Six of these plus a whole bunch of these.

The fun continued at the Breaffy House Resort…

.. as the weather quickly changed and blew everything away with it.

So we headed inside as it started to rain, to shoot the new Healy Mac’s bar…

.. which looked amazing – especially when the sun poured in through the large windows, which it clearly wasn’t anymore.

Anyway, with six of these…

.. plus a whole bunch of these…

.. and we were all set to go…

.. as Marie & Claudio assumed the position that the models would later be in.

So while we waited for everyone to arrive…

.. we did some test shots – with Claudio sitting in once again, this time with Mary Lee…

.. and then when everyone else arrived, it was time to start shooting for real…

.. and this was the final result…

.. after a few different outfit changes.

Next up was the restaurant – so with the camera in the ideal position…

.. everyone started to do their thing…

.. while we did ours…

.. hair sorted…

.. emails checked…

.. time to shoot…

.. and this was the result…

.. after we had turned the place totally upside down

The large Banquet suite was next…

.. which after Claudio had lit – with six of these plus a whole bunch of these – the models were given their instruction…

.. while I checked to see how it looked…

.. then more instruction…

.. the result…

.. a final check…

.. and that was it.

Which just left what we had started…

.. which I talked about here: Doing whatever it takes.

And so that was it – a big thanks to everyone involved here – from Marie, Claudio & me at ampimage – as it was then back to the Healy Mac’s bar – tired, wet but very pleased with the results – to enjoy six of these plus a whole bunch of these

Doing whatever it takes.

The brief was very simple – as they just wanted “a shot of the bridal couple at the car with BH entrance in background”.

It was one of many images that they had asked us to take, for them to use over the next few years in their advertising & marketing material – so it was of down to the Breaffy House Resort in the County Mayo town of Castlebar last week, to see what we could do.

The weather forecast wasn’t looking great for most of the week – but it did say we may get some sunshine on the first day.
So after a brief talk about what we would try and shoot – taking into account that the models from Catwalk Model Agency had been booked for the following day – we decided to start with some of the exterior shots first.

The big one naturally being the “shot of the bridal couple at the car with BH entrance in background”.

Easy… except we didn’t have a bride and groom – and the weather wasn’t exactly that great neither, as you can see here…

.. as I set the camera up to take the shot.

Still, I had this vision of what it could look like in my head – so after finding the ‘perfect spot’, we moved the car into position and while we waited for the sun to come out, I took some quick shots of Marie & Brenda…

.. to let everyone see how wonderful it could look – but I’m not sure anyone believed me at this stage

Anyway, minutes later the sun came out – so they rolled out the Red Carpet…

.. but something at my end, as you can see here, wasn’t quite right.

One frame after another…

.. were looking very odd…

.. and it just seemed to get worst the more images I took…

.. be it to the card or to the laptop – which I still haven’t got to the bottom off, as I just don’t know what the problem was here.

Nightmare !!

But anyway, thankfully there was one frame that was okay – which was this one…

.. thank Gee – because it wasn’t long before the clouds rolled in once again.

Anyway, that was a rap – or should I say, I was at least able to say I had got the first part – because as I said before, the models were not arriving until the following day and the weather forecast was rain, rain and then more rain, until late in the afternoon.

And the weather forecast was right too – so it wasn’t until after 5pm the following day, that we managed to get out again to shoot the second part.

So while Claudio tried to find the mark on the ground…

.. which had been totally washed away by this stage – I did my best to get the camera back into the same position as the day before.

Then it was up with the lights, just before it started to rain once again…

.. as I knew I needed to make it look as if the sun was shinning of them.

The clock was ticking, the light was fading and I (along with the all the gear) was soaked – but it was Showtime…

… as this was it…

.. now or never.

Anyway, here you have it – the final result…

.. because we do actually work really hard, to make it look like we didn’t do any work at all – by doing whatever it takes – because as you know, the camera never lies

Anyway, just want to say a big thanks to everyone involved here – especially to Brenda and all her staff here at the Breaffy House Resort… from Marie, Claudio & me at ampimage.

How hard can it be !

At the end of last year we were invited along to take a look at some of the bedrooms at the Kildare Hotel Spa & Golf Club (also known as The K Club), near Straffan in County Kildare, which they were wanting us to possibly shoot sometime.

So we were shown around by their Marketing people, and while Marie talked to them about what all they wanted, who their market was, etc, etc – I took some quick pictures like this…

.. just to see what the camera saw, as well as get an idea of what I may have to do later on.

Anyway, last week we were back – but this time we didn’t just come to take some pictures, we were here this time to create some images that they would want to use instead.
So needless to say the wagon was fully loaded, which naturally took some time pack as well as unpack that evening on arrival…

.. but anyway, we kicked of the following morning in the Superior bedroom…

.. which by 10:47 we were ready to let Orla here…

.. see this final result…

.. to have it signed-off, so to speak.

Then it was over to the Barton Suite…

.. where Marie worked her magic as usual – while Stuart…

.. well he was obviously tired, so he decided to lie down on the job

Still, very pleased with the result…

.. as was Orla too.

Next up was the Liffey Deluxe suite…

.. so it was all hands on board once again…

.. to create this image of the sitting room area…

.. before swinging the camera around…

.. doing what we do …

.. to end up with this…

.. which once again Orla seemed very pleased with.

The Presidential Suite was next…

.. which we rearranged…

.. styled…

.. and then lit to look like so…

.. to show both the sitting room area and the bedroom this time – before calling it a day…

.. and enjoying a glass of wine outside.

Next morning I told Marie how I’d caught a fish this big…

.. or maybe I was showing her a possible camera angle

Either way, it was the huge Viceroy Suite next…

.. were Marie as usual worked her magic…

.. while Stuart and I worked on the lighting, to end up with this image…

.. before a quick change…

.. to create the Bridal Suite…

.. which it seems, it is also regularly used for.

Pretty Wow !!

Anyway, next up was the Liffey Suite…

.. which was one of the bedrooms we had taken pictures off before (which I showed above) – and so after the team had done their thing, this was the end result…

.. as Stuart hung out the window to fill the room with beautiful light.

Next morning we started in Suite 6…

.. which thankfully was on the ground floor, as it was bucketing down outside – so lights up and rain coats on…

.. as we knew we had to be quick here…

.. to capture this suite’s U.S.P, which we felt the waiter highlighted to perfection.

The last room was dark due to it raining outside…

… and much smaller than the others too – so please wait outside…

.. while I have a look…

.. at this the final bedroom image…

… before packing-up and loading-up…

.. tired but very happy – that we had actually made it look, as if we hadn’t done anything at all here, besides just take some quick pictures of what happened to be there, with a really good camera.

Because, like how hard can it be, to shoot a few bedrooms

Anyway, from Marie, Stuart & me – we hope we have made you want to stay at The K Club – as that was our goal here when we creating images – which is a truly amazing place in the beautiful County of Kildare, as you can clearly see.

Nestled in the Sperrin Mountains.

Near Limavady in County Londonderry, is where Kim & Derek’s barn extension can be found – and so that’s where we were a few weeks ago…

.. to produce some images which we were hoping an Editor from one the leading interior magazines would want to use.

So it was all hands on board – as I set up the camera, Marie set about doing her thing…

.. and Claudio, who had jointed us for the day, set up the lights outside.

Fifty-five minutes later, it was time for a coffee break…

.. as I asked Kim to smile

From there we worked our way up through to the kitchen at the back, which as you can see was looking pretty good as is…

.. and so therefore only needed the lights moved a bit out of frame, to create this image…

.. before returning back down to the sitting room area here…

.. to capture it from the other direction.

Which in the end, I reckon was my favourite image of the day…

.. as it surprised everyone, because it wasn’t how any of us had really pictured it beforehand.

Anyway, with Claudio’s help throughout the day and with all that Kim & Derek had done here, we seemed to fly through this one – and produced, what I felt, was some great images too.

The final one being that of the exterior image…

.. which I had to wait for, as the sun really only ever hits the front of the barn in the late afternoon.

Still a beauty, as far as I was concerned – because it sure wasn’t what I would have expected to see nestled in the Sperrin Mountains – especially inside what once was an old barn, which clearly it is no longer.

Fantastic job Kim – and Derek too – and so all that is left to say, is thank you once again for inviting us in, from Marie, Mandi, Claudio and me – who all loved what you did here on your family farm – and so it came as no surprise to get a ‘yes please’ from an Editor so quickly – so we will keep you posted on that, once we know more.

Working hard or hardly working !

Near the seaside town of Portaferry in County Down, is where you will find this thatched cottage…

.. which belongs to Jill & David Crawford.

“Picture perfect” as they would say – but nevertheless Marie here…

.. still had to work on the finishing touches, as there is often a difference between something looking good to the eye and looking good for the camera.

So while I worked on the lighting, Marie kept a close eye on what was in front of the camera…

.. and between us, this was the result…

.. which when done well, we believe shouldn’t look as if we did anything at all.

Which in itself, can sometimes causes problems, especially when it comes to quoting – because people often feel that I should be able to produce lots of images like this in a day – whereas if the true be told, each shot sometimes takes hours to produce and then there is the pre-planing part too, especially at Marie’s end – as things like flowers, throws and cushions, etc, just don’t happen to appear out of thin air on the day

Anyway, I guess that is why I often like to show our ‘starting point’ or the first image captured – like here…

.. because then that kind-off lets people see what all was done – which in this case, was probably a lot more than anyone would think – but anyway, here is the final result…

.. which is all ‘The World’ will see, when it’s featured in the various magazines over the next few years.

As that’s our goal: to produce a set of images that either someone will want to use a lot or that a lot of people will want to use or even both if we can manage it – because the more our work is used, the more we will earn – or at least that’s the theory

Anyway, delighted with this one, so a big thanks to Jill & David for inviting us in and we will keep you posted on when it will appear next year.

From Marie, Mandi & me – who actually do work every hard, to make it look like we didn’t do any work at all