FE McWilliam Gallery & Studio

Recently I was delighted and honoured to be asked by the Banbridge District Council to photograph the collected works of acclaimed sculptor, FE McWilliam. The sculptures and drawings are currently on display at the recently opened, state-of-the-art, FE McWilliam Gallery in Banbridge, Co. Down.
For those of you who haven't heard of him, McWilliam, who was born in Banbridge, is Ireland's most significant sculptor of the 20th century and to date his work has never been seen in such a large, single exhibition.
I was completely amazed and speechless at the sheer volume of work this man produced in one lifetime, so much passion and talent. He must never have slept! Can I just state that there will be no more complaints from me about staying up late at night to edit photos again!

Most of these pieces are soon to be returned to private owners and major contributors such as The Tate so if you haven't already visited, and you are in the area, it is definitely worth a visit.

I have included a photograph of my favourite piece above and its part of The Leg series.

Read more...

This reminds me why I love my job.

This little snippet is doing the rounds at the moment so thought I would share.
Its excellent advertising of course but also very enjoyable so sit back and watch.

Read more...

Happiness is...

Niamh loves the bath. Its her favourite thing just sitting splashing and playing in the bubbles. She looks so sweet and innocent in there - like a little angel sitting in white fluffy clouds.



If you believe this to be the whole truth then I obviously haven't presented the full picture of my littlest one. She is definitely trouble and 10 minutes after the pictures above were taken my kitchen floor became 'spaghetti junction'...



I cannot leave her for a second. She loves emptying cupboards. Clothes, underwear, plates, cups, food, toys, books - everything ends up on the floor.
You do have to become really laid back and a little less house-fussy as a parent or else you'll just become a big stress bubble. You have to laugh at them - its better than crying about the mess.

And they are soooo cute!

Read more...

Clairissa & Erin

I don't think you ever forget the friendships you have in your teens and it was lovely to be able to capture a little bit of this when I photographed Clairissa and Erin.
Lots of Erin's friends from school have seen her photographs here on my blog and apparently this has caused quite a bit of interest. So Clairissa was excited to get a few pictures taken last Saturday. She was very natural, has a great smile and the girls had a lot of fun together. I hope you like them Clairissa.

Read more...

Megan & Eva

Yesterday I got to take pictures of two little sweethearts called Megan and Eva. It is always exciting to go and meet new kids and I never know what to expect or how they might behave. There weren't any problems here though - Megan and Eva loved posing for the camera. They were both unbelievably adorable. You can tell from the photos they are close sisters and love each other to bits. They definitely have their own personalities. Megan is the quiet, sensible one and Eva is just bubbling over with energy and loves mischief - like most three year olds!



Eva is so cute. She was completely fascinated with my camera and had to get pressing all the buttons. I had to be very quick with this one because she didn't stay still for a second :)







This is Megan, Eva's big sister...




Here they are together. I love the big squeezie hug here!







Sarah thanks for letting me photograph them, it was so much fun and I had a good giggle going through these photos!

Read more...

Beginners welcome

For those who have a camera and don't know what to do with it a beginner's digital photography class will be commencing in Cullyhanna, County Armagh on Tuesday night (10 February 7-9pm). I will be tutoring this 5 week class and its really basic stuff - getting to know your camera, settings, light, composition tips, focusing correctly etc. There will also be an introduction to photoshop where you can pick up tips from me on how to enhance your photos and really make them pop. Contact the Southern Regional College or myself if you are interested in these beginners workshops and would like to attend.

Read more...

Niamh meets the white stuff

Niamh experienced the snow for the first time today. It was only a little dusting across our garden but enough to have her completely enchanted. I'm glad we went out in it because it was gone by the afternoon. If only we could have had this in December I might have got a nice Christmas Card out of it!

Read more...

blog neglect

I have been told off for not blogging often enough so I have about five minutes to post something here before putting the kids in the bath.

Getting Married in Northern Ireland Magazine is nearing deadline (Yeah!) so its been all hands on deck. As always I've been taking pictures of all sorts this week for the purposes of the magazine - rings, buttonholes, limousines, tiaras and on exhausting weeks like this I tend to leave the camera in the bag when I get home.
Of course I'm looking forward to the portrait shoots happening next week. They're great to get back to after the madness of magazine production!

Its been seriously freezing this week. We are still feeling winter here in February. Right now its about -3 outside. Its a double-hotwater bottle night. The only sign of Spring coming was the little plant on my window which decided to flower. I find it wonderfully therapeutic to photograph flowers and definitely brightened my Saturday morning.


Thank-you Sarah for the little surprise bulb in a pot.
What a beauty she turned out to be.

Read more...

My new baby

I was very excited to receive a big box from the postman containing my new 40d.
The only thing is in the same week I think I've lost my phojo!

Using the new camera worried me a bit. I didn't want the results to be disappointing so I held off and just kept taking it out of the box and looking at it.
I even took some pictures of it and flicked through the manual. Its alot bigger than my little camera and more masculine. It eyed me from the shelf challenging me to do my worst.

The thing is I loved my 400d and was quite sad to take the card and batteries out of it and place it snugly in the bottom of my shootsac until such times as the 40d lets me down. Without the 400d I never would have realised that photos can look much better with the flash turned off. It has served me well and us photographers do get kind of attached to our gear.

Anyway I decided to take a picture with the new guy. And you know what? Nothing earth-shattering happened. It is a better camera for various reasons but I'm still the same photographer. I'll still have to work on all the things that were important before - framing, focusing, creativity, light and so on.

Here is a simple shot of Niamh with the 40d. Just playing it safe for now.
She did look really cute though...



Also I was watching Senan this morning and realised just how hardworking three year olds are.
They love to be given jobs to do. Senan loves watching me cooking and helps wash the vegetables. Three years old love to get their hands dirty. Thats why playdoh is a really big hit. I've got to keep finding jobs for him. You don't want to let them get bored at this age - then there is big trouble. For example, recently when bored my little helper decided it would be a good idea to colour in mum's lovely, white computer keyboard black - with a permanent marker! He has also been helping me deliver frames to customers. This is great because he gets sweets from everyone we visit.

Anyway we're really looking forward to planting seeds soon. Its starting to get lighter in the evening and Spring is on its way!



I also hope my phojo comes back soon. I miss it.

Read more...