Portrait Photography

70 Years Young - Family Photography /  by Jan

Location: Castlemartyr Resort. Occasion: 70th Birthday. Nations: Three and a Kingdom.

“How have I never been to the Castlemartyr resort?” I ask myself. Well, I am on of those idiots who always just drives through Castlemartyr impatienlty to finally get to Garryvoe beach or Ballycotton. The latter either for the cliff walk, or to go to one of the best fish ‘n chips shops; Skinnys.

Well, I am one of those people who also decides they need to go for a swim at Garryvoe beach after their shoot at the Castlemartyr Resort as well. I guess, I just can’t be in this corner of the world and not go to the beach or the lighthouse!

I love photographing these family reunions, especially after all the lockdowns. Often, it is at these special family occasions that I am busy photographing at, that families are meeting again for the first time. This family was split across three nations and a kingdom; obviously Ireland (originating from Dublin), then America and Belgium, as well as the kingdom of Kerry. For the first time in years, this family could be complete, hailing from these four corners of the world.

They were all just happy to be together and enjoy each other’s company, while getting some high quality family portrait photos by a professional photographer; me. I must admit, this was one of the most relaxed shoots I have ever had. I can’t remember photographing a family that was so immensely relaxed and so genuinely happy to just being together. Although, the good weather probably helped a lot too! But it was beautiful to see such genuine behaviour.

After the group photos were taken, I was asked to just get some photos of the kids playing and running around. When suddenly this happened:

All by themselves, the kids collectively decided they wanted their own group photo. Without talking much about it, they all gathered together and I got these fantastic shots. Kids are so unpredictable sometimes. Sometimes in a negative way, sometimes in a fantastically positive way.

I took so many photos of the children, asked the family if they wanted anymore photos, they happily declined, absolutely content with the shots that I had already gotten. I said goodbye, faced by a sea of smiling faces and waves, and left. To me it felt like an abrupt ending, having expected that they wanted more photos than they actually did.

The birthday balloon went on it’s own journey that day:

Walking back to the car, “I guess I’ll go for a swim so.” Later I saw that I had still taken over 400 photos. It didn’t feel like it at all!

A couple of days later, after editing and sending off the photos, I received back this message, “Hi Jannik, thanks so much for that they are lovely photos and I know the others will be delighted. I love the shots you got of the kids they are lovely. Well done again on getting so many little kids to cooperate!”

Job well done, so! It’s always heart-warming to get such positive feedback. Till next time!

Alba - Family Portrait and Christening Photography /  by Jan

Family Portraits

It’s finally time for things to open up again and a little bit of normality to return again! And what a positive way to spend a weekend day as with Alex, Urko and little Alba, who wanted me to take some family portraits of them. This photoshoot was as fun as it looks! And this is the work that went into and the tools I wouldn’t want to do without:

I like to be prepared for my photoshoots, especially with outdoor portraits or couple shoots, I always do my research. And especially after being off for such a long time. This is where Google Maps and SunCalc come into play!

Google Maps and SunCalc help me stake out my possible shooting locations beforehand and give me a better idea of what I can be expecting when I arrive there in person. Using Google Maps, I was able to see that opposite Alex and Urko’s lovely home, just a stone’s throw outside Cork city, was this lovely green park. The hedges were walling it off completely on one side, with housing on the other. Naturally I made the decision to use the lovely, dark green hedges as a background. Together with the grass, this gave a lovely green with yellow backdrop, that allowed the three to stand out nicely in their light coloured clothes.

So what is SunCalc? Well, it is a useful little tool that calculates the position of the sun in a given location, at various times throughout a specific day. It also indicates sunrise and sunset. This allows me to plan my shots beforehand quite accurately, even sketching quite accurate descriptions of my ‘must have’ photos in my notebook. I couldn’t imagine working as a professional photographer without these tools to my disposal! It just allows me to create high quality portraits, much more easily.

Some of my must have photos for instance, were the photos of Alba sitting on Urko’s shoulders. I would never have thought though, that I would have gotten such a great variety of that one pose! The sense of adventure in her pointing into the distance is exciting, and the genuine joy that the parents are having is just a pleasure to see.

My favourite photo of the shoot, the swinging ones, were a mix of both of our ideas. I could steer the collaboration into this unique photo that comes across so naturally. They are my absolute favourite photos of the day!

Ok, but this couple photoshoot / family portrait shoot also had a bit of a family and friends reunion vibe to it. This was Alba’s christening day. After a the ceremony at the church, it was back to their home for an afternoon of celebrating over dinner! The back garden was wonderfully prepared, more akin to some wedding photos than a christening. Clearly this day meant a lot to the family!

Christening Photos

Friends and Family Celebration

Alex even set up a photoshoot / portrait area with backdrop for the guests. I added a diffuser above the guests, to soften the sunlight on that day. From the front I added one medium sized softbox with a flash in it and added a second flash behind the guests to light up the white sheet, to make it glow. You can see the soft box reflecting in some of the guests’ sunglasses. This is basically a studio set up, just outdoors, which is why these photos have such a high quality and lovely skin tones.

These are the days that make it really enjoyable to work as a photographer in Cork city. I get to be apart of these joyful occasions and celebrate with families and their friends.

If you would like to make a booking, you can contact me here or for more photos, why don’t you check out the adorable pregnancy announcement I photographed?

Catching up Over a Christening - Family Portrait Photography /  by Jan

Christenings are always great moments for the whole family to catch up with each other! We don’t always see each other often enough, so when there is a special occasion to celebrate, it’s fantastic to witness the joy that brings to families, plus being able to photograph it too.

Wailam and Tom contacted me to photograph their daughter’s christening. Well, sort of. As you can see in the photos; where’s the church?! Where are the photos of the actual ceremony? That’s the sort of part.
What really impressed me about the two was how certain they were of what they wanted. Wailam asked me to just come by their home instead, after the ceremony. It was more important for them to get family photos of everyone who could make it, in the comfort of their own home. Rather that than having photos of the actual christening itself and trying to quickly get all the family photos done afterwards. Some family members had brought their children too, and we all know how challenging it can be to keep them happy for such a relatively long time. So it was decided that it would just be easier to do the family photo shoot at home. I absolutely encourage all clients to make their special occasions their own! If it’s a wedding or a christening or a birthday party, absolutely make it your own and plan it to be the most enjoyable and stress free for yourself. After all, these special occasions are all meant to be fun.

Little Alora was clearly delighted with all the attention on this day. So many family members all around! She was beaming from ear to ear in almost every photo. Though, just between you and me, I have to admit we did strategically place her grandmother behind me, who did an amazing job throughout the family portrait shoot of keeping Alora happy! From talking to her throughout the photo shoot, to even dancing and singing, she was very adamant of helping me get the best family photos. I really appreciated that.

The portraits, initially, were supposed to be taken inside but after seeing their back garden, I thought otherwise. I suggested that we do the photo shoot outside instead, in this gorgeous, green corner. This corner didn’t only have lovely flora in the background, but also with it approaching dusk, we had such beautiful, soft, natural lighting, that is so typical here in Cork city. I did of course have my lighting set up with me, just in case, but when it’s this beautiful already, it makes little sense to spoil it.

I photographed for about half an hour, getting all combinations of family members, ensuring everyone would be happy. We can’t be forgetting an aunt here, or a cousin there. Suddenly the grandfather was missing! All the usual culprits at it again. Haha! It was so much fun though, they’re two fantastic families who clearly get on very well with each other. That was a joy to see and be apart of.

To finish it off, I took the following photos, this time indoors. Alora had been very co-operative and fantastic. Now, she was just tired. She fell asleep immediately, as I packed up my camera gear again.

Thanks for reading! Thanks for reading! If you are looking for a photographer in Cork city or County Cork, feel free to contact me here.