It’s not that often that you have the pleasure of coming across a creative team as talented as Kathy and Roy Esterhuysen-who just happen to be married! Sharing a love of photography, we caught up with the duo to find out more about the man behind FirstHouse Photography and the lady brains behind the blog, Cherish.
MMS: Tell us a bit about who you are as photographers and the style of photography you’d say epitomises what you’re about?
RE: I would say my style of photography is fairly structured/ commercial, yet still including a natural/ candid feel to it. My preference when shooting people is to get a nice warm backlighting from the sun.
“Durban is definitely the place to be.”
KE: I’m more of a portrait and lifestyle photographer. I like taking candids and find I’m drawn to people smiling and enjoying themselves, I like to capture the emotion. My actual images are generally a bit overexposed as I like the feeling that conveys. I do like other darker imagery but for some reason I can’t bring myself to take those pics myself.
MMS: Durban is home to both of you, what inspires you about this city?
KE: The people and the weather. The City had an ad campaign about Durban being the warmest place to be in Winter, but it’s actually the warmest place to be full stop. There’s a new positive energy to the city, people are choosing to stay here rather than defect to Cape Town or Jozi and a lot of cool things are coming out of that. Durban is definitely the place to be.
RE: Going down to the beachfront just after sunrise in Autumn, having a cappuccino and seeing all the people enjoying life on the promenade and in the water. (I don’t always get to do this as its pretty tough to wake up that early)
“Going down to the beachfront just after sunrise in Autumn, having a cappuccino and seeing all the people enjoying life”
MMS: We see that you each have your own blog that showcases Durban and what we’re all about. What is your favourite content to feature on each of your blogs?
KE: I generally like to feature the people and places of Durban.
“I find too many people blog about things they wish they were experiencing and it feels a little faked to me. I tend to do things, take pictures and add them if I enjoyed myself.”
RE: Most of my images that showcase Durban I post on my Personal Facbook Profile, however, I will be sharing more of these on my blog soon in an iPhone series .
MMS: What are two of your most favourite and recent moments that you’ve captured? (Please feel free to provide images for these)
RE: Can I have 3 of my Favourite images?
MMS: Of course!
RE: Natalie Jumping at Durban Beachfront – This image was taken a while back, but is still one of my favourite images.
Barista Rory at the KZN Latte Art Competition (At Colombo Coffee).
An employee at Meshgear – This was a candid shot I took while walking to an area in the factory to shoot the Heat Treatment Proccess.
KE: Wow, okay! The first one is a shot I took of some friends on an engagement shoot. I like the colours, the location (the pools on the beachfront) and the fact that they’re still recognisable by people that know them even though their faces aren’t in frame.
The second one is a pic I took at the stadium of Judd at Peoples Park Cafe and his daughter Riley.
“She just seems so stoked to be in her dad’s arms and you can see how much he loves her.”
MMS: How do you keep yourself motivated and your photography fresh?
KE: As a photographer you’re always learning. Your style evolves and preferences change. I like to try new techniques but changing up the locations helps to inspire me as well. I have a few photographers I like to keep up with, Lara Jade and Sue Bryce to name just two.
RE: To stay positive and motivated I surround myself with people and photographers who always have a positive attitude.
To keep my photography fresh I am constantly following photographers overseas, buying their training videos and books. The four photographers that inspire me the most are Drew Gardiner, Matthew Jordan Smith, Chista Meola and Joey L.
Get in touch with Roy:
Website: FirstHouse Photography
Blog: FirstHouse Photography
Social: Facebook & Twitter
Get in touch with Kathy:
