Wagon packed…

.. as we were heading down to shoot in County Westmeath near Athlone this week, at the Hodson Bay Hotel – after getting a request to produce 4 images for them to use to help market & advertise their place.
The first was to be the penthouse suite set-up as a honeymoon suite, as promoting weddings was top of their list.
So having arrived the evening before, we talked things over with their marketing people once again – and it was at that point we decided to go for something a bit different to what we had originally planned, after Marie here thought this…

.. would make for a great bridal shot!
“What was she thinking!!“, I hear you say.
Well, it involved getting up very early the next following morning…

.. and then waiting for the sun to rise.
So while Claudio – our assistant for the day, who we had only contacted the day before via the Photography Ireland forum – stood in…

.. I set-up the camera and started to light it as best I could, while keeping my fingers crossed.
As timing was going to be everything here – as we watched the sun rising…

.. the bride appeared…

.. and so it was all hands on board…

.. as I knew this golden light or ‘first light’ as it’s sometimes called, wouldn’t last for more than a couple of minutes.
Beautiful…

.. but so too was the view…

.. which at the end of the day was very much their unique selling point – as that was amazing too.
“Sometimes you sell the sizzle, sometimes you sell the steak”
Is an old saying in the Advertising world – so I decided to add some sizzle…

.. which Marie when she saw it later emailed me to say:Â
Wow wow wow wow 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
 .. and Aidan from the hotel called ‘stunning’ & ‘iconic’
As this was about selling the dream – which is actually real, even if one may never be able to capture it quite like this 
More to follow – as this was to be a long day – but what a start, so I’ll leave it at that for now, as it was time for some breakfast.
Cheers from Marie, Claudio & me at the Hodson Bay Hotel, which as you can see…

.. now really is situated on the shores of Lough Ree near Athlone in the ​Irish county of Westmeath