woodard photography blog

Sarah & Will's E-Session

Sarah and Will have recently moved back home from Wales, we met them first at christmas and last weekend was the first time we had to meet up again with all the travelling and moving and our own schedule.

We met in Limerick to shoot the session the lads are getting married in a few weeks in Roscrea with their reception in Durrow House. Everything was calm, we had no rain for the shoot although when we finished the sky opened with an almighty deluge.

Both of them are very chilled people in general, we are totally looking forward to their day, it should be a blast.

K&E

 

 

Mairead & Fergal in Charleville

The one thing we love about weddings is from day to day everyone of them is completly different for us. One day were shooting in the hotel next day were in Mum's house with all the carry on, there could be 300 guests in a hotel or 20 friends in a restaurant, all making for great photo ops and story telling.

We shot a friend of Mairead's wedding (Aishling & JJ we featured their wedding sometime back) and it lashed all day, but the work we were able to create was beautiful, from this Mairead and Fergal made contact with us to view our work but we were already booked for their date. A couple of dyas later Mairead rang us and asked which dates we had available around that time,I think we had one left, they contacted the hotel, changed the date to accomadate us which we consider a huge complement (thank you) and consequently asked us to shoot their day.

This time the sun split the stones, almost too bright bringing its own challenges, but the work just flowed, all around there was so much going on, its great when plans come together for couples and you could see the relief in Mairead when we met her that morning, because of the weather outside.

Mairead & Fergal enjoy the break, thank you for being so natural around the camera, it was a pleasure shooting your day

K&E

 

 

 

 

 

 

Suzie & The Captain at Lisloughrey Lodge

Suzie & Bryan originally contacted us through our website. Suzie has a tv production company and had a very clear idea of what she wanted and was attracted to our journal art style.

We met with them in Dublin for the preliminary meeting and again at a later stage for a lifestyle shoot in Phoenix Park. Next stop Lisloughrey Lodge to shoot their wedding. We stayed at the hotel a few years back and loved the interior colours and setting and had been looking forward to shooting there for some time.

Gavin from dreamcatcherproduction.ie was on video with us and we had an great day, we work with Gav frequently and having been to the hotel many times previously, he was looking forward to seeing our interpretation of the hotel.

Weather was amazing and Suzie looked even more amazing and the Captain didn't look too bad either!

The ceremony was in Ballintubber Abbey and if any of you have the pleasure of experiencing this venue you will know how special it is.

While the guests made their way back for cocktails we went into Cong village with the bridal party for a few minutes and finished off the shoot back at the hotel.

Suzie & Bryan thank you for sharing your day with us

E&K

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Karol & Paul in Wicklow with the Rock & Roll Kids

Eurovision song Contest winner Paul Harrington and his now beautiful wife Karol gave us the pleasure of shooting their wedding in Wicklow last week. The whole event was held at Brook Lodge, both Karol & Paul were based in the hotel and they used the stunning little Macreddin Village Church which is on the grounds of the hotel and not 50 yards from where they were getting ready to say their I'Do's to each other.

Many of our clients head off to venue's away from their daily lives to get married and base themselves in the same hotel, which is just great for shooting because there is just no time lost in travelling and we can see the whole drama unfold before our eyes and capture every minute.

Karol was extremly relaxed all day, nothing was going to stress her, there was a huge downpour about 5 minutes before she was to cross the grounds to the church, literally you would not have put a cat out in it, but she just smiled and waited as long as she had to and went across in beautiful sunshine.

The music through the ceremony was as you would expect, just superb, many of Karol & Paul's music industry friends contributed to the music by singning or playing throughout the ceremony,  Paul sang to his now wife in the tiny church a wonderful ballad he composed.

Our brief as with all our couples is shoot it how we see it, they trusted us totally.  Our journal-art style is exactly what they wanted for their day.

The sun shone for the rest of the evening, the drinks reception along the river was great fun, it was great to meet up with many people we have worked with in the past and also to meet new friends on the day,General Manager Evan Doyle was around all day, some of you may remember him from the Strawberry Tree and Rudi's in Killarney, it was good to catch up with him again.

All in all the day was perfect, Karol & Paul enjoy the states we know you are looking forward to the break, again thank you for allowing us to just do what we do.

Ev

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bridget & Mark at Bunratty Castle Hotel

Prior to their wedding day we had met Bridget and Mark at least 3 times and it rained everytime, but for all the right reasons when we met them on their day everything was perfect. It was hot ,very hot, the sun blasted all day and it was great. While im writing this to you its raining but its the first rain we have had in a long time so at the moment its actually needed.

The lads were married in a wonderful little church just outside Ennis in a village called Barefield, Bridget travelled in from her parents home in Scarriff while Mark made the short journey from Ennis. Bridget looked just stunning as she arrived and got ready to meet Mark and the photography and images of them was just jumping at us, being totally relaxed and natural creates great moments and no question having met the lads a few times helped them around myself and Ev, its something we have mentioned several times before, but it is so important for potential couples to think about.

Bridget wants to get back in the dress when she returns from honeymoon, no we will not be trashing it, but we have lots in mind for an alternative shoot and be able to push just a little more than we could have on their day to create an edgy fashion style shoot.

Lads you were great fun and thank you for making us so welcome on such a beautiful day, looking forward to meeting up again soon

Keith

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

www.bunrattycastlehotel.com

So is this what you get up to when we leave????

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlGEhXJnPoc

What makes us tick ? Inspiration

This is something myself and Ev are asked nearly all the time, of course we have different smaller influences, Evelyn would study a little fashion for the creative lighting used and I would look at film for the same reasons, but neither of us could say they are a direct influence. We have never tried to capture a shoot based on what we would have seen in the area's I mentioned.

We visit portrait gallery's wherever and whenever possible the work of the masters is unquestionable but again we would tend to study their use of light, im sure if we were portrait photographers art galleries would have bigger bearing on what we are looking to achieve in our work.

Photography is still both our biggest influence, let me make the catagory a little smaller, documentary, lifestyle photography,photjournalism is where we draw our inspiration from. We tend to produce most of our work in black & white, we feel shooting in colour is a little like using plastic flowers everything is just a little to real and to perfect, black & white always leaves something to the viewers imagination, it leaves a little space in our minds to develop our own story, as I said colour is a little to perfect and that space is not there for our mind to develop the image and to satisfy our curiosity.

So who floats our boat ?  Sabastio Selgado and W. Eugene Smith would have had a huge influence on me personally their work is just LIFE as we know it and have come to recognise throughout the several generations they recorded. In more modern times Don McCullin's work is haunting, provocative but again LIFE that is dealt to the subjects he is recording and we see something that we can all assosciate with. Two others that immediately come to mind are Jeff Ascough and George Weir their work is inspirational, their use of light exceptional and their storytelling unparralled in the modern age.

We are continually trying to improve our storytelling and the gentlemen I have mentioned above have had an immense impact on myself & Evelyn in the past and moving forward, I think the saying "a picture says a thousand words" has never been more apt than in our fast changing lifestyle of todays world, if we can leave hundreds of thousands of words behind us in pictures we feel we would have achieved something of great importance a visual history so to speak

K

 

 

 

Rudy & Joseph Lifestlye portrait session

When we first introduced the idea of taking our clients off to a location for portraits or even just shooting around the house with no boundries of fixed lighting etc, we thought it would build slowly which we were happy with. But the exact opposite has happened the concept has gone through the roof,parents are loving the idea of just letting the natural element of their childrens characters pour out through the images we are creating. The fake backdrops of the studio still have their uses but the freedom to study the character of someone through a camera is much more natural when they are not in the pressure of a studio enviroment.

We had great fun with Rudy & Joseph the images here pretty much show who they are, joseph being older is very protective of rudy, rudy on the other hand is a live wire a completly different character, but it was amazing to watch the bond they have between them already.

Michelle & Daryl thank you for the time we spent with you, we know your 2 boys will bring you years of fun and our little capture of a moment in time will reflect the happiness of the two lads in years to come

K&E

  

 

 

 

Desiree & Karl - The wedding at Castle Durrow

 Some of you that follow our blog entries have been wondering what Desiree & Karl's wedding was like, especially after they went with the themed pre-wedding shoot. Well they certainly didn't disappoint.

We were invited to join them for their indoor bbq in Castle Durrow on the Sunday evening which allowed us the opportunity to meet some family & friends.

It was a early start on the Monday and the attention to detail was spectacular. The weather was cold but the rain stayed away which was great. The boys headed off to Morrissey's prior to the ceremony while I stayed back at the stunning bridal suite with Desiree and the girls. Keith came back to meet up to do some portrait work with our beautiful bride before we went to the church.

Such a relaxed day led to amazing work and we're really looking forward to meeting with them again to finalize the album.  Thank you both for welcoming us and allowing us to create some beautiful memories for you and your girls to cherish. Here is a selection of work in no particular order.

Ev & Keith

 

 

 
 

Syra & Ali's 3 Day Muslim Wedding

When Syra first called us she was a little vague about the details of her wedding plans. Then as we got chatting more and more information was revealed about their plans and we were more that a little excited.  Time was not on our side so meeting up was difficult. Eventually she called to see us with her mum and sister and it was then I realised ( as did Keith) that this was going to be special.

The weekend began with the Mendhi on Easter Sunday which was a gathering of both families followed by some food and dancing. The colours were incredible that evening, it was a taste of what was to come. Srya & Ali were dressed in casual wear that evening.

Easter Monday was the main wedding ceremony, we arrived at the house to be greeting by a very calm welcome, where everyone was prepping the flowers and getting dressed. Kathryn O'Neill a lady we recommend highly was on duty with the make up. She did a spectular job with the girls and her experience with asian skin tones was evident.

Meanwhile Keith was with Ali capturing his morning and again the colours and traditions were revealing themselves even more.

The ceremony was beautiful, again followed by dinner and finished around 9pm. We eventually got some time outside to take a few images of Syra & Ali together, the sky was perfect and allowed us to capture them beautifully.

Sunday 19th April was the final day of the wedding, where Ail's family hosted the party in Dublin. The sun was shining and everyone was looking forward to it. It was a late start (7pm) so we were wondering if we would have any time to take some images of our couple on this evening. Luck was on our side and we had an hour with them before the celebrations bagan. Syra took our breath away this time in a dusky pink dress which is a colour she would not normally wear but I think I have presuaded her to never take it off. Total contrast to the maroon colour she wore the previous week. Ali wore a tailored suit again looking very dashing and in complete contrast to the traditional outfit and turbon he wore the previous week.

We were both humbled and previliged to be welcomed by so many family members and guests at the 3 day event. To experience other customs and beliefs. At every wedding we look to photograph the day in such detail that anyone who looks at the images would understand what was taking place. Our reasoning being that we assume too often that everyone will know it's a wedding but now we now we are experiencing much more cultural and multi denominational weddings,so that emphasis is ever more important. You can never assume so you have to capture the smaller details along with the main details to complete the story. It was great to be challanged and out of our comfort zone and to be put to the test or recording another moment in history for both Srya & Ali. Also a first for myself & Keith.

We feel we have done them proud and enjoyed every second of it.

Ev & Keith