Melanie Cornelius
Melanie Cornelius has been capturing images since the age of 16 after she developed a love for photography while attending the Hugo Naude Art School. In 2015, Melanie pursued a full-time commercial and fine art photography career after being in the corporate world for 15 years. Melanie won the African Photo Award, Photographer of the Year 2021, and has been published and exhibited locally and internationally. She has also worked with many companies and establishments, capturing food, products, social media content, and many other photography projects.
Melanie is a friend of Canon and has been sharing her knowledge and passion with many photographers over the past few years.
Dave Hann
Dave Hann has been a professional photographer and filmmaker for the past 19 years. He works with 8 of the top 100 global companies on many of their campaigns as a visual storyteller and works with several local and international artists.
With a background in marketing and advertising, Dave specializes in company advertising campaigns, brand, product and CSR campaigns. Dave also specializes in wedding, commercial and is a renowned portrait photographer. As a storyteller, Dave is a sought-after filmmaker and has worked on several international campaigns with clients in Europe, USA, Singapore and Japan.
Dave offers end-to-end solutions to his clients as a filmmaker, where he storyboards, directs, films and edits all his content to deliver breathtaking films. He uses an array of Canon camera systems to capture his key images and films and uses Canon EOS R range, 5D MKIV and C100 MK2 bodies, with an array of lenses to capture his stories.
Dave is a friend of Canon SA and has been doing ongoing training for Canon South Africa for the past 3 years, sharing his passion, knowledge and skill with many Canon users and people who have a desire to work in the industry.
Rifumo Mathebula
The year after he discovered his passion for photography on a Wild Shots Outreach course in Ludlow Village, Mpumalanga, Rifumo Mathebula decided to pursue a career in photography. He persuaded WSO to run a course at his school, Frank Maghinyana High and organised the group and the venue. After completing the WSO Advanced Course and the Canon Young People Programme, Rifumo took on his first professional photo assignment.
Rifumo’s internship at Thornybush Game Reserve led him to Waterside Lodge and then to Conservation South Africa’s Media Team. Rifumo assumed leadership responsibility for the media team in 2021 and oversaw the delivery of Wild Shots Outreach programs.
Besides English, Rifumo speaks Isi Swati, Isi Zulu and Xitsonga extensively. His dedication to passing on his knowledge of wildlife and conservation, as well as his photographic skills, makes him a born teacher.