Victorian Vintage.

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

.. on pages 82 to 95 – featuring Keith and Amanda Cunningham’s renovated double fronted mid terrace house in Belfast.

“Amanda and Keith used vintage inspiration and shabby chic furniture to transform dingy workplace offices into a stunning forever family home in Belfast.”

Which we talked about here: Never work with children or animals – when we shot it.

Anyway, a massive 14 page spread which looks really stunning – so this is just a quick note to say a big thanks to everyone involved here – and congratulations to Keith and Amanda here…

.. once again, for this time making it into this beautifully printed Irish glossy magazine.

From Marie, Mandi & me @ ampimage.com

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Wow, Wow and triple Wow!

Seeing one’s work in print, even after nearly 30 years of seeing it printed, is still the thing I love most about what we do.

It’s like Wow! every time – and the bigger it’s printed or the better it’s printed, then the more Wow it often is – as we would often put a lot into each and every image, which I feel can only really be appreciated, when viewed up close a lot of the time.

So when I walked into the local SPAR supermarket yesterday and quickly looked that the magazine rack, I was totally over the moon – to not only see our work on the cover of the August 2014 issue of Ireland’s Homes Interiors & Living magazine…

.. but also to see it beautifully printed on pages 72 to 83 – featuring Janet and Ken Hamilton’s villa called ‘Jasmin’ near the French Riviera village of St Paul de Vence.

The French Connection – Transforming a pretty but rather dated French villa, Janet and Ken from Northern Ireland have created their dream holiday home in a style that successfully blends old and new.

Which I talked about shooting here: Kicking off – back in 2010 – as this is were we stayed while shooting for Liz Gibney Interiors in the French Riviera near the village…

.. of Saint Paul-de-Vence.

Wow!

However, the Wow didn’t end there, as a home we shot in Italy back in 2006…

.. lead on pages 58 to 71 – featuring Tia and Bruce Weissman’s Italian villa located near Amelia in Umbria.

La Dolce Vita – After a two year search, Bruce and Tia found their dream Italian home, a 300 year old villa complete with stunning gardens.

Which I talked about shooting here the other day: Living la Dolce Vita – while shooting a farmhouse for the BBC near the Italian town of Amelia, which sits on a hill…

.. in the south western corner of Umbria.

So double Wow!

And Wow again when I saw this…

.. on pages 82 to 94 – featuring John O’Callaghan’s villa called ‘Villa Thalia’ at Aphrodite Hills near Paphos in Cyprus.

Mediterranean Charm – After a number of holidays in Cyprus, John from Belfast wanted a little corner of the sunshine island to call his own and found it in a luxury holiday complex.

Which again I talked about shooting the other day here: The story behind the story – which we shot back in 2006 while shooting a few other villas at Aphrodite Hills, which is nestled in the hills…

.. above Paphos in Cyprus.

So that was like triple Wow!

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 especially to Janet, Tia and John once again, for this time making it into this beautifully printed Irish glossy magazine.

From Marie, Mandi & me @ ampimage.com – Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.

A Complete Transformation

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

.. on pages 78 to 87 – featuring Breige and Stephen Conway’s Victorian townhouse in the County Antrim coastal town of Cushendall.

“Breige and Stephen from Cushendall in County Antrim explain why village life has made the chaos of their refurbishment project worth the upheaval.”

Which we talked about here: Labour of love – at the time when we shot it.

Stunningly reproduced 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 in this feature and congratulations to Breige & Stephen once again, for making it into this beautifully printed Irish glossy magazine.

From Marie, Mandi & me @ ampimage.com

What prompted you to do what you do ?

As Meryll Frost, the most courageous athlete of 1945, once said:

‘They say behind every great man there’s a woman. While I’m not a great man, there’s a great woman behind me.’

So with one day to go before we headed home – Marie (who has become the great woman behind me) & I decided to go for it – and to take another gamble by putting our money where our month was – because we were here anyway with all the gear, so why not make the most of it !!

David had introduced us to Margaret & Barry Harris, who were from Birmingham in the UK – and they had invited us over to look at their villa…

.. located in Javea on the most Easterly tip of Spain.

When asked: ‘What prompted you to buy a place in the sun?’ they said:

Over the years we have always enjoyed our foreign holidays – there’s nothing quite like that feeling of leaving behind grey skies and stepping off a plane at the other end in balmy heat! But it’s not just about the weather – we love the whole relaxed friendly lifestyle that you experience abroad. Buying a property is a big step and you need to be sure you will get plenty of use out of it. In our case, we run our own business, which thankfully has reached the stage where we no longer need to be at the helm for 12 months of the year. When weighing everything up, we knew that between ourselves, our friends and family, we would get great use out of a foreign home! And although it wasn’t our main motivation for buying, we also anticipated that the villa would be a good capital investment – and with prices rising in the area, this has proved to be the case.

Perfect…

.. so we have a good story to tell – and so all we need now is to produce some images to go along with that, which would appeal to the magazine Editors & their readers.

So having recced the place a few days before…

.. we set about doing our thing…

.. by re-creating each of the original images we took…

.. to bring it more into line with what we felt an Editor would expect to see…

.. and their readers too…

.. whenever they flick the magazines…

.. such as these…

.. (Pages 162 to 167 in the October 2005 issue of Real Homes magazine) – which at the end of the day…

.. (Pages 12 to 21 in issue 17 of Templeton Robinson’s Property Life magazine) – is what it’s all about, as that is all that anyone is ever going to really see.

So this is when I realized it doesn’t really matter what it cost us or how long it took us or even if we had been asked to take the pictures beforehand – because all that others are interested in, are the final results.
If the results are good and they want to use our work, then they will pay me for the use of my images – rather than to do the work, as the work will have already been done by then, and so they aren’t really interested in paying for that.

The penny had finally dropped – and so this was the start of a whole new way that Marie & I then moved our business forward – which I’ll write more about over the following months, as it was truly amazing what lead from this change in our thinking here.

From Marie & me @ ampimage creating the dream of living the dream in this beautiful part of Spain.

The Perfect Compromise

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

.. on pages 80 to 91 – featuring Janice and Billy Shannon’s Edwardian mid terrace in Belfast.

“Jane, her friend Melanie and their cat called Poppy live in a beautiful four-bedroomed Edwardian terrace in east Belfast. Through compromise, the pair has been able to purchase the perfect place for them both to live.”

Which I talked about shooting here: Shannon’s Edwardian mid terrace.

Just love those big double-page spreads, as it really does show the huge amount of work that goes into each and every one of these images – and it’s not just at our end on the lighting & styling, but at the homeowner’s end too, as you really do feel like you are actually standing there in the room.

Yes, the perfect compromise to actually being there!

Anyway, big thanks to everyone involved for their hard work here – and huge congratulations to Jane & Melanie for making it onto this beautifully printed glossy magazine.

From Marie, Mandi & me @ ampimage.com

Out of the office.

Is the title of our latest work in the January 2014 issue of 25 Beautiful Homes magazine…

.. on pages 74 to 77 – featuring Keith and Amanda Cunningham’s renovated double fronted mid terrace home in Belfast.

“Amanda and Keith Cunningham salvaged a derelict commercial space and turned it into an elegant family home.”

Which we talked about here: Never work with children or animals – a few months ago when we were shooting it.

So the first of the New Year issues is out – and I must say it looks great – so a really good start to the year ahead.

Anyway, just a note to say congratulations to Keith and Amanda here…

.. for making it into this top selling national magazine – which is full of amazing homes, which yours is definitely too

From Marie, Mandi & me @ ampimage.com

Let it snow.

Is the title of our latest published work in the December 2013 issue of Period Ideas magazine…

.. on pages 42 to 48 – featuring Julie and David Morrow’s Edwardian terraced cottage near the County Down town of Comber at Christmas.

“Julie and David Morrow’s pretty cottage is tailor made for a cosy Christmas and the couple love decorating their home every winter.”

And a wee message in from Julie to say:

“Delighted we’re in Period Ideas at Christmas. Just waiting for that front cover issue, then I’ll have arrived!! Lol.”

Because I did mention to her at the time, that I could see this image of her…

.. making it onto a cover someday – which I still can – so hang in there Julie 🙂

Anyway, besides saying ‘Let it snow’ now that I have a new wagon to play with – I’d also like to say a big thanks to everyone involved here once again – and especially to Steve at Chilli Media for making this one happen.

From Marie & me @ ampimage.com

Never work with children or animals.

Is what they say – however, they are very often a big part of what a family home is all about.

And so was the case this week, as we were invited in to shoot Keith & Amanda’s newly renovated Victorian townhouse in Belfast.

The house had been used for offices for many years and had been badly neglected it seems; however, the couple fell in love with the period features & proportions and so bought it a few years ago to be their future family home. They carried out much of the work themselves – so to say the least, it’s been a massive project for them – which for now is completed.

Amanda is unashamedly a fan of shabby chic – and so it seems she picked up much of their furniture & accessories in auctions, eBay and salvage yards… to stay within her budget.

Anyway, while the girls worked on the finishing touches…

.. I set about doing my thing – and this was the result…

.. of everyone’s hard work.

Seldom have I worked with such a young baby…

.. a little boy called Oliver in this case – two dogs and a cat…

.. all in a single home shoot.

Because from my perspective, people shots do add a lot of time a shoot – but since the Editors feel that a home feature is more interesting and appealing to the homeowner in some of the shots…

..then that’s a given – and that is therefore what we would normally provide them with.

But in this case, I really wanted to capture not only the homeowner & her young family but also their pets too – as they were very much a part of this home and what family life here was all about… in this stunning home, which has to be one of the best examples of a shabby chic home we’ve shot.

So broke all the rules on this one and pushed the boat out – but I think it was worth it – since Amanda and her husband Keith have done such an amazing job here.

Anyway, just like to say thank you to them both for inviting us in and giving us this opportunity – because all in all, it was a really nice shoot – and from their perspective, it’s a moment in time that is now captured for posterity

The Perfect Investment.

Is the title of our latest published work in the September 2013 issue of Ireland’s Homes Interiors & Living magazine…

.. on pages 96 to 106 – featuring Kathy Reid’s double-fronted Edwardian semi-detached house in Belfast.

“They say fools rush in where angels fear to tread and certainly Kathy had to watch her step when she went to view the semi-direlict property in a leafy avenue of east Belfast. But the busy mum of one was no fool and has transformed her canny investment into a dream home.”

Shot back in the spring of 2007, when investing in property here was at it’s peak – but I’m not so sure if it would be such a good investment today, because according to this recent BBC news story:

“It may take more than a decade for Northern Ireland houses prices to recover from the crash, the consultancy firm PwC has warned… it could be 2025 before prices again reach 2007 levels.”

Anyway, ‘way to go’ Kathy and her daughter Scarlett here…

.. for making the right call back then – and congratulations once again for getting your beautiful home published.

Because as you know, it was featured before in the October 2007 issue of 25 Beautiful Homes magazine…

.. on pages 116 to 120 – and in the May 2008 issue of Northern Ireland Homes & Lifestyle magazine…

.. on pages 28 to 36.

From Marie, Mandi & me @ ampimage.com

Uncompromising Finish.

Is the title of our latest published work in the August 2013 issue of Ireland’s Homes Interiors & Living magazine…

.. on pages 80 to 92 – featuring Amy and Gareth Scott’s semi-detached period house in the County Down town of Bangor.

“Amy and Gareth turned a faded period property in Bangor into a colourful modern family home.”

Which I talked about shooting here: Family living.

Anyway, uncompromising finish indeed – especially those double page spreads, in this beautifully printed magazine.

Twelve pages too – so very pleased with that and great to see this month.

So ‘way to go’ Gareth and Amy here…

.. from Marie, Mandi & me.