Super Bowl 53 ATL food photo shoot!

So Superbowl 53 is in our hometown of Atlanta, and the buzz is on! The sun is shining, the traffic is ridiculous (what’s new??) air-force jets are flying overhead and it’s time once again for all that party food…

Every year Judith brings something fun and creative to our Superbowl party, and this year I thought it would be fun to photograph it- so here we are!

Party food can be a bit of a challenge to photograph as it tends to be ‘bitty’. All bite size things without sauce or presence, so, as a photographer I realize it’s all about the set up and the accessories. So, for this shoot, I’ve arranged everything on one of my favorite whitewood boards and placed lots of stuff around the setting to bring interest and fill up the space. I even decided on getting one of my son’s old football helmets into the shot for fun!

Party food like this looks best with strong lighting, as the party setting will inevitably have, so I have both studio lights full on either side of the set and here we go…

Results below!

G.

Inch Beach - Dingle Ireland

Perhaps it’s the January blues, but for some reason I reflected back to my last trip to Ireland and thought of some the shots i took on the Dingle coast last October. The day i was there wasn’t a great day for photographers, sure, but sometimes the moody overcast clouds and rain can add a lot of atmosphere to the photograph.

This one was a quick shot of a tourist (from our tour group) asking a local surfer for a photo. so, it’s a photographer, taking a photo of a photographer, taking a photo…right?

Inch Beach is a beautiful strand of wide beach right on the dingle Peninsula - highly recommended !

Gary

Winter Whiskey shoot - January

A sure cure for the winter January blues is the ever enjoyable hot toddy - an Irish masterpiece if there ever was one. But what is a ‘hot toddy’ you ask? Well, the ingredients shift depending on which Irish family you talk to, but in our home it’s made with Bushmills Irish Whiskey, lemon juice, raw honey and cloves…with plumping hot water.

A great comfort when you’re sick or have a head cold, and a must for cold January nights.

My wife Judith made this, and I just had to shoot it. Natural light shot, f2.8 setup with the light coming through the window emphasizing the color and appeal of the drink.

For a look at the recipe, jump over to our website: www.shamrockandpeach.com

Enjoy!

Gary

Back to shooting food...

It's been a while, but I'm back to shooting food again as our new book is beginning to loom on the horizon, and this time around I feel as if I have grown and changed quite a bit in my preferences for lighting and setting the scene for the food shot...I'm really liking mood lighting from one source for example, instead of lots of light from studio lights.

Really enjoying this, and I'll blog about it as our book progresses...

This shot is of an old Irish favorite that we want to feature in the opening chapter - Bacon & Cabbage. Doesn't get more Irish than this...

Gary

Boxing day long exposure...

Santa Claus visited the McLoughlin family yesterday, and duely brought yours truly, the in-house photographer a new filter. Yes, after years of procrastination, I eventually gave in and went for the Lee Filter system with the 'big Stopper' in action here...

More experiments to come...

#leefilters #longexposure #vickerycreek

Happy 4th!

After almost twenty years living and working in the United States we are honored to celebrate her birthday every year. As immigrants, we have worked hard and built a life here - in short the American dream.  

So, enjoy the fireworks, and dream on...and perhaps also enjoy some of this incredible 'Independence day' pavlova my wife made specially for the day...

check out the recipe on her latest food blog- link here:

www.shamrockandpeack.com

Spring time in Atlanta again...

Spring time is longed for as we struggle through Winter, but when it arrives, the glory of it is very fleeting indeed. These wonderful apple blossoms only last five days or so before they disappear, so you need to be quick to get a decent shot...

Luckily though, the morning sunshine helped me out here...

Nikon D800 - 35mm-70mm f2.8 shot wide open at 1/250 sec. iso 100

Gary

Winter Atlanta Skyline

Last night, taking advantage of light traffic downtown due to the holidays, I thought I would experiment with a few long exposures. This time I found a great spot on the 10th street bridge, poking my camera through a hole in the chain link fence, and fired away.

Of course, the key to these kind of shots is timing...and this time, I think I got it right. I arrived around 20 minutes before dusk, and took an exposure every five minutes or so until it was quite dark, then, back in the studio I blended two of the best.

Let me know what you think!

Gary

Trimmed the tree

Every year we have a tradition...instead of joining in the maddening crowds in pursuit of cheap electronics and food processors, we find the perfect fir and trim the tree. And yes, twinkling lights and things are always good fodder for photographers...

So, the season begins...have fun!

Gary

The dying of the leaves

OK, so Fall is almost over, but I enjoyed capturing some of the color and vibrance of this season...

Gary

Sandy Creek Barn at Reynolds

So, this week, I traveled with Judith - my incredibly gifted chef wife, to an event she was hosting at Reynolds Plantation, west of Atlanta. She was cooking a fabulous Irish feast for over 50 guests at an exclusive location - which happened to be this wonderful old barn that has been converted into a high class entertainment venue...and it was just begging to be photographed! #shamrockandpeach

Gary

Legends of the Fall

So many Fall color shots to process, and so little time. 

Here's one from a few weeks back, taken early one Saturday morning at Vickery Creek in Roswell, one of my favorite places to practice...nice long exposure with the water cascading over the rocks strewn with autumn leaves.

Love these scenes which last for such as brief time...

More to follow.

Gary

Sweetwater part one

The weather didn't really cooperate this morning, but I do like the composition of this long exposure shot - 16mm lens, f18, 20 seconds...gives the flowing water in the creek the silkiness I'm after...

Early morning shoot at Sweetwater Creek

Up before dawn, chick-fil-a chicken biscuit and coffee, meet up with my photographer buddy David and off to explore Sweetwater Creek in Georgia, hoping for some decent landscape and long exposure shots on this chilly Fall morning.

OK, it was 36 degrees and raining when we set out, but undaunted we were determined to get a shot or two, although...when we were hiking through the woods in the dark trying to find the creek, it did strike me as a little 'unhinged'!

Anyway, found the creek - and I love this place!....the rocks are strewn across the river meaning you can hop out into the flow for some really interesting long exposure shots..

Gary

Looking Across to Iona- a thin place

Now that the busyness of September is taking hold I'm looking back at summer memories...and here's a good one to start with.... I took this shot on the Isle of Mull in Scotland at 11pm at night, looking across the sea to the isle of Iona. - A 'thin place' as the Celts called it, as you can feel Heaven so close...

Really, a very special place. Founded by a Northern Irish guy like me in the 5th century or so, a well to do monk called Columba -  he left Northern Ireland, crossed the narrow sea, and landed here...

and people have been coming to this special and peaceful place ever since...

More to come on Iona soon!

Gliding the wave...

We boarded the CalMac ferry on the isle of Mull bound for Oban on the mainland of Scotland, and this little guy glided alongside the ferry as we cut through the waves - amazed at how the bird just glided on the currents, almost effortlessly...just added to the wonder of the experience!

Loving Scotland...

The Calmac Ferry on the isle of Mull...

Iona Abbey - a thin place...

This week we made a pilgrimage to one of the most sacred and beautiful places in the world- Iona.

Iona is a tiny island of the west coast of Scotland, and this wonderful place was the cradle of Christianity in the western world after the collapse of the Roman empire. A center of Christian learning for centuries, and today a place of restorative spirituality in the form of the Iona community who oversee the upkeep and vitality of the Abbey.

This place is not a relic, like so many ancient cathedrals, but a vibrant hub of thought and prayer.

It's wonderful, and I'll post more about this later...in the meantime, here is one of my shots of the early medieval Abbey...

Gary

Late night shoot at the Giants Causeway

I grew up in Northern Ireland, so trips to the 'Causeway' -just a few miles from the seaside town of Portrush were an annual ritual for me as a kid...so, I've been here hundreds of times it seems like, but - this place still holds magic...

Perfect hexagonal stones, rising up from the sea, and all completely natural. It's a wonder for sure...

I took this shot very late at night, perhaps at 10:45pm on June 20th or so...a blending of two long exposures in the fading Irish summer light.

Gary

long exposure at Oxford Island

So, saw that an old pier existed somewhere along this shore, but after a fruitless hike I met another photographer (easily spotted breed, with backpack, tripod, millions of accessories, etc)...so he kindly led me to this cool little location, and even lent me his ND filter after yours truly forgot his!!

Thank you Mark Ferguson...