Two of the weddings I did last month have just had their proof books put on order last night. The proof book contains 504 photos and covers the Engagement Shoot and the Wedding Day and is theirs to keep. Each of my clients proof book has a front cover designed by me.Donna and Gary's proof book has a cool fashion look that I just love.
A blog entry to Donna and Gary's Wedding Day is here:
Joanne and Stephen's cover is done is a much more traditional wedding style and really captures a moment between the happy couple.
A blog entry to Joanne and Stephens engagement shoot is found here and here.Article including images copyright of Gerard Foy Photography.
www.gerardfoy.com
Well I have been a little busy since my last post hence the lack of posts. Just a quick one here with two shots of little 3 month baby Emily.
They are a perfect example of how fast things change on a shoot with a young baby going from wide awake to fast asleep very quickly.
I kept the shoot really simple, using two strobes bounced off far walls and the ceiling with the white bed cover providing a nice bit of fill.Article including images copyright of Gerard Foy Photography.
www.gerardfoy.com
Well, I finally got to take a trip out to Church Island the other week. It was a bumpy ride out in the boat, kind of fun actually, the same sort of fun you get out of riding a motorbike. We were hoping to be able to see Skerries from the Island, you could, but not in the way I had imagined it.
I did however get a nice shot of the old church out there. Apparently that is St. Patrick in the window, I think you really have to use your imagination to see it or really want to see it there. It just looks like a hole in the wall to me.
For those who are not aware. St Patrick's Island is so called because this is where the Saint Patrick is reputed to have landed and begun his mission to convert the Ireland to Christianity.Article including images copyright of Gerard Foy Photography.
www.gerardfoy.com
Last night was the opening of the Skerries Soundwaves festival. A local event celebrating arts and culture, click here for a brochure.. There was a fireworks display down the harbour to celebrate the opening. I wanted to get a nice shot of the fireworks from a distance. I have tried to photograph fireworks once before and have learned from my mistakes.- You don't want a long shutter speed, this results in the smoke picking up a lot of the ambient light and the light just bounces all over it and you get colour casts in the smoke.
- If you can get up wind the smoke won't get to you and your camera can actually see the fireworks. I couldn't do this last night as I wanted to showcase Skerries and need to see the harbour.
- Set your exposure before the fireworks start and expose for the lights.
- Use an aperture like F2.8 - F5.6 this is turn the lights to stars if you use F11 there will be a glow around them.
Article including images copyright of Gerard Foy Photography.
www.gerardfoy.com
As part of my wedding package I provide an engagement shoot as standard. Why do I go to this extra trouble for no extra money? Simple really. - I like to spend a bit of time with my clients before their day, get to know them a bit more and be more like friends and not just a photographer.
- My clients get a feel as to what its like to be in front of the camera. Most people have never been in a situation where a camera is photographing them all day. This can start out as a daunting experience, leading to forced smiles and stiff jaws. This is not a look I aspire to when I am covering a wedding. Having a bit of fun in front of the camera and seeing how amazing they can look when photographed by me is also a real confidence boost to my clients. How many times have we heard "Oh, I don't like getting my photograph taken, I always look horrible", or something to that affect.
- I am studying them, learning what they are like in front of the camera. Are they tense or nervous? Are the couple shy? Can they be intimate with one another in front of the camera?
- I like to go to the Reception venue during this time with my clients, so I can get a feel for the venue. See if there is a plan B available if its raining etc.
I met up with Joanne and Steve on Saturday. I will have a few more of these images going up over the next couple of days. Their reception is down in Trim. And across the road from the hotel is Trim Castle. Funny enough I spent a day photographing this location for college so I am very familiar with it. Its such a cool location for photography. Fashion, Wedding, Lifestyle, Landscapes..You name it this place has it covered. I honestly can't wait for the wedding here, its going to be so much fun.Article including images copyright of Gerard Foy Photography.
www.gerardfoy.com
A previous wedding client of mine was at a wedding I was photographing the other week and she told me the sad story of her friend. Her photographer canceled her wedding booking a few weeks before her wedding. She asked me if I was available and if it was ok to contact her to recommend my services.So she contacted her and met up with her and showed her the album I had done for them and I got a call a few days later. I started off by asking her what happened and tried to understand if any alternative was offered by the photographer, there wasn't. Now I can't understand how someone can considers themselves a professional can do this to someone.I then asked her what the previous photographer had offered in her package to get an idea of how much she had budgeted for. It turned out the package had considerably less than I provide in mine so I made the assumption she was paying a lot less than I charge. I believe you have two choices in this life, you can be fair and kind or you can be a selfish and greedy. I believe I am the former so I offered my standard package with a nice little discount.Article including images copyright of Gerard Foy Photography.
www.gerardfoy.com
Well I found out today, I need to bag about 8 landscapes for this commercial job. On one hand that's great and not so great on another. The problem with landscapes is you can go to a spot and then nature doesn't perform and you have just wasted an evening or worse got out of bed at a crazy hour for nothing. But I'm not doing too bad at the moment, I have gone out three times and come back with an image twice. Tonight it was another one of those rush jobs.
I'm going to be very busy tomorrow I have to get up in the morning and go out and photograph landscapes, then I need to head out with the motorbike and I need to get back, pack my gear and head to Trim for an engagement shot. So it just looks like rushing is my thing these days. Anyway, I decided to clean my motorbike when I got home this evening and I had just finished off the job and I looked up at the sky and there were colours everywhere. So I grabbed the gear and headed out.
I couldn't go far as the sunset had already started so I took a safety location, Skerries harbor, 5 minutes from my house. I saw the guys in the boat from my car so I stopped where I could and just grabbed everything. I started out wide at 70mm but while the colours were amazing they were lost in the clutter of harbor. I decided to get lower and tighter on them.
I changed location and shot them from the beach and got down as low as I could but they kept moving in the boat and when they moved they got lot in the clutter behind them. I tried calling to direct them but they were not interested. I needed to change my plan.
I ditched the tripod and the ISO 50 approach and went hand held. I could frame them quicker and shoot faster hand held. The drawback ISO800, ouch, but the camera is a 1DS MKii so I knew it wouldn't be so bad. One more in the bag and hopefully I will get a few more in the morning.Article including images copyright of Gerard Foy Photography.
www.gerardfoy.com
Well, it was landscape work tonight. I started this small commercial project for Alan at Image Depot, my printer, a few months ago. He had just landed contract with a government department and they wanted some shots to be displayed in a new building that was under construction. It started out as a few images and I gave them loads. Well apparently they LOVE the work (I've never met them) and they have actually run out of images.
I've had an eye on the sky all day, hoping for once we are going to get a decent evening for photography. My brief for these images is fairly broad - tranquil images taken locally. I decided to try to get something around Malahide tonight. I hoped to arrive home in plenty of time to eat, and get back out into the car. Of course it didn't happen that way. As I was leaving Skerries, the sun was already sinking and I had about a 20 minute drive ahead of me. It is however sinking right behind the windmill in Skerries at the moment, so I'll have my eye on that for an other evening.
I arrived at the estuary in Malahide, the light was beautiful but sinking real fast now and I couldn't find parking. Eventually I found a spot, jumped out of the car took my gear and went for a walk to see if I could see a photograph.
It wasn't long before I saw three boats sitting in the water and the water was perfectly still. I framed the image in my mind and decided upon a mid range zoom setting to compress the scene a little but knew I needed to pay attention to shutter speed, that was what was going to make or break the image. Too slow and there would be movement in the boats. So, I walked a good bit past the boats, found some rocks, climbed down and setup the tripod.
The contrast range between the sky and the boats was perfect, I could get a bit of detail in the boats and under expose the sky to really bring out those wonderful colours. 6 frames, 3 portrait and 3 landscape and it was over, too dark, that was quick!
I hope this is tranquil enough for them, for someone who normally photographs motorbikes and fast paced weddings it certainly is for me.Article including images copyright of Gerard Foy Photography.
www.gerardfoy.com
Saturday 5th September 2009.... Wow, what a day. Where do we begin?Well, first of all we would like to once again thank Donna and Gary for placing their trust in us by allowing us to photograph and document their wedding day. Both Phil and I really enjoyed the day and all your friends and family were a privilege to work with.We hope you liked the little gifts we had planned for you throughout the day.
Congratulations to both of you once again, we wish you years of happiness together.I have put together a few images of your day.Guests and well wishers, please feel free to leave comments and leave your best wishes for Donna and Gary here. Also, don't forget to check out the website for all the proof images of the day.Wedding days start early for me and finish late, I like to cover as much as possible and tell the story of the day in my albums. So I met Phil at the church at 09:45 and we set to work. We got both exterior and interior shots of the church.
When I entered the church, I noticed a big stained glass window to the right of the altar and I thought it would throw a cool pattern of light and colour on the back wall. So I stuck a strobe outside, placed it low and angled it up to light as much of the wall as possible.
Once we had a few detail shots of the church in the bag we made our way to Donna's house. I have to say, everything seemed very relaxed in the house as was Donna herself. I made my way upstairs to get some nice shots of the dress and shoes while Phil focused on getting some shots of Donna getting her hair and makeup done.
Phil then headed off to photograph Gary while I stayed at Donna's house. There was no question of Donna keeping with tradition and being late. She left just a few minutes past one and with the church just around the corner she didn't even have time to settle into her seat.
The beauty of two photographers, is the coverage we can provide. I was able to get photos of Donna leaving the house safe in the knowledge Phil is on hand to complete the story at the church. Donna is looking wonderful in this image as she exits the wedding car after her very short journey to get there.
Father Ben gave a very nice service and thankfully it didn't go on too long. That type of thing just puts everyone under pressure for the rest of the day as all the plans go out the window. I believe he really liked the gift we got Donna and Gary. We hope it will serve as a small reminder of the wonderful day we all had (yea, including your photographers, we had a blast).
With so much going on at a wedding as a photographer I always have one eye on the kids. You just never know what they are going to. The moment I saw her do this (sorry don't know her name) this was the image that was in my mind. I only got off one frame before she turned around, but one was all I needed to get this wonderful little image.
Once all the church proceedings were over Donna finally got to try out her wedding car. With a 40 mile journey ahead of her to the Hamlet Court, Enfield, Co. Meath. I'd like to take the opportunity the thank John and all the staff down there for looking after me and Phil. Thanks also for letting me store some of gear in the office that was a great help throughout the evening.
Thanks once again to Donna and Gary for hiring us. I'll leave you with one more image. I don't like static posed traditional photographs...Its either casual, semi-posed or fashion type shots like this one.
I've attached the link to Matt Ryans video preview of the day and I'd also like to thank Matt for his respect towards our job during the day. I've worked with Matt in the past and he's always a dream to work with. Good work on the video Matt. Article including images copyright of Gerard Foy Photography.
www.gerardfoy.com
The world is full of parents and other family members who take thousands of photographs of their young family members every day. For many of these people the following will apply.
They know their photography is not what it could be. They want to take images that capture the real essence of their child but because for of a variety of reasons they are unable to capture on their camera what they visualise in their heart. Sometimes they capture a wonderful shot and wonder why they can't do this consistently. They become frustrated with themselves and they either educate themselves or eventually the camera goes into a drawer only to be taken out for family snaps and special events.
The ability to photograph children is a skill that I am very happy to say I do have. Did I always have that skill? No, I was as described above for a very long time. My camera stayed in the wardrobe in my bedroom, in its box. It wasn't until I started to educate myself did I turn myself into a photographer. It was a slow steady journey, one I am still on today. I hope I never reach the destination because I always want to improve my art. I believe with a little direction any parent with a camera can turn there photographs into something more. Its for this reason I started this blog with a series of educational posts. I want to share what I have learned and encourage people to take more photographs, better photographs and be as proud of their photographs as they are of their children.Parents and other close family members are often in the best position to capture expressions of their child. They are totally relaxed in their presence, they know them, there is no defense mechanism on the part of the child. What you get is the real inner child.Over the next few weeks I will be putting together a number of posts to help people produce more professional looking images of children. The high level list at the moment comprises of:1. Planning your Shoot2. Camera Position3. Composition4. Backgrounds5. Exposure6. Lighting7. Capturing natural images8. Basic PhotoshopArticle including images copyright of Gerard Foy Photography.
www.gerardfoy.com
A blog entry to Joanne and Stephens engagement shoot is found here and here.
Well I have been a little busy since my last post hence the lack of posts. Just a quick one here with two shots of little 3 month baby Emily.
They are a perfect example of how fast things change on a shoot with a young baby going from wide awake to fast asleep very quickly.
Well, I finally got to take a trip out to Church Island the other week. It was a bumpy ride out in the boat, kind of fun actually, the same sort of fun you get out of riding a motorbike. We were hoping to be able to see Skerries from the Island, you could, but not in the way I had imagined it. 
Last night was the opening of the Skerries Soundwaves festival. A local event celebrating arts and culture, click here for a brochure.. There was a fireworks display down the harbour to celebrate the opening. I wanted to get a nice shot of the fireworks from a distance. I have tried to photograph fireworks once before and have learned from my mistakes.
September means back to school, the end of the Summer (or the realisation we are not getting a Summer) and the Killalane Road Races, the last Irish Road Race of the year. Ironically the weather was wonderful, a bit too wonderful for photography. I looked for cover from the harsh sun all day sticking to areas with trees in order to bring down the contrast area in which I was shooting. Any way here are a few shots from the day and hopefully I get the time I need over the Winter to get my website going fully and have 4 years of Road Racing photographs up there. 
And the same type of image with just natural light.
Both Joanne and Steve were starting to relax at this stage. I had shown them a few images on the back of the camera (if you get a good one show it off, it really helps people relax and gives them a bit of confidence). This enabled me to get some more relaxed, natural shots. Again these were lit with a single strobe with attention paid to get a nice bit of rim light from the sun around them. This bit of rim light makes a big difference to an image, look at how amazing her hair looks with that warm sun lighting the edges and giving a real 3D feel to the image.
And another.
When I do Engagement Shoots I like to spend a little bit of time photographing the bride-to-be and the groom-to-be individually. For this shot I got Joanne to lie on the grass and softly place her hand under her chin. It was shot entirely with natural light in an open field with a very strong back light from then sun. In order to get proper exposure I took a meter reading from her chin and to get a more hi-key image I lowered my lens to let the light spill into my lens a bit. I did try the camera at a higher angle also but I preferred this look. I converted this image to BW in Photoshop using a BW layer and played with the original colour to get the effect I desired.
I then took a few of Steve. When I am photographing men I try to make them look as relaxed as possible and leaning against a wall is a great way to get this relaxed look. I found this wall putting Steve out of the harsh sunlight and into nice soft shaded light. I cropped this image in a way that would have purists rolling in their graves or falling into them but as I said I earlier I have my own style and I know it breaks a few rules. I stylised this image in Photoshop. Everything about the image made me think of a musician and the finished image was heavily influenced by that thought. 
I finished up the shoot with a nice walking image. I attempted to cross light the couple placing the strobe at the opposite side of the sun. Again I was aiming to a nice relaxed image with a sense of location to it. I placed Joanne and Steve on a little hill so I would give them some stature. The nice big smiles and the camera connection show just how relaxed and confident they both are after having experienced their engagement shoot. This day will be a big help to them on their wedding day.
As part of my wedding package I provide an engagement shoot as standard. Why do I go to this extra trouble for no extra money? Simple really. 
When I entered the church, I noticed a big stained glass window to the right of the altar and I thought it would throw a cool pattern of light and colour on the back wall. So I stuck a strobe outside, placed it low and angled it up to light as much of the wall as possible.
Once we had a few detail shots of the church in the bag we made our way to Donna's house. I have to say, everything seemed very relaxed in the house as was Donna herself. I made my way upstairs to get some nice shots of the dress and shoes while Phil focused on getting some shots of Donna getting her hair and makeup done.
Phil then headed off to photograph Gary while I stayed at Donna's house. There was no question of Donna keeping with tradition and being late. She left just a few minutes past one and with the church just around the corner she didn't even have time to settle into her seat.
The beauty of two photographers, is the coverage we can provide. I was able to get photos of Donna leaving the house safe in the knowledge Phil is on hand to complete the story at the church. Donna is looking wonderful in this image as she exits the wedding car after her very short journey to get there.
Father Ben gave a very nice service and thankfully it didn't go on too long. That type of thing just puts everyone under pressure for the rest of the day as all the plans go out the window. I believe he really liked the gift we got Donna and Gary. We hope it will serve as a small reminder of the wonderful day we all had (yea, including your photographers, we had a blast).
With so much going on at a wedding as a photographer I always have one eye on the kids. You just never know what they are going to. The moment I saw her do this (sorry don't know her name) this was the image that was in my mind. I only got off one frame before she turned around, but one was all I needed to get this wonderful little image.
Once all the church proceedings were over Donna finally got to try out her wedding car. With a 40 mile journey ahead of her to the Hamlet Court, Enfield, Co. Meath. I'd like to take the opportunity the thank John and all the staff down there for looking after me and Phil. Thanks also for letting me store some of gear in the office that was a great help throughout the evening.
I've attached the link to Matt Ryans video preview of the day and I'd also like to thank Matt for his respect towards our job during the day. I've worked with Matt in the past and he's always a dream to work with. Good work on the video Matt. 
