Commercial photography for packaging in Ireland

It was a privilege to be commissioned to photograph father and son milk delivery family, Tom Gaskin Snr and Tom Jnr, for the commemorative Premier Milk 50th anniversary carton, in recognition of their 50 years serving the community.

Tom Gaskin Snr started his milk round in 1966, delivering glass bottles from a milk float on behalf of Premier Dairies. Tom Jnr then joined his father in the family business in 1988 and eventually took over the milkround when his father recently retired.

New Website

My new website at noelhillis.com has gone live with thanks to my good friends in Photoshelter. The general look remains the same, but it has been set up to look good on mobile devices and can also house more portfolio images than before. It also links to my instagram and twitter feeds. Let me know what you think.

Event and editorial Photography in Dublin

It was good to see how well this low light image looked as a double page spread in the recent edition of Estates Gazette, which covered their Question Time event in Dublin. You can learn more about my conference and event photography services here.

Photography in public places - Freedom of Panorama

The Linesman" by Dony MacManus - City Quay, Dublin

Last year, the European Parliament rejected a proposal that would have restricted the photography of copyrighted buildings and sculptures from public places and recommended the European Commission to not restrict this freedom. (freedom of panorama)

This year, the European Commission is holding a public consultation until the 15th of June, to hear our opinion on this topic. For anyone taking photographs or using images depicting buildings, sculptures and monuments, this could have potential ramifications. 

Irish copyright law permits photographers to photograph sculptures, buildings, and works of artistic craftsmanship that are permanently located in a public place or premises open to the public, and to publish such pictures in any way.

At present certain EU countries (e.g. Greece, France and Italy) can restrict the use of photos showing copyrighted structures in public places.

So while I am free to photograph and publish this photo of my favourite Dublin Sculpture, "The Linesman" by Dony MacManus, without infringing copyright, I cannot photograph or upload a photo of, for example, the “light show” on the Eiffel Tower at night, as it is copyrighted in France. During the day with no lights, it is fine to photograph the building.  

While copyright and licensing of our work is vital to all artists, (including photographers) can you imagine the chaos that could be caused if a permit/license had to be obtained for anyone to photograph in public, even with an office block/sculpture/work of art in the background, without breaking the law? 

If we consider the photo above, there are at least 2 pieces of art and at least 2 buildings visible, that are possibly still within copyright. Thats 4 licenses that could be needed, if freedom of panorama was abolished in Ireland. How would I know? How would a tourist know?

So perhaps you might want to think twice, the next time that you upload that selfie, in front of that piece of sculpture when abroad. You may be unwittingly breaking the law!

The European Commission has to make its decision, taking into account the Parliament’s recommendations from last year. It will also take on board the direct views of European citizens. By having your voice heard, you can help save the Freedom of Panorama or even broaden it to those European countries which don’t have it yet.

Find out more here:

http://photoclaim.com/en/freedom-of-panorama-european-commission/

Corporate photography in Dublin

Bryan S Ryan is one of Ireland’s biggest, managed print and business technology solutions companies, with offices in Dublin, Galway and Cork. Knowing their reputation, I was delighted when they commissioned me to produce a series of corporate portraits and business lifestyle photographs for their website, as well as images for print and online marketing collateral. 

Working with the marketing team over two mornings to cause as little disruption as possible, we created a mix of commercial head shots, reportage images of people at work, as well as a number of business team group shots. The images were designed to capture the enthusiasm and commitment of this professional team, who were such a pleasure to work with. Here are just a few examples. 

Portrait of an Author

I was delighted when acclaimed Irish author, Catherine Dunne, asked me to produce a series of editorial portraits to coincide with the launch of her new novel, “The Years That Followed”.

Having previously worked with Catherine, I knew that the shoot would be fun and would also allow for plenty of creativity. Numerous cups of tea and great conversation, accompanied two hours of really enjoyable portrait photography. We ended up with a wide range of head shots and portraits, including this portrait of the author, which is also used in the book.

The Years That Followed, which has the great tag line, “Revenge is sweeter than regret…” is on sale now, from all good book shops and from the usual online sources.

You can learn more about Catherine Dunne on her website.

Enjoyable PR shoot on a cold cold day!

As a teenager, the boys’ school soccer team in which I played, used to train regularly with the girls hockey team. On more than one occasion I was on the receiving end of the back of a flying hockey stick or worse, was unable to get out of the way of a high speed hockey ball!

So it was with some trepidation, on a really cold day last week, at the National Hockey Stadium, that I photographed the launch of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles as an official sponsor of Hockey Ireland. I needn’t have worried. Senior Women's International player, Nicci Daly and Alan Sothern, Senior Men's International player really got into the spirit of things and by helping me to overcome my ancient fears, we produced some really strong PR photographs!

My thanks to everyone involved from Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, Hockey Ireland and Murray Consultants, for making this such an enjoyable shoot.