Rian Bester Photography

Aviation Photography based in Pretoria, South Africa.

I started photography at the young age shooting black & white photo’s with my dad’s Olympus Trip 35. After many years, lots of failures & successes & much learned through experience I turned my hobby into a professional business. At the time of going pro, underwater photography was my main genre & as a qualified diving instructor, I taught underwater photography as a diving speciality & worked as the in-house photographer for a diving publication – Divestyle Magazine. 

Unfortunately after a very serious motorbike accident, diving became very difficult for me so I was forced to explore other photography business options. It was around this time that I started getting serious about aviation photography & shortly after getting into aviation photography I landed a position as the in-house photographer for an international aviation publication – World Airnews Magazine. 

I subsequently left both publications to continue as a freelance photographer & have continued to work as a professional photographer in the aviation, industrial, commercial & travel sectors for a number of years.

My back ground has not only been photography & diving. I am also a qualified Avionic Radar Technician & spent a number of years working for the South African Airforce, Reutech Systems & SAAB Avitronics developing & producing Electronic Warfare Systems for various military aircraft & naval vessels.

Services

Aviation Photography
Aviation photography is taking images of aircraft, either in flight, or on the ground. In ground-static photography, photos of stationary aircraft are taken on the ground. Photos can be of aircraft exteriors, interiors, & aircraft details. In ground-to-air photography, photos of aircraft in flight are taken with the photographer on the ground. This type of photography is common at airshows or airports. Air-to-air photography is photographing aircraft in the air, while using another aircraft as a photo platform. The subject aircraft is photographed while both aircraft are in flight.

Portrait Photography
The most important rule when making a portrait is that there are no rules. You can pose subjects or capture them naturally. You can choose to alter lighting in a studio or use natural lighting. There are no rules, but each decision we make changes how the viewer perceives the photograph. There are 5 core elements that make up a good portrait: Location, lighting, composition, emotion & technical settings. When all 5 of these elements are well executed, a great portrait is created. If any of these elements comes up short, the quality of the portrait suffers.

Commercial Photography
Commercial photography, or e-commerce photography as it’s sometimes known, is basically what it sounds like: photos taken & used on websites & social media platforms to help drive sales of your product or service. There are so many benefits of product photography: They provide your customers with a clear image of what they will expect to receive. A high-quality image implies that your product is high quality; it creates a good first impression of your brand. … Photographs are an excellent way to establish your brand identity.

Wedding Photography
Wedding photography is a specialty in photography that is primarily focused on the photography of events & activities relating to weddings. It may include other types of portrait photography of the couple before the official wedding day, such as a pre-wedding engagement session.

Gallery