Olivia & Robert's Wedding - 03.09.2010

A year ago today, Olivia and Robert got married and I was the lucky lady who got to photograph their wedding :-)

I love when I have a chance to visit the groom as he is getting ready, but logistically, it's usually not possible. Seeing as Robert was just around the corner though, I couldn't resist the opportunity and found that the groom was just as nervous as the bride! After the many offers of tea and food were declined, I wandered around the house, trying to capture the atmosphere with my camera and giggling as the lads struggled to tie a full Windsor knot. The result of my time with them was twofold; firstly, everyone knew who I was and were relaxed around me and secondly, one of my favourite images from last year (see below)...

Back over to the ladies where everything was nice and calm. Honest! The little ones now had their outfits on and were looking adorable. Speaking of the little ones, the little lady involved almost (dare I say, did, at times) stole the entire show! A force to be reckoned with, I reckon another few years and I could hire her as an assistant to round up unruly guests for me :-)

Everything went according to plan and the wedding ceremony in the Scared Heart church in Glounthane was beautifully complemented by 'Note Perfect' choir. Afterwards, we headed to Rochestown Park Hotel for family pictures in the gardens, followed by a little break in the presidential suite for including some popcorn in its mini cinema!

It was clear to me how much effort & planning went into every single detail of the day and the deep pink theme was picked up in all aspects of the wedding, from the bridesmaids dresses, matching ties for the boys, invites, mass booklets, flowers, cake etc. Even the lighting colour scheme in the hotel! The flowers in the gardens for the family photos were also pink - but I think this was more by luck then design!

A Wonderful day for me, full of nice memories and little stories of happy moments, some of which I've included below with the stories from my perspective. More images from Olivia & Robert's wedding can be found here:

Happy Anniversary!

This is the picture I mentioned above. One of my favourites from last year.   This was about the sixth attempt to get the tie done properly :-)  I think the expression on the grooms face is priceless!

It was just mother and daughter involved in getting the dress on for this wedding and was happily completely drama free and a wonderful atmosphere to be in.

This sequence of pictures was completely organised by this little lady, including the switching around of where they were sitting!  My favourite is the last one. The bride has just walked in with her dress on and they both look awe stuck :-)

I love everything about this moment as dad hands over his daughter. I love the emotions that are being shared between them.  Love. Pride. Happiness. Maybe a tiny tinge of sorrow as a daughter moves on to a new stage in her life?

Time for a quick catch up on the days events.

Ah - our little lady again!  There are some that might say that she ruined the picture of the bride and groom walking out of the church together for the first time.  I think she makes it :-) 

I don't normally add 'formal' shots to the blog, but I just couldn't resist showing you the a little bit of the colour scheme - complete with matching flower beds!

Happy Anniversary :-)

Baby Amélie

Oh dear. So much for my new year's resolution to keep up to date with writing and posting blog entries! Well, it's only July, so I have plenty of time left this year to get cracking!

I had a wonderful baby photo session a few weeks ago and decided that there really was no better reason to re-commence the blogging then the celebration of a new life :-)

At just seven days old, baby Amélie was my youngest client to date when her parents invited me into their home to take her picture. We had it all timed and planned perfectly so that Amélie would be fast asleep and co-operative for her first photo shoot. Amélie, however, had other ideas and insisted on paying close attention to everything that was going on and letting us know when she thought we weren't posing her correctly to bring out her best side!

After a break for the little lady to have some well earned milk (and some tea & cookies for me and Dad), we were back in business - still wide awake mind you! Some of my favourite images from the shoot are below, and you can see some more in a slideshow over on my facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/niamhcullinanephotography

Amélie is a very bright baby and has already mastered the internet. You can read all about her adventures in her blog: http://lesaventuresdameliesophie.blogspot.com/

A huge thank you to Amélie's parents, Kristin & Séan, for not only inviting me into their home to spend some time with their beautiful little daughter and giving me such a warm welcome, but also for allowing me to share these pictures.

PS: While I was packing up my gear, she fell fast asleep :-)

Not just smiling at 7 days old.. grinning cheekily 'cos she knows she's supposed to be sleeping!

Watching the world go by from the safety of daddy's arms.  

Cradled into her mother's hand - safe & secure.

It sounds like a simple request, a picture of a baby's feet. However, as I mentioned earlier, Amélie was awake for most of the shoot AND wriggling AND kicking! To get this picture of her tiny little feet, we had to try to catch her legs and wrap them up in a blanket!!

I don't think I've actually had a baby photo session yet where at some point the studio didn't come under attack and get eaten!

I love the intimacy of this moment between mother and daughter.

Sleepy time!!

Áine & Neil's Wedding - 02.07.2010

Áine & Neil's wedding day did not start so well for me...

..in the brides room by myself photographing the dress, shoes, flowers etc. Nothing unusual there! I moved the dress to hang it on the back of an obliging door.  It was hanging via those tiny (and annoying) little ribbons that help the garment hold it's shape.  Since the dress also had beautiful lace straps, I slipped these onto the hanger so as to get the full effect.

Cue almighty sound of ripping fabric..

One of the aforementioned lovely lacy straps was no longer attached to the wedding dress, but in my hand...  and very much unattached to dress...

Oh.

Crap.

Crap. Crap. Crap.

My heart is now beating wildly as I weighed up my options which came down to these:

1. Say nothing and act surprised when bride puts on her dress and it's in bits.
2. Ask someone for a hand moving the dress and then try to frame them.
3. Own up and pray to god that someone in the house knows how to sew and that the bride doesn't murder me.
4. Exit stage left through the bedroom window.

After some deliberation, and serious consideration to framing one of the bridesmaids, I decided I had to tell the bride and proceeded to take myself and my now frantically beating heart to the kitchen and informed her. To my utter surprise (& joy!) she said "oh that happens all the time" and proceeded to clip the strap back on via previously completly invisible pop fasteners.  I'm not sure that I can adequaetly describe the sense of relief.  I found it interesting afterwards when telling this story that most people opted for the 'say nothing' approach!

So after my little drama, the rest of the day went very smoothly altogether - no doubt I was on a pure adrenalin high for most of it after the 'dress incident'! After a beautiful ceremony in the Sacred Heart Church in Glounthaune, we made it over to Charles Fort in Kinsale for photographs with the bridal party before the weather turned.  Afterwards, we had a few more shots at the Trident Hotel before I thanked the bride & groom for their warmth, friendliness & enthusiasm throughout the day and left them to enjoy their wedding reception.

Below are some of my favourites from their day.

That dress... grrrrr

Sometimes getting a bride into a dress is a team effort :-)

I love reflections and while the bride looks gorgeous (twice!), it's the lovely expression & body language on her bridemaids face that makes this a beautiful image for me.

Smiles all around and eyes only for each other. One of my favourite moments of any wedding day is watching bride & groom meet for the first time on their wedding day, and it's a moment that's not always possible to capture.  It's also a lovely moment to watch family members, and in the background in this image there is a whole range of emotions being displayed along with the smiles.

There was gorgeuos light in the church and I was hoping it would finally move to light up the bride and groom for me.  Alas, it wasn't to be this time, but I like the quietness of this image.

A gentle moment between the bride and one of the younger guests as he tries to comandeer her flowers.

I didn't know it at the time, but this shot recreated a picture from the bride's parents wedding album and was a lovely touch on the her behalf. Full credit to her for putting the idea forward - and lovely result.

Groom standing tall & proud as he sneaks a peak at his beautiful new wife. 

Finally, a little comedy to end the day. I think most ladies out there will understand the sentiment "my feet are killing me"

Helen & Ant's Wedding - 29.05.10

Helen & Ant's wedding is fresh in my mind as I handed over their wedding album to them when they were back home in West Cork over Christmas.  

The bride and myself were both worried about the weather beforehand and were working out contingency plans in case the promised rain came at the wrong time.  Thankfully, we needn't have worried!

Spirits were high throughout the day and after a lovely ceremony in Ahiohill Church, we were greeted outside with the wonderful sight of an ice-cream van ready and waiting to provide us all with some icy treats.  The bride & groom stepped up to the challenge themselves and after a few very dodgy first cones (which were still eaten might I add!), they quickly got the hang of things!  After a few quick family shots at the church, we headed down to Charles Fort in Kinsale for some pics of bridal party and then onto the Carlton Hotel for the reception.

Personally, I had a wonderful day photographing this early summer wedding and enjoyed the company of the bride & groom very much and wish them every happiness together. Here are a few of my favourite shots from their wedding day - with captions.

I think I spy a nervous groom :-)

Wonderful expression on the groom's face as he looks at his new wife.

Is it wrong that I wanted to be in that queue and not taking pictures of it?!

I am sooooo jealous....

Happiness is...

A quick pit stop along the way to pick up bride's car gave us this lovely photo opportunity outside the her parent's house.

I love this shot for the comedic element. Love that one guys is completly out of step with the others and absolutely love that you can see tags on the bottom of some shoes. Classic.

This is definately one of my favourite bridal shots from the whole year.  The bride looks so graceful and elegant and happy.  Her dress also looks fab and is tying in beautifully with the daisies scattered in the grass.

I do love it when they ignore me completely and only have eyes for one another.  Very sweet, and like the previous images, the daisies work very well.

Blue skies can look beautiful in wedding pics, but moody skies can work equally well.

Mary & Jason's Wedding - 12.09.09

Yes, that's right, 2009.

Although this wedding took place just over a year ago, I met the couple again over the summer to deliver their wedding album after they decide to upgrade from a disc only package. We've been in touch and met up several times both before and after the wedding and it was a little strange for all of us to say goodbye for the last time! So, inspired by our last goodbye, this post finally gets written!

We were incredibly lucky with the weather on the day, and the groom was particularly delighted as he got to drive a beautiful red MX5 convertible with the top down through the countryside from Macroom to Clonakilty. Bride slightly less impressed with the wind in her hair, but she arrived to the beach looking as radiant as ever and both smiled the day away. From a photographers perspective, their attitude on the day and the thought and effort they had put into planning their wedding photos made them a dream to work with. I would highly recommend them as a bride and groom :-)

and delightfully, they feel the same way about me..

"The end results are perfect and reflect just what we wanted - a great mix of formal and informal shots of family and friends together with some really memorable pictures which definitely capture the highlights of our wedding day.

Niamh is a lovely person to deal with and she is also a consummate professional. We are absolutely delighted with our wedding photos and we highly recommend her."

Some of my favourite images from the day (with captions) are below.

Loved this image so much that I used it in some promotional material during the year. Light was pouring in through old farmhouse window to the right.

Lit from same window as above, but shot from a different angle.

A quiet moment during the ceremony

Too cute!

Sandwiches had been organised in a local pub and couple decided to walk down to it at last minute... cue a frantic bit of running on my part to get ahead of them and the congregation!

When we arrived to the beach, flowing water had cut a channel in our path. No a problem for my adventerous couple and while I was searching for a route across, they decided to jump! Just managed to get the camera on them in time.

Harsh sunlight can be a challenge to deal with when composing an image, but here I think it adds to the overall composition. The strong diagonal shadow of the couple together with their expressions make this image really appeal to me.

Grandad and grandson - happy, relaxed and content in each others company.

Nothing like a cuppa after a walk on the beach.

Grandad in a 'slightly' less relaxed pose as he works on his speech. 

Martha & Marco's Wedding - 22.05.10 (updated!)

This blog post arrives 'slightly' later then planned as I play catch up...

The sun was shining brightly. The guests were arriving. The soft new leaves were swaying gently in the breeze and Gougane Barra was getting ready to witness another wedding on its sacred grounds.

Great. Looking forward to this. Two slight problems. Come 2pm, no sign of the bride. Fair enough. Brides are allowed some degree of tardiness on their wedding day.

No sign of the groom! Uh-oh…

Happily he had just got a bit lost on the way - picture it - an Italian groom lost in the middle of a Gaeltacht area of the country trying to find his wedding! The wedding eventually got underway and the rest of the day went without a hitch.

The couple wandered up to the woods above Gougane Barra with me afterwards for some photos and we were all very happy with the results.

Update:  Originally this post showed only the first four pictures below of the bride & groom looking suitably fantastic.  I've now added a couple of other images & moments from the day that caught my eye and included comments on all images to share my perspective - something I hope to do for all images on this blog in the future and something that I feel is important to share.

I've also made the images bigger - I am a photographer after all!

It's not often that you get Gougane Barra all to yourself after a wedding. I love the sense of space and openness as the bride and groom walk away from the church holding hands and chatting.

It's sometimes presents a challenge capturing embraces as the bride & groom may not be used to public displays of affection, especially for a camera! But here, the couple are wrapped tightly together and have eyes only for each other. I feel like I'm intruding slightly. A sign for me that I've captured real emotion.

As with the previous picture, again I feel that I've intruded slightly on a private moment. The sunburst balances with brides dress and there is a lovely softness about the bridal posture & expression as she looks down.

Another easy embrace for the couple - nice lighting behind them as the sun casts light through the trees.

Great emotion on dad's face as he walks his daughter to the church.

Father of the groom peers over his sunglasses and overseas operations as guests fill into the church. Would draw the eye more if his tie was only red in image, but alas, two ladies are also wearing red and the moment had passed when they had cleared the shot.

Not sure exactly why, but this image really appeals to me.   Maybe it's beacuse it looks like two old friends catching up, maybe it's because of the jackets slung over the shoulders, maybe it's the champagne & glasses or maybe it's the overall composition. All I know for sure is that it makes me smile.