Remember this?

Published
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Dave
on May 26, 2009
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How could you forget it? The intro to one of the most watched programs of the late 80’s and early 90’s - The Wonder Years.

The reason I post this is that I’m often asked “Do you know anyone good for wedding videos?”. My answer is always the same - Wonder Years Weddings.

What they do that I think is so different and appealing is that they create these wonderful little videos that capture your full day in a nicely edited 7 or 8 minute video. Oh, and the reason they’re called Wonder Years Weddings is that that little video is given the same 8mm old handheld video feel as the intro to the famous tv show.

Deirdre and John, who’s wedding I shot last June used Wonder Years Weddings and their video turned out superb. It’s the perfect thing to put on to show friends and family without having to put them through the ordeal of a 3 hour unedited epic.
To find out more about Wonder Years Weddings click here as I don’t think the 8 minute video is all you get in the package.

Damien and Jehan love weddings…

Published
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Dave
on May 25, 2009
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They really do. And not just other peoples. Damien and Jehan love weddings so much that they got married three times. In three different countries! What recession?

While the last two weddings took place in sunnier climbs (Japan and Sri Lanka!)  they settled on an Irish wedding to bring this tour to an end.

Carlingford was the chosen location and what a location it was. While Dublin was wet and miserable as I set off that morning the sun was splitting the skies in Carlingford.  

The wedding was lovely. A real informal ceremony with lots of smiles and laughter. No nerves here. Mind you, they’re old hands at this gig now.

After the wedding it was down to the pub as Jehan showed us her true pulling power - this is becoming quite the tradition.(see previous post). Actually it was at this point Damien and Jehan lost their driver so I got to play wedding driver (although I had to use my own car not the fancy Jag..) as we headed down to the shore front. It was freezing! Jehan did a great job in not showing it and the shots came out great.

The driver eventually turned up. He was looking for us apparently. We ignored his white foam moustache.

I want to thank Jehan and Damien for being such a lovely couple, they made me so welcome and really made my day very, very easy. Oh.. and if you do get married again can you make it somewhere hot and can I come?

To see a brief selection of their day click here.

Kelly and Damian get married then have a pint.

Published
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Dave
on May 22, 2009
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Back on the 20th March I had the pleasure of photographing the beautiful wedding of Kelly and Damian.

The weather was gorgeous and we had everything in our favour to capture some beautiful images - a handsome groom, a beautiful bride and …….oh…. no beach.

Kelly was a big fan of the beach shots on my site but with the wedding taking place we had very little alternatives to work with. So, we went to the pub. P.Gunnings pub in Rathconrath to be precise. It was a tight squeeze with just enough room to hold roughly 15 or 20 of us. It’s one of those real Irish half pub, quarter shop, quarter petrol station efforts but still, it was cosy and the craic was good.

Kelly pours a cracking pint too.


Just a regular day at the pub.

To see a brief slideshow of Kelly and Damian’s day then click here.

They have also allowed me to publish their complete album which can be viewed here.

Cagebirds

Published
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Dave
on April 28, 2009
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Last weekend I went to Belfast to see my sister Rose. But this wasn’t just the usual catchup. She was going to acting in play called Cagebirds at the Southbank Playhouse. The story of six birds locked in a cage by their mistress for their own good. Then a new bird, The Wild One, is added to the mix. From the outset this new bird is not happy and begs the other birds to join her in a grand escape.

I’ll say no more….

My sister Rose was cast as ‘The Wildone’. Otherwise known as ‘the stroppy one’. She wont mind me saying that either. She was perfect.

I took my camera along and was able to get some shots during their rehearsals.


(L-R) - The Medicated Gloom, The Wild One, The Mistress, The Regular Thump.
Julia Connolly, Rose McClelland, Cheryl O Dwyer, Laura Gray

Congratualtions to everyone involved in the play. It was excellent and I even knew a few people who stayed for the second show to enjoy it all over again!

Thanks to Martin Toland for allowing me to come along with my camera. Looking forward to seeing what you can all come up with next.

Click to see the Cagebirds slideshow

Mission accomplished

Published
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Dave
on April 13, 2009
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A long time ago I made a mini globe of Malihide Castle. Ever since then I’ve wanted to recreate something similar in the middle of O’Connell street with the Spire being the primary focus point.

Well, almost a year has passed and between then and now I’ve had a few failed attempts. To create these images you need to be able to take almost perfect 360 degree panoramas - something that I just haven’t been able to completely nail.

So, a couple of weeks ago with my new gigapan system I went into the middle of O’Connell Street and setup my tripod halfway between the spire and the Jim Larkin statue. I took a total of 36 images to get a full panorama. 

The trouble was that I could not get these images to stitch together, until last night.

So, after some additional photoshop work to iron out a the minor glitches the O’Connell Street mini globe is finally ready.

Mission accomplished! (click to see the full res image)

I’ve been gigapanning….

Published
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Dave
on April 12, 2009
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What’s gigapanning? Well, you may or may not have seen the incredible picture from Barrack Obama’a inuguration. It is probably the most impressive panorama I’ve ever laid eyes on and for two reasons.

Firstly, the field of view is over 180 degrees, 194 to be exact, which means you get a real ‘being there’ impression of just what went on and how many people attended the ceremony. 

Secondly and most importantly, this panorama was not the result of some incredible camera worth thousands of pounds or with an amazing fisheye lens. The photographer captured it using just a compact camera, taking 220 individual images at full zoom across the entire 194 degree field of view. He then stitched these images together to create a monster sized image. Because it’s made up of so many zoomed in images the detail is out of this world. (If you haven’t already checked out the link above and zoomed into the image please do so… you’ll be missing the point if you don’t) Part of the reason he was able to do this so easily and stitch the images together so well is because he also used a Gigapan system.

Now for the science bit. The gigapan is platform that you attach your camera to, you tell the system where you want the top let of your panorama to be and then the bottom right. The system then knows exactly how far to space out the individual images that will make up the panorama (based on some simple setup steps) and then starts to take the images for you. It’s a joy to watch. Went you get home, the gigapan software stitches the images together too.

So anyway… I’m ramblining here. The point is, after reading about it and picking my jaw up off the floor I deceided that I’d get one.

I’ve had some dire attempts, the Spire sticking out of the GPO and some sort of half bus, half car monstrosity stands out as being the most comical, but yesterday that all changed.

I went down to Sandymount beach and took 180 degree panorama. It consisted of 72 individual shots. The finished stitched image is 100 megapixels and the detail is incredible.

Click on the image below to see the image fullscreen and remember to use the zoom controls.

I’ve created a little video here that shows it in action. Sorry about the sound - it was very very windy.

Gigapanning on Sandymount Beach

Ripple Affect

Published
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Dave
on March 30, 2009
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I’ve just returned to Dublin from a weekend in Derry but that didn’t mean my time with Derry folk was over for the weekend just yet. I was asked to take some photos for the Echo Echo Dance Theatre Company from Derry who where on the final night of their latest production ‘Ripple Affect‘. They’ve been all over Ireland with this show but the last night of the tour had arrived and a good crowd turned up at the Civic Theatre in Tallaght to see what it was all about.


Steve Batts, Co-Artistic Director looks on during rehearsals

Well, it was about the ripple effect, surprisingly enough, of human interaction. The tag line used is ‘What do you do after you have been hugged, or hugged someone?’. The dancers where excellent, blending a mixture of well choreographed dance and improvision. At times funny, at other times moving. Oh, and some cracking music from Lorna, Karen and Joleen McLaughlin - otherwise known as The Henry Girls. 

As mentioned, the tour is over now, but you may want to keep an eye on Echo Echo’s website for future shows. Good stuff.

Click to see more from last nights performance.

 

Now that’s a Skyfest!

Published
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Dave
on March 17, 2009
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I’ve just returned home from shooting the beautiful wedding of Cheryl and Sean in Donabate and what happened at their reception tonight was one of the most original things I’ve seen at any wedding I’ve been at. 

They launched over 70 paper lanterns into the sky which not only looked beautiful but provided plenty of laughs and a more than a few gasps as I and several others thought it was only a matter of time before the combination of hairspray, alcohol, silk dresses and lots of naked flames would result in one of those all too famous wedding day calamity’s that’d be made famous on youtube for years to come.

I’ve created a little mini slideshow to you give you an idea of the magical display.

click to see slideshow
Click to see more

The Spheres

Published
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Dave
on March 14, 2009
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If you happened to be down around the docklands at Grand Canal Square around 8pm tonight you’d have probably seen the oddest of displays. For those of you who weren’t, I’ll try and explain….

It started with people climbing poles in the dark to the sound of - what I can only describe as mating whales. After fastening themselves to the top of the poles they then slowly pulled up large hollow black balls, or spheres, from the ground until they where inside the spheres at the top of the poles. Oh, and the poles where incredibly flexible, like giant fishing rods almost.

After a few minutes of what seemed to be undressing inside the balls, the things lit up from the inside to create a brilliant display. They gently swayed from side to side as a robotic voice read out safety instructions “please keep your arms inside the capsule - don’t make any sudden movements” etc…

At the end of this little segment a voice said - “let’s dance!” The music kicked in at the balls changed colours quickly according to the beat. They swayed more violently, the people inside peeped out and waved their arms as if they where almost being born. It really was quite entertaining.

Anyway…. enough waffle.
Photos. 


Click to see more

Oh, and by the way, for anyone who wants to see this in the flesh for themselves, there are 2 shows on tomorrow, Saturday the 14th at 6:30 and 8pm. Both free. Info here.

Published!

Published
by
Dave
on February 17, 2009
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Confetti, Ireland’s Sassiest and Classiest Bridal Magazine*, has just brought out their Spring edition and a quick leaf through to page 49 will reveal a 3 page Real Weddings article.

The wedding showcased is Aisling and Richards which I photographed last summer in New York.

I’ve attached a couple of pictures from the magazine below to be found in all good book stores.

Confetti Front Cover
the front cover - To help you spot it in the shops.

Page 1
Page 49!

Page 2 and 3
and pages 50 and 51.

Thanks to Aisling and Richard for their permission here. I nice little memento no doubt.

Dave.
*I would say that - I’m in it!