Photo of the Week #3

Is this the happiest baby ever?

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year everybody!

Photo of the Week #2

From a very quick shoot with Dara O'Briain. I had about 5 minutes and 3 or 4 ideas for this shoot. He said no to them all!!!!

Plan B. Some tight headshots and he performed like the pro he is, every shot good and every one different from the last.

To be fair to him, he had a bunch of back to back interviews lined up that day, had flown in early from London and was due on The Late Late Show that night. It didn't help that I teased him about his weight (I know, I don't know what I was thinking, in my madness I thought he would find it funny).

He did wish me Happy Birthday, well sort of.. I think what he actually said was "I don't give a F... if it's your birthday" Ooops!

Photo of the Week #1

PJ Gallagher riding his Penny Farthing bike on the Clontarf Promenade Wall. When I asked him to do this, I expected him to say no, like a sane person would have. When he said yes, I realised I may be responsible for seriously injuring him or killing him, so the pressure was on to make sure I got the shot! Especially if it was mid-fall!

Two things to note,

#1; Penny Farthings are extremely difficult to ride as there is no "free wheeling" and the pedals are on the front wheel (the same wheel you steer with)

#2; The wall he is riding on is about 12 inches wide and there is a 20 foot drop on the other side!

Spandau Ballet

Spandau Ballet's first gig in 20 years and the first night of the tour. Nerves were on edge and there were a few glitches during the sound check, but the gig went really well and it was like they never went away.

Universal asked me to shoot the gig for the cover and back of the live DVD they were recording that night too.

Live music shoots are very difficult for a few reasons; you have no control over the most important element, light, there isn't enough of it to freeze the action, it's rarely in the right place when you want it, it changes constantly, both in intensity and colour, and the band keep moving!

Having said that, it's great fun and I love a challenge.

This is my favorite shot of the night. Someone had thrown an Arsenal flag onstage and Tony Hadley had just held it up. The crowd booed and Martin Kemp turned and laughed, while walking to the back of the stage. Just at that moment the lights lit up the audience and I got this.

The Master Dies

Irving Penn, the grand master of American portrait and fashion photography has died aged 92. He is the reason I am a photographer, the inspiration, the search for perfection and the mark at which all other photography is measured. His influence can be seen in many other photographers work, from Annie Leibovitz to Albert Watson and my own of course.

I nearly met him once, I came within a few feet, but it was not to be. On a trip to New York, I managed to find out where his studio was and set off to meet him. I found the tall building on 5th Ave, his name was nowhere on the buildings registry, but there was a name that gave me a clue, Conde Nast Publications, so up I went. Stepping out into a dark landing with a door in each corner, there I found him, on the name plate under the spy hole, the name smugged with fingers rubbing, Irving Penn.

I knew I was about to make a fool out of myself and with my heart beating like mad, I rang the bell. A nice looking young girl answered and after listening to my blubbering nonsense about being a photographer from Ireland and Mr Penn being the reason I was, she asked me to wait a moment. Was she going to get him? Is that him coming now??? No! A very stern mature lady appeared with a clipped,"Yes"? I babbled it all again and how I would love to just shake his hand, to which I was told "Mr Penn hasn't even got time to see his friends". "Can I just have a quick look around the studio"?. "I'm sorry, we are working here" and with that the door closed.

I took this photograph of the spyhole with his name underneath and made the best print I could on my last few sheet of "Record Rapid" fiber based photographic paper (it was discontinued due to nasty chemicals) and I sent him a copy, hoping for a nice letter back or maybe one of his prints? I never heard back, I bet Dragon Lady never even showed it to him.

Rest in Peace Mr Penn.

Beep,Beep, Yeah!

BP Fallon, or Beep as he is affectionately known, is to me, a living legend. He has known and worked with the most amazing bunch of musicans from the last 40 years. The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, T Rex, U2, you name it! Check out his website http://www.bpfallon.com/ and try to keep your claw from dropping open!

Beep very kindly allowed me to photograph him yesterday while back in Dublin for the weedend on a flying visit from New York. I had only contacted him last week, hoping to photograph him sometime in the future and here we were less than a week later! "No time like the Present" says Beep. He made me a lovely cup of herbal tea and was a gentle and gracious host.

Delorentos

Latest shoot for next issue of Hot Press. Delorentos in their home town of Portrane. We visited a few of their favorite locations and got some good stuff. We had just finished taking some shots at The Round Tower when I looked over in the next field and saw this amazing landscape. The lads quickly jumped over the fence, the sun came out and click, this is the result, no digital trickery, no dropped-in skies, just as it was. It's nice when things go right!

Mark Beats Up The Coronas!

When Hot Press asked me to shoot The Coronas for the current cover, they mentioned that their new album was called "Tony Was An Ex-Con". This got me thinking!

I love Police Mug Shots. They are amazing photographs, capturing people usually, though not always, at the worst time of their lives. You can see their worlds collapsing in their eyes, the fear, the shame. Sometimes they are defiant and even funny. Do a search and see what I mean.

Anyway back to The Coronas. I thought what if I shot them as Police Mug Shots and they had resisted arrest! So I made up some signs with their names and got Sinead Hannon to do the make-up. She did a fantastic job, those cuts and bruises looked so real!

The band were great and really got into the spirit of it, there's a couple of good actors in there!

Check out the before and after cover shot!

The Portrait Studio becomes STUDIO

The Portrait Studio is now just STUDIO.

I have changed the name of my studio to reflect the growing diversity of work I am starting to do. Less is More!

On Tour with The Script

I loved every minute of this! The Script played 5 sold out nights in their hometown of Dublin and kindly asked me to document the event.

I photographed them for the cover of Hot Press recently and they loved the photos. They said they always knew how they wanted to be portrayed, but couldn't really explain it and they had spent an amazing amount of money on a big name LA photographer (sorry, can't tell you who!)and ended up not using them. They told me they now show other photographers my work and tell them that's what they want!

I had access all areas, soundchecks, front stage, back stage, on stage, dressing room, jax, everywhere. These guys are the hardest working, most down to earth, professional, no messing band I have ever seem and I've been around a few. They welcomed me in with open arms and the degree of trust they placed in me, made it really special.

The setting up, soundcheck, waiting around, the atmosphere building and then BAM! on they go, screaming girls and heat and sweat.

From a photographic point of view, shooting this kind of gig is very tricky. Light levels go way up and way down in an instant, the band are constantly moving and moving quickly, so to try and freeze that, get it in focus and at the right exposure is tough, but brilliant fun.

It's like the circus coming to town, lots of colour and noise and then it's gone!

Miriam O'Callaghan Shoot

I really enjoyed this shoot. It was for The Hot Press Interview. Miriam was lovely, very down to earth and couldn't have been more generous with her time and patience.

I had a good wander around RTE TV studios while waiting for her, picking out various places I thought would be good for the shoot. I chose a wall in the corridor, an area in the Make-Up room, a props area backstage and the reception in a new building.

Miriam is so good at putting people at ease, I forgot who she was and we chatted about all kinds of things.

I asked her if Jason from Hot Press had managed to get any confessions out of her in the interview, like a lesbian affair in college for example, she said no, all very boring. With that Anne Doyle, the newsreader walked past and Miriam said "Anne, he's asking about our supposed lesbian affair", to which Anne paused for a moment and deadpanned "what do you mean supposed" before going in to read the news.

Now there was a shot I missed!

Digital Photographer Magazine Feature

Just been sent a copy of Digital Photographer Magazine from The UK, with a really great feature on my photography. I sent them a whole bunch of images for the feature and they ended up using a shot of my Dad, who passed away on New Year's Eve and a shot of my son Calum. So, it makes it really special. First time ever I don't feel I was misquoted!

Delores O'Riordan

Just finished a shoot with Delores O'Riordan from The Cranberries. We shot it in The Westbury Hotel in Dublin, for the next issue of Hot Press. Delores was lovely, very down to earth and looked amazing with her blond hair. I found a corner of the bar and set up a light. I think the colours of the background and what she was wearing worked really well together.

She gave me all the time I needed, about 15 minutes, and even gave me a kiss on the cheek at the end!

New Commercial Website

I have just launched my new commercial website http://www.nixfoto.com/ It's aimed at the advertising, editorial and fashion business. I am using my old nickname for this kind of work, Nix. I have always liked the idea of having just one name!

My First Hot Press Cover

This was tough. No time, no light, no pressure!

I was thrilled to be asked to shoot The Script for the next cover of Hot Press. I got the call on Sunday evening and it was off to Belfast the next day. Myself and Jason O'Toole, who was to interview them, went up together. We got there about 3.30pm. No sign of the band. I do a quick recon to see where I could shoot them and picked out a couple of locations, one on a roof at the back of the venue where the band were going to be playing that evening and one in a disused room with a red wall. About 6.30pm the band show up to soundcheck, Jason grabs Danny the frontman, to interview him and I shoot some individual shots of Mark the guitarist and Glen the drummer. They then have to soundcheck. I take some live shots of them onstage. Then it's cover time! Off we go to the roof, the band, the manager, the guy from the venue, Jason and me. I start taking shots, but I don't like it, the light has gone, it just doesn't look as good as I wanted to. So, I move them to another part of the roof, even worse. Plan B, the room with the red wall. I had set up a light earlier so I kick aside some empty boxes and bits of rubbish and start shooting. The pressure is on, the guys need to go! Not exactly how I imagined doing my first Hot Press cover shoot, but this is it, make or break. 10 minutes from start to finish. I get another 5 minutes to shoot Danny on his own and that's it. Phew!

Glenda Gilson Shoot for Hot Press

It's a dream come true for me, shooting for Hot Press. In my past life as a singer/songerwriter, Hot Press was my bible, I can't believe I'm working with them now as a photographer!

And what a brilliant first shoot to get too!

Glenda was amazing and really into doing something good. I wanted to be sexy and beautiful, also not obvious who it was immediately. I didn't expect her to go for some of the ideas I had, but she did and I am really happy with these shots.

Hot Press just came out today and they gave our shoot 5 pages. In the interview, Glenda said "These shots were cool" she smiles," but I wouldn't be like, "Dad, look at these!" The shoot was very, very risqué." "I haven't posed in about a year" she says, "But when something is done tastefully it can be sexy. It helps when you feel comfortable with the photographer"

Thank you Glenda!

Titanic

I have always been fascinated by Titanic.

Coming from Belfast, where Titanic was built I suppose it's not unusal to feel drawn to it. The 1958 film " A Night to Remember" with Kenneth Moore made a deep impression on my young mind as I watched it on TV as a child too.

While jogging in Las Vegas recently, I spotted an ad on the side of a cab that said, "Titanic at the Luxor" "Imagine the ride they had"? Good old Vegas, as tasteful as ever.

Anyway, I had to go, if even only to see how tacky it was. But I have to say, they did it really well. They had recreations of first class staterooms, third class bunks, the grand staircase and even the deck with real iceberg you can touch!

I know, it sounds funny, but it actually makes a serious point about just how cold the water was that night. As we know, water freezes at 0ºC, but when it's salt water it freezes at -4ºC or lower, so the iceberg is actually warmer than the water! They ask you to see how long you can keep you hand on the iceberg, (about 10 seconds before it feels like it's on fire!).

At the end of the tour, you turn a corner and there before you is a huge piece of Titanic, which I never knew they had brought up. They didn't rip it off the wreak, it had been lying in the debris field. It is massive and they have it lit very atmospherically, it's quite amazing to see it there in front of you.

There is a rope around it, with warning not to touch, but I just had to, regardless of consequences, I didn't care if they threw me out, I just had to touch Titanic.

What shocked me was how rough the plates were riveted together, overlapping in places, not smooth or even at all. I stayed just looking at it for a long time.

At a family lunch a few weeks ago, my great uncle Harry, who is 92 and still going strong, told me something that raised the hairs on the back of my neck. His father, my great grandfather, worked on Titanic, as a riveter!

Easter e-newsletter

e-newsletter #2 hits the web! All the news that's fit to print and lots of nice special offers!

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I am just about to release my first e-newsletter. It has a €15,000 Mother's Day giveaway in it, plus all the latest news.

Believe it or not, it is the first promotion I have done for the studio, so it will be interesting to see how it works. I have a poster for it in my shop window and I have taken out an ad in The Northside People, our local free newspaper.

If you would like to sign up for my, what will hopefully be, monthly newsletters, please click here!