The Duchess Slant.

With the Royal Wedding coming up, naturally, there has been a lot in the news about Meghan Markle recently and how she is quickly learning her future ‘acting’ role – and who better to learn from than Kate Middleton: Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge.

Anyway, one of the things which I found very interesting, which I hadn’t actually picked up on before, was the ‘duchess slant’.

“The knees and ankles are clasped firmly tighter and the legs are slanted to the side, creating a flattering silhouette.”

“Typically the ‘duchess slant’ is used when a lady has to sit for an extended amount of time while keeping poise and posture,” says Myka Meier, royal etiquette expert and founder and director of Beaumont Etiquette. “It is the perfect pose for when a camera is shooting directly in front of you because by slightly slanting the knees to create a zig-zag effect when wearing a dress or skirt, your legs are angled so that the camera only shoots the sides of your legs and protects your modesty.”

And so with that in mind, it was time for some Afternoon Tea…

.. in the Drawing Room…

.. where one practiced…

.. and practiced…

.. and practiced one’s pose…

.. before the ladies arrived…

.. to show us how it was done…

.. to perfection, at the Killarney Park Hotel in the Irish County of Kerry – from Dianne, Claudio…

.. and me

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The ironing board

The ironing board was put to good use – so here are some pictures to show how we used it to produce this image…

.. in the Innisfallen Suite…

.. which can now be seen on their website…

.. and this…

.. .. at the Killarney Park Hotel…

.. in the beautiful Irish County of Kerry

Total tranquility in Killarney.

Keeping it simple…

.. so it was Lights…

.. a few candles…

.. a Camera…

.. a quick check…

.. Action…

.. and then basically repeat…

.. in the Spa & Wellness centre.

“One of the finest spa hotels Killarney has to offer, the Killarney Park Hotel Spa is the perfect place to unwind and luxuriate. Devote a day to your relaxation and regeneration or indulge in some post-sightseeing pampering; however you decide to use our indulgent Spa facilities, you will emerge refreshed and renewed in our oasis of calm.

You will find a wellness space that encourages total escape from the pace of everyday living.”

Five-star massages & reviving treatments…

.. at The Spa…

.. your haven of peace and total tranquility in Killarney – by Dianne, Claudio & me

The Whiskey Room.

The picture the Killarney Park Hotel sent us a few weeks ago to let us see the area they wanted us to shoot…

.. and the first picture I took last week, didn’t really look that different…

.. so that was basically our starting point…

.. as John, who is the hotel’s Marketing Executive, looked on…

.. and this week you can actually see the final image that we created…

.. on the hotel’s homepage

So below are some of the pictures to let you see what all happened in-between – both inside…

.. and outside…

.. as tables got moved…

.. test shots were taken…

.. and Claudio had to be reminded it was only 10 O’Clock in the morning…

Seriously though, we wanted this image to clearly let the viewer know that this was the “Whiskey Room” – so with that in mind, the placement of some of the whiskeys one could sample; as well as the placement of the people within the room…

.. was all important in my opinion.

Well, the look on my face here says I wasn’t convinced we had still got it right…

.. as the first of our models arrived…

.. but with everyone’s help; as well as the shirt of Dianne’s back…

.. final instructions were given…

.. and I’m very pleased to say that this was the end result…

.. to show the Whiskey Room…

.. in the Garden Bar…

.. at the Killarney Park Hotel in the beautiful Irish County of Kerry

The 3rd floor.

Is where we spent most of our time on the 2nd day, although the Kenmare Suite here…

.. was actually up some stairs – and so they also referred to this as Room-401 – which is where we left off the day before.

So after turning their beautiful room upside down…

.. it was lit…

.. captured…

.. and studied – as Marcus by the looks of it here…

.. was also very keen to see this the final result:

The Killarney Suite was next on the list…

.. which they wanted to be shot​ from close​ to the door into the room instead…

.. so once again it was lit…

.. studied…

.. tweaked…

.. and this was the final result:

Before going next door to shoot the sitting room area…

.. which when lit…

.. captured…

.. and Dianne had finished doing whatever it was she was doing here…

.. ended up looking like this…

.. before we stopped for a well-deserved​ bite to eat…

.. out in their Garden Terrace – which I talked about shooting 2 years ago.

Which just left the Signature bedroom…

.. to light…

.. capture…

.. study…

.. and tweak…

.. to create this the final result:

And so that was it – time to pack & rack…

.. just before nightfall – very tried…

.. but also very happy

Which just leaves me to say a Huge thanks to everyone involved here at at the Killarney Park Hotel – and also for making us feel so welcome throughout our stay – from Claudio, Dianne & me @ ampimage.com … until the next time

Ireland’s Number 1 Luxury Hotel.

And we are also delighted and very proud to be part of your success

Which continued for us this week, as we headed back down to the Killarney Park Hotel in Irish County of Kerry, to shoot this Classic Twin Room…

.. which was the first of 6 rooms that we had been asked to shoot.

So below you can see some of the behind the scenes pictures taken by Claudio – which basically tells the story in a universal language – as well as some of the first captures I took and final results too.

The Classic Twin Room…

.. lit…

.. captured…

.. studied…

.. tweaked…

.. and then the final result:

The Classic Queen room…

.. lit…

.. captured…

.. studied…

.. tweaked…

.. and then the final result:

The Classic King bedroom…

.. lit…

.. captured…

.. studied…

.. tweaked…

.. and then the final result:

The Kenmare Suite…

.. which Marcus, the Operations Manager, here…

.. explained was going to be changed – as they no longer wanted to put 2 beds in this room.

So we made a start…

.. but ran out of time as it started to get dark…

.. so more to follow – as it was clearly time for a pint (or was it 4) of Guinness anyway

Which just leaves me to say Congratulations once again for your award, from Dianne, Claudio & me.

Warmth Beyond The Smile.

The Library: “The room is quite dark to suit the reader so a lot of flashes will be needed I think” – was what John wrote when he sent me this image…

.. to let me see what he was talking about.

And yes, when I took the first picture of this room, my system clearly showed that too…

.. but with Claudio on hand and enough light gear to light-up Blackpool tower, it wasn’t long before he had it lit-up like a Christmas tree…

.. while Dianne did her thing – and I had a cup of tea…

.. as I looked at the image on the screen.

Anyway, we had lots of fun with this one – as you can see from all these behind the scene images, which tells the story of what all happen next, a lot better than I could do using a thousand words…

.. and so this was the final result…

.. which John himself clearly liked the look of too – because a few days later he was on the Home page…

.. to welcome you all to the Killarney Park Hotel in County Kerry – to join him in the Library, in front of that nice warm fire.

And so that was it – until the next time – which just leaves me to say a big thank you to everyone involved, as “Warmth Beyond The Smile” was truly felt over those few days

Reception/Guest Relations Desks.

“If we can get two together then great. We’d also like one showing the Guest Relations with our new Guest Relations Manager if the two desks shot doesn’t work. Hope this makes sense!” – was the brief that was sent along with this image…

.. to show their new Guest Relations Desk, which had only recently been completed.

So that was next on the list – and so off to work we went – starting as usual by taking a picture to let everyone see what the camera sees…

.. followed by lots of discussions about what they wanted to image to say and how best to going about saying that…

.. until Alan and his wife arrived to assumed their positions – and then this was the final result…

.. which a few days later was on their Homepage…​

.. to welcome you to the Killarney Park Hotel.

So that was four in the bag and one to go.

Deluxe Family Room.

“Could include breakfast tray on the bed? This image is to show off that we have family rooms (two doubles)” is what John wrote – along with these 2 pictures…

.. which he sent, to let us see what it looked like.

The 2nd image begin the one that I liked the look of the most, as I felt the window and seating area were important to show – and Dianne agreed. So on arrival that is where I first set up the camera, to see how looked – which surprisingly looked very good, as you can see here…

.. and so we were almost done

Well not quite – and so once again I will let the pictures which Claudio took, tell what all happened next – because when it comes to creating an image that they will want to use, rather than taking a picture that they could use if they wanted to, it usually means having to do a lot more than just pressing the bottom once or twice

Anyway, we were at least off to a good start – so this actually didn’t take very long…

.. for us to end up with this…

.. which they once again weren’t long on putting to good use…

.. a few days later.

So just want to say a big thanks to Alan and his family here – as they were The Stars of the show – and so that was it for that day, as it was time for a pint of Guinness… or was it 2 or maybe it was 3, as we did produce three images that day after all

I’ve attach a photo below that you kindly sent on.

“It would be perfect for the Restaurant image that we wish to create.” – was basically the brief and this was that image…

.. which we produced in the Deerfield restaurant at the Clare Inn Hotel in County Clare – which I talked about here: Clare Inn & George, back in 2010.

Anyway, once again I will let the pictures tell the story – starting with the first picture taken…

.. in the Park Restaurant – which as you can see, looked nothing like Deerfield restaurant – but nevertheless, to create that ‘type of image’ was our goal here, so the images below will give you some idea of what followed…

.. until this image appeared on the screen…

.. and I knew that was it – which once again was on their website page for all the World to see…

.. before the end of the week.

So that was two in the bag and it was time for a spot of lunch – as next up was the Deluxe family bedroom.