Miss Bossy Boots in Action…

I was kindly given this photograph, taken by a wedding guest at Jamie and Myrna’s wedding. So now I know what I look like when I am giving orders. It’s not very pretty. Mind you, this photograph was taken at my only truly vocal time of the wedding day, when I need to herd (encourage) the wedding guests into one big group. It is not a major problem to do this, but boy are you wasting your time if you think it can be done from the ground. There is a specifically Irish trait of not wanting to appear too enthusiastic about having your photograph taken because you might appear too confident. We are very good at acting not worthy. Why? I have no idea. All I know is that it takes one or two people to break from the pack and put themselves into the photograph and then the rest will follow…

 

 

Shhhh! I just won 6 Gold Awards…

Here are my 6 winning photographs which achieved Gold Awards at the Irish Professional Photographers Association two nights ago. I am now in the running for IPPA Photographer of the Year 2010, but let me tell you it is very, very difficult to win and the the standard of my colleagues is incredible so don’t hold your breath….

Huge thanks to Lorraine & Joe, Lillian & Marco, Jasmin & Danny, Elva & Eoin, Judy & Brian and Louise & Des, firstly for booking me as their wedding photographer and secondly for creating these images with me.

When my Wedding Photograph Plan does not go to Plan…

The landscape shots from my last post were a result of research done for Niamh & Tom’s wedding which was happening in Lispole. I felt great excitement at the potential for their shots. Visually I knew exactly what I was aiming for. Well to get to the point, none of this happened. It rained sporadically throughout the day and in fact every time I even suggested we put a toe outside the door of the church, the clouds would systematically spill down on top of us. Finally, I was given a 10 minute reprieve and this was what we got…

Oh and it wasn’t just the rain.. The tide was in with no sand left to stand on, the rocks were slippy and my feet were buried in slimy seaweed (I was hauled out by a gallant groomsman). The funny thing was that we were all happy to work with what we had and there was no disappointment to be seen on Niamh & Tom’s faces. The beach below these rocks was where Tom proposed to Niamh by writing it in the sand. They were happy regardless..

 

Lost in Ireland

I was reading a travel article in the New York Times written by Matt Gross who allows himself to get lost in countries by not using any aids to help him find his way. So this week his article was on getting “Lost in Ireland” . It got me thinking on how many times I have gotten lost when I am checking out remote areas for wedding shots. I would consider just about anywhere off the M50 remote because the sign posting is so incredibly bad. Come to think of it the M50 is not particularly good either. There seems to be a pattern of planting trees in front of signs and letting them spread in all their glory so that you just manage to see the last letter of what might be the destination you are looking for. Putting signs right on the exit so that you sail on past and travel a few miles more out of your way causes me to say not very nice words. Only recently the sign person (whoever he/she is) has figured out that putting signs over the motorway seems to be the way to go. Many times I would have liked to have met this sign person when they thought it was a good idea to put country road signs on round poles just so the local boys could easily manoeuvre the sign for Ballinamuck in the wrong direction.

This weekend I would have happily got lost on a network of country roads near Lispole in Kerry. To my left were stunning views of cliff edges and to my right a patchwork of green fields in a valley. I couldn’t allow myself to stray because I was on a tight schedule during Niamh and Tom’s wedding. Earlier on in the week I had checked this whole area out. The directions given to me by Tom involved driving through a farmyard, vering right up the hill, down the hill, then I went off track and ended up in the yard of another person’s house. The man was working outside but quickly disappeared inside when he saw yet another fool end up in his yard. Ahead of me was an overgrown grass track so I pulled on my wellies and decided to make my own way down the track, to see if there was anything worthwhile at the end of it…

The surprise at the end was the most perfect, small beach I have ever been on. There was not one footprint on the sand until I walked on it. I was surrounded by calm water, cliffs topped by velvet green grass and a castle ruin to my right. I stood there taking it all in and at that moment all was well in my world…

Allowing Yourself to Shine…

I had an obscene amount of shots to edit from Eoin and Elva’s wedding, definitely more than I have ever had on any other wedding. I was trying to figure out why this was. As I went back through the polished shots, I realised that Elva was a woman who allowed herself to shine in every sense. She strutted up the aisle, guests applauded, she danced back down the aisle with Eoin, she beamed the biggest smiles you could ever imagine, she felt at home in the luscious velvet seat of the horse and carriage, waving to the crowd. My photographic eye was in heaven, with the result that I had a field day with the shots…

Loved the bridesmaids dresses and Elva’s Mum cleverly created this “sky garden” which travels upwards with an abundance of colours..

One of my most favouritist (I know its not a word but I need to use it) shots.You can feel the excitement in the smile of Eoin’s sister…

 

Going Wild in Sneem..

Crazy busy at the moment but I had to post this shot of Elva and Eoin who came from Dublin to get married in Sneem. They have a huge appreciation for this part of Kerry so I really wanted to do justice to the beautiful landscape and to their sense of excitement about it. I am in the middle of editing Elva and Eoin’s wedding and believe me there are many more gems to be posted over the coming week..

Back to Ballyseede Castle..

You may have seen Tanis & Aidan’s wedding pre-shoot pics in an earlier post. Well here are the wedding pics taken at the great Ballyseede Castle in Tralee. There are many great shots that I would have liked to feature from this wedding but I have narrowed it down to the most animated ones. Great expressions and real sentiment are my priority to create a good wedding shot but it is not always easy to come by. Some families are just more expressive than others and this was one of those weddings where I had plenty of opportunities to capture that feeling…

The moment before walking down the aisle when the veil was whipped by the wind of Tanis’ head and sailed rapidly towards the field beside Curaheen Church. My assistant Mark made a running jump and nabbed it .

A Canadian Wedding in Cork…

I have been itching to edit this wedding of Jasmin and Danny who came from Alberta, Canada to get married in Cork. They came, not to have a big Irish wedding but a nuptial event that I would consider to be true to their character. No fluffiness but big on quality where it mattered…

Jasmin and Danny had cycled around the West Coast of Ireland a few years ago and were enchanted by the landscape. They hadn’t been to Cork so I did the research on the ground. I decided that some cityscapes, along with the cliff tops of Inchydoney and the beautiful doorways of Clonakilty would encapsulate this amazing part of Ireland…

At Cork Registry Office…

Your Carriage Awaits…

I am pleasantly busy at the moment so I am just posting snippets of the people that I am photographing with more to follow, but for now this princess named Faith caught my eye last Saturday as she walked into the room to show the awaiting wedding party her stunning gown. Her pose says it all…

The same lady had a pink dress lined up for the dance floor later! More from Myrna and Jamie’s wedding at the Sneem Hotel, Kenmare to follow…

The beautiful Myrna and Jamie at the Sneem Hotel. You could not get a view much better than this..

Kerry Leaves Me Spoiled For Choice…

People say to me all the time that it is no wonder I get such great shots. I have places like Kenmare, Killarney, Sneem, Derrynane, Waterville, Dingle with mountains and sea at my disposal wherever I end up photographing a wedding in Kerry. I agree! I have an extensive and dramatic palette here to create great shots. Castlegregory was the location for the bridal portraits below. 

We had great fun going to some less obvious spots including this one which was the gable of a man’s house who had a non-stop yapping dog as we took these. He almost had a seizure trying to get his paws on that veil…

We headed back to Tralee for this shot. I had my eye on this paint-chipped wall for quite some time and finally got to use it. I couldn’t believe the timing of this as the same wall was painted over the very next day…

Don’t get me started on how great Irish clouds are…

Did I also mention that we also have a lot of wind here in Kerry? It sometimes requires a ton of hair spray but great for veils…

Love the Happy Face in the background. This was our last shot and it just sums the day up..