Category: News

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Families Wanted for Spring Photo Shoots

Get a Free Session and Framed 8″x12″ Photograph

I am looking to get new, fresh images of kids having fun outdoors this Spring.  I’m thinking kids playing in bluebell woods, kids with daffodils, cherry blossom – all that kind of thing.  I want to use these pictures on the web site and in promotional literature to publicise the outdoor sessions going forward.

So I’m looking for a number of families in the Cork area who are interested in getting involved in an outdoor photo session this Spring.  In return for your involvement, you get a framed 8”x12” picture the shoot.

We’ll have some fun outdoors with the kids, I get some great photos to use for my own publicity and you get the artwork as a thank you.

Families of any size with kids of toddler age upwards can apply – just as long as you’re up for it rain or shine!

Just e-mail me your contact details, number and ages of children and rough geographical area.  If you have a favourite park or forest (or a big garden) that would suit the session then I’m happy to take suggestions for locations as well.

Sessions will take place from mid March to the end of April, depending on the weather and when exactly spring actually ‘springs’.  Weekends are fine if that’s the only time that suits your family.

I want to do as many of these sessions as I can before First Communions start in May so you only have a short time to book your session.  Contact me now to set a date:

e-mail: rob@roblambphoto.com

call or text: 087 683 8511

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Danone Big Toddle for Barnardos

The publicity for this year’s Big Toddle for Barnardos launched this week.  For my part I was at Bessborough Creche, Blackrock taking pictures of Cork’s own Graham Canty supposedly bossing some preschoolers around ‘Celebrity Bainisteoir’ style – but of course the kids were having none of it!

Find out more and register your own Toddle Team at www.barnardos.ie/bigtoddle

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World Press Photo 2009

The World Press Photo Awards have been announced for 2009.  The full set of winners are available on their website

http://www.worldpressphoto.org/

Please be warned, there are some very strong and graphic images on this web site.  This is real news happening to real people and it is not all pretty.

I have tracked these particular awards from way back.  I think I have the books of the winners going back into the early-1990’s.  Obviously there are a lot of very powerful, moving images in there: the competition represents the best of the world’s press photography.

Over time they also represent a great visual history of recent events.

But looking at the images of conflict in this collection show me that the trend in the press has been to more stark, shocking, even grotesque imagery.

Don McCullin was also in the news recently as London’s Imperial War Museum is featuring an exhibition and he presented an audio slide show on the BBC Website.

Looking at McCullin’s work is a very different experience for me.  He in no way holds back on the impact of conflict but it seems his focus is much more on the living left behind during conflict and what it has done to them as it is about the dead.

Of course the World Press Photo Awards is not all war, I still love all the sports work and a lot of the features.  It is well worth a look.

I guess the only question is whether I will still buy the book now that all the winning images are on the web site.  I still love having this kind of stuff in my hands in print!

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Claire Cullinane at the IAC Fundraiser

Thanks to everyone who stopped to chat at the Irish Anaphylaxis Campaign Fundraiser on Friday night.

As one of the two men in the audience, much of what she was saying wasn’t really directed at me.  She is a great speaker.  Two full hours of passion and energy about the very fundamentals of good, natural living and positive self image.  More power to her.

And from a professional perspective, I fully support what Claire is trying to do with encouraging women (in particular but people in general) to have a more positive self image: to make the best of what they have but also to accept that what they were given is pretty fantastic whatever shape it is.

If more people took this on, it would certainly make my job easier.

It was great for me to talk to so many people on the stand on Friday.  I received a very positive reaction to the work on display and I think many people now see that there is an alternative to traditional studio family portraits – and one that provides a much more natural, personal look to the pictures.

I have extended the IAC fundraiser for the rest of this week.  If you contact me to book a Session or a Gift Voucher before 7th February and mention that you saw me at the Irish Anaphylaxis Campaign fundraiser, I will donate 10% of the price of what you purchase to the IAC.

Claire Cullinane at the IAC fundraiser
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January Updates

Infrared at the Beach

After a hectic Christmas period and my trip away, I managed to find some time to update the gallery pages of the web site last week.

I have just uploaded the new galleries: additions to the main kids, babies and families gallery; two new Ireland galleries including the ‘Best of the Blog’ images from 2009.

Enjoy…

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Snow at Last

After watching all the snow in the East over the weekend we finally got ours yesterday.  We had loads of fun all afternoon with friends and neighbours out the back of the house. The boys had to be dragged in when it was getting dark!

It is all still here today and no more is forecast but this is more snow in Cork than anyone can remember.   I know I should probably be out there shooting landscapes but snowmen are way more fun.  I did do a few ‘Andy Goldsworthys’ which I’ll put together and post up here soon.

Meanwhile, take care out there and have fun.

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Frozen Out

By all accounts, it is a long time since the Lough froze over.  The best estimate I have had so far is 26 years.

Another cold night is upon us, take care out there if you have to travel.  Personally, I’ll be finishing off my Christmas cards by the fire.

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First Family Portrait

In the last few weeks the White House released the first official portrait of the Obama First Family.  I’m not sure I have rights to publish the picture (and I wanted to keep all the photos on here my own) but it is available on the White House Flickr site.

In keeping with previous administrations, Annie Leibovitz was asked to take the picture.

Hang on Annie,  call that a family portrait?  No white background?  No selective colouring?  No crazy jumping around the place?

No gimmicks, no nonsense, just classic portraiture.  A portrait in any medium is more than a simple likeness: it conveys some element of the character of the subject.

Liebovitz has shown us a father, a mother and two daughters, distinct characters but united as a family.  Even in this most public of families, in the face of all we know about the ability of the Administration to spin and manage presentation, the image is credible.

Annie Liebovitz’s own problems have been well documented recently but her ability as a portrait photographer is unchallenged.

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Tea and Cameras

Thanks to the ladies of Togher ICA for their hospitality on Wednesday night.  We had a bit of fun talking about cameras and taking photographs.

Hopefully everyone got something interesting from it.  We even did some practical ‘arranging a group’ in the small space that was available in the Community Centre.

In response to a couple of people asking, I put together a couple of pages on my experience choosing a digital point and shoot camera for my 8 year old this year.  I have now added it as a page on the blog for anyone interested in my version of how to choose a basic camera.  Any questions, let me know…

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You saw it here first

Once again, Cork City proves itself to be ahead of the rest of the world in all things cultural.

Way back at the start of the blog (almost exactly a year ago) I posted this picture of a knitted sock monster thing on the South Mall.

Well I passed it again yesterday and it is still there but it is not much more than crumpled lump of wool at the bottom of the post.

But this week, the BBC’s Oddbox features Yarn Bombing in Canada (number 7 in the list of 10 if you watch the video).  What can I say?  Where Cork goes, others follow.

So to the Cork Yarn Bombers – whoever you are (no-one I know came forward, though I still suspect the Cork Textile Network) – let’s have more of it and show these Canadians!

PS: A quick google uncovers a whole underground movement which is obviously only just making it into the media.

PPS: Cork Textile Network opened their annual exhibition in the School of Music on Monday called ‘The Long Note’.  I had the pleasure of doing their publicity shots on Monday.  Excellent work as usual, it is well worth a look if you’re passing good luck to all the members of the Network.