Old Head Golf Links - Golf Photographer Ireland /  by Jan

I never thought that one day a bit of 4” pipe would be the key to a successful photo shoot!

Crocs at the Golf Links

Thomas contacted me one day to inquire if I could photograph them playing golf at the Old Head Golf Links, the very prestigious golf course at the Old Head of Kinsale.

 
 

The special occasion? Thomas’ dad, John, was celebrating his 70th birthday and wanted to go play golf at the Old Head with his sons and a friend. So they booked two rounds on two separate days and had me photograph it all because, and I quote, “We’re so bad at taking family photos when we’re out.”
“Amazing, I’m in!”

I found out at the end of the second day that John is the CEO of Crocs. How random! I first thought they were winding me up. Haha!

All You Need Is a Piece of Pipe

After Thomas booked in with me, immediately I imagined these kind of photos, of them picking up their golf ball out of the hole. I thought it would make for some unique and playful photos to go with the rest of the gallery. I obviously can’t be taking them from inside the actual hole, so I went to all the plumbing stores in my area to find a pipe big enough, with which we could imitate this shot. After several shop visits, I finally landed at Cork Builders Providers who were able to sell me a little piece of 4” pipe for a couple of bucks. With a bit of practice at home with my wife, Nic, we got the perfect set up dialled in for the day so that it all worked out exactly as I had hoped, I love the way the photos turned out!

 

Kellen, one of the sons on this trip, loved these photos too, as he specifically mentioned in his 5-star Google review:

“Jan is amazing. My brother hired him to photograph us playing golf for my Dad’s birthday and he delivered incredible shots.

Jan was so nice and made the pictures feel intimate and artistic.

He had this idea to take pictures like he was inside the hole and we were reaching in to take the ball and they came out so well!

Thank you Jan!”
— Kellen

1st Day - Duality of Irish Weather

I am so thankful that they booked me for two days, as the first day was so incredibly foggy, that I can most positively describe as a very moody day. This weather is also what makes this golf course (in)famous. I had so much respect for the golfers as they couldn’t even see the green when they were teeing off. The caddies had to vaguely point in the direction of the hole and the golfers just hoped for the best. Incredible!

Foggy weather

“I had so much respect for the golfers as they couldn’t even see the green when they were teeing off.”

The fog didn’t just require the most of the players, but it also pushed me hard as a photographer to still come up with creative shots when you couldn’t see much further than a couple of meters. I just had to embrace the low-contrast shots and do my best! I’m really happy with the results I got, but when you compare it to the second day, there’s no comparison, is there? Haha!

2nd Day - Creative Golf Photography

We could finally see the ocean! Turns out it was there all along.

The sunny weather on the second day really allowed my creativity to flow. It was amazing to be free of the foggy restraints and to even see the ocean! It was also fun to be tasked with taking a mix of photos; from the action shots of them playing, to documenting their day and the little interactions but also photographing this incredibly gorgeous golf course.

I really tried my best to capture the essence of the Old Head Golf Links by including landscape shots as well, and not purely focusing on the players. So I added in as many elements of the course as possible. Elements that would make it unmistakeably the Old Head. Even including the navy ship that was doing some routine exercises there all day.

Variety Makes Me Better

I really enjoy doing so many different types of photography. Not only do I love that I am able to accommodate so many different requests, because I hate turning people away, like when I photographed Stephen, the para-athlete. But I believe that it makes me a better photographer. I learn things in sports photography that I can apply to my couple shoots and proposals, or my corporate events teach me something that I can apply at my weddings. It’s always funny how those cross overs work!

Lighthouse

The final hole at the Old Head is probably the most iconic one. The lighthouse in the background is a feature that only a few golf links across the world have. So I made sure that every player in the group had their own iconic shot to take home!

Golf Photography in Ireland

Get in touch if you would like me to photograph your party at one of Ireland’s many amazing golf courses, like:

  • Ballybunion Golf Club

  • Dromoland Castle

  • Fota Island Golf Club

  • Lahinch Golf Club

  • Lee Valley Golf and Country Club

  • Tralee Golf Club

  • Killarney Golf & Fishing Club

  • Waterville Golf Links

  • Dooks Golf Club

  • Adare Manor

  • and many others.

I am based in Cork city but am happy to travel outside of the county.

Get in Contact

Say hi to me here for pricing and availability, I’d love to photograph your round(s) of golf!

More Golf Photography

Clara - Baby Naming Photographer Cork /  by Jan

Baby naming ceremonies are becoming more and more popular these days and I think they’re great occasions to have!

It’s always so sweet to see the godparents stand in front of all the friends and families and declare their support to the child. The parents also have the opportunity to formally introduce their newborn to everyone that is important to them. To just have that moment where everything comes to a brief stop, where we aren’t just focused on the day-to-day chores, work and groceries. But a moment where everyone can acknowledge their support for the newborn. It’s a lovely tradition!

Cork County Cricket Club

The naming ceremony took place at the Cork County Cricket Club, a place I know well as I photograph Cadence’s annual summer BBQ party there. And for those people who regularly read my blog, yes, it’s not only a familiar venue but also a familiar face! That’s Geraldine, the officiant from the Inchydoney wedding that I posted just a few weeks ago. It’s always great to bump into familiar and friendly faces again, and Geraldine especially is great at her job and I always enjoy catching up with her! We’ve had the opportunity working together at several weddings, and now, a baby naming ceremony.

Group Photo!

The sunny weather that day allowed us to take these beautiful family photos with Clara, the main attraction that day, with her grandparents, parents, godparents and other friends and family members. I especially love the big group photo we took, with all of the guests on the porch. With the sunlight and the distinct facade of the Cricket Club, it made for such a unique photo that couldn’t have been taken anywhere else. And I love that! Everyone was there that day just for Clara.

 
 

Clara’s Baby Shoot

Parents Emma and Tony, also had me over at their house for a baby photo shoot, several weeks before the naming ceremony. It’s always such a pleasure to witness these different stages in families’ lives over a couple of months or years. Just like I’m now so fortunate to see couples go from a maternity shoot, to a few months later when I’m seeing them again for a baby photo shoot. It’s incredible to be a part of that!

We did the baby shoot predominantly inside, as it was a cold and miserable day but with my lighting equipment, I was able to create these bright and sunny looking indoor shots! A break in the weather also allowed us to go outside for a few minutes to add more variety to the gallery of photos.

Baby Shoot

“Parents Emma and Tony, also had me over at their house for a baby photo shoot, several weeks before the naming ceremony.”

Clara was amazing, with her big eyes and cheeks, she seemed so unfazed by the camera! I love the photos and moments I was able to capture both at their home and at the baby naming ceremony!

Google Review

Emma and Tony were also delighted and they even left me this lovely 5-star Google review:

 
“Wonderful photographer and wonderful photos for my daughter’s newborn shoot and naming ceremony. Jan was so lovely and made us all feel so comfortable. Highly recommend!”
— Emma
 
 
 

Baby Naming Ceremony At Home

Emotional

“…it even made for some teary eyes during the ceremony.”

Another baby naming ceremony that was so beautiful, was for Eve. The parents Darren and Laura hosted the ceremony in their own home. They were able to clear a room for the ceremony and with a personalized cake and the decorations, it made for a very inviting environment. And again, it was lovely to hear the everyone’s commitment and intentions for Eve. It was so emotional that it even made for some teary eyes during the ceremony.

We then had the most beautiful natural light for these family photos, while the nosy neighbours were curious and wondered what we were doing.

Nosy Neighbours

“…while the nosy neighbours were curious and wondered what we were doing.”

Another Google Review

Darren and Laura were also delighted with the photos and also wrote me a lovely 5-star Google review:

 
“Jan photographed our daughters naming ceremony in our house. The photos are stunning. Jan captured the day beautifully. We couldn’t be happier with the photos.

We will be using Jan again and would recommend him to anyone looking for a photographer to capture their special moments.”
— Laura
 

Contact

If you have a christening or a baby naming ceremony coming up that you would like to have photographed, say hi to me here. I’d love to send you my baby naming and christening photography packages and most importantly, photograph your ceremony!

Samyang AF 75mm f1.8 Review Sony FE /  by Jan

I think this is a fantastic lens! That’s my summarized opinion. Why is it fantastic? Price and size!

Combo

I use my 35mm lens the most. I’ve made it no secret that that is my favourite focal length of all (like here, here and here)! And subsequently, I needed a secondary lens to compliment it. I’ve always felt like an 85mm is too tight and too big a gap to 35mm. I know I’m probably in the minority when it comes to that opinion, but it never felt comfortable to me. So in came the 75mm. Spoiler alert, it felt better but not perfect and I eventually replaced it with a lens that felt perfect for me.

But when I do a couple or family shoot, I’ll use a 35mm lens for 70-80% of the shots, and a more telephoto option for the rest. So this is truly a secondary lens. And for being a secondary lens, it’s nice and small, and lightweight. If it was my primary lens, I would look into getting the best and biggest 85mm lens, like I did with my 35mm, but not here.

The Good

For the price, it delivers fantastic image quality, and I do really like the bokeh too, with just a hint of swirl. It also gave you that typical, fast telephoto look and compression, that’s so iconic with 85mm lenses. Colours were good and matched the Samyang 35mm f1.8. It just works really well!

  • The size and weight

  • The price

  • Image quality

The Bad

The only criticism was that the autofocus was a bit slow so that I couldn’t use it for wedding days or events, the lens had no actual aperture ring, and the build quality was very plasticky. The latter made me worry how well the internals were built and how long the lens would last. A Sigma lens in comparison (different price range of course), does give you that confidence that it will be working perfectly during a wedding ceremony. This didn’t. Although I’d love to hear other people’s experiences with it though! And it was more than adequate for portraits. A really amazing little pocket rocket!

I also found the ‘fake’ aperture ring to be a gimmick, as well as the custom modes. I’d have preferred to have had a real aperture ring and no custom switch.

  • Autofocus

  • Build quality

  • No real aperture ring and pointless custom modes

Uncomfortable

As great as this lens was and as much as I enjoyed the extremely compact bang for buck nature of it, I just still never felt truly comfortable with the 35/75mm combo. Traditionally a very popular combo, but one that I struggled with. The difference in focal length was just too stark for me, not only during the shoot but also afterwards. When looking at a gallery, I could immediately tell which photo had been taken by which lens and I felt the difference was too jarring.

Would I recommend it?

I think this focal length issue is a very personal issue that I will probably not share with a lot of other photographers. So to those photographers I say, get this lens if it interests you and you don’t necessarily need the best of the best!

Read more gear reviews here.

And my favourite lens over here.