Brosnan Photographic

I know I say quite often that I’m super excited to share a wedding. It’s only because I have so many amazing couples! So I’ll say it again, I’m super excited to share Eimear and Cathal’s wedding! When I first met Eimear they hadn’t decided on a wedding venue yet, so it wasn’t until about a week before the wedding that I heard they were having their wedding in a Tipi! The day went to perfection. While everywhere else in the country seemed to be under rain clouds we were in a little bubble with mostly sunshine. The wedding ceremony wasn’t until 3 in the afternoon which allowed us to take their wedding portraits later in the day with the lovely golden light of the evening sun. Best time of day for photos! The Magnakata Tipis were set up at Inish Beg Estate in West Cork. A charming spot with beautiful vast gardens. A few of the estate pets joined in for the photos too.

Eimear and Cathal’s wedding had a rustic woodland flair. Their choice of wedding vehicle was a VW Campervan which they painted green especially for the day. The autumn garden inspired bouquets were created by Hanako floral studio. Eimear wore a beautiful Novia D’Art lace gown from Amore Bridal Wear. Her beautiful hair comb was created by Stacey Hannan and her gold bordello shoes were from Burlesque Shoes.

A big congratulations to Eimear and Cathal. Anyone who is around you for any length of time can see you make a perfect pair!

A little shout out also to the creative caterer Eunice Power, Wayne Lloyd Hair, The Powder Room, and Free Beer.

I can’t truly express how delighted I am to share this post with all of you! I had been itching to do a Breakfast at Tiffany’s inspired shoot for some time. Claire and Calvin were on board instantly when I mentioned the idea. Claire and Calvin are from South Africa but currently live in Ireland. Claire and I first met and started chatting about photography on Twitter. I knew she would be perfect for this shoot. Luckily Calvin was up for it too!

After the London workshop I attended recently I’ve gotten a better understanding of what inspires me as a photographer. I’m really drawn to movement and the mood of old hollywood and french romance films. One thing I didn’t want to do with this shoot was make it overly cliche. I didn’t want the outfits to be exact or use the iconic black dress with tiara and cigarette holder. I just wanted the outfits to be inspired by the 1960′s and Holly Golightly. What I wanted to show is a small glimpse into the love between these two people and I wanted each image to feel almost like a movie still. I love telling a story through a series of images.

A huge thank you to Rosa Ospina for the fabulous hair and makeup. This was a shoot very close to Rosa’s heart as Breakfast at Tiffany’s was a big reason she got into hair and makeup. Claire’s stunning 1960′s vintage dresses were from none other than Dirty Fabulous. Pamela of Farrell and Chase kindly designed signs with one of Holly’s quirky quotes and lyrics to ‘Moon River’. And of course thanks to Claire and Calvin for being up for anything!

At the start of the month I had the pleasure of attending the Feather Love Photography Artist Workshop in London. This was my second photography workshop since leaving college and becoming a wedding photographer. Last year I attended my first workshop in London which left me motivated, inspired, and wanting more. I decided after that to attend a workshop at least once a year. I think it’s essential for artists to continue to grow and challenge ourselves every chance we get.

At the beginning of the year I began my search for a workshop to attend. Some of you may remember seeing a post about a workshop I wanted to host with Noa of Feather Love Photography in Ireland but sadly that was soon cancelled. After much deliberation and rethinking Noa relaunched her artist workshop in London and brought on board the talented Emma Case as a special guest and Kat of Rock N’ Roll Bride to answer questions on blogging. It was a winning combination. What I loved about Noa’s workshop was it was about growing as an artist, finding your inspiration, and getting your ideal client. This wasn’t a technical workshop. We weren’t there to learn how to shoot and edit like Noa or Emma, but we were there to be inspired, and that was exactly what happened.

What I took away with me was learning where to find my own inspiration and thus creating the art that is true to me. I love how Noa tells it like it is and doesn’t edit herself to please others. Her work is a reflection of herself and that’s something I admire. It was great having Emma involved as she was able to talk from a UK industry point of view. As well as finding ourselves and growing as artists Noa and Emma delved into a bit about business. We learned their views on getting the right clients for ourselves that will keep us true to our art. “Weeding out the shit” as Noa says. Pardon my language! Again I just love how she tells it like it is.

I think how most of us felt at the end of the day besides being inspired was that it takes a lot to find and keep true to your art. A lot of what was said most of us already knew, but sometimes it just takes hearing it again to really stick, and to know others are in the same boat.

A special thanks also goes to our awesome videographers Son of Shark Pig who came over with Noa from L.A. and Pete Smyth, Emma’s super cool hubby! Can’t wait to see the video!

Below are some images from the workshop and the styled shoot. For the photoshoot I decided to observe rather than try and get shots for the website. But I just had to take a few to show how really cool the styling was on this set up! Enjoy!

Donna and Tim had a beautiful wedding in one of my favourite places in Ireland. You just can’t go wrong with a wedding in Kerry. There is an abundance of picturesque locations and Donna and Tim chose the five star Hotel Dunloe Castle as the setting for their fabulous wedding day. Having a wedding in Kerry especially you have to prepare for rain. And even though it did rain we had dry skies at all the perfect times.

Donna and Tim were married in Beaufort Church and then headed to Dunloe Castle for photos. Donna looked stunning in her Stephanie Allen dress bought from Myrtle Ivory. The beautiful flowers could be from none other than The French Touch. The beautiful letterpress stationary was created by Farrell & Chase and the three (yes I said three!) gorgeous cakes were crafted by The Cake Stand. And of course no wedding is complete without a few vintage teacups from Pearl & Godiva!

I loved all the thought that went into making their details a little extra special. Each of the table names were postcards from places they had visited with a lovely note addressed to the guests written by Donna & Tim. Some of them made me chuckle. The bridesmaids dresses were designed and made for them, both in a different shade of blue and complimented by a small birdcage headpiece. Donna also wore a vintage brooch which belonged to her granny as her ‘something old’.

I have to say a big ‘Thanks’ to Donna and Tim for letting me be there to photograph their beautiful wedding!

Anyone who blogs regularly knows it can be just as time consuming as a full time job. If you’re a regular follower of my blog you know that I blog every Tuesday and Thursday. When I first started my blog I posted once a week until I got busier and started posting twice a week as I had more photos to share. Even though this year I’m taking the same number of weddings as last year I’ve become busier with emails, meetings, and other projects such as rebranding the business and organising events (which are top secret for now but stay tuned!). So as a result I’ve decided to go back to blogging once a week on Tuesdays. It’s just one step for me to help keep me on track with my busy wedding season schedule. And boy has it been a busy wedding season!

For a photographer I feel blogging is an important (and possibly the most important) way of marketing your work. So it is with regret that I can’t get the time to blog more often. But as a self employed individual it’s about finding the right balance between work and personal life. It’s very often hard to switch off from work and that’s not fair on yourself or those around you. So until I find more ways to free up work time, one blog post a week it will have to be. But I promise to make it a good blog post each week! For anyone who blogs I’d love to hear your thoughts too.

And of course I can’t write a blog post with out having a gorgeous photo to share, so here’s one from a recent wedding!