Before and After shot

Well it’s been all go this evening with a surprise email in from Monique Cranson of
ImageBrief in New York, whose client in Sydney had requested to see some examples of ‘Before & After’ interior renovations images.

So naturally as we specialise in interiors, I submitted a few examples of various projects we had on file – and…

Hi Ashley,

Hope your well!
I just wanted to touch base with you regarding a sale for the following images, great news the buyer wants to purchase 2 of the shots …

We won!!

Amazing too, when you stop and think about it: I’m based in Ireland, dealing with someone in American, who is dealing with someone in Australia – and it’s all done in via the internet in a matter minutes too.

Anyway, I’m over the moon for various reasons on this sale – or WOWEEEEEE !!!!!! as Marie said – and would therefore just like to thank everyone involved, especially Carolann (homeowner), Dianne (stylist) & Monique (from ImageBrief) here for making my day.

Getting ready to launch.

So we were shooting more Natural Calico products this week, which included this hand painted stool…

.. beside Marie’s new Hunter wellies (which we just had to get in) – some soaps (which looked a wee bit strange to me)…

.. and a new batch of Stuart’s wonderful painting (which I personally love, so I’m including a bunch of them here):

Plus this small table cloth…

.. which can also be use in a number of different ways – which we also shot to show.

So that’s the latest stuff, as we get ready to launch this new venture, which Marie says will happen next month… if all goes according to plan.

Overlooking Sixmilewater Valley…

.. and Donegore Hill, just outside Templepatrick in County Antrim – is where we were shooting the other day, in Ruth & David’s Ulster farmhouse.

The sun has been shining most of this week – after a few weeks of snow – and even though most of our work is indoors, the difference a bit of sunshine can make is huge – as it pours through the windows and just makes everyone feel & everything look so good.

Which was very much the case here, as the place was almost naturally lit…

.. and everyone was in great form too.

Still, it is said that photographing interiors is “10% creativity and 90% moving furniture”, which as you can see here…

.. was very true – as we moved things around to suit the camera, which often sees things differently to the eye.

So it’s usually a case of taking a picture first, to see how it looks as is – which is what Marie is standing here waiting to see…

.. as she looks over to the laptop’s screen, across the room – and then we do what we feel is needed, to end up with something like this:

So it’s a bit of a slow process – but Ruth thoroughly enjoyed it all, as we turned her house upside down

And after seeing the final results yesterday, she wrote to say:

Marie and Ashley,
OOOOOOH MY WORD!!
What more can I say? The pictures are stunning and I don’t have any more words to express that.
And what about Davids response to the living room? I wish you had been here. These were his words- How did we never think of that? This is like a new room, I love it.
Thank you both for Thursday, it was a pleasure and I have every confidence you will both go from strength to strength in your work. I have looked at photos of other homes and locations on your website…….aaaaaah!
Marie I look forward to seeing Natural Calico, and the Bangor house is patiently waiting to be embellished……
With very best wishes to you both,
Ruth
xx

Which was a really lovely reaction.

So ‘thank you’ Ruth and David for inviting us along – and making us both feel so welcome.
We will keep you posted.

From Marie & me.
www.homesinteriors.com

New lease of light…

.. is the title of our latest work in the May 2013 issue of 25 Beautiful Homes magazine…

.. pages 95 to 97.

“An impressive oriel window makes the most of the space and views in John Baird’s cornmill.”

Which we talked about here: A Fabulous Converted Cornmill – last November.

So congratulations to John here, for making it into this top selling national magazine, which is all about inspirational homes – which his most certainly was.

From Marie, Mandi & me.
www.homesinteriors.com

It’s Another World…

.. is the title of our latest published work, in the May 2013 issue of Ireland’s Homes Interiors & Living magazine…

.. pages 80 to 91.

“Yolanda would be the first to admit she’s more ‘Sex and the City’ than ‘Escape to the Country’.
But that’s all changed since she and husband Trevor moved to their County Antrim cottage.
Not that it’s in a rural idyll either – but then that’s maybe why it’s become their dream home.”

Another world indeed – so ‘way to go’ Yolanda – it sure does look amazing in this beautifully printed magazine.

From Marie, Mandi & me.
www.homesinteriors.com

Who pays photographers?

By Juergen Specht, on the Shakodo Blog a few days ago – where yours truly got a wee mention, for trying to answer this question about How best to charge for high end commercial architectural photography?

Where I tried to explain to Steve, a London based photographer, the difference between giving a price to take some pictures that a client could use if they wanted to, and giving a price to produce some images that a client would actually want to use, to meet their usage requirements.

Where I included some images of the same buildings, to help illustrate my point, that all images are not the same…

.. and so this is why it’s often hard to put a price on what we are being asked to provide our clients with – especially beforehand.

Anyway, just though I’d post this on my own site here, as it’s nice to be mentioned – and to know that someone else out there in the world, thinks I’m not way of the mark on my thinking here, on how to go about putting a price on an assignment like this… before the actual images exist.

Laundry is no longer a chore…

.. is the title of our most recent published work in Style at Home magazine …

.. pages 48 to 51.

‘Moving to a new home gave Stylist at Home Marie , 56, from County Down, the chance to transform an old coal store into a pretty yet practical utility room’.

No way… fifty six !!
I thought you were only 21 Marie, same as me

Style at Home Magazine iPad Edition.

Anyway, way to go you – it looks great – so I drop my laundry around tomorrow, since it’s no longer a chore anymore.

me

New book

Title: Hotels in Ireland.
Publish Date: 13th March 2013.
Dimensions: 13×11 inches (33×28 cm).
Pages: 210.

Preview shows the first 15 pages of our new book: Hotels in Ireland – which contains many of the images which we produced over the past few years at the following hotels:

. Ashford Castle – Cong, Co Mayo.
. Abbey Court Hotel – Nenagh, Co Tipperary.
. Breaffy House Hotel – Castlebar, Co Mayo.
. Burlington Hotel – Dublin.
. Carlton Abbey Hotel – Athy, Co Kildare.
. Carlton Atlantic Coast Hotel – Westport, Co Mayo.
. Carlton Dublin Airport Hotel – Cloughran, Co Dublin.
. Carlton Kinsale Hotel – Kinsale, Co Cork.
. Carlton Redcastle Hotel – Moville, Co Donegal.
. Carlton Shearwater Hotel – Ballinasloe, Co Galway.
. Castle Leslie – Glaslough, Co Monaghan.
. CityNorth Hotel – Gormanston, Co Meath.
. Clare Inn Hotel – Ennis, Co Clare.
. Culloden Hotel – Holywood, Co Down.
. Days Hotel – Belfast.
. Doonbeg Hotel Golf & Spa Resort – Doonbeg, Co Clare.
. Downings Bay Hotel – Downings, Co Donegal.
. Dromoland Castle – Newmarket-on-Fergus, Co Clare.
. Europa Hotel – Belfast.
. The G hotel – Wellpark, Co Galway.
. Galway Oyster Hotel (formerly Ramada Encore Oranmore) – Oranmore, Co Galway.
. George Hotel – Limerick.
. Inishowen Gateway Hotel – Buncrana, Co Donegal.
. Killyhevlin Hotel – Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh.
. Kilmurry Lodge Hotel – Castletroy, Co Limerick.
. Manor House Resort Hotel – Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh.
. Millrace Hotel – Bunclody, Co Wexford.
. Mount Juliet Country Estate – Thomastown, Co Kilkenny.
. Radisson Blu Hotel – Belfast.
. Ramada Plaza Hotel - Belfast.
. Slieve Donard Resort & Spa Hotel – Newcastle, Co Down.
. South Court Hotel – Limerick.
. Stormont Hotel – Belfast.
. Tullyglass House Hotel – Ballymena, Co Antrim.
. West County Hotel – Ennis, Co Clare.

All of whom we would like to say a big ‘thank you’ too.

From Marie, me and the rest of the team at ampimage.

Mount Juliet Country Estate

The series of pictures produced at the Mount Juliet Country Estate in County Kilkenny…

.. just for you !

Photographer: Ashley Morrison.
Stylist: Marie McMillen.
1st Assistant: Stuart McNamara.
Music: Chill by Musicshake.

More effort than one might have thought.

This week took us up to one of our favourite places – County Donegal.

Where we shot a great contemporary home, owned by the delightful Lin & Bobby Crossle, who made us both feel so welcome.

In theory, architectural contemporary homes should be easier to shoot than more traditional homes – due mainly to their white walls & larger windows. However, in true Irish fashion, the weather wasn’t on our side, so the lighting required much more effort than one might have thought…

.. but we got there in the end…

.. all be it slowly – as both Lin & Marie worked their magic…

.. in front of the camera throughout the day.

Both very passionate about their dogs, as you can see…

.. so needless to say, capturing one of them ‘At Home’…

.. was a must too.

Anyway, it was an amazing house – and Lin & Bobby looked after us so well, we’d just like to say a big Thank you – and we will keep you posted.

From Marie & me.
www.homesinteriors.com