Vina and Y-Dan - Proposal and Vacation Couple Photo Shoot Cork by Jan

I love photographing proposals! I mean, my heart is beating, I’m hoping that my instructions are understood and that the fiancé doesn’t get lost on the Blarney grounds, and that I manage to capture the moment well!

But after that, the couple photo shoots I do always end up being one of the funnest. I guess that buzz from the proposal is just unbeatable! Especially in a foreign country. Vina and Y-Dan here are from America, travelling through most of Ireland.

Magical Proposal

Blarney Castle never disappoints for these moments. Truly a thing of fairy tales.

Was this proposal a surprise? As it turns out; no. Haha! Vina was patiently impatiently waiting for Y-Dan to finally pop the question and was suspicious that it would happen on this Irish trip. Well, she was absolutely spot on!

We followed up the proposal with a gorgeous couple photo shoot around the Blarney Castle, as well as the Blarney House. It’s such a wonderful spot for photo shoots like these. There are so many great corners and locations. It doesn’t just make each photo unique, but it also makes the whole couple photo shoot so much fun.

What I love most about this specific set of couple photos is the happiness and joy that’s pouring from these two. You can tell immediately that they’re a great couple and will have a beautiful marriage one day. This will definitely set them up well. There’s just so much love in their eyes.

I made sure to leave the couple with a long list of recommendations. From restaurants and foods to try, to my favourite Irish whiskeys and the best scenic spots to visit. I know how helpful it can be to have a local give some good tips and directions!

If you are looking for a couples photographer or a proposal photo shoot, you can contact me here.


Adventure Couple Photo Shoots in Cork

And if you’re not interested in the proposal part and are just looking for a couples photographer, I also offer vacation adventure couple photo shoots where I take you on a tour of some beautiful spots in the Irish countryside.

For more on these adventure couple photo shoots, check out the following blog posts. These couple photos are great for anniversaries, engagements and general vacation shoots!


More Proposal Couple Photos in Blarney

Happiness & Joy

There’s just so much love in their eyes.

Turning One - Birthday and Christening Photographer Cork by Jan

It’s great to be able to capture family’s milestones, and capture these important memories for everyone to treasure and reflect upon in years to come. It’s so special seeing a family grow and be there for each other.

Here I got to photograph little Emily. It was not only her christening day, but also her very first birthday! The family went all out by booking the illustrious Hayfield Manor, and I don’t know about you, but the Hayfield Manor always feels so fancy to me, just like the Castlemartyr Resort. They’re always lovely places to visit and great venues for these kind of family occasions!

5 Star Google Review:

But before I start talking about this family photo shoot, why don’t we hear what the family themselves had to say?

People leave me lovely reviews after these photo shoots, and this one was another great one to share:

Jannik is an absolutely fantastic photographer, he put us at ease straight away and took really beautiful photos of our daughter’s Christening/1st Birthday celebration. Very good at working with babies and was able to capture both the adorable and hilarious moments during the photo session. Would 100% recommend him and will definitely be booking again for future family events. Thank you so much, we will treasure these photos forever. ~Claire, Gregg & Emily Rose.

Celebrating Emily Rose

Back to the portrait shoot now again.

I decided to take the parents and Emily to the green house first, so we could do a private shoot of just the three of them. I love this green house that the Hayfield Manor has in their front garden. It didn’t just visually come in handy as a shooting location, but also practically, as it was drizzling heavily. One of those beautiful coincidences, where the rain made me shoot in what turned out to be a better spot.

I really love these family portrait photos! It’s always enjoyable to make a location in the middle of the city seem way more exotic than it might appear on paper.

The parents chose Rose to be Emily’s christening name and have a look at the details in the photos. They did a fantastic job with those. Emily wore a rose headband, her white dress had white roses and even the cake had roses on it. I love that attention to detail! And it’s always fun to see parents go full out with a theme.

A first birthday is a big moment, so it’s great to have the family come together for these moments and for me to be able to take these natural and happy family portraits. Emily did so well with all of the attention on this day, as you can tell from the photos, she is such a quiet and thoughtful child. Double the attention with a birthday party and a christening, that’s a lot to take in!

If you’d like me to photograph a family milestone like this or would like to have family portrait photo shoot, you can contact me here. I’d love to hear from you!

And remember, besides family portrait photography, I also photograph the following:

Couples Photography in Cork

Newborn Baby Photography in Cork

Wedding Photography in Cork

• and more!

Ah Go On - Art Documentation Photographer by Jan

I had the amazing opportunity to photograph this art exhibition at Cork Printmakers.

I will leave it to the artist duo, BAN-EEE-UKT, to explain the full concept behind this work, as they will do a much better job of it than I would. But I will give it a go and summarize that this was an ongoing exhibition that developed further every week with a live art performance. The artwork progressed, showing a little bit more information and organically evolving further. Centred around Irish culture and also the Irish love for tea, do have a read of the official text below, and I will come back to you at the bottom of this page.

Evolving Art Exhibtion

Ah Go On!

Cork Printmakers presents Ah Go On! An exhibition by collaborative duo BAN-EEE-UKT

Ah Go On! is an experimental exhibition that investigates, through artist intervention and performative modes of presentation, the central role that mundane acts and rituals can play within the context of identity and rebellion.

The subject of this investigation is obscured by intentional omission from the offset. Then, over a three week period, the exhibition will evolve; transforming and shifting as work is added, removed and rearranged. A final event will mark the culmination of this process, at which point the full intention of the works will be presented and understood.

BAN-EEE-UKT is a collaborative partnership between artist Lynn-Marie Dennehy and curatorial-practitioner Nic Flanagan. Together their work finds ways of highlighting and disrupting hegemonic systems through interactive performative events, printed media and installation works.

Lynn-Marie Dennehy’s work explores the space between culture, art and resistance. Her goal is to find ways of reflecting the contradictions within our own society through her work, oscillating between the irony of post-modernism and the sincerity of modernism. She does this by building contradictions into the work and exposing the making process. She plays with scale and materiality to create a deliberate friction within the work that allows for different interpretations.

Nic Flanagan’s research-based art and curatorial practices examine progressive programming, theories of interaction and disruption within arts spaces as a means for autonomous and respectful interactions between artists, galleries and communities. Works are designed with a playful, tongue in cheek reproach to Irish culture, both as an internal figure and a disconnected audience member.

Cork Printmakers Studio Gallery is a space for presenting work developed or produced within the studio below, and aims to present contemporary and expanded print practice by members and partners of Cork Printmakers. The gallery celebrates printmaking as an active medium for collaboration, experimentation and exchange.

Ah Go On! is part of a series of exhibitions across 2022 that look at different approaches and interpretations of expanded printmaking and the diverse practices of Cork Printmakers artists who work across disciplines from printmaking, sculpture, video and performance.”

This project was a really fun way to draw on several different skills. As some of you might know, I also do architectural and property photography on the side, so combining these skills while having the freedom to be very creative in terms of lighting, was quite refreshing. I was able to create very harsh lighting conditions for some of these photos, which is something I am not used to in my normal photography style, which is portraits. And generally, I would photograph people in a flattering style, so not having to greatly worry about this was fun!

This is why I love photography. There are so many different areas to branch out into, and doing a project like this every now and then is so interesting. But I also can’t wait on my next portrait shoot again! Haha!

Performance Art Documentation Photography

5-star Google review

Lynn Marie-Dennehy was kind enough to leave me this fantastic review:

As a visual artist I have worked with Save the Journey Photography several times, most recently to document an exhibition of artworks including installation and performance works. This type of documentation is incredibly important as an artist, with images used for publications, websites and for grant applications.

It is often the only record of an artwork that exists if the artwork is temporary or performative. The care and consideration that went into every photograph taken by Save The Journey was mind blowing and showed a level of professionalism and respect for the job that would lead me to use this service for every exhibition going forward.

Jannik was a pleasure to work with and was very patient and understanding of all my ideas and delivered photographs that capture exactly the feeling I wanted for my work. I would recommend Save The Journey for any event!”