Cadence Design Systems Cork- Corporate Event Photography /  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.

Caelan - Newborn Baby Photography /  by Jan

It’s been said a million times, but isn’t it amazing how ordinary human beings like you and me can create life? Everyone; meet Caelan!

Noreen, Caelan’s mom, contacted me just about a week before this newborn baby photo shoot. At first I wasn’t aware that her son was so young. In fact, Caelan was exactly three weeks old to the day, when we did this newborn photo shoot. So quite literally, a newborn. That makes him the youngest baby I’ve photographed so far.

Now, if you look at my website, you will see that I love to capture natural moments, outside in nature. Natural and nature. Those are the keywords for me. I love how the photos look in those environments. I know other newborn baby photographers do prefer a more studio based photo shoot, with very posed and constructed shots, but that’s not really what I’m about, here at Save The Journey. Even when photographing indoors, I still photograph in a more natural and joyful style, like Elijah who I photographed here. I like shots full of life and love! I was glad to find out during the pre-shoot phone call with Noreen, that she shared the same opinion.

When working in TV, they always say, “Don’t work with kids or animals. They’re unpredictable.” Haha! Well, this might not be TV, but for these kind of shoots, I make sure I have a lot of extra time in my schedule. Just in case. After all, at three weeks old, a lot of basic things can be overwhelming for the baby. Even just being out of the cot, outside! That’s where I have to rely on the parents to help me out during this portrait photo shoot. Sometimes it’s mom that gives the right snuggles to calm them down, sometimes it’s dad, and sometimes it’s the bottle that they’re looking for. Patience. There is no rush after all.

Some of my favourite photos of this shoot are these following ones, with the dad, Thomas. It’s great to see someone be so happy to be a father! It may not sound like much, but it’s also amazing to see a father allow themselves to be so vulnerable with their kid like this. It’s great to see more fathers, and men in general, being more open in this regard. You can tell that both Thomas and Noreen are, and will be, fantastic parents!

If you’d like to book a newborn baby photo shoot or some kind of family portrait shoot, you can contact me here. I look forward to hearing from you!

And remember, besides newborn baby photography, I also photograph the following:

•Engagement Photography in Cork

•Family Portrait Photography in Cork

•Wedding and Elopement Photography in Cork

•and more!

Ian and Miranda - Engagement Couple Photo Shoot /  by Jan

“Quick, the sun’s come out! Drop your things and turn around!”

That’s how I ended up taking my favourite four shots of this engagement shoot. Read on to see them. :)

Ian and Miranda are a lovely couple from America. They contacted me because they wanted to do an engagement shoot in Ireland, on their holidays. “Cool, let’s do it!” I said. “Do you have a preference on where?”
“Somewhere by some cliffs!”
“Cliffs? I know some good cliffs!”
And that’s how we ended up in Ballycotton!

Now this wasn’t your usual ‘dash to the destination, do the couple photo shoot and then leave again’ kind of situation. No! It was my duty to show these foreigners our beautiful county! So this turned out to be half a guided tour with some photos sprinkled in. It was my first time doing something bigger like this and not “just” a couple shoot on its own. And it was pretty fun, I must say!

So we headed off to the cliff walk in Ballycotton, did a good section of the walk in some dodgy weather, while photographing cute couple photos here and there with different backgrounds. I was milking this scenery! That’s when they let me know; they’re getting married in a couple of months and want to use these photos for the invitations! Now this is perfectly acceptable and even recommended. So why was I suddenly sweating? The pressure was on to perform and take some top notch engagement photos, I couldn’t let them down! So I dug down a little deeper, to make sure they would have some ace couple photos, no matter what the conditions were.

At first, I was a little more trigger happy than usual, the rain was set to come back and it had been raining almost the entire drive to Ballycotton. I had packed rain jackets and even an umbrella as a back up. I could stand in the rain and take the photos while the couple look cute under an umbrella. That’s the ultimate back up.

Halfway through our hike Ballycotton really delivered. The clouds opened up and suddenly, we were bathing in the most golden rays of sunshine. That’s when I took my favourite photos of this entire shoot! It’s like Harry Styles’ song, “I’m so golden!

They are my favourites and I wonder which photos will be used in the end for this important wedding invitation card, although the rest aren’t bad either and would also be great candidates,

We reached the beach on the cliff walk. One of my intended destinations for this shoot. With cliffs in the background, just like Miranda had asked for, I used that lovely, soft sunset light. A gorgeous set of photos that I am also very happy with. They really are a lovely couple together! But besides the multiple, multiple locations and a hike, that wasn’t the end of our day out, no.

I mean we can’t go to Ballycotton without checking out the harbour and having a closer look at the famous light house! And we can’t go to Ballycotton without having a quick stopover and a whiskey at the Castlemartyr Resort!

If you are planning on visiting Ireland and would like to book an adventure couple photo shoot in Cork like this with me, contact me here for availability. From simple, one stop locations to spending four to six hours touring County Cork and visiting several locations, with multiple photo shoots during the day (like here with Ian and Miranda), this will be an unforgettable holiday experience with gorgeous couple photos to take home!

I offer the following couples photography in Cork:

Check out Joe’s surprise proposal on unsuspecting Mae here. A dream proposal and engagement photo shoot at the famous Blarney Castle.