“Rankin celebrates the work of Life magazine’s legendary photographers, who shot the big moments in American history – from the assassination of Robert F Kennedy to the Vietnam War.”
On BBC iplayer.
December 2, 2011
America in Pictures…
August 9, 2011
Sorry about that…
.. but you need to pay a licence fee if you want to use our pictures…
.. especially if it’s to promote your business.
Plus you should not be using an image which we produced at a totally different hotel neither…
.. as that is really breaking all the rules of advertising.
Sorry about that – but just because something is available (a room in their hotel or one of our images, for example) doesn’t mean it’s free… as in: for you to use it, without paying something towards the amount you want to use it.
We recommend everyone reads the information at: Copyright 4 Clients – if you are unsure about the basic laws surrounding photography, ethics & standards of practice – before using someone else’s pictures.
July 9, 2011
Blogging – Italian Style
This is another instance of a Blog about a Blog.
This time the Blog Spot is by a wide network of mainly Italian girls who clearly love “Modern Country” style – they had spotted some of our magazine images and were clearly very taken with Marie’s styling – as a result, they asked for an interview which can now be seen on Apple Pie.
Modern Country: Marie McMillen, quando il web è una continua scoperta.
This really is a beautiful composed Blog Spot – it just shows that a love of homes and styling is a truly international thing.
Pretty Far West
This is actually a Blog about a Blog – and coincidently this happened twice this week for us !!
We shot a very pretty country style home in Connemara …
.. a beautiful part of the world over looking the Aran Islands.
The homeowner, Brid, writes a superb blog about everyday living with a country style theme.
So you can check out her Blog about our photoshoot at Pretty Far West.
Anyway, we would just like to say a huge thank you to Brid and her Scottish husband, Steve, for making us feel most welcome.
Steve, by the way, has theee most amazing Harley Davison so when the girls were having fun chatting about – well girly things I guess – we had a most enjoyable discussion about boys toys – and I even got a wee go on his Harley.
So needless to say, we all had a great day… pretty far West !!
Marie & Ashley.
www.ampimage.com
June 20, 2011
Apple Pie, love for details…
Two photographs of interiors that have helped me in recovery!
Ashley, Marie e Me
Posted by Diana at Apple Pie, love for details.
May 19, 2011
February 10, 2011
Praise is indeed bread to an artist.
Noticed we have been receiving a lot of ‘hits’ recently, from different parts of the world – so decided to check-out where they were coming from.
There’s been a lot of world wide debate over the past few years about US style interior photography (which is often extensively lit in a ‘glamorous’ movie sort of way) vs European style interior photography (which is all about ‘natural’ looking light). And also Real Estate photography (showing space and USP’s) vs Magazine photography (which is more about lifestyle and decor). Different markets, different clients, different trends – but some of these recent posts show that there is certainly a growing interest in some level of cross over which I applaud.
Really pleased to see that experienced photographers have been debating how we shoot interiors and seem to like what we are doing.
Praise is indeed bread to an artist.
By way of background, I’m Irish and am based in the north of Ireland but I went to college in Texas, so I guess I’ve been fortunate to learn from both sides of ‘the pond’.
Looking at some of these recent posts, it’s both interesting and encouraging to read what others are saying about us – below are some of the comments from 3 different forums – which we hope they don’t mind us recording it here, for keep sake when we are old(er) and grey(er).
These comments are not really about us – they are about interior photography – a field that is open to interpretation. Because everyone sees things differently and sees different things, when they look at a picture.
Anyway, we’ve had an amazing decade but are still learning – so we always love to hear what other’s are thinking and seeing – especially when they look at our images.
The recent posts:
DPreview / Pro Digital Talk – Interior design Photography.
Hi folks
How are the Pros doing it? HDR? multiple strobes? ambient lighting?
I’m currently scratching my head here hearing all sorts of stories into which type of photography for interior/real estate images. A lot of the images I have been seeing online look very ‘lucis art’ but then i’m told that people want to see ‘natural ‘ looking images. I have been toying with HDRs but can never get windows to look anywhere near natural.
—If you’re going to get into strobes, you would not use anything on camera, which casts short harsh shadows. You don’t want to take a picture of a room from the perspective of a light bulb. And you need some modifiers, at the least umbrellas, a diffuser, and perhaps a grid. But really you need to set up a bit differently than you are now. Someone like Ashley Morrison might use 7-9 strobes, but you could not find any evidence of them being there. Small flash heads attached to a power pack make that a little easier, and having a wide selection of modifiers and rigging at your finger tips. And a truck, or at least a Subaru.
—On Ashley Morrison’s site, have a look at the Before and After images. They give you an idea of some of the ingenious ways that he uses strobes. Notice how he uses strobes to make window light for example.
—Amazing stuff! I just love those images. Thats 20 years experience for you rather than 6 hours, lol.
—All would do to study up on Ashley Morrison, who sometimes writes here and at LuLa. On his site, or his vimeo feed, he has time-lapse videos of several of his shoots, and together they are a master class in setup, lighting, etc. He uses lights, several of them, but makes it look so natural.
Notice the attention to detail used in getting the arrangements just so. It takes all day, and a team of 4-5. He’s only making it look easy, but it isn’t.
———
Bulletin / Forum – ufck photography thread the 3rd.
i’m trying to reverse-engineer some interior photos lately. not quite sure what type of modifiers are being used though, anyone have any insight? e.g:
i love love love this guy’s lighting, but can’t seem to get anywhere close via my umbrellas or bouncing the light off of walls, joints, corners or ceilings. no idea how he fills a space so evenly and without any blatant falloff or hot spots.
—
Have you considered that maybe he isn’t using any artificial sources?
—He states that he does in all of his shots, which I believe, unless he is the jesus christ of exposure blending.
—Why don’t you just ask him?
—The highlights are clearly coming from the windows, which leads me to believe that either A he isn’t using much artificial lighting and it’s very bright outside, or B he is blasting some really high powered sources through the windows and doors. The bounce in the room all looks very natural to me, which is obviously the goal, but I think the best way to get natural looking bounce is to use natural bounce. Would he have the budget to have some 5-10k HMI sources placed outside? If that’s so he’s still probably using something else for the one with the giant window (unless it’s a crane), but that one also looks like it could easily be entirely natural.
—Thinking something along the same lines outiside of the windows or just natural light on bright sunny days.
—i actually found a before/after page of his:
http://www.ashleymorrison.com/behind-01.htm
they are definitely all lit from the inside. this dude is pretty big and does international assignments all over the place, so i would not be surprised if he had the budget for some serious lighting. it’s also impossible to squeeze that much dynamic range (outdoor sun to interior shadows) in one shot out of any camera unless the natural lighting is perfect and you aren’t directly facing any windows – if you were, you’d get some serious light bloom around the window frame.
———
Flickr / Real Estate Photographers of America™ – A Master At Work: Ashley Morrison.
Each of us has a few favorite photographers that we admire. Ashley Morrison is a high-end interior/advertising photographer from Ireland who sometimes posts images on Flickr. He is a true artist and gets paid handsomely for his creativity and hard work by clients who know and appreciate his work. If you go to his website, you can view some of his “before and after” images. I’m sure that many REPA shooters will be inspired and appreciate viewing the links below, plus his many other You Tube videos.
—Love his pricing page.
—This is great – thanks for sharing!
—I’m a big fan.
—I’m interested to see and learn about the lights and specifically the modifiers he’s using.
—Andy,
I think that Ashley is pretty secretive about his lighting and techniques. From what I can tell from viewing some of his videos, he uses a lot of available light with large reflectors to create soft shadows, bounced monolights, sometimes adds warm CTO strobe lighting through exterior windows to simulate window light on gray days, large diffusers on windows to soften hard mid-day light, an occasional grid-spot, and exposure blending. I do know that he uses a Mac, CS3 and a P-25 Phase 1 camera.
—What makes you think he is secretive about his lighting techniques? Have you tried asking him?
In any case, I imagine he uses the usual truckload of strobes, hot lights (spot and flood), and light modifiers (snoots, grids, barn doors, gels, scrims, silks, Cinefoil, etc.), and that his use of this equipment would vary widely depending upon the subject and his client’s needs.
I believe that he only uses a Phase One digital back, and that the “camera” is a pre-digital-era Hassleblad Flexbody (basically just a bellows; the shutters are in the lenses).
If you want to get an idea of what kind of lighting kit interiors photographers typically use, try this Luminous Landscape discussion:
www.luminous-landscape.com/forum/index.php?topic=23264.0
—David, I probably should have used a word like “reluctant”; yes I did ask him. You’re right, we all use the same basic lights and modifiers etc. Back in the late 90′s, when I retired from school teaching, I hired myself out on a per-diem rate as a photo assistant to several Boston location commercial photographers for a few months and am very well aware of what professional commercial shooters use daily . These were pre-digital days and we were using 4″x5″ view cameras and 30 pound Elinchorme strobe power packs. I’ve experienced the same equipment being used by different shooters and was amazed by the slight variation in use and the difference in light “quality” achieved by different shooters. Using a giant sheet of translucent “Rip Stop Nylon” duct taped to a giant picture window can create a soft /directional light quality that cannot be matched by a commercially made softbox or or umbrella. These are some of the nuances that some photographers have discovered that make their work a cut above the rest. From my experience with working with commercial photographers, I found that they are the shooters who really know and study light quality and this made some of them stand out amongst their peers. Some people think that if they own a hammer, a saw and can pound nails, they are a carpenter. The same is true in photography. Studying the work of others that we admire, much can be learned that could make a difference in what our images look like.
I’m not sure if he is using the H’Blad Flexbody or the Arcbody or not. He mentioned the Phase One P-25. If he is using one of the H’Blad bodies with rise and fall movements, its an incredible tool that is the next best solution to using a view camera for perspective control.
———
I hope I did not over-step my boundaries here by using their words – but if I did, I will remove them.
In the meantime, ‘Thank you’ all for your kind words – they mean a lot to us – as we work very hard at producing these sort of images, for our clients to use.
December 2, 2010
Irish Bailout Package…
It is a soft day in a small Irish town.
The rain is beating down and the streets are deserted.
Times are tough, everybody is in debt, and everybody lives on credit.On this particular day a rich German tourist is driving through the town, stops at the local hotel and lays a €100 note on the desk, telling the hotel owner he wants to inspect the rooms upstairs in order to pick one to spend the night.
The owner gives him some keys and, as soon as the visitor has walked upstairs, the hotelier grabs the €100 note and runs next door to pay his debt to the butcher.
The butcher takes the €100 note and runs down the street to repay his debt to the pig farmer.
The pig farmer takes the €100 note and heads off to pay his bill at the supplier of feed and fuel.
The guy at the Farmers’ Co-op takes the €100 note and runs to pay his drinks bill at the pub.
The publican slips the money along to the local prostitute drinking at the bar, who has also been facing hard times and has had to offer him “services” on credit.
The hooker then rushes to the hotel and pays off her room bill to the hotel owner with the €100 note.
The hotel proprietor then places the €100 note back on the counter so the rich traveler will not suspect anything.At that moment the traveler comes down the stairs, picks up the €100 note, states that the rooms are not satisfactory, pockets the money, and leaves town.
No one produced anything. No one earned anything. However… the whole town is now out of debt and looking to the future with a lot more optimism.
And that, Ladies and Gentlemen, is how the bailout package works.
November 12, 2010
Selling the Sizzle…
Any interesting story in the news at present…
Ilyuka’s vendor has spared no expense in an effort to sell the historic home in a softening property market. $200,000 has reportedly been spent on a five-minute, mini-movie of “The story of 24hrs in Ilyuka”.
More on the story here: $200,000 plus to sell a house?
But what’s even more interesting to me, is how they choose to spend their budget, in terms of the media they used. Very much web based which includes this great YouTube video…
.. which is all about selling the Sizzle, rather than selling the Steak.
Love it !!
September 29, 2010
The Carlton Abbey Hotel.
The series of pictures produced at the Carlton Abbey Hotel in Athy…
.. just for you !
“One of the finest luxury hotels in Kildare”
