Last April, I did a shoot with Sarah from vintage hire company Pearl & Godiva. Sarah, who is also a talented stylist went into overdrive and created a fantastic setting in Ballinatray House. A quick scout unearthed a few great locations on the grounds of the estate. Industry friends such as the award winning designer Bonzie Crotty, make-up artist Kate Rose Crean and cinematographer Rodolphe from Mary Best Day Productions helped to create a very unique shoot. The great weather helped a bit too.

The work was featured the popular blog http://www.100layercake.com/blog/ with some great comments like: “Delighted to see the best of Irish on 100 Layer Cake! Congrats guys!” and: “This is absolutely exquisite. Best shoot I’ve seen in forever.”

Here are some of my favourite images.

Also, this was the image board: http://aspectphotography.net/pearl/

Finally, the preview clip, shot by Rodolphe! preview

Rodolphe from Mary Best Day Productions sent me brilliant video he shot behind the scenes at Bantry House for the Pearl & Godiva shoot. He called me a few weeks prior to the shoot asking if I had any interesting projects on the horizon which he could shadow as he wanted to test out a Canon 5D mkII for video. He did a great job, his take on the day can be seen here. The low dept of field looks great in video and it gives an insight into the approach we took. You can see me fiddling about with the Polaroid 600SE. There are so many things to check before you take an actual shot but thats why I love it. I should point out that I have since had a hair cut! I’m sure Kate Rose & Sarah will be delighted with this video too.

Well done Rodolphe.

http://vimeo.com/19250781

“FWA Photo, a daily showcase highlighting some of the world’s most inspirational photography”

Here is one of my submissions which made Photo of the Day on the 27th of January. This is the second time my work has been showcased on the popular site, the last time was this image of John Cooper Clarke.

The image can be viewed here: http://www.fwaphoto.com/#/2011-01-27/

Waterford Castle Island, picturesque as ever in the snow. Freak weather for Waterford at this time of year (we rarely get snow at all in fact). I’m glad I got a chance to get out in it.

The saddest aspect of the decline of this building is the potential it has to great. Frustrating planning systems, vandalism and now a lack of finance keeps the question mark hovering. I photographed the building early this year after I was given permission to access. It was a surreal experience. I knew the images had the potential to spark intense local debate which I did not want to be the centre of. Unsurprisingly, the profile of the building has been called into question with the Tall Ships Festival looming; this seems like the right time to release them to local press. Here is a closer look at some of those images…