4 in 1 Hot Press Covers

Only 2 weeks ago I mentioned that I had 2 magazine covers on the newstands at the same time and said I'd have to go for the hat trick! Little did I know that I'd skip 3 and go straight for 4!

Well, it's a bit of a cheat really. Hot Press have issued 4 versions of the same issue with 4 different covers. Each one is a finalist in Guinness's Our Thursday (Arthur's Day, get it) They are flip covers too, which means there is a cover on the back of the main cover.

It was a very busy day, we shot all the bands in my studio and they did their interviews here too, so at one point I think there was about 20 people here. Normally it's very quiet and serene here, not that day.

Hot Press wanted various cover options which meant I had 25 different set ups to shoot. With and without instruments, white background & gold background, singer on their own (with and without instrument), singer with band and more!

Very tiring, and hard to remember if I'd shot all the variations, but I tried to keep the same energy for the last set up as I did for the first, otherwise it wouldn't be fair on the last band (bet you can't tell which one I shot last). I had an early night that night.

Who's on the main front cover? My very best friends The Script.

Who shot it? Not me.

Did I say my very best friends? I meant my very ex best friends!

Newstand

This is a 1st for me. Two magazine covers on sale at the same time! Got to go for the hat trick.

Glenda VIP

I was really chuffed when VIP magazine rang to say Glenda Gilson, was being featured in the next issue, had requested that I be the photographer for the shoot. I get on really well with Glenda, she’s a real pro. It was fantastic to work with such a top team on the shoot, Paula Callan O’Keefe (make up), Michael Leong (hair & millenary) Alison McGilligan (stylist) & Elaine Prendergast (VIP Editor)

We shot it in an afternoon at the new Gibson Hotel next to the O2 in Dublin. Locations were limited as they didn’t want it to look like a hotel, but I think we managed to get enough for the feature. This issue is on the shelves now!

VIP has just asked me to do another shoot, with another beautiful Irish woman who I can’t name just yet!

Fight Like Apes

A wedding with a difference! We had such a laugh doing this new Hot Press cover shoot. MayKay and Pockets from Fight Like Apes or FLApes as they are known, were game for anything. The scary thing was, the dress we borrowed from Oxfam actually fitted Pockets! And he seemed a little too comfortable in it for my liking (joke).

If you look carefully, you'll see that MayKay isn't actually holding him up, she wouldn't have the strength, so I propped him up on some posing stools and covered it with the train of the dress. They have a great video that someone made for them using Lego, check it out HERE.

Caprice

Just finished a very quick fashion shoot with Caprice for Hot Press.

We only had about an hour of shooting time and we still managed to shoot 6 different outfits in 6 different locations! How did we do it?

Well, we shot it in The Dylan Hotel in Dublin, which has lots of different areas close together that look very different. Caprice was a pro and was right into it, no warming up, she delivered a different pose for every click. Amazingly she didn't blink in a single frame, which I have never seen before!

The last shot was in Caprice's bedroom and at one point everyone else, the stylist, make-up artist and hairdresser all disappeared to get one thing or another and so that left me alone with Caprice who was lying on the bed wearing one of the very fetching bras from her lingerie range and not for the first time I thought, I have a very varied and interesting job!

Hot Press is out on Thursday.

Cathy Davey and the snake

Friday afternoon last week Hot Press rings, "Mark can you do a shoot with Cathy Davey tomorrow afternoon?" "We need the images tomorrow afternoon too, as we're going to press". "Oh, and she wants to do the shoot with a snake, do you know any?"

Well, I didn't but I found one, a beautiful Burmese Albino Python called "Blayney".

Now the thing about Pythons is if they decide you look good enough to eat, it's like the weight of 2 double decker buses crushing your chest. The thing about Blayney is he's lovely and has been hand reared since he was a mere 12 inches long and taught that it's very naughty to wrap himself around someones neck.

Now the thing about photographing a snake with someone is it looks best when it's wrapped around someones neck, especially a neck as beautiful as Cathy Davey's, but try as we might, we couldn't get Blayney to stay put. It's quite an amazing feeling having this 14 foot very heavy pure muscule thing constantly moving at both ends, while the tail is wrapping itself around you upper thigh, the head end is trying to unwind and get off your neck!

Fair play to Cathy, she was very gentle with Blayney and eventually we got enough, but not the shot I had in my head.

We then switched to a Victorian look that Cathy was interested in exploring. It's fantastic when the subject is really into photography themselves and willing to collaborate in the process to make something good. We had a great time and I can't wait to work with her again, as she kindly said she wanted to.

Dog Days of Summer

I'm in shock! I sent out my e-newsletter at 10am and by 12 noon my "Dog Days Of Summer" was completely sold out! 25 shoots and 37 dogs, it's going to be a busy day! It's a great deal for a great charity, Dogs Aid. For €25 and a donation of a bag of dog food they get a 10 minute mini shoot and a 7x5 gift photo. Plus Aussie Pet Mobile is setting up outside the studio and giving all the dogs a makeover before their big moment. All the dogs will get a "doggie bag" with lots of goodies including some tasty dog biscuits from Scallywags Dog Bakery. Yum Yum!

Nude for Thought

The latest fashion shoot for Hot Press. The theme was "nude" clothing. Really great team this time. The stylist Karl Smith did a brilliant job, all the ladies especially loved the shoes! Lorraine Browne did the hair beautifully and Naomh Kirwan did her usual superb job with the make up.

The model Leah Duff really got into character and produced some fab poses!

The National Photographic Awards 2010

The National Photographic Awards were on last night and I am delighted to have won 4 of the top awards. Fashion Photographer of the Year (the second year running), Best Fashion Image, Best Children's Portrait and Best Portrait.

I've always been torn about photography awards, it's fantastic to win, but what does it really mean? So, as much as I love winning, I've decided not to enter any more.

Christy Moore

When Hot Press called and said Christy Moore was coming to my studio for a cover shoot, I nearly fell off my chair! Usually I meet them somewhere else and have little time to check locations etc, it also means I have to bring the studio to them. This was a first with Christy coming to here.

I was a bit nervous and with about half an hour to go, was just getting everything ready when Mick, Christy's friend rang to say they were running early and would be there in a few minutes! So I quickly shoved half a sandwich in my mouth and turned on the studio lights. And there he was, at my door!

I needn't have worried, Christy was wonderful, he walked straight into the studio, took off his coat and sat down and starting playing me a brand new song about a Navajo woman that even Mick had never heard. I had to pinch myself, Christy Moore sitting in my studio singing me a new song, mad or what? I hadn't realised what a funny guy he is and very quick with the retort. We were talking about platform shoes and I said it wasn't fair that women had these great heels and most of us men could do with a extra couple of inches, well, like I say he was very quick with the retort!

The shoot went really well and I got loads of great images that may surface at some stage. He slowly added layers of clothing and his hat, then his guitar over the shoulder and before I realised what he was doing, he was off! Laughing all the way.

If you even make Christy a cup of tea, he likes two teabags in a mug and leave them in!

Shoot Happens #2

The second of my fashion shoots for Hot Press. This time I wanted some flesh, to be more specific, I wanted a breast in at least one shot. As usual, it was all a bit last minute, I contacted some model agencies and told them of my request. The only one that responded positively was 1st Option, who couldn't have been more helpful. The beautiful Irma agreed to do the shoot on one condition, "no nipples". a bit disappointing, but it actually made it more of a challenge.

The shoot went very smoothly, I kept the lighting low and the studio warm! There is a fine line between genius and madness (only joking, that's Spinal Tap), there is a fine line between a fashion image and a page 3 or Tennents can (for those who remember) and it all came down to the pose and Irma's expression. I wanted the shoot to be of a powerful, strong, proud woman at ease with her sexuality and hopefully I achieved that?

Hot Press is out tomorrow.

Roddy Doyle and The Catcher in the Rye

Roddy Doyle popped into the STUDIO the other day to give me a signed 1st edition of his latest book, hot off the presses, "The Dead Republic". He is using my portrait of him for the author's photo on the dust jacket (see above). He is such a lovely guy.

We were chatting and I told him I had decided to start re-reading a lot of books I had first read in my teens and early twenties. I started with "The Catcher in the Rye" and finished the last page on the very evening J. D. Salinger died!

I promised Roddy I wouldn't read the last page of his.

Shoot Happens #1

Hot Press have asked me to shoot some fashion spreads for them, which is great fun. I love fashion photography, you can really play with different ideas and processes.

For this first shoot, I thought it would be appropriate to do a fashion shoot of a fashion shoot!

So we have a cool photographer and a hot model. At first she has no interest in him, then slowly she falls for his charms and finally they fall in love, with each other, but mostly with themselves!