Promotional shots for Simon Casey…
I first met Simon when I photographed his wedding. I was out of the country while Simon took part in the Eurovision 2003 selection process on RTE so I didn’t know he was on that show. In fact it wasn’t until the end of the wedding when a little girl came up and asked for Simon’s autograph/photo that I thought he might be well known… I rang my wife who gave me a quick run down on him!
Simon is one of the nicest people on the planet. Really down to earth, fab voice and great natural musical talent. I often meet him on at weddings where he’s singing. It always surprises me when he uses a microphone in the church, his voice has such a presence and depth that he doesn’t really need it! Always a pleasure to hear him sing.
Anyway, Simon is releasing a new single. ‘Feels Like Home’. He needed a cover shot for along with a few images for use in PR/Posters etc. So he gave me a call and we booked him in.
We tried a few different things and came up with a nice selection of images. Including the most important, the CD cover image. The images themselves were relatively simply shot but we did a bit of creative stuff afterwards.
Simon’s website is www.simoncasey.ie
Simon’s latest single ‘Feels Like Home’ can be downloaded from iTunes here.
Simon’s Facebook page is here
Commercial Photographs for Meab Enamels
One recent project was some new product shots for Meab Enamels.
“Meab and Clair use an ‘Open Fire’ method to fire each piece of jewellery and art. This means that color combinations can be similar but no two designs are exactly the same. Meab and Clair’s designs have been inspired by old Irish Legends such as the ancient Irish Book of Kells.”
The project called for a main feature shot and then simple, repeatible, product shots for the catalog.
For the main photograph we used a piece of metal that Clair uses when hammering the copper before firing. You can actually see bits of copper embedded in the metal panel.
You can visit Meab Enamels at www.meabenamels.com
Images created for Rachael Cooney’s Diploma in Image and Fashion Styling
I recently did some work with Rachael Cooney, a student at Limperts Academy of Design Terenure Dublin.
The concept for the photographs was to create striking images for a ‘fictional’ relatively new and upcoming magazine. It had to be a six page spread using at least one female and male model.
Rachael – “The shoot was to have a strong storyline behind it based loosely on a fairytale of my choice, so I chose Cinderella. They wanted me to create this theme without being clichéd. I had to chose the overall looks, the hair, clothes and makeup so that the shots would appeal to the supposed “magazine”. In the past their editorials have been ultra modern with a zany twist. The “magazine” had earned a reputation for outstanding and dramatic images and I feel Corin and I captured this perfectly.”
When Rachael first explained the concept to me I didn’t quite ‘get it’ but I was able to identify what was needed to get the images taken and agreed we’d work through it and it would all make sense in the end! To be honest it wasn’t until the final editing that I understood what she was trying to achieve (!).
Each image was shot using the models (one of which was Rachael) and a few simple props (balloons, boxes, flamingo’s etc.!). Lighting was kept simple and we shot on grey to allow for editing afterwards.
Rachel - “The clothes were given to me from Burgess, both the men’s and women’s departments. The props belong to me, they were old props I used for window display. The up-style in the hair and the long curls were done by David in Custume Cuts. Makeup was done using Mac makeup.”
When it came to editing the final images, we wanted to come up with something dramatic so I looked at finding some funky backgrounds that would compliment each image. The online Devian-Art community was my first port of call and we were able to find all the elements we needed to put the backgrounds together. It was a lot of editing and manipulation but the end result was worth it!
Rachael - “What I loved about working with Corin, despite the fact that he is so meticulous in his working ethic, so precise and the fact that he was truly interested in this project, was that he listened. He listened to what I wanted, as a stylist, and as a client. He took on board my ideas and used them in his work. He is also so efficient; he had my photos ready without any delay. I would definitely recommend Corin. I am so happy with the end result. Thank you Corin! Rachael. “
One of our latest projects has been a Band Photoshoot for the Conquerors… (link)
I shot individual photographs of each band member and they were compositied together and the background added in.
As well as the main image we also did individual portraits of each band member.
Classy portraits for a classy band!
We’ve just finished shooting new images for the Spa at the Wineport lodge.
With the help from Gillian and Desmond we got a few nice ones.
Wineport Spa - even more Relaxing!
Gillian looked like she was enjoying the process – nice and relaxing….
Dessie Dolan - Wineport Spa Images
Some who follow the GAA might recognise the fella above…..
We were trying to create a soft and relaxing image and think we succeeded. It was important to show the new decor and products.
Wineport SPA Products
This was the ‘steam treatment’. We wanted to show the steam as much as possible so had to light it from behind. We used a narrow reflector with a grid and then a large brolly above camera to fill in. As with all of these images, quite a bit of post-processing/editing has been done to smooth skin, adjust tone etc.
Wineport Spa - Mist Treatment
Our latest commercial photography project has been to produce a conceptual image for a Nail Salon competition/magazine cover.
Olivia's Nail Salon - Competition Entry
Olivia from “Olivia’s Nails, Tanning & Make Up Salon” commisioned the shoot. She had a concept of ‘Fairy Ring’. The model’s nails had a ‘Fairy Ring/Fort’ on her nails. One half on each hand so that when the hands were together they made the ring.
Fairy Shoot 1
Lighting wise we started with simple ‘butterfly’ lighting with a large softbox above the model and a reflector below. The hair was looking quite dull and we needed some nice light on the face when she looked up/right so we added two smaller softboxes behind and above spaced evenly each side and the same power.
The background was a white wall which wasn’t lit so ended up a medium grey. This is very useful for darkening/brighting/colouring afterwards.
Post-production. As usual with these kind of images a huge part of the photograph is the editing afterwards and there was no exception in this case. You can see from the ‘Before’ and ‘After’ below that a lot was done. We coloured the background, cleaned up the skin and nails, adjusted skin colour/tone, fixed hair and blemishes. It was also critical to make sure there was enough space at the top of the image for text/titles for the magazine cover.
It was a great shoot and thanks to Pamela (model) and Nicola (assistant) for their help.
For the techy readers it was shot on a Canon 5D, 100mm Macro lens at around f8. Bowens lighting.
Commercial Portrait Photography Ireland, Commercial Portrait Westmeath, Commercial Photography Westmeath Athlone
I’ve been doing the commercial photography for the Athlone Springs Hotel since it opened. They’ve just revamped their website which features a most of images.
Wedding setup in their ballroom.
We also did a recent shoot with models.. Example pic below.
You can check out the Athlone Springs Hotel website here
Among other recent projects I’ve been photographing Jewelry, specifically Diamond rings, bracelets, earrings etc. They are for an online catalog and needed to be shot on a white background. Each piece had to be photographed from 3 different angles.
As there were a large number of pieces to photography (40+) it was important to come up with a repeatable method that would work consistently and allow the different items to be photographed without major changes to the lighting setup.
I chose to shoot using a light tent and placing the items on opaque acrylic. While there was a reflection given by the acrylic it wasn’t usable afterwards to in the end I cut out each of the items in Photoshop and added a reflection using an inverted copy of the original image. This is not a perfect and accurate reflection but it gives a nice effect and provides some depth to the pieces.
The light tent was lit with two Bowen’s strobes left and right. I then added another stobe with a grid above the camera to add some fill and specular light.
As well as the white background I also used a black acrylic for a shot of a jewelry box with lots of different pieces ‘spilling out’. The reflection worked really well here and wasn’t edited in afterwards. I used the light tent but made sure the background wall of the tent was masked with black material (otherwise the acrylic would have shown a reflection of the back wall of the tent).
Update! Diamondlite website now live! www.diamondlite.ie
Diamontlite Website Created by: Avenir Design
