Masonry Blog – 5 Columns

Would you believe us if we said there's a place where a goat a giraffe and a sheep are best mates, a place where Percy the pig roams freely among impala and a herd of Nguni Cattle. A place with sweeping views across the magnificent lowveld mountains. A place where outdoor and animal lovers can go to, kick their feet up, catch fish, go on hikes, have picnic at a waterfall and enjoy the crackling sounds of a campfire. A place with genuine warm hospitality, not just for you, but your K9 friend aswell! A place with beautiful rooms surrounded by untouched bush. A place called Caracal Lodge. Tucked away in the beautiful Houtboshoek valley, this laid back country lodge offers guests the unique opportunity to truly unwind in the most natural setting, whilst at the same time enjoying the luxury of rustic accommodation and bush cabins. We were tasked to showcase the beauty of Caracal lodge and it's surroundings, and needless to say we had a great time photographing this unique lodge. Below is a few of our favourite shots capturing the essence of the lodge.

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Well well well, has gin ever looked this good!? Throw some @lowveldgin creativity , mixed with @hallandbramley and a good dose of studio photography skills together, and you get one heck of a good looking photograph This is the first of a series of mouthwatering images that we are going to share with you of a recent shoot we did in our #photographystudio.
When this product shoot got approved we could hardly contain our excitement as  there is nothing like a good lighting challenge, The Hall & Bramley Lowveld Gin Fest is going to be an event not to be missed.

Remember not for sale to persons under the age of 18, The Gin part that is, The Hall & Bramley Mixers South Africa mixer can be consumed at any age.

Photographer: Karen Musica

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Creativity ? A phenomenon whereby something new and somehow valuable is formed. Basically this is the ultimate goal when you call yourself a photographer - a creative, someone that creates something new and adds value to it. Someone who nails the equation of creativity ( Creativity = New + Valuable ). This past weekend I got the opportunity to shoot stills for Phonix Capture cc - Professional Photography and Videography at the annual Three cranes challenge, hosted by Wildlands WildSeriesTrail and KZN Trail Running The main goal was to be creative and showcase the spectacular Karkloof valley,it’s Fauna , flora and how this three day stage race traverses this rich biodiverse area.

Three Cranes Challenge is hosted to raise funds for the Karkloof Conservancywho actively conserves the rich biodiversity of the Karkloof for the benefit of future generations. For a large part conserving this spectacular area takes plenty of creativity. Farmers and stakeholders has to work together to find new farming methods that adds value back into the soil and habitat of unique species found in the conservancy.

Taking place of three days the race gives runners the unique opportunity to traverse a host of different environments, ranging from indigenous forests to mountain grassland. This made for quite a lot of fun shooting as each environment has its own unique look and feel.

Below is a collection of images that I’ve captured over the. Past weekend, it includes a few images of each day, and hopefully gives an insight into the beauty of the magnificent Karkloof and inspires you to enter the Three Cranes Challenge in 2021 . To be honest I’ve personally struggled a bit to nail the creativity equation over the last few months, but I guess working in these environments challenges one to constantly improve and look for more creative and dynamic angles as your previous event. As one runner at our first Wildseries event back in 2017 said, “ You live and you learn” and learning in environments as beautiful as this is one heck of a privilege!

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Its Mopani Pharmacy Barberton XCM MTB Challenge ! What was it all about? Well, combine some good rain, add in some soil, mix well with some tread and you get one intense organic mud facial and one epic MTB Video! What a Saturday it was, we are pretty sure that Barberton XCM MTB was a very solid wake up call to the riders kicking off their 2020 bucket list season. We were super pleased to spend the day in our back yard and capture the mud, sweat and determination on a race that is seen as Brutiful in some of the oldest mountains in the world. The slogan: "Not as delicate as a daisy" lived up to its name once again. -  Keen on cranking next year ? Visit the race website here https://www.barbertonxcm.co.za To see more of our MTB work that we've done follow this link to the Sabie Experience MTB Video series that we did last year. https://phonixcapture.co.za/portfolio/sabie-experience-2019-3-day-stage-race/ https:/https://youtu.be/xZbtJnLmISk

Wildside enduro! Its quite a unique story, before 2019 we used to drive past Badplaas often en-route to many event destinations or ocean holidays, on the right hand side towards Lochiel are 2 large granite monoliths that have been asking to be explored every time we've passed them, who knew that eventually we would be racing around and over them with our camera gear capturing the beauty of the place together with the craziness of Enduro riding. Watch the weekends racing unfold:

https://youtu.be/ydQwo8REo3Y

Personalised Branding and corporate identity... Its been a number of years that we have worked closely with Tracey, most notably through Halls Fresh produce. With incredible experience working in the corporate marketing world for a number of years she has been a meticulous client that we have really enjoyed working with. So when it came to her asking us for website images for her new company as an organisation and life coach we knew it was going to be a specific brief. As creatives we tend to conceptualise a lot of our shoots but sometimes it really helps to be briefed on the look and feel of the clients corporate identity before commencing a shoot so that we can be creative within the boundaries of the clients personalised branding. Check out her website launching soon at www.traceymcbain.com

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It's not everyday that we get to shoot at the "Shark Tank", the home of Sharks Rugby since 1968. A stadium of history  dreams , hard work and lot's of talent. These three things basically sums up  Mattress warehouse's newest corporate ambassador Aphelele Fassi, a full back for the Sharks rugby XV.  Matress Warehouse has a host of  rugby Corporate Ambassadors who endorses the Kooi brand , one of the products that they sell. We were tasked to provide the mattress warehouse with photographic content of Aphelele Fassi , in order for them to use the content on their digital marketing platforms. To get a real look and feel we had to get Aphelele Fassi in action and this meant a quick trip to " the Shark Tank" All in all we're pretty happy with how the images turned out! Throw a talented photographer  and a talented rugby player together at an  epic location and the final result will always be epic!  Visit the koi website Here to see more of their corporate ambassador   profiles. https://www.kooibeds.com  To see more of the Matress Warehouse work we've recently done visit the link below : https://phonixcapture.co.za/matress-warehouse/ [FinalTilesGallery id='14']

Likweti Bushveld Farm Estate is a 765 hectare luxury residential estate near White River in Mpumalanga.
This eco-sensitive wildlife estate offers property owners the unique opportunity to combine the best elements of
estate living with a true bushveld farm lifestyle.

 

 

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We've been working with the Likweti team as their official estate photographers over the last years , and what a journey it's been! We were recently tasked to provide the Likweti team with some updated marketing content that could be used across all their marketing and digital platforms. Our brief was to showcase the lifestyle that awaits anyone that is planning to call Likweti their home. With a strong focus on the beautiful Lowvelder surroundings Likweti offers it's residents adventure packed activities, such as hiking , mountain biking ,game viewing bush picnics, fishing , and bird watching to name just a few. our brief was to capture these activities in a way that showcases not only the beautiful estate but also the magnificent fauna and flora this benchmark wildlife estate has on offer! 

[FinalTilesGallery id='13'] Visit Likweti's website Here

Supplying the best quality Macadamia and tree-nut products through superior commitment to our customers, employees and stakeholders.

Agristar, a fourth-generation agricultural farming business, commenced farming in 1948 with sugarcane and subtropical fruit in the eastern regions of Mpumalanga, before specialising its operations into tree nuts – specifically macadamias and pecans – over 35 years ago.

 As a company Agristar hasn’t  earned this title by just planting trees and producing high quality export products. No, they are fully aware that they have to constantly grow not just trees but they also their digital footprint. We live in a digital age, and people want to see where the things they eat come from. Where it is grown and which processes it goes through. Basically from Farm to kitchen. Agristar approached Phonix Capture to assist them with video content of their operations to increase the digital footprint of their company profile. Their aim was to get innovative creative professional video content that they could use for their website,  digital media and other marketing platforms, that gets distrubuted to stakeholders and consumers.  Our brief was to showcase their farm in the entire context. From seedlings to packhouse and every aspect in between. Planting , irrigation, soil tests, machinery and one of Agristar’s most valued assets their staff. We needed to get video content  the whole mac process. This required is to shoot in a lot of different environments and conditions with a lot of the shots being shoot as you go – a farm never stands still and we needed to improvise and adapt the way we shot as you only get a few minutes with a chosen subject.

Being Agricultural Videographers in nelspruit  is immensely rewarding and insightful. You get to meet the faces behind the product on the shelves. You learn basic food processes and get a view into the world of exports. Getting video content in an environment where we constantly meet new people and learn new things keeps it interesting and rewarding. Agriculture is synonomous with the lowveld and therefore it is one of the areas where we tend to  specialize in. Working with the Agristar group has been a great journey thus far, and producing their corporate marketing video has definitely been one of the highlights of our work in the Agricultural industry. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TxrY3fYilM

"I know Malelane, I've been there a lot of times, I know it well enough to know that this place is not in or close to malelane, you're lying to me if you say that this place is in malelane, it's bushveld not forests!" This is about the average reaction of people that see photos of Serenity Mountain and Forest Lodge, Literally a stone's throw from Malelane, Serenity Lodge is an indigenous forest paradise amidst the dry Savannah that characterizes this region of the beautiful Lowveld. It's not everyday that we get to shoot a lodge with a look and feel that transports you to an idyllic location such as the Seychelles or even Bali! Serenity Lodge is different to any other lodge that we've had the opportunity to work at, the whole lodge is designed in a way to have minimal impact on it's spectacular surroundings. Ferns , towering trees and green mosses greets you as soon as you set foot in this unique habitat. Shooting a lodge in a location as magical as this, is not an easy task though, you kind of feel pressured to produce nothing but magnificent content, you don't want to let nature down. Normally we won't shoot a lodge on a moody, rainy day, but with Serenity it was different. In rainy, misty weather , the forest comes alive, and you truly get a sense of the real beauty of the paradise you're in. If you've looked at the images below and you still don't believe a place such as this exists in malelane, all we can say is, do yourself a favour and go discover this special paradise for yourself! 

Visit Serenity Lodge's website here : https://www.serenitylodge.co.za  [FinalTilesGallery id='11']