Cadence Design Systems Cork- Corporate Event Photography / October 31, 2022 by Jan

The bowler is running in confidently. His leg outstretched in front of him. He lands on the line perfectly. The cricket ball, elegantly held in his right hand, now swings around from the back over the shoulder, is released, a puff of dust where it bounces, swings in. Stumps are smashed. Bails go flying. Out.

Shouts of “How’s thaaaaat?!” Everyone not from a cricketing nation is confused, “Is that out? What does that mean? What do we do now?” General confusion grows even wider as the bowler is drowned in celebrations by people who grew up watching cricket. Five minutes later, “Ok, you didn’t know the rules, stay in. But remember, protect the stumps!”

We’re at the Cork County Cricket Club in Cork city. A lovely spot, right next to Fitzgerald’s park. The occasion? Well, the billion dollar, multinational company, Cadence Design Systems, is hosting their first BBQ in Cork for their employees and families. Having only recently moved to Cork city, they never had the opportunity to host their annual event due to the pandemic. So it was time to make up for it and I was thrilled to be there!

It was a beautifully sunny day. There was a BBQ, bouncy castles for the kids, a DJ, drinks, face paint and more! And what turned out to be one of the attractions for the kids, turned into the biggest game of the day; cricket.

With employees coming from all over the world, from the usual European countries like Spain and Italy, to further abroad like India and Nigeria, there were so many nationalities present. But with a core group coming from India though, the cricket ball couldn’t be left alone and soon, everyone was being taught how to play this rather odd game. Growing up in South Africa, I knew all the rules, so even I jumped in to help out with explaining. It seemed like a solid foundation of hurling helped massively.

This gig just went from photographing a normal corporate event with speeches and formal affairs, to full on sports photography! What a laugh!

In-between playing and photographing the match, I went off to photograph other happenings and groups of people enjoying this lovely event. And then, sure enough, went back to the cricket. Rinse and repeat.

I don’t remember the last time I met so many friendly people from so many different countries. It was great fun to meet so many different people. Plus photographing it all was so much fun too, and I think that really shows in the photos. They’re just fun photos of a very fun event. Simple as.

If you would like to book me for your event, you can contact me here.

Goodbye UCC - Graduation Portrait Photo Shoot / January 19, 2022 by Jan

I remember my own graduation. A lifetime ago now, in a different country with a different language. It was an IT college. Although I’m still not really sure why they lumped us in together with the very nice, but very technical nerds. After all, I was learning something creative. Well, creativity was expressed differently in this college I guess. I hardly remember receiving my diploma, but that’s just because I have an infamously bad memory. We didn’t have the benefit of having a photographer there for the ceremony and with a room full of film makers and photographers, no one had thought to bring a single camera. Haha I don’t know why! Although I do remember that our graduation was almost instantly after our final exams. All I know is that after numerous promises that we would all go party late into the night, one last time before we all made our own paths in life, everyone’s eyes felt heavy and conversations were mute. “I need to go sleep!”

As I’m writing this, I don’t think Cara’s graduation could have been any more different than mine! Dressed in the traditional gown, looking great, with the beautiful UCC grounds as a backdrop, this was a photo shoot that basically shot itself. Also, UCC always makes me think I’m half a step into Hogwarts.

I love photographing outdoors, for portaits and couple shoots especially. And though we narrowly avoided some rain (which is why we moved indoors for the later photos), I always love the added layer that green grass and the sky and backdrop can add to a photo shoot. There’s so much more depth to it. Even for something as straightforward as a graduation portrait photo shoot.

Prints are forever

Wrapped up and seconds away from being packed up and shipped.

If you would like to book your graduation photos in Cork city or county with me, you can contact me here. Photos are available as a digital download link and with framed prints as well, like Cara had opted for.

B-Ball - Sports Photography / September 25, 2021 by Jan

Who knew that basketball was this popular in Ireland? Turns out Douglas has two teams. I didn’t even know. I mean, I’ve seen the basketball courts in the Ballincollig Regional Park and this one in Douglas. But I just always assumed they were those ill fated decisions the council always seem to make, similar to the skate parks that always seem absolutely unskateable for beginners and children. The exact reason they were built in the first place.

I guess if you build the facilities, people will come and use them. Especially post lockdown. I feel like I am seeing way more people use those outdoor workout machines as well. Maybe I just notice it more these days as I’m actively looking out for it. Though Ireland seems a little more active these days.

This basketball court is a great facility though! Although a disgruntled player did say that the hoops aren’t regulation height. Much to my friend’s dismay, who felt he was just two inches too short to do a proper Michael Jordan dunk. Well Billy, unfortunately you’ll have to grow more than two inches now!

This was a shoot just for fun, not a paid, professional shoot, yet I was still taking it somewhat seriously enough. I knew exactly how I wanted these photos to look and honestly, they came out even better than expected.

I wanted to use my flash in this bright sunlight. Create a more film like look, as if it was photographed with a simple point and shoot camera. This means, vibrant, strong colours, high contrast, and no shallow depth of field (ie. no background blur). Everything had to be in focus, and I wanted that harsh flash look. This was really pushing my flash (the Yongnuo 560IV – review here) to the limit. Although it is one of the more powerful flashes on the market, in this Irish summer sun, it was struggling to be as bright as I wanted it to be. I wanted it so bright that the background drowned into shadows.

With the flash set to 1/1, ie. max power, I had to be conservative with the amount of shots I took. Reload time for the flash is around 3 seconds I think. I can’t wait for my Godox V1 to arrive! It recycles in just 1.5 seconds. Though three times more expensive than Yongnuo, I probably would take the Yongnuo again next time for a non-paid shoot. Especially since, in a moment of distraction, the basketball made full contact with my camera, lens and flash all at once. Everything seems to have been fine, but the flash does sit looser on the camera now. I’m going to look into the possibility of replacing the hotshoe mount on it. No biggie though. I’d rather break my gear while getting great photos (or trying to get great photos), than leave it at home in pristine condition.

This day was a funny mix between some sports photography and street photography. With it just being a friendly game of mostly banter, I was able to enter the court myself and stand right next to the players. Something that would obviously be impossible in a professional setting. In that case I would have to take my 50-140mm telephoto lens, stand on the sides and be happy with the positioning I was given. Use a flash, and in a flash you’re outta the arena. Instead, I used my Samyang 12mm f2 lens, much in the same way as in the party photography style I did here (Samyang 12mm review and photos here). Set the aperture to f8, set focus to about 2m (this will cover everything from 0.5m to infinity to be in focus), blast the flash and just kinda guess what you’re photographing. For not a single one of the action shots did I look through the viewfinder or at the screen. That’s the beautiful thing about this 12mm. And with the manual focus, the shutter is instant. You can leave it right to the last millisecond to fire it off. It’s fantastic!

I did try my Fujifilm 23mm f2 as well, but I just found the 12mm to work better for this situation and I thought I’d rather not risk my 16-55mm f2.8. If it was a more important shoot, than yeah, of course! But for this, the 12mm was perfect.

I didn’t know most of the guys there that day. So having a bit of a street photographer’s energy was important. Be open, inviting, unintimidating. And enjoy the sun yourself! We have so little of it here in Cork city.

It always surprises me how easy it is to meet strangers through photographing. Even in today’s world, when the novelty of being photographed has worn off somewhat and people tend to be a bit wary about cameras, if done right, it can open up situations that wouldn’t be obtainable in any other way.

There’s no real point to this post and there doesn’t always have to be one. It was just a fun day and I just wanted to share that fun and excitement. And maybe this is my way to encourage others to try something completely new or a bit different.

I have never really had any contact with basketball before in my life and didn’t expect to have that connection in Ireland of all places. This whole day reminded me a lot of my MMA photographing days. You can check those photos out here, they’re actually class! Or don’t. You can just leave your device now and just do that new thing you always wanted to. Or don’t listen to me at all. I wouldn’t even know the difference!

Till the next post, see you then!

Oh and if you need a professional photographer in the Cork city area, give me a shout! I’d be happy to not destroying more of my gear in basketball related incidents!