Awie Greyling is the creative mind behind the lens at 228 Photography. He is our first featured photographer in this series and is a regular and valued customer of Canvas Print Co.
We asked Awie to share his back story with us, about how he got started in photography and what he has worked on recently. It also gave us a chance to put our detective hat on. We visited his websites to see what else he has been up to and discovered that his work has recently been exhibited in Belgium as well as at the biggest photo and film expo in Asia. We’re no authority on the photography industry but that sounds pretty amazing to us.
Here’s what Awie shared:
I got involved in the photography industry in 2009 purely by chance. I started with family and friends photos and before I knew what hit me I was doing 20 to 30 weddings a year. I became a full time photographer in 2015 as the workload just got too much to have a normal job and doing what I love so the choice was obvious.
Giving advice on choosing art for your home or office is difficult as no two people are the same. With choosing a photographer for your wedding or family shoot I would say spend some time on the internet looking at portfolios and you will quickly find a trend in what you like and don’t like.
My main focus is weddings and life style but I have done every genre of photography except under water and aerial photography.
photos borrowed from 228 Photography website for this article
To share a favorite project will be impossible as there has been so many but these days, to keep the creative juices flowing and the passion on fire, I have taken up street photography in my spare time and I find it quite fascinating.
Winter in South Africa is generally a bit more relaxed for wedding photographers, not always a good thing. Gives me time to think about stuff, that can be dangerous as you start thinking about gear and that can lead to GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome). This year I decided to explore other avenues of business and self improvement rather than spending my hard earned money on more gear.
Now you must keep in mind that I am a gear junkie and I always have at least one camera flash and 2 lenses with me. The challenge would be to go to the street with a single camera and limit myself to 36 photos (that was a big roll of film before digital took over) but I wanted to at least see how well I could do in a single go. Then the opportunity presented itself for me to fetch my awesome wife at the airport and I decided that this will be the defining moment and that I will use the airport and its travelers as my subject.
I needed something that I knew that could do the job so I grabbed my trusty old Fujifilm X-T10 with a 18mm prime lens and off I went. The X-T10 is small enough to not intimidate the people in the airport and the photo quality is exceptional and having shot over 50 weddings since moving over to Fujifilm I had a lot of faith in this little machine of a camera.
I spent about 90 min walking around the airport and shot my 36 photos. So below are a few of my first official street photos with only one camera one lens and limited 36 exposures.
“Waiting at the Airport”
People can get in touch with me via my website www.228.photography or www.228.co.za.
I do have another website where I say what I want to say, I post what I want away from my commercial business – feel free to go have a look there as well www.awiegreyling-photography.co.za
Follow Awie on his Facebook and Instagram social media pages and have a look at a few of the projects he has worked on.
He also offers Training for Amateur Photographers where you can book a one-on-one session with him at his studio in Sunward Park, Boksburg. He will focus on camera functions & lenses based on your DSLR camera.
You can get in touch with Awie directly for your photography needs – info@228.photography
All our love
