professional photographer cork – Rob Lamb Photography

July 1, 2024

Mytleville Seascapes

I’ve talked about doing Seascapes in Ireland for a long time on my course. Having watched some great videos from the US, I defo think this is something at lends itself really well to the Irish Coastline.

And top of my list is Mytleville: it’s close by and has some lovely rock formations which have work at any tide. Part of a good seascape is longer exposures so early / late is best and the opportunity only just came to be there on a fine evening.

This was an interesting first go at this. The main learning for me was around an ‘optimal’ shutter speed. I had kind of assumed it would be ‘the longer the better’ I have seen some very ethereal seascapes with one/two minute exposures. So I did some 30s exposure but, in this context, they turned out a bit mushy and dull. The Mytleville landscape is all about the texture of the rock and the contrast to the water and the longer exposures covered all that up. So to get some blur but still see the rocks we’re looking at more like 1 or 2 second exposures.

There’s not one answer to this and you have to think about what you want to show and what will work best – and experiment!

Then there’s timing the exposure with the waves. Again this took a bit or trial and error because as the water comes in it covers the stones on the beach you loose the texture. So how much texture, how much creamy water.

I have two versions of the shot above and I find it hard to decide which I like the balance of best:

Still can’t quite decide: love them both

I initially put the polarising filter on – expecting it to not only block a couple of stops of light to allow longer exposures but also to effect the reflections on the water. It did help with longer exposures at the start and I think it did pop the clouds a little but not with the movement of the water made little impact there.

And I didn’t like the longer exposures so as the light dropped it wasn’t necessary any more.

Other than that: I took the cheap tripod and old D700 in case it got wet. I managed to not drop the camera (close a few times) but the tripod definitely got wet and sandy so be prepared for that. Although I’m all for fancy, rigid tripods, I’ve learned that at times you can get away with a cheaper one if you have time and are very careful.

May 23, 2024May 23, 2024

Disappearing Me

It’s been a busy few weeks between First Holy Communions, Confirmations and a lot of Commercial work. I was recently back in APC Physiotherapy and Sports Clinic. A great team who really know their stuff and had everything ready for a great shoot. Hopefully you’ll be seeing new pics on their web and socials soon.

Mirrors are my nemesis. Usually it’s just the odd mirror over a fireplace and I need to make sure that neither am I in it nor does the bounce off my flash make it look weirdly bright.

But there are some places where there are mirrors everywhere. It’s a necessary part of the functionality of the space: people need to see themselves in action in order to correct their movement or posture. So physios, dance studios, karate clubs all have big mirrors.

Once you know about it, then you can work around it. And in over 200 delivered photos, there was one that I was in (and couldn’t be cropped out of):

Now it’s a minor edit but necessary enough.

I did a talk for Cork Camera Club about edits like this and it occurs to me that I could probably do about 2 hours of tricks and tips on this kind of thing – there are many little tricks to getting it right. But maybe the AI tools are all doing it now?

March 23, 2021March 23, 2021

Still Here

Just an update on the current state of Lockdown 3.0

I’m here if you need me. A lot of what I normally do isn’t possible under the current restrictions but like many small businesses I’m trying to keep trading as much as I can.

I have some Commercial work still on: Product Photography, Digital Reproduction and Fine Art Printing can all be done safely without contact.

I am still processing print orders from Family, Communion and Confirmation sessions from last year (and the year before, and the year before that!)

So it’s a good time to look out those proofs and think about finally getting prints.

But I’m not in the office full time. I’m here when I need to be – generally mornings after the school drop (or after I make sure my home schooler is out of bed). So if you want to call in it’s best to phone to make sure I’m in the office when the time suits you – 087 683 8511

It’s no problem coming in to do something or meet you.

Otherwise I’ll be in my pink chair, drinking coffee in my garden – which is starting to spring to life again

July 13, 2017July 13, 2017

Turbulance

I’m experimenting with WordPress at the moment to decide whether to move the whole website over. I’m looking for something more responsive and a little more modern without getting too flashy and unusable.

So you may see some weird stuff going on with random template changes and it’s possible that at times the blog may be busted while I play with something in WordPress.

Generally the feedback on the website is that people like it’s simplicity – which is pretty much were the original design was aimed at. Easy access to photo portfolio, some useful info on who I am and what I do.

But although I transferred the image galleries to be mobile friendly some time ago, the bulk of the site is unchanged for many years. So maybe it’s time to take a look.

It’s soooo hard to choose pics for the web site. Even harder to talk about yourself and what you do!

October 1, 2015October 1, 2015

Where to go in Cork

In the last article I looked in a general way at where to go for your location session. If nothing comes to you yet then here are a few more specific ideas for where to go in Cork:

Currabinny Woods (51.812170, -8.304958) is an excellent location for family photos. It has everything: it’s compact, good parking and not too far away. It has plenty of options for kids of all ages in most weather conditions.

Fitzgerald’s Park (51.8962438,-8.4958268) is another good location and very handy from the city. We normally start at the Museum end and work our way through the park. Lots of options here including the trees, stumps, sculptures, benches etc. They new playground is a lot more photogenic but because there are usually so many other kids there we leave that to the end after the session (sometimes it can be used as an incentive if you’re careful with it – more on incentives later)

The Japanese Gardens, Ballinlough (51.8863896,-8.4489809) may not be the most selubrious location but it’s very handy for the office and the lower part of the park offers enough options for a good family photo shoot. There’s a nice bit of cover there, benches, trees and the quarry as backdrop so it has worked very well for me on many occassions.

The Lough (51.885795, -8.488243) is more limited in terms of stuff to sit, stand or lean on but there’s enough there to work with and the Lough itself looks nice as a background. The far end is probably nicer than the Hawthorn end but we usually stroll around and see what works best. The playground is very bright and can be busy for photos.

Ballincollig Regional Park (51.890118,-8.61589) is a bit further out of town and quite a large area. The area closest to the car park is pretty open but there are areas near the river and down the far end that could be used. It’s probably more suitable to older kids who don’t mind walking further.

Faran Woods (51.8888995,-8.75678) is even further out. It’s a good location but there are a some of things to watch out for (apart from having to pay for the Car Park!). The playground is on the way in so you can get a bit stuck there if you don’t manage things properly. It’s a nice wooden playground but there’s more opportunities to be had in the woods themselves.

Rostellen Woods (51.8446453,-8.1904122) is out the other side of the city but handy for Midleton or East Cork in general. It’s a nice compact woods with options for views of the harbour is your kids can walk that far. The ruins on the shore also offer some nice options for posing and backgrounds to add to the forest pictures.

Killeagh Woods (51.9427735,-7.9922103) is even further out East of the City but is a really nice compact woods with lots going on there to work with: a stream, bridges, woods, benches, all that. Take the left behind the Thatched Cottage and left again to go up along the river.

Fota Gardens (51.8927924,-8.3058249) is a great location for photos with plenty of options for playing and forming informal groups: house steps, carved seats, fernery, rose gardens, orangery etc Technically you may need permission to shoot in the grounds but I’ve never had a problem there. Much of the Arboretum is evergreen so it works well all year round but if you’re looking for Autumn colour, it’s not your location of choice.

August 25, 2014August 25, 2014

Busy Weekend: Belle of Ballinlough

Well done to Nathalie and all the other constants in the Belle of Ballinlough over the weekend.

We were very proud to have Nathalie represent us on stage but unfortunately this wasn’t her year.

Congrats to Eimear representing the Orchard Bar who is the 2014 Belle.

Nathalie has a natural presence and was certainly very comfortable in front of the camera when we did a quick photo session in the Japanese Gardens last week. Here are a few more pics from the session and you can follow her Street Style blog at https://www.facebook.com/Streetstyleandsmile

November 26, 2013

The Most Valuable Thing You Own

Eighty-one years ago today this little girl sat in The Waltur Studios, 141a High Street, Walthamstow, London E17 for a portrait. It was a few days after her First Birthday.

She doesn’t look much like she enjoyed the experience.

I’ve no idea what The Waltur Studios charged my gandparents for this sitting or the couple of prints that survive but I’m sure that to them it wasn’t insignificant. Given what I know of their circumstances, it wouldn’t surprise me if they went without something else to pay for these.

It was a gift to my generation that it’s now impossible to put a value on.

They obviously thought it was important to get a photographic record of their only daughter on her First Birthday. In fact, considering the times they were pretty good at taking (and keeping photos). My Dad have me a whole tin of pics from my Mum’s younger days. If there was a fire (and everyone else was safe)- this is one of the first things I’d want to save (along with my own pics of my own family).

What makes this one truely unique is that The Waltur Studios printed their details on the back of the print and stamped the date ’26 Nov 1932′.

It’s been our policy to sign, date and identify each of our prints. They are printed with professional ink and paper which is certified by the manufacturers for over 100 years (assuming you look after them). I want you and your kids to enjoy these prints just as much as I enjoy having this picture of my Mum

May 30, 2013May 30, 2013

No Communion Photos? It’s not too late!

If you’ve recently had a Communion and you’ve no photos to show for it then it’s not too late.

We do a lot of First Holy Communion sessions after the event. It’s a great chance to dressed up again and get the pictures you missed out on on the day.

The kids always enjoy re-living the day getting dressed up again and it can be scheduled to suit you so there’s no pressure – you can relax and enjoy the whole photoshoot experience.

We can do the session at Home or in a Studio Setting depending on how formal you want to go. But all these sessions are designed to be fun for everyone and you can see that in the images we produce.

So give me a buzz if you want to get some lovely memories of your special day now that the dust has settled – 021 4293714 or rob@roblambphoto.com

May 22, 2013

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.