ABOUT
ABOUT ELANI VAN WYK PHOTOGRAPHY
When did she turn her Photography into a business?
Her dad taught her the basics of photography on a film camera while growing up. She loved capturing playing with the camera and soon turned it into a career. She is a self taught photographer that had to learn the art of digital photography through online classes and years of practical experience. After she bought her first full frame camera she started offering her services to the public and her business bloomed! She has been a registered Photographer with the South African Birth Photographers Association since 2017. She now offers her services full time as Birth Photographer in Cape Town and surrounding areas such as Stellenbosch and Somerset-West.
Why Birth Photography?
In 2015 she found herself in a hospital delivery room to give birth to her first baby. When the gynaecologist lifted the baby from her womb for them to capture the BIG LIFE CHANGING EVENT, the theatre was filled with a heavy silence as she looked eagerly to her husband in anticipation. He muffled and awkward response “The scrubs they made me wear did not have pockets to put my phone in”. The excitement in the theatre cooled instantly as they saw her disappointment. THAT was when she decided to become a Birth Photographer.
It is an earth moving experience for parents to see their baby being born. It is a once in a lifetime moment that you cannot reenact. The wonder and magic in seeing a tiny human being enter life is a moment worth capturing.
MORE ABOUT ELANI VAN WYK
About me
I grew up near the beach in the Western Cape and studied at the University of Stellenbosch. I am a wife and mother to 3 beautiful children. As a mom it feels like life goes by so fast after and I can’t remember a thing! I keep telling myself “you don’t need to photograph everything just be in the moment, you will remember this forever” but the next year I can’t recall what my kids looked like! That is why I love photography so much and why it plays such an integral part of my life. It is a way of treasuring the important parts of life because the pictures in our head does not last forever and we forget to soon.
As a mother I know there is no miracle quite like child birth and that life’s moments are fleeting. A child is the biggest gift and the birth of a baby should be celebrated. I am a registered Birth Photographer in Cape Town with the South African Birth Photographers Association and currently situated in Durbanville.
My Photography Style
I am a Documentary and Lifestyle Photographer. What does this mean? I document, I do not interfere, move, alter or pose my clients at Birth Photography shoots. However at Maternity, Family and Newborn Shoots I will pose, help and direct clients to capture them as true and as flattering as possible.
Do I only photograph Births?
No, even though I specialise as a Birth Photographer in Cape Town and have done so for the past 5 years, I offer a whole range of other photography services starting with Maternity, Family and Newborn Shoots and travel all over South Africa to do so.
I offer videography services as well as photography and can creative combine the two to create beautiful birth and life films.
