-04-27T15:18:00.000-07:00

Family - Summerford

2011-04-23T06:35:00.000-07:00