Gareth Bentley Photography

Ryan & Fizz’s Wedding

gareth — Mon, 14 May 2012 19:46:01 +0000

Yet another mad wedding weekend! Just backing up and doing first edit on the photographs from Ryan & Fizz’s awesome wedding, and couldn’t resist posting a sneak preview for them to have a look at while they are chilling in the Lower Zambezi!

Ryan & Fizz got married at St. Ignatius Church here in Lusaka and then we all headed out to their family farm many (many) miles out of town! We shot a few fun piccies in an old tractor graveyard and then headed off down to the dam to shoot some more (stopping to visit with some friendly cows on the way!). I’d been worrying about the sky all day as dark cloud was rolling in as we headed out there, but the sun did the decent thing in the end and we had great fun having a few sundowners and taking some pictures. Then it was back to the farmhouse for the reception and then the party where South African band ‘Out of the Blue’ kicked off the boogie in a big way

A full gallery coming soon but in the meantime, here’s a wee preview:

More from Pasta Paradise

gareth — Thu, 10 May 2012 12:00:15 +0000

A few months ago I did a shoot for Riccardo, the mad Italian owner of Kanyemba Lodge in the Lower Zambezi. He had recently had the lodge refurbished and he wanted some images for his new website and marketing materials. I was only too happy to oblige – as I think I have probably mentioned before; Kanyemba is one of my favourite places in Zambia and I jump at any excuse to head down there for a few days!

Here are a few of the images we shot in and around the lodge, check out more on www.kanyemba.com:

Shootin’ the Taj

gareth — Thu, 10 May 2012 10:31:17 +0000

Just before the insanity of wedding season kicked off, I was commissioned to shoot some publicity images for the Taj Pamodzi Hotel here in Lusaka.

Hotel & Resort shoots are always difficult to shoot because of the need to ensure that you don’t disturb the guests staying at the time. This usually means a VERY early start which is what we decided to do on this shoot. Up at 4am, I made my way to the hotel and began to shoot interiors and then moved to shooting the exterior of the hotel as the sun rose.

Here are a few of the resulting pictures – look out for them in this month’s Sawubona Magazine!

Andy & Jen’s Beach Wedding

gareth — Tue, 08 May 2012 09:48:52 +0000

Been on the road again… right in the middle of the whirl of wedding season! Just back from shooting a lovely wedding on the beach in Malawi for friends Andy & Jen. I’ve wanted to shoot a beach wedding for ages – not something I often get the chance to do in Zambia. It was a beautiful occasion and Andy & Jen were an awesome couple to work with; always up for any picture I suggested, including a quick trash-the-dress session the morning after! Given that they had only gone to bed after sunrise on the beach, I was pretty impressed!

Much editing awaits from 3 weddings and another this weekend, so more posts to follow but here’s a sneaky preview:

ARK & The Telegraph

gareth — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 09:15:33 +0000

A few weeks back I was commissioned to shoot some imagery to promote the launch of the incredibly important rotavirus vaccine in Zambia for ARK (Absolute Return for Kids) which has the potential to save hundreds of thousands of African children.

It poured with rain almost constantly which made shooting outside rather interesting. Special thanks to Peder Bjorling who assisted me on the shoot and helped keep the kit dry! We also had the added stress of having to file images asap to get the story into the Telegraph newspaper in the UK the following day with awesome journo Aislinn Laing, (@Simmoa) Southern African Correspondent for the Daily & Sunday Telegraph. We eventually managed though and it ran in the Saturday edition: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/zambia/9029771/Charity-linked-to-Duke-of-Cambridge-saving-lives-of-African-children.html

ARK is working with the Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia to roll out the vaccine.

Shooting Chilu

gareth — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 08:28:47 +0000

Stuck at home with a vile case of flu, which means I finally have a chance to update the blog!

Chilu Lemba, www.chilulemba.com man of many media talents, flew in Wednesday night to do a shoot for his new album. We had a blast yesterday evening, on a very relaxed shoot. We kept it simple, with just a couple location lights and shot some great pictures (in between him tweeting non-stop on 2 different phones)…. The man is a social media freak. Special thanks to @ChosaMweemba who shot BTS stuff and got the lights into increasingly impossible positions.

More pics to come!

Congratulations Zambia!!!

gareth — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 07:01:38 +0000

I’ve woken up bleary eyed & weary after a heart-stopping few hours early this morning as Zambia won 8-7 on penalties against Ivory Coast at the Africa Cup of Nations! The roar from Lusaka 30km away as that last penalty found the net, was a noise I will remember for a long time to come. The vuvuzelas and car horns are still going strong! What a proud day for Zambia! Congratulation Chipolopolo! You did it!

The Return to Pasta Paradise

gareth — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 20:10:17 +0000

Just back from a great shoot in Lower Zambezi at Kanyemba Lodge, one of my favourite places in Zambia. The lodge has recently been refurbished under the guidance of excellent designer Abi of www.souldesign.co.za and the results are fantastic!

As always, an absolute pleasure to hang out with Riccardo and the Kanyemba team, shooting by day, eating pasta and drinking scotch by night.

I love the Lower Zambezi at this time of year; the light is always incredible and we were treated to some of the most insane sunsets I have ever had the pleasure to watch. Here’s one of them, taken while floating down the river, lodge pictures to follow!

Happy New Year!

gareth — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 21:00:47 +0000

As a brand new year dawns, I, instead of doing something adventurous and swash-buckling, have instead been stuck in my office, grinding away at that dreaded task that all photographers hate – backing up.

The achingly boring picture above is of my backup “station”. That motley crew of hard drives (and my old battered 17″ MBP acting as ringmaster) contains triple backups of the almost 180,000 images I have delivered to clients since I began shooting professionally almost 6 years ago.

So much has happened (and changed) since I blabbed my way into that first shoot; I can’t wait to see what 2012 has in store.

And finally, as I must be off to clean and charge kit for a shoot tomorrow; a big big thank you to all my clients, agents, assistants and friends for your support, and indeed a very special thank you to all who have had the grave misfortune to find themselves in front of my lens this past year!

Happy New Year and all the very best for 2012!

iPhone Pictures

gareth — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 18:41:00 +0000

So I’ve used macs for my editing for years, but I only recently came over to the dark side and bought an iPhone after my trusty old Nokia E71 got dropped one too many times… The first feature I tested (obviously) was the camera and to my surprise (yes, in spite of all the hype I’d read) it blew me away.

Now, an SLR replacement it ain’t, but for a camera phone, I thought it was pretty fantastic, especially tied with one of the many free editing apps you can get (I currently use Instagram). I love having a usable camera with me all the time and I especially love that it doesn’t weigh upwards of 4kg

I’ve been snapping away at lots of random things on my travels… here are a few of the less wierd ones… (Click an image to read the back-story!) More to come.