We were shooting a new build house in the County Down seaside village of Ballyhalbert this week – which belonged to John Wilson, who owns a gallery and framing business – and being like 6 foot 6 and then some, his passion is naturally basketball which he has played at a fairly senior level over the years.
The Storyline:
“As a little boy, John’s family rented a holiday home in Ballyhalbert where he had fond memories of family holidays – boats, fishing etc.
Initially, he loved the idea of a converted barn – but the opportunity to buy one within his budget didn’t arise.
So he decided to look for a site and build from scratch.
Style-wise, he likes a slightly eclectic mix of mid-century furniture (mostly from his grandparents’ former home) plus some very old rustic pieces he picked up cheaply – alongside some more contemporary items.”
Anyway, John had sent Marie a few pictures of his place a few weeks ago, which she then forwarded on to me with comments like so:
“Love the 2 sofas and footstool and stove…
Could see us getting a very strong shot here!!!”

Yes, looks good to me too – and so after re-arranging of the sofas to suit the camera angle and a quick bit of styling by Marie, the first picture was taken…

.. to let everyone see what the camera was seeing – as it’s not seeing the room from 6 foot 6 up in the air 
Anyway, after a bit more ‘pushing and shoving’ by John & Marie, lights were in place and so it was time to shoot the man himself…

.. standing tall and very much at home.
The money shot or the lead shot as we would call it – which is like the all-important one – and so that was a ‘slam dunk’ as far as I was concerned 
Anyway, as the rain poured down we pushed on and slowly worked our way throughout his house, shooting not only each of the overall rooms but also some details shots like so…

.. before moving upstairs to shoot the bedrooms etc.
The picture John had sent Marie of the master bedroom looked like so…

.. which Marie said: “I wouldn’t be long sorting this out…”
And neither she was – as it was already looking good by the time I had set the camera up to take this first shot…

.. which again after some work by John & Marie ended up looking like this…

.. where the most time was spent on debating where the basketball should be 
Seriously though it was fun shoot – and the following day after John saw the final results, he replied by saying:
“You work fast Ashley, pictures look amazing!!!”
“Favourite shot has to be the Michael Jordan one but don’t be telling Marie that! haha”
Which refers to this image…

.. of the large framed picture of Michael Jordan titled ‘Wings’ on the landing – which really was stunning – and in itself told the story of who lived here. i.e. someone who is clearly into basketball and beautiful framing of artwork too.
A picture that is worth a 1000 words, especially to John – who we would both like to thank for inviting us in and making us feel so welcome, from Marie & me @ ampimage.com