Bruna Mentrup-Nortje - TMAL

21/05/2026

https://www.bruna.co.za/wedding-photography

Photographs' of your Wedding day will last for generations to come, and this is why choosing the right photographer could be one of the most important decisions you will make.

21/04/2026

A fairytale world of romance and luxury awaits your bridal party at Ascot Mews, rated by SABS as a Top Venue on the East Rand.

16/04/2026

IMPORTANT REMINDER
Join us for this Special Edition Wildlife Session with award winning Wildlife Photographer - Heinrich van den Berg - Photographer, Author, Publisher.
Bruna Mentrup is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: Special Edition Wildlife - Heinrich van den Berg
Time: Apr 16, 2026 06:30 PM Johannesburg
Join Zoom Meeting
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Meeting ID: 835 5013 6538
Passcode: 390848
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04/03/2026

Subject: Join Us for a Photography Judging Workshop!

Ready to see photos from a whole new perspective?
We are hosting an exclusive one day Photography Judging Course, and we’d love for you to join us. Whether you want to eventually judge competitions or simply sharpen your own critical eye to improve your personal work, this session is for you.
We’ll be diving into:
The Criteria: What makes an image stand out beyond "just looking nice."
Technical vs. Emotional: Balancing craft with storytelling.
Constructive Feedback: How to provide value to other photographers.
It’s going to be a fun, interactive day of looking at great work and discussing what makes it tick.
The Details:
When: 26th March @ 18H00
Where: Online one day course
Cost: R 250pp

Best wishes and regards
Bruna and Leon
Accredited PSSA Judge
Kindly send us a WhatsApp for bookings and enquiries. -+27 082 809 1918

03/03/2026

Bless the rains down in Africa.
- Photo taken by Bruna Mentrup-Nortje from Thru My African Lens Photography & Tours

14/01/2026

✨ Ready to take your photography further?

Join a photography school built for growth, creativity, and real-world skills.
We offer a range of courses — from editing, pet photography, and a Portrait Mentorship Programme with practical shooting sessions, to many more designed to support photographers at different stages 📸

👉 Explore our courses here:

DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY COURSES (DPC) JOIN OUR FAMILY OF PHOTOGRAPHERS DPC offers cutting edge photography courses for

13/01/2026

Join us for the first of our excursions in 2026.

Capture the cultures, features, dances, and traditional homesteads of the Xhosa, Zulu, Nguni, Pedi, Basotho, and Ndebele people, where you can immerse yourself in a private African tribal photography shoot with the support and guidance of Bruna Mentrup.

Kindly send us a WhatsApp for your booking- 082 809 1918

We look forward to sharing this amazing experience with you.

Regards and best wishes
Bruna and Leon
Tutor & Photographer

📸🪘

09/01/2026

Kolmanskop is a famous ghost town in the Namib Desert of southern Namibia that rose to prominence during a 1908 diamond rush and was eventually reclaimed by the desert.

The Diamond Discovery (1908)
The town's story began when Zacharias Lewala, a railway worker, found a "shiny stone" while shoveling sand off the tracks near Lüderitz. He gave the stone to his supervisor, August Stauch, who confirmed it was a diamond. This discovery triggered a massive influx of German miners, and the German government soon declared a large area a "Sperrgebiet" (forbidden zone) to control the diamond trade.

A Period of Opulence
By 1912, Kolmanskop was one of the wealthiest towns in Africa. Built in the architectural style of a German village, it featured extreme luxuries for its small population of roughly 400 residents:
Modern Amenities: It housed the first X-ray station in the southern hemisphere (partly to catch workers who might have swallowed diamonds) and the first tram in Africa.
Entertainment: The town boasted a ballroom, theatre, casino, and bowling alley.
Survival in the Desert: An ice factory provided daily ice blocks to residents, and fresh water was imported by rail from over 1,000 kilometers away in Cape Town.

Decline and Abandonment
The town's prosperity was short-lived.
Depletion: After World War I, diamond prices dropped and the local deposits began to dry up.
New Discoveries: In 1928, much richer diamond fields were found 270 kilometers to the south near the Orange River.
Final Exit: Residents began leaving in droves, abandoning their homes and possessions. The town was completely deserted by 1956.
Kolmanskop Today
Now a popular tourist and photography destination, the town is famous for its haunting, sand-filled buildings where dunes have burst through doors and windows. It is managed by Namdeb, and visitors must obtain a permit to enter the restricted zone.
We are planning a Photography Excursion in 2026 and would like you to join us. Let us know!

Some unknown stories about Kolmanskop:
1. The Christmas Sleigh and the Pet Ostrich
One of the most eccentric local stories involves a resident family that kept a pet ostrich. During the Christmas season, this ostrich was famously harnessed to a sleigh to pull children through the desert sand, mimicking traditional European winter celebrations in the middle of the Namib. However, the ostrich was also known to be quite aggressive and reportedly "terrorized" other townspeople.
2. High-Tech "Firsts" in the Southern Hemisphere
Despite its remote desert location, the extreme wealth allowed Kolmanskop to import cutting-edge technology long before major cities in Africa or the Southern Hemisphere:
Medical X-ray Machine: It housed the first X-ray machine in the Southern Hemisphere. While useful for the hospital, its primary purpose was reportedly to screen miners for swallowed diamonds.
The Tram: It operated the first tram in Africa, which transported residents and goods across the sandy terrain.
3. Diamonds "Glittering in the Moonlight"
The diamond deposits were originally so abundant and close to the surface that prospectors did not need heavy machinery. Local stories describe laborers crawling on their hands and knees across the sand at night, as the diamonds were said to glitter under the moonlight, making them easy to spot and pick up by hand.
4. The Forgotten Namesake: Johnny Coleman
The town is named after Johnny Coleman, a simple transport driver who was not a miner. In 1905, he became stuck in a fierce sandstorm near a small hill (or kopje) while driving his oxen. He had to abandon his wagon to survive, and the spot became known as "Coleman’s Hill" (Kolmanskop), long before diamonds were discovered there in 1908.
5. Hidden Luxury in the Dunes
Life in the town was a surreal attempt to replicate German high society in a wasteland:
Ice Factory: Residents received daily deliveries of ice to keep their champagne and food cold.
Culture: European opera groups and professional theater troupes were frequently flown in to perform in the town’s lavish ballroom.
Champagne Bar: The town’s old champagne bar has been partially restored and now serves as a restaurant for visitors.
6. Modern Pop Culture Connection
Kolmanskop’s eerie, sand-filled rooms have inspired more than just photographers. It was a key filming location for the 2024 Fallout TV series, where its ruins served as a backdrop for the post-apocalyptic world. It has also been featured in films like The King Is Alive (2000) and Dust Devil (1993).

08/01/2026

Photographing wildlife is much more than just capturing the subject, no matter how spectacular it may be. What follows is a reflection on how a single quote from a master photographer, along with studying his work, shaped approaches to photography and to nature.

The Revelation
Often, photographers are busy on purely technical topics: apertures, shutter speeds, focal lengths, and sharpness. But what about “how” to the artistic “why.”

The art is in nature.
Look a little differently, “the art is everywhere”.
The art is not our photo; the art is the fox hunting in the snow, the silent wings of the snowy owl, the light on a mountain ridge.
But, as usual, there is a but. As a photographer, you must have a gaze. You must look in your own, different way.

A Witness to What Is Happening
Continue to think that wildlife photographers have an active role to play in the creative process, even though I beleive what we capture is nature’s art.
When you simply go out to “take photos,” you are reactive: you see an animal, you shoot. It is subtly different, but when you go out to “photograph nature’s art,” you become more in tune with the world in front of you. This requires imagination and a degree of intimacy with the environment. It requires absorbing the landscape and wildlife, knowing their rhythms. It requires the rarest resource: time.

To photograph is to align the head, the eye, and the heart. It’s a way of life.
The head is preparation, studying of species and locations. The eye is a composition, a technique. But the heart, ah, the heart is the most important. It is the heart that makes you wait for hours, not for the perfect shot — that’s nice, too, but it’s only the tip of the iceberg — but to honor the animal’s life, respecting its time. It is the heart that prevents you from disturbing the animal, even if doing so might get you a spectacular photo.
The photograph you are after only arrives when the alignment is complete. The long wait is not a sacrifice but a privilege, because you are enjoying spending time there. Finally, you focus on looking at subjects in your own way.
It is the choice of light, the choice of color, the choice of composition. The choice of where, when, and how to plan.
Wildlife photographers who accept being a “witness” take a step back. They remove themselves from the center of the scene and put nature back on the pedestal it deserves.
The art we seek is already there, perfect in its imperfection. As Albert Einstein once said, “Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.” Photography becomes the tool that captures a glimmer of this understanding. And the blessing of being there to take the photo is the final bonus.

Conclusion
Wildlife photography is defined by technical skill, ethics, research, and love for nature. Photography is a search, and it benefits from a humble acknowledgment: that the conscious photographer is one who, armed with patience and respect, appreciates nature’s intrinsic, universally evident beauty.
No two people witness the same event in the same way. We all observe with unique, personal perspectives. This individuality is what defines the photographer’s style. It reflects how one sees the world.