Said a sad farewell to a old friend of mine Dan Keane tonight, your stories. wit and talent will be sadly missed here Dan ,yet your 92 years will I’m sure be remembered, our loss heaven’s gain .
Having just completed my 4th Indian wedding in under 14 months and my 5th trip to India in the same time. It still ceases to amaze me at the size of these weddings and the emotion they express, not only by the participants but also for the first time in my 25 years as been a professional photographer I almost had to put down my camera as the moment got so emotional when the bride Prachi bid farewell to here parents before beginning her new life with Hamang and his family. She and her father had to be physically pulled apart as they embraced on their departure as the picture and slideshow below will show. I have never seen so much tears of both sadness mixed with happiness at any one event.
My trip began with the completion of a wedding in freezing cold Ireland on Saturday , then a quick bite to eat with a friend of mine, a race to Dublin, quick nap and then a very early flight to Paris and then on to Mumbai arriving in at 1 am Sunday night , time enough to get a few hrs sleep , fresh for day one shoot with the couple as they got ready for the first of 6 events that were held over the next 6 days I was there.
Day 1
The concert on day one featuring top Indian performer Shankar Mahadevan to over 1000 guests at a special performance for the couple, which was like nothing I have ever seen before, unfortunately the image here can not express the sound experienced at this concert but I was wisely informed that he is famed for his performance of "Breathless" which was recorded with Shankar singing the song in one breath, this is a Youtube clip of the song
Day 2
As this , with a lot of Indian weddings was at such a huge scale there was a team of photographers both on the Bride's side and the Grooms side, not to mention the large amount of videographers covering the event. I was luckily given exclusive moments with the couple to work with them without distraction and been able to have them comfortable with our shooting style. I choose to photograph them in the suburbs of Mumbai with the famous Rajiv Gandhi Sea Link bridge and the ocean views in the background and also a few shots in the Sahara Hotel by the airport. The humidity this day I have never experienced in my life , and also another thing that I am beginning to adjust to is that the sun sets so quick the more south you go, not like here in Ireland where you have up to a hour of light as the sun sets.
Day 3
The Mehendi is a major part of the Indian culture and weddings are no different and hours are spent applying the most wonderful art of temporary decoration similar to tattoos to the hand, arms feet and legs of both the Bride but also female family members and friends. Over 8 Mehendi artists were at work in Prachi's house when I arrived and I also too the opportunity to photograph the details in the wedding outfits that would be worn as well as all the jewelry.
The second part of day 3 was the Sangeet , which is a music night unlike the first night this was a smaller night but gave me a opportunity to shoot Hemang and his mates and also the amazing music and dancing that went on that night with spectacular colours and traditions and where the couple and their wedding party put on a performance for their family and friends.
The Wedding & Reception
The final 2 parts of the wedding were held on the Sunday, with the marriage outdoors in the hills of Mumbai and the reception later in the evening at the same venue. The traditions of Indian weddings vary for every wedding an this one was totally new to me with some amazing photo opportunities and despite the high temperatures in the mid 30's Prachi, the Bride looked amazing in her wedding gown and all her jewelry. I am still amazed at the weight that India brides have to carry in the outfits and the jewelry they wear and Prachi and me were estimating that the total weight of her's was in the region of 30kg.
The colour and spectacle of the whole event was amazing, but nothing could prepare me for the entrance that the couple made at the reception as they dropped in from a 100feet in a space ship surrounded by searchlights, lasers and a sound system that would put U2 to shame.
From my 6 am start to working right up to 11.30 pm that night it then was a race to the airport to get my 9 hr flight home to Amsterdam , then a 6 hr lay over , before arriving to Dublin at late in the afternoon and then a 3-4 hr drive home to base , is was one of my longest days, but yet a memorable day and one that will be hard to be matched when it comes to the glitz and glamour.
To Hamang & Prachi, thank you for putting the trust in me in been your personal photographer and making Art in photography and not just taking images.
I am sure in the years ahead when you look back at you wedding albums we will bring you down memory lane with what a wonderful week it was.
Brendan & the team at Landyhoto.com
Please feel free to post comments and well wishes to couple below.
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Aoife and Wayne had a great break in the weather for their wedding day in Newcastlewest in West Limerick last week, I love this time of the year as the light is low and produces lovely shape and shadow to the images we shoot.
The attention to detail by Aoife was just out of this world, all the little nick knacks and memories both in the church and also the hotel were very fitting to her style of her wedding day.
The Reception was held in and proved a ideal setting for our style of photography. Aoife booked us for our style and requested that we try and give the vintage feel to the images which we believe we did, but we could not help ourself using Wayne’s Bar in Newcastlewest and the Nite Club out the back to capture some funky colour images.
It was a wonderful shoot and we would like to thanks Michael O Flatherty from for all his help in some of the shots.
Landyphoto Team
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Had the pleasure of shooting Mick Flannery in The Pavillion in Cork on wednesday the 26th of October. Some of the new material he has been playing lately that I am sure is set for the new album in the new year is out of the top drawer and sure to top his first 2 albums.
Thanks Mick for having me at the gig and look forward to seeing you again soon.
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Below are the highlights from Brita and Liam’s wedding that was held recently in Killarney where the couple “tied the Knot” in the beautiful Cathedral in the town and held there reception in the Killarney Oaks.
Brita looked stunning in her dress by Kerry/French designer House of Delphine that suited her stunningly and her hair by our friend Pat O Neill from Killarney was also beautiful and its interesting to see less and less veils at the later part of this year. Liam on the other had was very dashing and his smile all day lit up what was a overcast day and I think the fun that the bridal party had in Courtneys Bar in the middle of the town is seen in the pictures below.
The Killarney Oak’s was the venue for the reception and this was our first time at this venue and it was lovely to see some lovely areas for interior photographs that added that homely flair.
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Below are a small selection from the wedding of Lisa & Gearoid Collins wedding, yep it must be great for a bride to marry someone with the same surname, so you don’t have to change your passports, bank cards,cheque books etc, that’s what happened when Lisa Collins married Gearoid Collins in Kilshane house in Tipperary.
In all my years photographing beautiful brides I have never photographed someone with eyes like Lisa, they were mesmerising they were the most spectacular blue eyes I have ever seen.
Having arrived at the boys getting ready to be greeted by Gearoid and his grooms men out playing rugby , we were tempted to put or gear down and join them, but as been time keepers as well as photographers we had to usher the guys in and get ready.
Then it was on to Lisa and her family and the girls to photograph their preparation, Kilshane House is a old style house with high roofs , spectacular ceilings and a old word feel as you will see from the photographs, but then there is the reception hall which was spectacularly decorated by Enchanted Occasions in wonderful pinks and blues with a huge decor of flowers and candles.
The overall feel of having the Preparation, Civil Ceremony and the Reception all in the one place made the day such a homely feel and also gave us plenty of time to let the couple relax and also get great time for photographs and candid moments.
Thanks Lisa and Gearoid for putting your trust in Landyphoto, we hope that we lived up to your expectations.
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Having been booked for this lovely couples wedding so long ago, it was wonderful that the big day came around with all the promise that was expected from it, we had fun fun fun, we laughed most of the day while shooting in great locations and settings and not having shot in the Plaza hotel since I covered the Nissan Classic cycle race over 23 years ago, it was great to see how wonderful of a location it was to shoot in.
I learned on the day of the wedding also that Nigel’s parents wedding photographer was my cousin Morgan Landy in Drogheda almost 30 years ago, so the Landy connection continues into the 21st century.
To Laula and Nigel , thanks for making us laugh and making it such a fun day, you were both a pleasure to shoot (no pun intended) and not a handcuff was seen all day.:-)
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Earlier in the year I got a lovely phone call from Sarah , all the way from San Francisco, saying that she found our site , loved our work and was wondering would we be able to cover her wedding. She went on to explain that she was marrying Luc , a French man living in the States with her and that they were holding the wedding in Killarney, as Sarah’s relations were from Killarney and she was from down the road in Blarney.
I was delighted and honoured that she wanted us to be part of the day, which turned out to be 2 days due to registrar laws etc here in Ireland.
Little did I Know until the wedding day, that Sarah and her family were the famous Flannery family. Sarah, at sixteen years old won the Earnest & Young, Young Scientist of the Year for development of the Cayley–Purser algorithm ( Yep I had to check it up too – lets say very clever maths) She went on to great heights and got working with games giant EA GAMES in California where she met Luc, who is no mean mathmatician either and was partly responsible for the famous games SIMS . But not only that, Sarah comes from the famous family of musicians, her mom showed her talent as well as her Aunts at the wedding with some beautiful singing and playing ,and her brother Mick Flannery is probably Irelands greatest talent when it comes to singer/song writing today.
It was great to meet up with all Lucs family who traveled from California and also France, and even though language was a little barrier we still managed to have great fun , and Lucs parents were great fun-constantly been caught by our cameras on the day.
I worked yet again with the wonderful talent of Leon Costello Videographer and his side kick Richard and we just gel so well with these guys as our work is very complimentary to their style.
To the staff of the Cahernane and the jaunting car drives, a big thank you for your courtesy and help, and especially to Margaret at Dromoland ..you are such a nice person,always obliging and always with a smile – nothing is a bother to you, thanks you so very much.
To Luc & Sarah , you are such a beautiful couple and you both oooze romance for each other and because of this you made our job so easy and fun, we wish it did not have to end, it was so much fun.
Keep in touch and I am sure that by the time we have the final album together we will have an amazing story to tell of your wonderful 2 days of wedding celebration.
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On the Eve of the 9/11 10th anniversary , I guess we all will remember where we were when the memorable day happened, I was personally in Brussels, and remember passing bay a T shop and just as I looked at the live feed of the North Tower smoldering I saw the second plane hit, I was shocked, and as with all, my first thoughts were to friends and loved ones living in NY, it happened on a Tuesday, I was supposed to fly to NY on Thursday, the rest they say is history, one year later I was assigned to cover the 1st anniversary, the following are just some of the images.
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I love to get the grooms hobbies or activities incorporated into the morning preparations on the wedding morning , so when I asked Sean what he was into and Niamh answered shooting, myself and Sean both looked at each other and though “shotgun wedding” ???
!!!, but after the comical idea of it drifted away we all agreed why not, hence the headline and the images below. I am sure it will be a topic of conversation for years to come.
Our style of photography is often on demand that we have had couples change their date to secure our service, of book a date based around a date we might have available, but when Niamh and Sean booked their wedding photography with us without first even been engaged , that I vas very humbled to be on such a high regard with the couple. Thanks guys for such a strong vote of confidence.
Niamh’s Uncle and Godfather was also my school Chaplin, know for years to me as Fr Declan, now Monsg. Declan O Connor it’s always a pleasure to be surrounded on the day with his beautiful mass and elegant way of expressing himself.
Working alongside my friend and collogue Leon Costello Videographer was yet again such a dream, we know each other so well that we work seamlessly and never get in each others way and I think this is so important for the couple to have a product that is different in its format, but never repetitive yet well balanced every time.
Its has been a while since we were last in Ballygarry House Hotel in Tralee and it was lovely to meet with Padraig Cathal and all his staff and as always a 110% effort was made by them. I know it might sound like we blow up vendors so that we get a kick back, but we don’t believe in that at Landyphoto.com , we prefer to remain silent if we feel a vendor is not doing a professional job , but is they go above and beyond to provide the couple and us with a professional service then they deserve the credit.
Finally to Niamh and Sean, what a stunning Bride, she was ellegant,sweet,caring and great fun, and Sean did a fair aou’l job himself ,for someone who said he hated the camera and was not into been photographed, he was a pleasure to shoot and was always laughing at our mad ideas.
I hope you will be presently surprised with the shots we got for you and that you will like the album.
Wishing you years of happiness and a healthy life together.
The Landyphoto.com Team
Thanks for letting us be part of your day
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Caith and Sean tied the knot in the church of their home city of Cork and also the church where Sean is a professor of Irish in UCC in Cork.
It was our second visit to this church in the space of a few weeks and where as it is a beautiful church it a real challenge because of the sodium lighting they use there which turns everything very orange, making post processing tricky to make the colours look natural.
As with the last wedding we shot here the sky’s bucked rain the whole day , but it failed to dampen spirits and we have found that it never is a hinderance to take photographs that are fun and colourful.
Below are some of the highlights of the great day we had with Cait & Sean…thanks for having us …the team @ landyphoto.com
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Last week saw us back in Galway for or 3rd wedding in 3 months in the area. Galway weddings are alway great and this was no exception. Its alway welcoming change to see the differences weddings are all over the country and Galway ones have a lovely family feel to them and this was shot in the Connemara Gaeltach area of Lettermore.
Below are a selection of images from the wedding hope you enjoy.
Full set of proofs ( Password Protected )
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The sun shone on Siobhan & Pats wedding in The Cathedral in Killarney and later in the Malton Hotel in the summer we are supposed to have, it has been one of the rare days we have had sunshine.
It was great been part of this lovely couples big day and also great to have a local wedding for a change as we have been doing a lot of traveling this summer with wedding.
The following are just a small selection of shots from the wedding, and be sure to check out the slideshow below and at the bottom and take full advantage of the full screen option.
Please pick the 720 HD option in slideshow below when watching full screen.
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This was a new adventure for us shooting in Athlone , it having escaped the many towns around Ireland that we have shot is. But it was great to shoot in the Midlands town on the shannon and later at the recently renovated Glasson Hotel & Golf Club .It started out as a dull weather day but finished up as a a cracking summers sunshine. Ferga and Joe were a lovely bubbly couple to work with and we had great “crack” with them and our only problem as always on weddings was that we did not have half enough time, we were enjoying our time so much with them.
We here at landyphoto wish you all the happiness in your lives ahead and look forward to making a wonderful wedding album for u real soon.
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Some highlight from our most recent wedding with Cork couple Niamh & Kieran.
The day bucketed rain from the minute we left our base until late into the night, but we did manage to get the couple out into the “Blue Hour” and get some shots at the stunning Castlemartyr Resort .
Despite all the years as a wedding photographer this was our first time shooting in the UCC church and we will be back there again a few weeks for another wedding, its a lovely church, despite teh sodium lighting which is a pain to colour correct.
For the secont time in 3 weeks we had the great pleasure to work with our friends and collugues Velvetine Productions , and it was great that we were hired to stay on for extended coverage and spend some time working along side true professionals of Elaine & Maurice O Carroll from Tralee ( post to follow guys
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The music through out the day was a great choice and blended in stunningly all day, The Church music was by Dublin group The Gospel Project which I believe we have worked with before, I failed to get the name of the Spanish Classical Guitarist but they were excelent , the surprise of the day came in the form of The Three Waiters from London and finally the night was put into full swing by The Aristocrats
Now on to the couple Niamh & Kieran, what can u say but Thank You, thank you for been so welcoming into both your homes, for been so kind and friendly throughout the whold day and night, thanks you for looking after us and making time available when we asked for it and also thanks you for been Great Sports. It helped that Kieran had to of my great loves in sport when i was younger Rugby & Cycling, and also Niamh one of my other one’s, Horses. Its a pity we did not get time to chat more , but after all you both are the Rock Stars on the day .
Again on behalf of Catherine and myself Thanks again, I hope you have a ball on your multi trip honeymoon…and the offer of the TTD is Vegas still stands !!!) wink wink
The Landyphoto Team
Both Slideshows below use the same pictures but are presented differently, be sure and choose full screen option to enjoy the experience more .
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Here are a few shots of my “Little Emily” celebrating that she can stay up late
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What great fun we had last Saturday with this great Couple, David & Lucy where a good as teh weather on the day and way it a nice day Ohhh Yeah.
This was our first time in both Ballintuber Abbey in Mayo and later at teh Reception in Lisloughrey Lodge which has now I believe been taken over by the close by Ashford Castle. Catherine and Myself well so welcomed into both homes but in Lucy’s where it was wonderful to see the such a close family and neighbours all get excited about the wedding day, and we always love covering wedding in Galway because of the traditions of the bonfires organised by the locals.
Hopefully the weather has arrived at last in Ireland, for some reasons we do wonder could this be it?
To David & Lucy , thanks for trusting us to capture you wedding day, Lucy told us it was the feature on Nationwide that caught her eye and she said that day after watching it that if she was ever to get married Landyphoto would be the team to shoot her wedding,, well all I can say again is thank you both very much.
Full Highlights Slideshow below – For best effect please click the full screen option on bottom right and if bandwith will grant pick the 480p option
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While on a wedding on the beautiful island of Inishbofin off Galway we befriended these guys in Days Bar and did a few shots for them, most of the guys were from Dublin and play sessions in the Dublin area.
Landyphoto Collage of Inishbofin Collage
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Directly after my last E-Session it was on to Tralee to shoot Siobhan & Adam at the Wedding Venue of Ballyseedy Castle, For a couple that said they did not photograph well and that were camera shy, I had full confidence in them and i think their E-Session proves that.
Roll on the wedding in Late May in Tralee.
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