Archive: July, 2011



The Ralph Family

Thursday, July 28th, 2011

Pink balloons were the order of the day to celebrate Aiobhín-Lily Ralph’s first ever birthday (her actual birthday not being for another few days, but we had to make hay while the sun shone as the man would say). So we managed to grab one of the very few days the sun popped out to say hello.

Lilyan picked out some gorgeous little oufits for Aiobhín and isn’t she just adorable in them?

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Now we don’t want to steal any thunder from the birthday girl but we can’t forget about this other little man. Myself and himself hit it off straight away, the cutest little thing he is. He took to calling me ‘Layla’ for the entire shoot and we arrived at the bog he asked in all seriousness ‘Is this Layla’s house?’ Funny man Michael! And sure the hugs and kisses he gave me were absolutely nothing to do with the bubbles i had in my bag that he was waiting to get his hands on(oh pure wideness!)

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Oh look, BUBBLES…..bye bye Aiobhín!

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Aiobhín couldn’t decide whether she preferred the turf or the stones to have a little nibble on….

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Best of luck to Míchéal and Lilyan and their two lovely little kids(soon to be three, not that you’d know from Lilyan’s tiny little bumpeen:-))

Such a cool chilled out family to photograph, thank you, Layla(Lola)

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Finbar and Jane : The Wedding

Monday, July 18th, 2011

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You should have seen our eyes light up at the pre-wedding shoot when Jane told us she wasn’t wearing a long dress. We simultaneously did a double take. Yes, we do terribly annoying things like finishing each others’ sentences now too. We are spending waaaay too much time together as Fotissima. But anyways, we were so happy to finally have bride in a shorter dress. How long we’ve been waiting…and yes, it was worth it. Jane had a simple, yet super-chic elegance as close to Princess Grace as a girl could get. So many yummy photos from this wedding it took ages to pick a few faves for the blogissima.

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The boys in the County Clare.

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Marian, Jane’s mum is an out-and-out lady and a true inspiration. So lovely to meet you Marian.

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*sing* Her come the gir-irrrllsss.

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Finbar + Jane LRes (45 of 94)This one could definitely be in a magazine Finbar. Deadly.

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Fair play to Jane for not minding when Lola asked her to sit on the ground. We promise the dress didn’t suffer. Kinda worth it. Not a very high percentage of the brides passing through Dromoland will have tried it we’d hazard a guess. Walled gardens can be a bit stuffy and traditional if you let them.

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And hey Finbar…I got the duck! ;)

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A little smoocheen behind the boat shed at the castle…sssshhhh.

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Jane’s cute blue beetle funkys-up Dromoland Castle quite nicely thank you.

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Bad news girls – even Laboutins hurt your feet after a while. Tsk. Kuh. Not good Monsieur Christian. Nice present from husband-to-be though…*hint hint* men.

‘Little’ Megan

Saturday, July 16th, 2011

Megan goes to the same school as my young fella. She’s also his cousin and he thinks she’s great. And of course, he’s right. She is great! But when Megan started school, there was already a Megan in his classroom, so when he talked about her he referred to her as ‘little’ Megan and I can’t seem to stop myself calling her that now too, even though she’s not quite so little any more. Here’s a few pics we took with Megan and her family the other day…

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This is Lily, Megan’s cocker spaniel, who’s nearly as cute as her owner…but not quite.

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Oisin is all grown up now, off to secondary school in September. Best of luck Oisin.

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The Nestor clan; the perfect mixture of Ireland and Norway (ya did good there Beano!).

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I hope you have a fabulous time in France this summer Sophie, you lucky thing. Wish i was going. Ye have fierce cool uncles in that family altogether so ye do!

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There is a debate as to whether Sammy the spaniel belongs to Oisin or his mam but Oisin does a great job training him, with a little help from Uncle Noel. (Noel – i’m available to take photos of those boxers any time btw!)

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What could be a better present than your very own puppy to buy yourself with your communion money? Can’t think of one…Great choice Megan!

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A quick change and off to Abbeyknockmoy with us for a few special photos of Megan in her communion dress. Well, not a terribly quick change but hey, choice of shoes is very important to us girls, right Megan?

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As Lily grabs the lead we wondered who was walking who. Cute. I think this is my favourite of the day.

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I brought my young assistant on the shoot with me but he spent more time trying to get INTO the photos than assisting…i may have to review his contract ;)

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Thanks to all the Nestors and especially ‘little’ Megan for being such a great family to photograph. Maj x

The Further Bofin Adventures of Lola + Maj…

Monday, July 11th, 2011

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Sure the summer wouldn’t be the same without an auld trip out to Inisbofin to photograph a wedding. Each one of them is unique, as all weddings are, but there’s just something about the island…you never quite know what it is going to throw at you.

The last time it was gale force winds and the unforgettable shots up at the lighthouse with a very brave Aileen + Sean (Let us not speak of the photographers being the last ones to leave the dance floor when the sun was well up. No. Let us not). The time before that it was Maeve + Rory *nostalgic sigh* strolling along a beach that looked like something straight out of a travel brochure for French Polynesia.

On the ferry back last summer, as Maj turned a deeper shade of green with each swell of the waves, a pact was made never to do another wedding “out there” again.

Then. Along comes Michael + Trish. Sure what could we say when they didn’t take no for an answer and were just so darn nice?! So. Yes. There we were again in Cleggan for the by-now-obligatory fry before the half eleven ferry. And so began another Bofin Adventure…

Were we glad we went? Oh My God Yes. The photos are definitely some of our very very favourites and the album is to-drool-over. The ratio of clouds to blue skies couldn’t possibly have been any closer to perfect and Michael + Trish just look gorgeous in the midst of all that sand and sea and boats and island-y-ness.

Yes, us Fotissima Chicks and The Bofin are all loved-up once again. But will we be venturing across the waves once more? Hmmmm. That remains to be seen.

*By the way. Both our previous Bofin couples are Mammys and Daddys now. Yay! Congratulations all ’round. There could be something in the air out there. Or the water. Or somethin’. Just sayin’…be careful out there. Ya know.*

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Hats

Sunday, July 10th, 2011

Girls it’s all about the hats…..pink hats, purple hats, big hats, small hats, spikey hats, furry hats…. you just have to have a hat!  I’m a big lover of hats, i love photographing them, i love drawing them and i even managed to fit in a Milinery course this year. So, when our local miliner Caithriona King asked me to take some snazzy new snaps for her snazzy new website i was thrilled  and dying to see how the professionals do it.

WELL i wasn’t dissappointed that’s for sure, when i arrived at her studio i was like a kid in a toy shop. Such an array of hats i never saw.  Like myself, Caithriona did her time at Art College and you only have to look to look at her hats to see she is very creative. Her pieces posess all the elemants of any good design. They are so rich in colour, texture, shape, i could go on……

Caithriona’s brief was simple, ‘I just want something different’ she said, ‘I don’t want the usual hats on a white polystyrene head, i think i’d like to do them outside’ Off we went for a look around for a suitable location and found the perfect spot. Now all we needed was the models.

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Meet Caithriona, yes this is she in the picture above. Caithriona’s sister-in-law Laura was also drafted in to help out. Who needs models when you look like these pair?

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Not that you’d know from the pics but we were avoiding torrential rain AND being hit by lightning! Our lovely July weather. Poor Laura did get a teenchy bit wet but wasn’t it all worth it in the end?

Caithriona caters for all tastes so be sure to check out www.caithrionakingdesigns.com if it’s a gorgeous hat or head piece you’re after!