Due to a family Birthday, the Gallery will be closed today, Friday 4th March. I have a Pirate Party to attend.
Also, I’ll be away at a Trade Event in the UK Tuesday and Wednesday next week so I won’t be at the Gallery then either.
As usual I’ll be available on the mobile for anything urgent – or just drop me an email and I’ll get back to you when I’m back in the office.
Have a great weekend!
I can’t believe it’s a week since the election already (no sign of a government yet?). I popped into the count on Saturday evening and bumped into a few people – some of whom had been there for the duration (and weren’t going home). It’s great that the count is open to the public: democracy in action.
I was also passed this link – especially for those of us who weren’t there all day!
For anyone tired of running around town looking for the last few dead roses, how about something more permanent for your loved one this Valentine’s Day.
I’m offering a limited availability Gift Voucher in a Presentation Picture Frame. The voucher gives the One You Love a full photo session at a location of their choice and a print to put in the frame once the session is done.
The Framed Voucher costs €50 and is available from the Gallery until 14th February. Sessions need to be booked by the end of March.
There’s been lots going on since Christmas and I’ve had to neglect the Blog while I get on planning for communions and a few other things that I hope to be announcing on here over the next few weeks.
In the meantime, family life continues and that now includes visits to the Gallery by many keen supporters.
The Young Fella has taken to coming in to the Gallery, grabbing business cards and flyers and going out on the street to hand them out (well they do bear his picture after all).
I can’t knock his enthusiasm to promote the business so I guess the pupils and staff of Eglantine School are just going to have to get used to him as they go by on their way to the Park!
I thought I’d better take the promised interior shot of the Gallery before the Christmas Tree went down:
It looks like the stitching software had a few problems with the extreme wideangle required to fit everything in but hopefully you get the picture.
If the flash isn’t working for you, you can download a jpeg version of the image here.
We all need a break. You’d think that I’d take a break from taking pictures over the holidays wouldn’t you? Well, no. I usually take the opportunity over the hols to shoot some film. Yes, film. Old school stuff. But I find the practice of shooting film slows me down and forces me to take more time over taking a picture which is no bad thing.
So I smiled to myself packing my extra ‘take home for the hols’ bag on Christmas Eve:
We had a lot of fun with the spinner in the snow on Christmas Eve – some of them even came out! Remember that ‘wait and see what you got’ feature that you have with film?
I ran my first ever 120 film through the ‘blad on New Year’s Day – need to find someone to develop it now!
If there’s a message from this then it’s to do some personal work as well as all that other stuff: have some fun and enjoy your cameras – all of them. Each has its strengths and stretching your mind to use each for something different is good for your creativity.
Have a Happy New Year. Be creative and make some time to enjoy yourself a little more than you did in 2010.
Merry Christmas to everyone. I hope you all have a peaceful and restful holiday.
The Gallery will close on Christmas Eve and re-open on 3rd January. So anyone who wants to take advantage of the Gallery Opening Gift Voucher Offer and get a last minute Christmas gift needs to call in today or tomorrow to get one.
I am around Cork for the holidays and taking a few bookings between Christmas and New Year so if you need anything urgent do call the mobile: 087 683 8511. If I’m not available please leave a message and I’ll get back to you.
The Gift Voucher Offer will continue in January so if someone springs an unexpected present on you, you can still get a voucher in return!
Have a great one…
RTÉ’s ‘The Model Scouts’ finished last night. The adults have been addicted in our house: the Mrs for the Fashion and the Model thing, me for all the Photographers featured.
I love seeing other Photographers work – I always learn something from them one way or another.
Lasting impressions? We’re both very impressed with IMG for starters.
And there were few surprises in the girls who did well or how hard they found it.
I thought it showed very well how personality and engagement are just as important – more important in fact – than good looks.
Which of course is good news for all of us! Photography is really about capturing and evoking emotion and being pretty doesn’t get you all they way there.
Working with models is very different from photographing ‘normal’ people: it is the model’s job to give a photographer what they want. It was interesting to hear the feedback from the photographers in the programme discussing which girls were ‘harder to work with’.
Most ordinary people just do what they do – many in fact feel very uncomfortable being photographed to start with and it is my job to make it as relaxing and ‘normal’ as possible in order to get the best photograph of them that I can.
January is the start of ‘seminar season’ for photographers. Traditionally a quiet time there’s a lot of training out there at all levels. Many of these use models. A good model is patient (they are being paid to be there) and they don’t need a lot of help posing or striking a look. It’s a great way to learn more about photography – just don’t expect all ‘real’ people to be so comfortable in front of the camera!
Well done to everyone involved but especially the girls who took part. They were all so young and thrown into a voyage of self-discovery that I certainly couldn’t have taken on at their age! Great job! Great TV!
To celebrate the opening of the Gallery, I am pleased to announce a special limited availability Gift Voucher.
The Voucher costs €30 and gives you a full family portrait session, a viewing session and a 5×7 print. The session has to be taken before 31st March, 2011.
This is a great deal and the Vouchers make ideal gifts for Christmas. So if you know someone who is long overdue a family portrait then this is the gift for them.
As usual the Portrait Sessions will take place in the family home (or outside if it’s warm enough). It’s a normal session so it can cover a large family group or just some pictures of the kids – or both.
You’ll then be invited back to the Gallery to see you pictures and select your complimentary print. You’ll be able to order more prints or other products at normal prices (although of course you’re under no obligation to do so). There are a range of new products on show in the Gallery.
The normal terms and conditions apply but there are few additional things to note about these vouchers:
Note that if you don’t think the time limit on this voucher suits the person you’re buying for then you can purchase standard gift vouchers (which have no expiry) from €80.
I’m way behind on the blog posts. The Gallery is in really good shape now and nearly – very nearly – ready for ‘officially open’.
I’ve been working here full-time for the past week or so and it’s really nice to have somewhere dedicated to my work.
So watch this space – there’s a Very Special Offer going with the opening (anyone who has passed by has already had a sneak preview).
