On the 20th of June 2015 I was honoured to shoot at my friends wedding. The day of my birthday and the day of an extraordinary couple to be married.

Living on the grounds of Tyrrelstown former Golf Club, they decided to have their wedding there, at home! And it was one of the most exciting and well thought out weddings I've ever been to.

The day started with Allie's preparations at the house...






























While kids took the liberty of not taking Irish sun for granted....




Along the driveway into the house there are a number of trees planted by the previous newlyweds... This tradition is continued by new Mr and Mrs Smith!



The arrival of the couple in a 1928 Model A Ford .....





Where we began our photographic adventure....



Lance's parents provided us with a beautiful back garden for photographs where reception took place at the same time....






It's their special day, they can do whatever they want :)...


Wonderful elegant bride...





















 The bridal party were extremely
entertaining!







Moments before everyone sits down for dinner....





Amazing room set up curated by Allie herself....







 And so the fun began...

Dear Brides,

Most of the time you are reluctant to pay high fees for wedding photography and I wonder why? :)
Is it the lack of knowledge about the job or you just don't see the point of it all?

To you it may look like the most simple job on the day and feels like anyone can do it. All you need is a camera and a person who can push a button. Why pay so much money for it?

I will strongly advise against cheap wedding photography options. Just think about it, the amount of thought that went into your wedding details. Your dress! Your fiancé's suit with all its quirks. And when the day is over... It's all gone or tucked away. All you're left with is the photos.


A skilled wedding photographer has a style. Don't ignore it. The style of photography will reflect your whole wedding theme.


A good photographer knows exactly what to take photos of, putting your mind at ease so that you can just enjoy the day. They will know when and where to be. They will know what sort of background to use, where are the good spots, how to use them without hesitating where to go first.


They will know how to photograph your family photos taking into account the order and the appropriate timing.

They will know how to act under the stress of tight time frames. They will know what to do if it rains outside, or if it's too cold or too dark.

They will know what to do if the church has little light, or the church aisle is too short for the bride to walk. They will know what to do if the priest is strict.

And most importantly they will know all the key moments of your wedding!

Not to mention all the candid shots that they have to take for you so that you can share them with all your guests later on.

The photographer starts their day depending on when you hired them, and they don't get to sit down until dinner time. Not for a minute!

All of this comes before post production. Hours and hours of post production.

There is a lot of running around, pressure and responsibility on the day for one person to deal with.
I'm sure your friend with a camera would rather share the joy of this day with you. A photographer that charges too little will not be able to deal with the same pressure. There is a reason why it costs so much.

And remember your wedding day is one of the most important days of your life!
Take care of it because you most certainly have a great taste, great sense of humour and lots and lots of love around you. Make sure all of it is documented properly :)

... You're simply extraordinary ...

Depth of field.

Two weeks ago I was approached by my friend who said that his dad was wondering how do I make my subjects sharp while the rest of the photo is blurry.... About eight years ago when I started taking photos, I asked someone the same question.

Every lens has a certain aperture (indicated by a letter 'f'... followed by a number. In fact you can see it in description of lenses all the time. Like Canon 135 f 2.0). 

Aperture is a hole in the lens that lets the light in. The more open it is (eg f 2.0), the bigger the whole, the more light comes in. The more closed it is (eg. f 8), the smaller it is, the less light comes in through the lens. Simple as that.

If you are wondering how is it that sometimes the whole picture is in focus and sometimes only certain parts of it are in focus leaving the rest of it blurry... then the word you're looking for is the depth of field which comes hand in hand with the aperture. 

If your aperture is open (eg. f 2.0) the zone of sharpness between the subject you focused on and the rest of the photo will be be very small. This will allow you to make that creamy blurred background that most people love to have in their photos.

And vice versa. If your aperture is closed (eg. f 8) the zone of sharpness on your photograph will be greater making it mostly sharp.

Have a look at this:




In this photo the depth of field is indicated by a sharp line that runs across the mat where the flowers lie. The actual area around the point where I focused, before and after, is approximately 1.5 - 2cm wide altogether. It's quite a small area! This means that all the subjects in the photo that are out of this depth of field (the sharp area) will be blurry. In this particular photo I had an aperture of  f 2.0.

I don't shoot at closed apertures such as f 8, but if in this particular moment I did, my whole bouquet of flowers would have been in focus. I would also be able to see the background clearer.

Closed apertures (bigger f stops ... from around f 5.6 up to f 22) are mostly used in interior photography and landscapes, as well as studio photography.

So in order to have a nice blurry background giving your photo some volume, you can shoot at low apertures. Most of the lenses that have low apertures are quite expensive. Because remember... Photography is all about the light and the more light you can let through your lens, the higher the quality of the picture you will get.

Practice it, compare it and find your own preference of depth of field because it can be quite subjective.


Please leave your thoughts, comments and questions below... lets engage and be friends :)

... you're simply extraordinary ...

Yesterday I visited... or to be precise I was a part of a casting event for VPlus Models . I was hired to take profile photos for the girls that participated in it.

This adventure was a major eye opener for me. Everyone was between sizes 12 and... lets say more. I was amazed at how confident and open everyone was in front of my camera. 

The day unraveled with Vicki's (the founder of the agency) speech about her battle with obesity and self confidence and how she found the answer... which was as simple as just loving yourself. 





Later on we stumbled upon each other and I thanked her for such an inspiring speech. I said that people with obesity struggle with the same issues as the rest of us. 

Often enough I think that I'm not perfect or not good enough, completely ignoring my strongest sides. This can be daunting and hard to deal with... And most of the time it's just as simple as giving yourself the same bit of love you would give your purring cat :)

Thank you Vicki for sharing a little bit of love.

You're Simply Extraordinary

My super boosted business course is still running and it makes my mind run in circles like it never really did!

With all the different tests that I was given during these couple of days of self assessment and thinking about my Wedding Photography, I realised one important thing.... I know more than I ever thought I did.

We really never give ourselves enough credit for our knowledge. I may not be the know it all but I do have some strengths that I forget about on the daily basis. I also found out that being okay with my weaker sides makes my life easier because they aren't that bad when they are my friends :)

I just wanted to remind you, that over the years, everything you have researched about photography, everything that you have put into practice and everything that you are skilled to do still counts! And it's hard to believe how briskly everything is shoved away, all the experience acquired due to long hours of hard work. I encourage you to leverage your experience and skills, to cherish them and keep filling in the gaps. You will be surprised with the result.


Nobody knows you as well as you do. Nobody knows your areas of expertise and nobody knows how skilled you may be at your hobbies. So start talking about them and start making them your unique strengths in your business and in your life.

You're simply extraordinary...