New Frame Offer

I've just introduced a new offer for a framed portrait.  Starting at €130 for a studio session and a 15x12 inch frame incorporating a 10x8 inch print, this offer will be available for a limited time only.  There are 3 sizes on offer at 2 different prices - €130 and €170.  Frames are an elegant black or white wood box type frame.  Samples are available to view in the studio.

Baby Casting Prize

Congratulations to Deirdre Merriman who won a €165 voucher for a Baby Casting & Portrait session with me through my facebook page.  Looking forward to meeting Deirdre and her boys.

iPad Competition

I got an iPad over the summer  and I'm absolutely loving it.  One thing that really stands out on it is the quality of images on the screen.  I now use it instead of a laptop to show portfolio samples when out and about meeting clients.  Now there is probably no better way of viewing your wedding photographs than on an iPad.  So I've decided to put one up as a prize for any couple who books their 2011 wedding with me before Dec 31st this year.  See my main site for details.  Best of luck..!!

iPad Competition

Liffey Valley Wedding

One of my recent weddings was celebrated in the Liffey Valley Hotel - a wonderful venue with lovely gardens.  The happy couple were Amy & Cathal who were an absolute dream to work with.  They had a fantastic day and we got some great photos too.  So hard to choose but I've posted a few below.

The Italian Job...

I’ve recently returned from Italy where I spent a week on a commercial shoot photographing a beautiful Italian villa and the surrounding countryside for a tourist website.  
Absolute fabulous location, fabulous weather and even better was that I got the use of the villa for the week...!  It was in a very rural location in Tuscany close to Volterra.  Definitely recommend it.  Anyway, thought I’d post some photos here to share.

So what sort of equipment does a photographer need these days?

I often get asked by guests with a photographic interest at weddings what sort of software and equipment I use so I’ve decided to write a short blog on it here.

Having the best professional grade equipment though is just half the package.  You also have to have the qualification, experience, the ‘eye’, post production skills and the personality to engage with people to have any hope of becoming a successful photographer.  

So, back to equipment.  Most photographers fall into the Nikon or Canon category.  I’m a Canon user and I have to say Canon gear has never once let me down.

My main equipment includes;

Canon 1Ds mark III

Canon 5D mark II

Canon G10 (always in the pocket..!)

A range of Canon and Metz flashguns 

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L USM

Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L USM II

Canon TS-E 24 mm f/3.5L

Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L USM

Canon Extender EF 2x II

Sigma 105mm Macro f/2.8 EX DG 

Manfrotto monopod and tripods

Lastolite grey card and tri-grip reflectors

A large piece of black cardboard..!

A range of Apple Mac computers including a MacPro for all the heavy duty editing.

Adobe Lightroom 2.  (I also have Aperture but I much prefer Lightroom.)

Adobe photoshop CS4

OnOne software

Photomax Pro for High Dynamic Range work

Portrait Professional

TAVE for keeping track of everything every where I go.

Then for the studio I have a range of different powered Bowens studio heads, boom arms, softboxes, umbrellas, softlite reflectors, diffusers, backgrounds, posing stools, chairs etc.. etc...

2 mobile phones and a sat nav also come in handy...

And most important of all is my trusted talented assistant, Siobhan..!

Sample Wedding Portfolio

Glendalough Wedding

Shot a wedding recently for a lovely couple - Sophia and Michael.  The wedding was held in the spectacular venue of Glendalough and the reception in the Brooklodge.

The night before the wedding I was worried to say the least because the weather forecast was not good - cold and wet..!  Typical of this country of ours...  However, I woke up to sunshine and blue skies.  So with some hope in our hearts, Siobhan (my trusted assistant) and I drove down to Glendalough with fingers and toes crossed for good weather.  It never ceases to amaze me how the countryside is transformed by sunshine and Wicklow is just gorgeous.  As it turned out, the day was perfect and we got some lovely shots for the couple both by the upper lake and also at the hotel.  I’ve posted a small selection of photos below.

Beware Cheap Wedding Photographers..!

After about 12 mths thinking about it, I’ve finally decided to venture over to the dark side and create a blog...!

So with that monumental decision out of the way, my next problem was what would be my first topic? Well after my experience last week, that was an easy one - Beware Cheap Wedding Photographers..!

Last week alone I was contacted by 3 different couples (thats I think 11 so far this year) who had hired a cheap wedding photographer for their wedding and were now having to contact myself and other professional photographers to see if we could ‘fix’ the photographs that they paid for. This has always been an issue but in the past few years it seems to have become fairly widespread. There appears to be a growing number of people out there who think they can make an easy buck by becoming a wedding photographer. They buy an entry level SLR camera with a flashgun and a couple of cheap plastic lenses and suddenly, hey presto they are a wedding photographer. The notion of low entry costs to set yourself up as a photographer is ridiculous. To set up properly costs at least €20,000 and thats just for the bare necessities to be mobile such as a wedding photographer. After seeing some of the images from the couples I was shocked to say the least by what was produced. It demonstrated that the so called photographers who took the photographs used substandard equipment, did not know how to use their camera and certainly did not understand composition or lighting.

I could go on an on here but I wont. Its a free country and we are free to decide what service providers we wish to use for our special occasions. If I can give any advice regarding choosing a wedding photographer, it would be to look for those who are qualified, insured and VAT registered (all IPPA registered photographers are). Meet with your photographer and make sure that you would be comfortable working with him or her before making your decision. Ask if examples of their wedding images are actually from real weddings!! In many cases fantastic images of brides used to advertise a wedding photographer are not from a real wedding. Instead a model has been hired in, a fantastic venue hired and an hour has been spent setting up to shoot just one photograph. Thats all great, but those rules don’t apply to a real wedding.

Beware of photographers who will just give out a mobile phone number and an email address. Be very aware of photographers who do not have a professional looking website or even worse have no website and use flickr or other photo sharing websites to display their work.

Ultimately like everything in life, quality comes at a price. However, it does not have to be grossly expensive either and I believe in fair pricing. Consider that whatever price a photographer is quoting, it has to reflect not just his or her time on the day of your wedding but the time spent digitally processing each image afterwards. As a rule of thumb, 6 hours photographic wedding coverage will result in up to an additional 12 hours of post production.

So, buyer beware..!
My website - www.djd.ie