The story behind the story.

After Marie and her husband Alan returned from a holiday in Cyprus to Aphrodite Hills near Paphos, she was on a mission to return there as soon as possible.

And so that became our next assignment – which to achieve, meant we would need to find at least 3 homes in Cyprus to shoot, that the Editors of the various UK magazines would then want to use – if we where to succeed in meeting our goal here… which is obviously to make money doing this

So based on us managing to come back with 3 sets of images, which would then get used by 3 national magazines and 3 local magazines, then no problems at all – as that would more than cover our basic costs.

Easy!

Well not as easy as it would appear of course – but nevertheless, Marie was on a mission here – and so before I knew it the flights were booked.

Anyway, as chance has it, the night before we were about to fly out, there was a party at my old school – the Royal Belfast Academical Institution or INST as we called it – as the current swim team had just won the Bath Cup for the first time since I captained their first winning team back in 1979…

.. which is another story

Anyway, we all had a great night-out remembering old times, as well as congratulating the members of the current winning team – and of course, my old swim coach, Con O’Callaghan, was there smiling as always…

.. and asked naturally what we were all currently doing.

So I mention we were about to leave for Cyprus in the morning, to shoot some of the villas at Aphrodite Hills, etc.

Well it turns out he had just returned from here – as his son John, who was also a very good swimmer, had recently bought a villa there – and that his daughter, Karen and her husband would also be flying out tomorrow too, on the same flight as us, to stay for a week.

Wow – we’ve got ourselves a home – and an Irish connection too – which is even better

So that’s the story behind this story here – which a few days later we went to shoot – and this was their villa…

.. at the 5 Star Aphrodite Hills, nestled in the hills above Paphos in Cyprus.

Which is were we meet Karen and her husband…

.. enjoying all the comforts of home – as well as the sort of things one doesn’t see often back in Ireland, such as this…

.. or this…

.. out by the pool.

Beautifully decorated inside – and so for Marie and me, this didn’t take long to shoot…

.. however, a wee bit of styling and lighting was still naturally required…

.. just to be too sure it was right for those magazines we were aiming for – especially the national ones, as the standard of photography in those is pretty high.

Anyway, we finished up early as a result- however, I returned later to catch the sun at the back of the villa, only to find Karen and her husband out in the pool enjoying the last of the sun…

.. so naturally, the Hasselblad was out again to capture that – and then I waited for it to go dark, before capturing this final night time image…

.. which I think was my favorite, being an ex-swimmer and all of that – as it really did say: I want to be there

Anyway, the main reason why I’m writing about this one now, is because like Tia’s villa which I talked about here a few days ago: Living la Dolce Vita – this one is about to be featured again too, after all these years.
And on top of that, John has recently been in touch to say he now wants to rent Villa Thalia out – so has asked for the use of these images too – which he is currently using on his newly designed website here…

.. should you be interested in a wee holiday to this most beautiful part of the world – which Marie & I can personally recommend

So there you have, the story behind the story on this one – which you will be able to see and read more about it in next month’s Ireland Homes Interiors & Living magazine – which should be out next week.

Mission accomplished Marie – so that just leaves me to say a big Thank You to everyone involved here and especially to the O’Callaghan family – not forgetting Con, who once again after all these years, pointed me towards a great pool

Thank you – from Marie & me remembering our time at the beautiful Villa Thalia in Cyprus.

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Living la Dolce Vita.

One of the things both Marie & I love most about the work that we do, is meeting people – who in many cases turn out to be truly amazing.

And Michael, as seen here with Marie talking to the local Polizia…

.. was one of those people who neither of us will ever forget.

Because not only did he show us around the Italian Umbria town of Amelia, and even got me into their Archaeological Museum to shoot things like the Statue of Germanico here…

.. but he also introduced us to Tia Weissman here…

.. who along with her husband Bruce, owned this fabulous old villa which she called ‘Casa Lara’…

.. which was located just outside the town of Amelia – which one could see on the hill in the distance from her also amazing garden…

.. which Michael helped her look after, etc.

Well needless to say, we asked Tia could we shoot her place – so she kindly showed us around and I took some quick snaps…

.. just to give us a idea for what we may need to do…

.. in both terms of lighting and styling…

… plus as some of the rooms where not really being used, like this guest bedroom…

.. or had just been used, like her own bedroom…

.. which clearly she hadn't got round to tidying yet, as she wasn't expecting us – then all of this was good to see beforehand.

Still, we had seen enough to say 'yes' this will look amazing – and so it did…

.. after we all did our thing…

.. which included lighting the fires…

.. and making up the beds..

.. which really did say this wasn't Ireland…

.. but instead was someone living the dream in Italy.

Yes it was a lot of hard work; however, eight years on and the memories of all that work is long gone.

The memories however of this amazing villa, meeting Michael and Tia, plus the images we produced live on – and so I'm delighted to report that they will be appearing once again, in next months Ireland's Homes Interiors & Living magazine – which should be on the bookshelves next week

When 25 Beautiful Homes magazine featured it some years ago, as seen here…

.. they titled it "Living la Dolce Vita" and so did Property Life magazine too…

.. meaning living the good life – which is sure was for both Marie & me.

So just ahead of it appearing on the bookshelves next week, I'd just like to say a big thank you to both Michael and Tia here, for making our trip to Italy a truly memorable one – as this for us is one we will never forget.
Thank you.

From Marie & me living la Dolce Vita

Move your mouse…

.. over the original picture that was taken to see the final image created.

Finally finished updating the Before & After section on our Interior website here…

.. so as to not only let people see what was done, but also to show that there are more than 100 different ways to shoot any subject…

.. and that all images are not the same or even close to being the same sometimes – even if they were taken by the same photographer.

Which is something we often need to point out to clients when they ask us for a price to take some pictures?

Because there is a big difference between giving someone a price to turn-up to take some pictures…

.. and being asked to giving someone a price to produce some images…

.. that they would want to use.
As one could just involve turning-up and taking some snapshots of whatever happens to be there like I do when we recce a place…

.. whereas the other could involve hours of work…

.. and a team of people, etc – especially if they are wanting some images created that they will actually want to use in various media for years to come.

Which is why we would often ask about their usage requirements – and then take that information into account when quoting a fee for the use of our work after we have created it.

Because 9 times out of 10, even when it looks to be sitting perfect to the eye…

.. the sort of image that they will want to use…

.. may still need to be lit and styled, etc, etc – and so that is what this section on our website shows, i.e. I can take some pictures or we can create some images.

So enjoy this newly updated section by moving your mouse over the original picture taken to see the final image created – which includes many images that were produced a number of years ago in various countries, which the clients are still using to this very day to promote and advertise their business – as well as some of our most recent work.

Tatler Spa Awards

And the winner for the best Boutique Spa is…

.. which we are naturally very proud to be associated with – and also very pleased to see our work being used to promote this award by them.

Which we talked about shooting here – Christmas at Doonbeg – back in January 2010.

So congratulation to everyone at the Trump International Golf Links & Hotel Ireland – which we still refer to as the Lodge at Doonbeg – for this well-deserved award and especially to the girls who work in the White Horses Spa.

Way to go guys – from Marie, Paul & me @ ampimage.com – as this is great to see.

Stylish Living.

Is the title of our latest published work July 2014 issue of Ireland’s Homes Interiors & Living magazine…

.. on pages 76 to 85 – featuring Tony Day and Darren Baird’s Edwardian terrace in east Belfast.

“Tony and Darren have turned a functional bachelor pad in Belfast into a funky family home.”

Which we talked about here: Kicking off – at the start of 2012.

Anyway, stunning repro as always – which is what I love so much about this magazine – so this is just a quick note to say a big thanks to everyone involved here – and congratulations to Tony & Darren once again, for this time making it into this beautifully printed Irish glossy magazine.

From Marie & me @ ampimage.com