A review of 2015

January seems to come around all too quickly, so it must be time for my annual roundup of some of the work from the past year, that I didn’t get around to posting on this blog.

I am always very grateful to the editors who commission me to photograph their magazine covers. Here are two of my favourite corporate portraits which appeared as covers for Eolas magazine during the past year. Anne Sheehan, Director of Enterprise at Vodafone Ireland, was photographed for the September issue and Shell Ireland’s Managing Director, Ronan Deasy appeared in the May issue.

Producing commercial portraits for annual reports has become one of my specialities. Among the Reports that I that I have worked on over the past 12 months were those for Greencore and LauraLynn Children’s Hospice. Full marks to the designers of An Bored Pleanala’s Annual Report. I really liked the way that they used my environmental portraits and urban landscape images, along with the executive portraits.

I always enjoy shooting outdoors and this available light portrait of LauraLynn CEO. Sharon Morrow, produced on one of our grey days last summer, worked really well.

Another outdoor business portrait, that I think worked well on the cover of Energy Ireland’s Renewable Energy Magazine, was of Bord Na Mona CEO Mike Quinn. The designer did a great job once again, incorporating some of my corporate head shots on the cover of Eirgrid’s smart grids, round table supplement.

This editorial portrait of Brother Kevin Crowley was photographed for Eolas as part of a feature on the Capuchin Day Centre for Homeless People in Dublin. Brother Kevin and his volunteers do extraordinary work in the inner city, producing more than 750 hot meals daily and up to 1,800 food parcels weekly, for disadvantaged families in the city. It is 47 years since he founded the Capuchin Day Centre and now at 80, Brother Kevin has seen numbers availing of the centre almost triple since 2008, with no increase in state funding. You can find out more about the Capuchin Day Centre here.

Photographs of politicians can often look staged, but I particularly liked this image of Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Brendan Howlin TD, enjoying a speech by Simon Harris TD. Minister of State at the Departments of Finance PER and Taoiseach.

The annual meeting of The International College of Dentists in Europe was held in Dublin, over a wide variety of venues in October. Above, the Royal Hospital in Kilmainham made a spectacular venue for the gala dinner.

One of my favourite images of that particular event, was this atmospheric image of the Registrar of the ICD, Dr. Argirios Pissiotis, leading this years inductees into the exam hall, in Trinity College, Dublin, to receive their awards.

As I cover a large variety of conference and event photography, I am always looking for memorable moments. Another of my favourite images of the year, is of Mrs Justice Catherine McGuinness being greeted by well wishers, at a Children's Rights Alliance event, at the Bar of Ireland. 

Being a commercial photographer, means that I get to work in some of Dublin’s most beautiful and historic venues. Among those that I have had the pleasure of working in during the year were; the Dining Hall at King’s Inns (top left), The Great Hall at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham (top right - lit in green, white and orange), the Boardroom in the Royal College of Surgeons, which over looks St Stephens Green (bottom right) and the Round Room at the Mansion House (bottom left).

I really enjoy the challenge of posting a new personal photo on my Instagram account (nearly) every week. Over the past year a new project “Roads less travelled” has started to take shape. Please follow my visual ramblings on Instagram here.

As always, I’m closing with my favourite image of the year. Is it just a simple tourist photo from Paris? I'm not so sure! I have photographed Rodin’s “Le Penseur - The Thinker”, countless times over the years, but this time I liked the composition, the lighting, the cloud and the cooperative tourist, sheltering in the shade! (By the way, the Rodin museum has just re-opened after a major restoration and if you find yourself in Paris, it really is worth a visit.)

Thanks to all my clients, followers and friends. Have a great 2016!

Happy Christmas Everyone

I’d like to thank you for your support this year and wish you all the very best for Christmas and the New Year.

Christmas Party at LauraLynn

Santa, Mrs Claus and some of their elves at LauraLynn

My thanks to the wonderful staff and volunteers who made this years Christmas party at LauraLynn, such a magical experience for both the children and adults, alike. You can find out more about LauraLynn, Ireland’s children’s hospice, here.

Corporate photography in Dublin

Here are a few of the images that I was commissioned to create by GVA, for their annual report. Working to a very tight brief, I concentrated on capturing corporate portraits and business lifestyle images, of the staff at their Dublin office.

Jane McKenna - Founder of LauraLynn - Book launch - Event photography in Ireland

Last week Jane McKenna, founder of LauraLynn, Ireland’s only children’s hospice, launched her memoir, ‘Laura and Lynn’s story – Living in the shadow of their smiles’.

Jane and her husband Brendan were Joined by Ray D’Arcy from RTE, Senator David Norris and Miriam O’Callaghan along with some of the families who have used the facilities at LauraLynn.

The book tells the story of Jane and Brendan’s beautiful children and how their loss only twenty months apart, led Jane to set up the ‘LauraLynn Children’s Hospice’ Foundation in 2001 which raised enough funds for the opening of LauraLynn House in 2011. 

Published by Liffey Press, the book is on sale from all good bookshops and a share of the proceeds from this publication will be donated to LauraLynn. 

You can find out more about LauraLynn here.

Conference & Event Photography in Ireland

Hearing inspirational speakers talk about their areas of expertise, is one of the bonuses for a conference and convention photographer working in Ireland. Here are some of the most engaging speakers, that I have photographed so far this year.

Pictured are:  Mahavir Sharma, speaking at the TIE Global retreat, at the Mansion House in Dublin, Dr Hal Duncan, speaking at the ICD scientific meeting, at the Royal College of Surgeons, Brendan Howlan TD. Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform speaking to the Irish Whistleblowing Law Society and Thomas Jakobsen among his audience, at the Public Service Reform Conference at Croke Park.

Environmental Portraits and Business Head Shots photographed on location

Environmental Portraits and Business Head Shots are similar in style to editorial portraits. These are usually photographed at my clients place of work or at a mutually agreed location. Professionally photographed environmental portraits give the sitter context and can help create more interest for the viewer. By choosing the background carefully, images like these work well on web sites, in articles, as well as for PR and promotional material. 

When cropped square, environmental portraits also make great profile head shots for LinkedIn and other social media.