Over the past week or so, Marie & I have had some great discussions, about not only styling but also about lighting too – when it comes to creating images for others to use.
No rights or wrongs, of course, just different points of views, as to what one believes is right – based on what all the images are going to be used for and by whom, etc, etc.
So looking back on the work we did a few weeks ago – while we were down in County Kerry at the Killarney Park Hotel…
.. the one thing that we both agreed on, is that it has got to look real.
And so that’s like ‘our style’ or what we try to aim for – even though sometimes, it may not be entirely real at all 
Anyway, below shows the first image taken of this bedroom…
.. where nothing had been done by either of us, bar Marie had placed a few items over at the window seat.
So that is real, in that, that is what it looks like if you were to simply walk in and take a picture of what was there.
Your eye will naturally see it slightly different, as your eye can record more levels of light – so the dark areas won’t look as dark and the white areas won’t be as ‘burn-out’ – as you will be able to clearly see what is outside the windows too.
Plus on top of that, your eyes are constantly moving, so, therefore, it’s like you are recording thousands of images to make up ‘the picture in your head’ – whereas the camera only records a single image from a fixed point, with a lens that is fixed rather than one that is constantly zooming in and out too.
So it is different – but nevertheless, both are considered to be ‘real’ – as we all know that the camera never lies, even though we all know that’s not entirely true neither
Anyway, our goal with this type of work is to make it ‘look good’, make it look like somewhere you would want to be – and as real as possible too – to complete the story we are trying to tell.
So I actually work very hard on the lighting, to create a look that ‘looks like’ I didn’t do anything at all – as seen here…
.. while Marie does a similar thing, when it comes to the styling of such rooms.
In other words, we both work very hard to make it look natural – or Real – as opposed to an illustration or something that you would only see in Disney World
And that is, in fact, something that we have both worked very hard on over the years – but the funny thing is, the better we become at it, the fewer people realise how long it actually takes to achieve this look – and so that in itself has obviously lead to problems on pricing (which I won’t get into here, as that’s a completely different story).
But anyway, back to the shoot we did a few weeks ago – as usual, I start by taking a picture like this…
.. to see what it actually looks like from the camera’s point of view – ‘as is’ type of thing – and then the team kicks into place…
.. to add the finishing touches – and about an hour or so later – which may be hard to believe – the final image (or in some cases images) are captured.
And this was the result…
.. which should, if we have achieved our goal, look as if I did nothing at all bar took a picture of what happened to be there at the time… using ‘a good camera’ of course
And so it was – first I put the camera in place and took a picture…
.. then the team kicked in to make it look more inviting…
.. and finally, it was lit and styled to within a inch of our lives…
.. to make it look as one would expect it to look – if you just happened to be lucky to be there at the right moment in time.
Talking about being lucky, well in a way we were, as you can see here…
.. it wasn’t the best of days to be shooting outside.
Still, after adding some light…
.. practicing the pose…
.. and some lengthy talks…
.. the sun finally came out to play – so it was all hands on board…
.. to create this image…
.. of their new Garden Terrace, which is located at the rear next to the Garden Bar…
.. were we all enjoyed a few cold beers, later on, needs to say 
Anyway, there you have it – doing our best to keep it real, but hopefully making you want to be here too…
.. as that’s our goal – as we invite you into ‘our world’, through the images that we create.
From Claudio, Marie & me @ ampimage, trying to make you feel like you are already there, in “the kingdom” of Kerry
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