Treport & Abbeville - NW France

Always feel on a natural high when I am in France. The North West is a big favourite of mine, whether it is the beaches of Normandy or tripping around the Oise valley - there are no shortages of subjects to photograph.

Come hell or high water I intend going back at least twice in 2011 with my little boy. Happy days, la vie est belle et le ciel est sans nuages.

Devil is in the detail

Great details deserve their spot when it comes to graphically designing each page. Its a shame not to see the world on a micro as well as macro level.

Big thanks to Emma and Niall for such a great day out yesterday. You know, I'm not complaining but give me a nice overcast day any day (as was yesterday). Being an army wedding - well that's a big plus to start out with. Guys - you were a pleasure to work with and can't wait to sit down and do your preview ! Enjoy St. Lucia !

Let the light do the talking - not the flash

Take a quick look at the following image taking from Caroline's recent wedding. Notice anything ? Got it in one - no heavy handed use of flash, in fact no flash at all.

Thanks to investing in "L Series" Canon lenses we can generate highly atmospheric images like this without resorting to flash which very often washes out the glory of the natural light.

All too often wedding photographers (experienced and in-experienced) over rely on flash, which is in itself not a natural light source. At worst you finish with awful shadow balloons behind the subject and at best a clinical image with no warmth.

Not so at Alchemy Photography - we celebrate natural light whenever we can use it.

Ballykisteen Hotel

Over the years it was always a pleasure handling wedding photography at Ballykisteen Hotel, Tipperary. This is a superb wedding venue backed with a fantastically friendly and professional staff. Thanks for making my job so easy any time I am out there with you guys.

Here is a montage of the hotel's design features. See you all again really soon.

Normandy

Two graphically designed images here of Normandy in France. Very often the resemblance to the Irish landscape is uncanny. I guess that's why Steven Spielberg used Wexford as a stand in Normandy 1944 in Saving Private Ryan.

The two pictures are the American Cemetery at Coleville-Sur-Mer (spot toned) and a fusion of the bell tower at St. Mere-Eglise with the sandbars of Omaha Beach at the St. Laurent Draw. Great memories of good friends in Normandy. Pas de Guerre encore !

The world of music

It was a great pleasure today to spend some time photographing friend and up and coming singer / songwriter Fergal Nash. I have known Fergal now for quite some time and its always great to catch up on his burgeoning catalogue of original songs.

I tried to capture Fergal in his song writing environment, using lots of duo toning and creating these graphically designed spreads.

So there you have it - always refreshing to work around a real talent. By the way - want to catch up with Fergal - check out the Whitehouse on Tuesday nights and Lock Bar on Thursday nights.

www.fergalnash.com www.myspace.com/fergalnash