Blog Posts

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Happy Holidays

With the schools closed it’s time to move to my normal summer office hours.

From 9th July until 31st August, my normal office hours will change to 10-12 Monday to Friday.

As usual, these are the hours when I will definitely be in the office.  I am generally available in the Gallery for most of the day but since it’s just me here then I do need to close the Gallery and go out to meet clients, suppliers and take photos (not necessarily in that order).

So if you want to just drop in then 10-12 is your best bet.  If that doesn’t suit then just call me to confirm that I’m in the Gallery at another time during the day – or we can make an appointment.

I am still taking evening and weekend appointments over the summer.

We having a few plans for going away over the summer which will mean that the Gallery will be closed for a few days.  Most of these are weather dependant so nothing definite yet.  One of the advantages of working for yourself is the flexibility of your working hours (tempered against the need to work whenever you’re needed) – so this summer I intend to take advantage of that flexibility a small bit.

So if you need me, call and make an appointment – 021 429 3714 (diverts to mobile if I’m not here) or drop in 10-12.

The Best Professional Photographer in Douglas
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End of Term

Best of Luck to everyone finishing up school today – I hope you all enjoy the summer.

It’s been a bit quiet from me on Facebook and the blog over the last few weeks – a busy time at work and at home but hopefully I’ll catch up next week and post some more recent work and updates…

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Bluebells and Fairies

The best sessions are just plain fun.  The kids aren’t performing, they’re just being themselves and I’m lucky enough to share that and get to capture it in a series of stunning images.

And what’s more beautiful than young ladies gathering bluebells!

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Six Go Wild in Currabinny Woods

Clearly I’m not a believer in the old motto ‘never work with kids’.

Why would you not work with them when there’s so much fun to be had.

The thing about photographing kids of any age is to realise that they generally won’t do what you want – they’ll do what they want.  Which is only a problem if you want them to ‘sit still and smile’.

But if you want them to go out and be themselves, doing what they want is all you can wish for.

You just have to be able to capture it in all a photograph!

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Kids in the Wild

So May is here and we’re looking forward to Summer.  We’ve already started the Outdoor Sessions and had a lot of fun picking bluebells and running free in the Forests of Cork.

Lots of lovely images I’d love to share so ‘stay tuned’ and I’ll try and get them up here in the next few days.

Also keep an eye out for a special deal on these sessions coming up for the Summer Hols…

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News on Gallery Sessions

As I mentioned in a previous post, the Gallery Sessions last year were a big hit: a convienient way to get a great range of pictures of a whole family at a reasonable cost (and with no initial outlay).

But me, being me, couldn’t help messing with the format a bit.

It’s no news that I’m not a fan of flat backgrounds.  I started a blog post about that very subject and it turned into a small essay – so we’ll have to work out where to go with that one at some stage.

But these are studio sessions and we need a background.  So we chose something less ‘photographery’ and flat with more texture and deliberately set it up so it wasn’t smooth.  The to help I tilted it to give some depth.

But at times the purple backdrop came up very dark and a bit flat last year – even when I started lighting it independently.  So we looked at other options: more depth, more options for posing full length, better lit and more space for larger groups.

My motto would always to ‘use what you have’ first and by turning everything around and incorporating the Gallery partion we hit on something new and way more interesting.  Moreover shooting into the angle adds more depth.

It’s deeper, brighter and gives options for leaning against the partion.  You get good separation with darker clothes and taller people in the group and we have extra seats, stools and other props this year to make more interesting group setups.

First Live Session with the new backdrop
First Live Session with the new backdrop

Just to finally add those links to the Communion information:

Communion and Confirmation Sessions
Communion and Confirmation Packages

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Special Easter Forest Sessions: €50 Session + Canvas Wrap

Great Package Offer this Easter

With the Easter Holidays approching and Spring definitely here, it’s time to get out in the local parks and forests and take some pictures!

People always love our Forest Sessions and to encourage you to get out there this Easter break we’re offering a special promotional offer.

For €50 you get:

  • A full Outdoor Session in the Cork Area
  • A Viewing Session at the Gallery in Ardfallen Estate to review your selected images
  • A 12×18 Canvas Wrap

The offer applies to Outdoor Sessions taken between 31st March and 15th April 2012 (no sessions available on Easter Sunday 8th April).  Other products can be purchased using session images at our normal pricing.

So now’s your chance to get that Forest Session done over the school holidays.

Call us now to make your booking – 021 429 3714

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Angel on the Bedstead

St Patrick’s Weekend meant two things for us this year: both girls in the Parade; and the chance for three lie-ins in a row.

It’s been a busy few weeks for all of us and we definitely needed some time to re-charge the batteries.

Thankfully our kids are now old enough to get themselves up and get started at the weekends, which leaves us an extra few zzz’s.

And on Monday morning I woke to find an Angel at the bottom of my bed:

'Everything looks better in Black and White'

Middle Child has been somewhat absent from these pages lately.  Don’t worry, you’ll see much more of her as her Communion approaches…

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Portraits

One of my favourite quotes relating to what I do has to be:

If you want to photograph a man spinning, give some thought to why he spins. Understanding for a photographer is as important as the equipment he uses. – Margaret Bourke-White, Portrait of Myself by Margaret Bourke-White

This comment resonated with me before I really understood it.

The more I look and try to understand truely great photographs and how they were created, the more I see that the level of understanding in your subject is key.

The difference between a ‘Portrait’ and a simple picture is that a Portrait captures an essence of character and in so doing stimulates an emotional response in the viewer – whether it’s an empathy or a more negative reaction.

Generating that response, creating a rappor and engaging your subject creating a Portrait requires more than just camera skills.  In fact many of the greats of portraiture weren’t great camera operators but their personalities and creative vision allowed them to create some astonishing portraits.

And I don’t think that this is limited to portraiture.  Looking at Landscape work and stuff like Thom Hogan’s wildlife courses and many other fields it’s clear that a fundamental understanding of your subject and how it tends to behave gives you an advantage in being in the right place at the right time in good light to capture that decisive moment.

So, I’ll add a more recent quote from Thom: ‘Frankly, planning, preparation, and patience tend to gain me more than what the camera makers are gaining in their latest tweaks.’