Christchurch Wedding and Portrait Photography by Johannes van Kan » lovemarks

What is a Dumbo Feather?

jvk — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 05:12:31 +0000

A Dumbo Feather its the thing that you believe in that lets you achieve your dreams.

Last year we went to a conference and one of the speakers was Kate Bezar.

She spoke passionately about a dream she had of starting a magazine like no other. She wanted to create a publication about real people doing real things real well.

She also believed that stories were created to to be shared. From this dream was born Dumbo Feather, pass it on, not a magazine and not a book but a 'mook'

Today's mail brought us the latest copy and in it was a story by Kate that started with this quote "In 1938 Cyril Connely, an English intellectual writer,and literary critic wrote "There is no more sombre enemy of good art than the pram in the hall" ..

This a great beginning to an astute observation on the impact of parenting on creativity.

What I am shamelessly saying is that its a great publication well worth the subscription.

Back to the Dumbo Feather ... the thing that you believe in. This is an important idea.

In some ways as a photographer we can become the Dumbo Feather for our clients.

If they believe in what we do then they themselves can achieve so much

Loyalty

jvk — Mon, 25 May 2009 00:20:03 +0000

About 4 years ago a friend of mine convinced me to buy a VW it was a V6 4 Motion Golf with an Oettinger kit. It was black and fast.
Its previous owner had fancied it up a bit.
This car has had more than its fair share of problems. It has been an expensive car to keep on the road. The latest thing was internal flooding caused by blocked drainage from the sunroof.
I am talking lots of water splashing around in the driver's foot well and $700 to fix. I collected the car and within 10 minutes, of driving, it started sounding more like a Subaru out looking for trouble. $500 later I am getting a new coil and a new set of Spark plugs.
Is it time to jump ship (car) and get a fancy new something else?
No.
This car has earned my loyalty. (Some might say loyalty beyond reason). It has performed incredibly well in spite of its 'issues and expensive habits' . I enjoy driving this car. It has power when it needs to, and gracefully understates its own potential.
I won't keep this car forever but I won't dump it for a few, albeit, expensive misdemeanours.
That is what a lovemark does to you ... loyalty beyond reason.

Christchurch Wedding Photographer wins Wedding Album Awards …. Twice!!!

jvk — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 11:12:54 +0000

I want to take a moment at the end of the year to be proud.

This is a great achievement for us at Moda Fotografica. But especially for me it is wonderful to get the recognition of my work by my respected peers.

Earlier this Year I won the NZIPP Wedding Album of the Year award for the second year in a row.

First page for wedding album award

As a Wedding Photographer I am also a story teller. This is what makes an album such a wonderful way to bring the parts of a wedding together.

Wedding Photography in New Zealand is up there with the rest of the world. I read a wonderful piece about New Zealand by a guy called Kevin Roberts, the author of "Lovemarks". He spoke of the independent momentum of New Zealand as a small isolated identity. An environment very well suited to freespirited change, more flexible than countries with larger populations that were affected by the inertia of a resistance to change cause by size and mass.

To this end wedding albums should be independent designs that reflect the subject matter, as well as the personal style of the Photographer. Not the Photographer's style as seen through the images of somebody else's wedding.

I feel strongly about the poetry and rhythm of an album and try to pace the presentation of images to allow for the natural flow of the story being told. The same would apply for a portrait album. The story must be as strong as the photographs.

Sometimes there will be pages with many images, but they will always be near quieter spaces. There is a flow that feels right. What I am trying to say is that the album should read well and not be cluttered.

Both years the albums were for brides who were reluctant about photography. I think this helped me because in each case I was encouraged to look at the entire wedding as a story. The final albums were made as Queensberry Duos and designed with album design software called Photojunction.

Some photographers say that I shouldn't be allowed to enter next year ... I'm still thinking about it.