Archive for the ‘Engagement’ Category

Colleen & Declan {e-session} | Roundstone, Connemara

February 2, 2013

Colleen & Declan came over to Ireland to get married and one of the things we decided to do was to grab some quality time together before the big day. Now Declan is a fisherman back in the USA and we thought it would be a good idea to have a boat/fishing village theme in the shoot just to make him feel a little more comfortable.

We started off at Roundstone in Connemara which is a really lovely sleepy little village almost as far west as you can go once you leave Galway.CD e session 108 Colleen & Declan {e session} | Roundstone, Connemara
CD e session 121 Colleen & Declan {e session} | Roundstone, Connemara
CD e session 140 Colleen & Declan {e session} | Roundstone, Connemara
CD e session 128 Colleen & Declan {e session} | Roundstone, Connemara
From Roundstone we headed to one of my alltime favourite places to shoot weddings, Ballynahinch Castle, Recess, Connemara.

CD e session 189 Colleen & Declan {e session} | Roundstone, Connemara
CD e session 199 Colleen & Declan {e session} | Roundstone, Connemara
CD e session 204 Colleen & Declan {e session} | Roundstone, Connemara
We stopped to another very well known spot to take a couple more images and wow, what a backdrop hey – gorgeous!!!

CD e session 212 Colleen & Declan {e session} | Roundstone, Connemara

And then we finished the day off with a romantic walk on the beach in Spiddal. By now the weather had turned against us slightly but it didn’t stop the guys from wanting to kick the shoes off and take a walk in the water.

CD e session 243 Colleen & Declan {e session} | Roundstone, Connemara

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Is it important to do an engagement session??

November 28, 2012

I get asked this question quite frequently by clients when I meet with them for the first time. And the answer in my eyes is “yes” for a number of reasons and I will explain why.

1) Getting to know each other

I generally feel that by having the session it allows everyone to get a bit more comfortable with each and by being more comfy, it means you relax. By relaxing it means we work quicker and by doing things quicker the day moves along much more smoothly.

Galway engagement session Is it important to do an engagement session??


2) Practice for the big day

It may sound a bit corny but lets be honest here, the vast majority of people are not models and are not using to being photographed anywhere near the amount you will be on the big day. Keeping in mind that on the day you will be stopped by a lot of people, whether it be family or friends asking to grab a quick snap of the happy couple. This does not take into account the time you spend with your photographer having the official shots taken. Oh boy, the jaws will ache  icon smile Is it important to do an engagement session??   Thankfully I have the perfect cure for the jaw ache and I will provide a few little tips to help overcome this.

On the engagement session, I tend to put people into a”default” position as a starting point and the reason for this is that it then allows me to direct into another position much quicker. After all, the quicker the position is taken the shot is taken and the quicker we can get things moving along. I hear it a lot that couples do not want to spend hours taking pictures and being away from your guests. It is important that you relax and enjoy the day.

Renville engagement session Is it important to do an engagement session??

3) Having fun

This is by far the most important aspect of the session. I will get you doing some silly things but there is actually method in the madness and most importantly it gets some lovely natural images of you guys just being yourselves.

CD e session 232 Is it important to do an engagement session??

110123 193 Is it important to do an engagement session??


4) Signing Board

One of the other advantages of taking part is that it allows the couple to use one of the images and put it in a frame to use as a signing board for the wedding day itself. It is becoming very popular and also gives it a slightly more personal feel to the usual signing book that most people tend to have.

signing board Is it important to do an engagement session??

 

 

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Suzanne & Jason (e-session) | Holy Cross Abbey, Tipperary

June 6, 2012

This is probably one of my most unusual locations for a pre-wedding/engagement shoot but a pretty cool one nevertheless.

It took place at the Holy Cross Abbey (Wiki link here) near Thurles in Tipperary. The reason for visiting this site was because Suzanne & Jason’s wedding was to take place not too far away and it made a nice change to head somewhere with a bit of historic value at the same time. They kindly showed me all the spots for the big day ie bride prep, the church along with the reception so I knew where to go for the big day itself. If the truth be told, it was to make sure I did not get lost what with being the foreigner and all

More images from this session can be found on my Facebook page.

8BCFBB14EDD440BEA0DE5F15368F6CA8 0000314351 0002886254 00900L 8543777FC2304F239FA812FF3E7D469A Suzanne & Jason (e session) | Holy Cross Abbey, Tipperary

4994A82DCE874440B10A1D08A87FC85B 0000314351 0002886253 00900L EB27C3C6BD4E4956BC8EFEB33A4E31F3 Suzanne & Jason (e session) | Holy Cross Abbey, Tipperary
64A4D9E7CBF64F70AD7EC64E3809A367 0000314351 0002886249 00900L 31258D544C814AB7950FCBBD950E91B3 Suzanne & Jason (e session) | Holy Cross Abbey, Tipperary

B16499A7EDDE4F47B4B404558580D5C9 0000314351 0002886198 00900L 7BE1D651D6C647FEA8C7FF2FE6F2C33C Suzanne & Jason (e session) | Holy Cross Abbey, Tipperary

BB80C2BEA23445F0887C3ED842661113 0000314351 0002886233 00900L 94BBEFB86C11442696FB7432B5744A67 Suzanne & Jason (e session) | Holy Cross Abbey, Tipperary

 

This last picture has quite a funny story to it. Whilst we were walking around taking the pictures. There were a group of young girls following us, watching what we were doing and asking questions and why were we doing it. I noticed that one of the girls was eating sweets and one that caught my eye was this one. I asked her if I could have one but the crafty little bugger made me buy one off her (never let it be said the Irish aren’t craft especially 8 year old girls  lol) but I have to say it did make for an interesting shot. Now to approach Haribo and see if we can get some sort of sponsorship deal from them

825B7E40237B48F38C792881B6249F0E 0000314351 0002886190 00900L 1F9DC9C3B3E04B5991446AB5F2B3A006 Suzanne & Jason (e session) | Holy Cross Abbey, Tipperary

 

 

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Jackie & Andy (e-session) | Renville Woods, Oranmore

June 5, 2012

I always enjoy the time together with couples, getting to know them and generally having a bit of a laugh whilst at the same time capturing some images.

I find that having a pre-wedding shoot or engagement session as it is sometimes called is generally useful for everyone involved. It allows the couple to get used to me, it also allows me to get to know the couple a bit more also and more importantly, it allows the couple to get used to having a camera in front of them for a lot of the time. Keeping in mind that on the wedding day, they will be in demand from all the guests to stand and pose and it wont just be me looking to take pictures.

The full set of images can be seen on my Facebook page
2BBCF2C30F2B4AAEB69D450BBB2FA9BC 0000314351 0002884367 00900L 43E325DAA43948FE940905436C490CF3 Jackie & Andy (e session) | Renville Woods, Oranmore

62B7EC19C19641CE9528F3A94758A380 0000314351 0002884361 00900L 73B07463D46849E58CFD959954F9271A Jackie & Andy (e session) | Renville Woods, Oranmore

D8C8C0A846EE4A81A328120961409090 0000314351 0002884358 00900L 76826DB4203848398598FD8699EF31A2 Jackie & Andy (e session) | Renville Woods, Oranmore

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Leomi & Liam (e-session) | Belleek Castle & Woods, Ballina

April 5, 2010

Whilst I was up with the in-laws for the Easter weekend. I met with Leomi & Liam, who’s wedding I will be shooting on the 5th June at St. Muredach’s Cathedral with the reception taking place at the Downhill House Hotel in Ballina. The weather for the weekend was not at its best but the guys were real troopers and we managed to grab an hour before the heavens decided to open up on us.

We started off at the front of Belleek Castle where we encountered the the resident dogs keeping watch over what we were doing. They were such dotes and wandered everywhere we went and all they wanted to do was to be in the pictures or be given loads of attention which was easy enough to sort out.

leomi liam belleek castle ballina Leomi & Liam (e session) | Belleek Castle & Woods, Ballina
Leomi & Liam ejoying being Lord & lady for a short while. Somehow I get the impression they were enjoying it a tad too much  lol

leomi liam belleek castle ballina1 Leomi & Liam (e session) | Belleek Castle & Woods, Ballina

When the rain started we made a dash inside Belleek Castle and we were kindly given permission to take some pictures in the main entrance.

leomi liam belleek castle ballina2 Leomi & Liam (e session) | Belleek Castle & Woods, Ballina
As we drove down to the woods itself I noticed the fence with the Daffodils and thought it would make for a good shot and how right I was.

leomi liam belleek castle ballina3 Leomi & Liam (e session) | Belleek Castle & Woods, Ballina
After that we headed to the woods just outside the castle grounds where we had some fun before we had to get back to the car.

leomi liam belleek woods ballina Leomi & Liam (e session) | Belleek Castle & Woods, Ballina

leomi liam belleek woods ballina1 Leomi & Liam (e session) | Belleek Castle & Woods, Ballina

Thanks again guys for being such sports and having no issue about rolling around in the trees and leaves. Just wait to see what I have planned for the wedding day

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