Katya Koliban Wedding Photography Blog

Flower Inspiration | Wedding Bouquet

16:23

www.katyakoliban.com

Dear Brides,

One of my favourite things to shoot on a wedding day is flowers!

My main advice in choosing your wedding flowers is to get to know their seasons. This will allow you to avoid disappointment if your florist will find it difficult to get them for you.

If you're planning a traditional wedding you may go with soft and calm combinations underlining the romanticism of your personality.

The quirkier bouquets tend to have bright colours that catch your eye and are amazing for taking photos!

Get as many ideas as you possibly can for your seasonal flowers and be brave to experiment!

Katya x

Personal

Weekly adventure; Sea Life Bray

19:01

www.katyakoliban.com

Waking up on a beautiful feezing cold sunny morning to a Valentine's Day, everything was screaming 'The Sea Place'. At least that's how I called it for three weeks postponing the visit every weekend.

I had such high expectations of the place. My imagination told me there will be huge marine fishes and incredibly big aquariums.

My expectations deflated like a balloon very quickly. But so what if they did? I found my favourite fish species, with whom I could not possibly interact in any shape or form. So I just watched it, fascinated with it's alien body type and flowing movements.

Meet my favourite creature from The Sea Place!

You can have a look at the way they move in my short video at the end of the post!

This guy was all pumped up for a night out on Valentines, cute dress!

If you are looking for me, you can find me near anything that has the slightest resemblance of soft fluff.

The glass was way too foggy to have any sort of good quality photos. But nevertheless the Bird Fish and the two below send you creepy black&white greetings from the tank world!

What a colourful beautiful world!

Very old, very friendly sting ray. It promises not to sting you. It does.

And to end this peculiar visit, these two's Valentines date was in full swing. Tip toeing quietly, I passed them by carefully trying not to disturb their lovely evening!

Motivation

Spotlight Review (spoiler alert)

19:29

www.katyakoliban.com

Stories based on true events always fascinate me. It is a difficult movie to talk about. The theme of this film will always be relevant and petrifying to the world.

As always I try to find good solid motivational messages in everything I watch, read and interact with in general. It's good for my mindset and sometimes this kind of thinking can give birth to new and inspiring ideas.

This movie, sometimes funny in places creeping the viewer out, draws you in by using the bravery and open heartedness of the Spotlight team when pursuing the investigation of a controversial story.

At the end of the movie, the vulnerability of the Spotlight team is portrayed in such an intimate way, that the presence of an unmistakable sense of guilt, blame and compassion amongst them gives you shivers of how painfully deep the whole investigation has impacted everyone.

"Marty Baron: Sometimes it's easy to forget that we spend most of our time stumbling around the dark. Suddenly, a light gets turned on and there's a fair share of blame to go around. I can't speak to what happened before I arrived, but all of you have done some very good reporting here. Reporting that I believe is going to have an immediate and considerable impact on our readers. For me, this kind of story is why we do this. "

In my opinion this movie is worth watching just to see the indestructible attitude of the reporters when doors slam in their faces with a surprising frequency. Think when someone says no to you the first time, it doesn't mean they will never change their mind. You always have to try again at least one more time. Determination and knowing why you do what you do motivates you to get results.

This leads me to a conclusion; keep on going, and who knows, maybe your determination will be something that will change the whole world around you. And that is all you need.

For Brides

Wedding at Cabra Castle

17:23

Going back to my list of weddings that I helped on by being a second shooter, I'd love to show you a short story of Eva and Finbar's wedding at Cabra Castle in Co. Cavan.

As it always happens with the late autumn weddings, we were all hoping for a bit of sun on the day to warm us up a little bit. We were so lucky to have been blessed with a beautiful, colourful day!

www.katyakoliban.com

For Brides

Family Friend As Your Wedding Photographer

11:49

www.katyakoliban.com

Dear Brides,

It seems like an a easy option to go with a family friend as your wedding photographer rather than hiring a professional.

At first you are excited to see how much cheaper it can be and as a bonus, it's your family friend, you will feel more comfortable around them.

I'll bring you down to earth very quick. Here are a few things to consider before you take that step and regret it for the rest of your life!

1. It's a job, not a party.

Your family friend will want to have a go at the drinks, to relax and to catch up with their friends or relations whom they haven't seen in years. It's a huge distraction!

2. Did they shoot weddings before?

If someone attended a wedding a couple of times (or more) it doesn't necessarily mean that they know all of the required specifics to take your pictures.

If they did shoot weddings before look at the pictures taken at the church, reception and dinner. These are low light situations. If they can provide bright, sharp and clean photos (without any yellowish or blueish casts) great! If not, beware it is their best work they are showing you.

3. Do they have appropriate gear?

A good DSLR camera with no lower than 15-20 megapixels and a big external flash.

They should at least have 2 lenses:

1 - Standard Portrait lens

2 - Wide lens to be able to fit in large groups of people

4. How long do you think it will take them to deliver your photos?

Be patient, it can take up to a YEAR to receive your photos.

5. Last but not least... Be prepared to plan EVERYTHING on your own.

You'll have to get to know your photography gear, the timeline of the day, your way around organising people for group shots and negotiating the receiving time of the photos.

So why not avoid all the stress, keep a friendly relationship with you friends and your family, sign a contract with a professional photographer and lem handle the day.

Bear in mind that you've invested so much time and money into planning your once in a lifetime day, make sure you document it in a way that YOU want to remember it!

Yours,

Katya

Motivation

Needy parrots, scared meerkats and more!

15:39

The day was rainy and I didn't feel like much of an adventure anyway. So I decided to sneak out to a pet shop located in Kinsealy.

I didn't realise that this simple visit can turn into something special. There were meerkats that spoke back to me (yeah I know, you're probably rolling your eyes now) and parrots that were telling me to stop touching them when they were eating...

When I saw the two meerkats my heart started beating faster. I made weird purry cat noises and one of them stuck it's head out from it's little house and began making those noises back at me.

www.katyakoliban.com

A clockwork orange rabbit was veeeery soft!

A guinea pig started squealing and looking up at me excited when I came over... did it think I was one of their pigs from their little family?

The rabbits were carrying on doing whatever...

Looking like royalty, they acted like royalty. As long as they are happy...

Did you know that birds are vain? They are very, very vain!

One of these buggers was running around the cage restless. I wish I had as much energy as that guy.

I bough a little pressie for my goldfish tank... I'll talk about it in my next fish blog.

The size of these plecos is impressive!

And of course little goldfish bugsters. The yellow ones have bubbly eyes! Those bubbles don't look sturdy to me...

This little guy lives in the pet shop. While I was observing the tanks when he unceremoniously pushed his way in to where I was standing. He's the most timid and sweet dog!

I cannot remember the name of this little dude. But I think the people in the store called him Stephen. Well lets go with little Stephen. He was sweet too, he looked like he was smiling and my heart just melted!

There were spiders too. Big ones. Yeah big ones with loads of eyes. They sold them. The sales man took one out for me to take a photo. I ran out screaming.

This guy was very polite. He said hello if you said it first. But when he was eating I stuck my fingers in to pet him and he said "Stop it!". I did it again and he said it again with even more determination!

And this princess, obviously a princess because she's pink, is my favourite part. She's needy and soft. I never petted a parrot before. This one let me do it. I want a parrot now. She's so needy, exactly what I need!

Outside the sore I found this funny thing. The hand prints of a family... Absolutely unrelated to the post :)

I want to credit Kinsealy Pet Store for their hospitality and amazing job with all the animals. Everyone working there have a caring and friendly demeanour about them!

www.kinsealypetstore.ie

https://www.facebook.com/kinsealypetstore/

Watch the video the get the full feel of the day!