Category: Around Cork

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Maybe Summer is Back?

Photographer in Cork
Just like being Under the Dome

As we did the return leg along the road back to the Car Park in Currabinny on Saturday, I suddenly became aware of being surrounded by these remarkable butterflies.

Hang on, it’s October.

But there are loads of them flitting across the road.

Then I got home and the same butterflies were crowding around the little daisy-bush-thing that flowers in late summer (they could be Michealmas Daisies).  Loads of them, all visiting the flowers and drinking nectar.  So me and The Boy watched them and I managed to take a few snaps (no macro lens at home, no opportunity to do anything with the lighting, just full sun and the closest, longest setting of the ‘chasing kids around the woods’ lens).

This would be unusual enough if I hadn’t seen the latest episode of Under the Dome which also features butterflies appearing en-mass at an unusual time of year.  So if the Dome coming to Cork?

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First Holy Communions 2013

I’m pretty much up to date with the communion pictures at this stage so anyone who has had communion pictures taken should have either a proof sheet (for Gallery Sessions) or a booking for a viewing session.

For anyone who can’t make it in we can provide on-line viewing of your images but it’s better if you can come in and see them in their full glory for the first time.  I can also answer your questions about sizing, framing and how the communion packages work.

There’s a lot going on this time of year but some lovely pictures come out of First Communions whether it’s a Gallery session, a session with the family at home or some of the less formal pictures – like those from the Our Lady of Lourdes Communion last weekend.

It’s a lovely time for the kids and a great time to capture all the excitement and innocence of the day.

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Diversions

The Japanese Gardens, Ballinlough

 

The IR-converted D70 hasn’t been out for a while.  Years in fact.  The battery was so flat it had completely reset.  It was one of my phases: the IR phase.  Like the Fisheye phase I guess every photographer has these.

But over the last few years I’ve been focussed on my core skills as a portrait photographer and that’s all about traditional people skills and natural looking tones.  I think classic portraiture endures whereas the latest trendy-faddy look will always date.

I’ve always been fond of the IR landscape look  – those dramatic black skies!  I just don’t shoot that many landscapes.  And it hasn’t exactly been IR weather.

Today was better though and with a full day in the office in the offing I took 15 minutes out in the sun at lunchtime to see if the D70i still worked (it was a DIY job afterall).  I decided to just go out there and shoot what I saw in a very familiar location.  No real analysis, just image instinct.

I think it’s worth doing a bit more with the IR landscapes.  You need to get the balance between the IR look and good composition.  They are remarkable because of the IR thing but you need to use it to make a good image (and avoid the snowscape look).  I just ned a few more sunny days and a little time to get out there!

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The Stories of God’s Bus

Outside St Mary’s there was this bus.

Photographer Cork
God’s Bus. St Mary’s, Pope’s Quay, Cork

To me there seemed to be a whole bag of stories relating to this bus, the people on it, the people who own and maintain it, where it’s been and what it’s doing outside St Mary’s on a Thursday morning.

And I’d love to know.   And I’d love to photograph them.

But what came over me as I walked past the bus was a familiar old feeling of intrusion.  It’s one I used to feel when I saw something like this on my holidays – I was fascinated, I knew there was a great story waiting to be told, I could even see some captivating photographs waiting to be taken, but I was inhibited by not wanting to intrude: I had no real right to pry for the sake of a good photograph.

My curiosity isn’t stronger than someone else’s privacy.

I thought that perhaps this would change now I do this for a living. I’m a full-time professional photographer now.  But clearly for me that doesn’t give me the right to be nosey for a photograph no-one has asked me to take.  Even  if it will be fantastic.

Maybe it’s my English background.  No doubt many other stunning photographs have been created without such qualms.  Maybe the people concerned would have been more than happy to tell me their story and let me photograph them.

But the best thing about doing this professionally (for me) is that people ask you to photograph them and tell their story.  It’s the asking that makes the difference.

So I shot this ‘from the hip’ without the people on the bus noticing and went about my own business.  That probably says a lot about me but I’m OK with that.

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St Anthony’s School Confirmation and Communion

We sent flyers into St Anthony’s School today about availability for the Confirmation on the 10th April and the Communion on the 27th April.

We’re available for Gallery Sessions and sessions at home or on location (Hotels, Restaurants etc) on both days although we are starting to get booked up for the 27th already.

The range of sessions and packages is designed to be flexible to allow you to get Quality Professional Photographs on your child’s day.  We’ll make sure you get a great momento of your family looking their best.

If you have a Confirmation or First Communion at St Anthony’s this year, give us a call to enquire about a session to suit you – 021 429 3714

If you’d like to arrange a session to mark the event on another day then that’s no problem – often people prefer to get the pictures taken when they can be more relaxed.  All the same options for sessions and packages are still available.

With the other posts here on the blog, the information about the sessions and the packages are slipping down the main page so I’ve now anchored a link to the top of the navigation bar to make it easier to find.

St Athony's School Confirmation

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St Mary’s, Popes Quay

Photographsm of Cork
Just something about those steps

So on my morning off I went off to drop in on friends who have just opened up a food business on Popes Quay.  It’s a long time since I walked that quay and I was stopped in my tracks on the steps of St Mary’s.  Something about these steps drew me in and I took out the camera and the 24mm lens and took a few pictures.

It’s one of those occassions where the light and the geometry of the steps – newly wet from a shower – just stuck me.

Now it’s no surprise to most people that I prefer people to architecture.  People are just more interesting and the more time you have with someone the more interesting they become and my challenge in life is to convey that character in a photograph.  And I’d normally be looking at a shot like this and looking at who to put into the frame to make it make sense and where to put them.

But I quite like this image.  I tried it in black and white but it looked too much like a drawing.

On a technical note, not much has been done with this image.  I made some adjustments in Lightroom to even out some minor distortion in the 24mm prime lens, adjusted contrast and colour and that’s about it.  The intention is just to sligtly exagerate the natural flatness of the tone of the stone work and contrast with the colour of the doors.  I decided not to clean up the gum, the cigarette butt or anything else.

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My Morning in Numbers

After much talking about it, I finally took the morning off today.  In true BBC style, here’s how my morning shaped up in numbers:

1 Person wandering around town with only a very short list of things to do.  Looking around in the sun between the showers and enjoying being in the City

2 Drivers seen going the wrong way down one-way streets

3 Great Ideas for new photo projects which may never happen (must write them down)

5 Photographers meeting up for breakfast

15 minutes late to meet them because I had to go into the office first

25 Days left to catch the Terry O’Neill exhibition at Wandsworth Quay and the City Council Offices – go see, great to see these images in real print

32 Photographs taken whilst wandering the streets of Cork.  I decided to bring the camera in case I saw something and pulled it out at St Mary’s on the North Quays.  More of these later.

205 Minutes out of the office.  Not much but great value.

3,000 euro for the Terry O’Neill print I had my eye on.

I didn’t count the number of businesses which had closed since I was last in the City – but I did notice a good few new ones as well.

Good to get some time out of the office…

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Looking Back

OK so our bit of snow didn’t last that long.  The kids threw a few snowballs on the way to school and then it was gone by lunchtime.

So I’ve had to gone back into the Archive to find something topical:

Family Photographs Douglas
Snowboy – Jan 2010

Two side stories on this one:

  1. We have a canvas print of this at home but I couldn’t find the file anywhere so I went back to the original Archive file for the RAW file and put it through Lightroom.  What I find interesting is that second time around I didn’t do a whole lot more to the file than I did about 3 years ago when the picture was taken.  I’m not a big Photoshopper: I try to get everything right in camera.  All files get corrected: White Balance, Exposure and Tonal Adjustments.  I will go at anything that distracts from the main subject – whether that’s controlling bright areas or cloning out odd things here and there.  But that’s about it.  The tools are better three years later but the aim is pretty much the same.
  2. When I started the laptop this morning to pull this file off the Archive, it didn’t start first time and went into Recovery.  A (long) time after it came back and I sighed with relief.  But I got a slight fright.  Everything in the office is backed up but I treat the laptop as something of a temporary store.  But there probably are some things on there that aren’t fully protected (mainly personal stuff).  Also the disc is pretty full.  So today has become IT day with a series of backups and disc purges in place across both machines.  Followed maybe by a little maintenance.  Computers are great but you have to look after them!
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Lots done, more to do…

After a full recharge over the holidays it’s great to be back in the office looking forward to a good 2013 (even though it was hard getting everyone up and out this morning).

2012 was our best year yet and there’s still a few things that need to be tidied up after a very busy close running up to Christmas.

But we’re putting together plans for more great work this year.  That’s going to include more special sessions and promotions, ideas for getting more families involved in new ideas for great sessions that really connect with their identity as a family and produce images that they will treasure for years.

I also want to review our on-line presence an give it a bit of a re-fresh – so keep your eyes out changes here, on the main site and through Facebook.

I might also get a chance to post some more personal work – and to start with this from yesterday’s orienteering at Currabinny, thanks to Bishopstown Orienteering Club.  A good day enjoyed by all – I know these woods very well from doing so many sessions there over the years but we still found a few new spots.

Family Fun in Currabinny
Five go wild looking for orange markers
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€30 Christmas Vouchers Now Available

Following the success of previous year’s Kris Kringle vouchers we’re making them available again this Christmas.

These are limited availability vouchers that give the gift of a full family session and a 5×7 print for just €30.

We’ve found that people coming back to us with these vouchers were all delighted to receive them – often they were thinking about getting a family session done but hadn’t gotten around to making the booking.

Our family sessions are unique, they are designed to be relaxed and fun and the images that come out are the gift that lasts a lifetime – so why not give the gift of bit of magic for Christmas.