Blog posts of all the latest work
Thirty Six Hours in Maribor // A Photo Essay
Thirty-Six Hours in Maribor, Slovenia. Documenting the Europa League first qualifying round between Maribor and Coleraine. Traveling with the Coleraine team. A huge thank you to Oran Kearney, his staff, and players for having me come along, and hopefully, these photos will help paint the picture for what was an historic night.
Score Football Centres // 5 A-Side Characters
Score Football Centres are a state of the art indoor football facility, based up in Coleraine, Northern Ireland.
Score Football Centres are a state of the art indoor football facility, based up in Coleraine, Northern Ireland.
Having done photos for them before, I pitched an idea I had for a facebook promotional series to drive forward engagement.
The idea was to take a series of photos that would represent a list of stereotypical 5 A-Side football characters, or better put, the type of ordinary people that play football all around the world every week with their friends.
From ‘The guy who will shoot from anywhere’, to ‘The human scoreboard’ and the list went out.
The campaign went out over social media and increased user engagement by asking people to tag their friends in the post who most likely fits the stereotype.
Below are some of the photos used.
Michael & Stephanie // Strandford Wedding
Something special about documenting weddings of people that you know well, especially when they have the wedding on a really nice day in Sept at a family members house in Strangford.
Something special about documenting weddings of people that you know well, especially when they have the wedding on a really nice day in Sept at a family members house in Strangford.
I have been fortunate to know Michael & Stephanie for a long time, meeting them before they started going out through a couple of friends of mine who went to Glasgow Uni with them.
So it was a pleasure not just to be at the wedding, but to be involved in making sure their treasured day was fresh in the memory for as long as possible. It also doesn't hurt that they are great human beings with a natural chemistry, unique sense of humour and annoyingly good looking! haha
Ryan & Grace // Engagement Shoot // San Francisco
I lived in Northern California for a year when I left school, the bay area has a special place in my heart! So when I got asked to come shoot a wedding in LA, I made sure I travelled through SFO on my way there. It was a great chance to visit some old haunts and catch up with some people in my life I hadnt seen in years!
I lived in Northern California for a year when I left school, the bay area has a special place in my heart! So when I got asked to come shoot a wedding in LA, I made sure I travelled through SFO on my way there. It was a great chance to visit some old haunts and catch up with some people in my life I hadnt seen in years!
I also managed to squeeze in an engagement shoot with a couple who I know through a friend, Ryan & Grace humoured me as I was re-seeing the city and made them walk ALOT to get the shots we wanted.
Til next time SF!
Kevin & Paige // Wedding // Terranea Resort, Los Angeles
One of the questions I get asked ALL the time is, 'Do you not get bored of weddings?' Honestly I have to answer NO.
One of the questions I get asked ALL the time is, 'Do you not get bored of weddings?' Honestly I have to answer NO.
Yes there are times the similarity of some of the weddings can feel challenging, but in all the weddings I have done, the magnitude of the day has never been lost on me, I am always moved and honoured to be asked to witness and document some of the most important moments in peoples lives. However, that being said, when I got a call from my good friend Kevin to say that he got engaged to his beautiful girlfriend Paige, and they wanted to fly me out to LA to document the day, I knew this wouldn't be a wedding where I get asked that question.
Being present at the moments in your friends lives that matter is essential to being a friend and when you are asked to play a role in creating images that will aid their memories of those moments, it is the best.
So, I am delighted to share Kevin & Paige's beautiful wedding, from rehearsal dinner to the late night Margaritas at the end of an epic wedding few days on the epic coastline just outside LA .
Ceremony & Reception Venue: Terranea Resort
Event Planning: Details Details (Samantha Farris Phillips)
Florist: Florals by Jenny
Cake Designer: Vanilla Bake Shop
Makeup Artist: Ashley Winfield
Hair: Yuzu Tanaka
Video: Danny Garcia Film
Photobooth: Pixster
Wedding Dress & Veil: Amsale Bridal
Headpiece: Jennifer Behr
Shoes: YSL
Nails: Olive and June
Bridesmaids Dresses: Amsale Bridal
Officiant: JP Reynolds
Band: Funk and Waffles (Taylor Dexter)
Hernandez Family // Huntington Beach, California
In October, I had the pleasure of going back to Huntington Beach to visit my good friend Jess [although she now goes by Jade] and get the meet her ever growing family.
In October, I had the pleasure of going back to Huntington Beach to visit my good friend Jess [although she now goes by Jade] and get the meet her ever growing family.
I lived in Northern California for a year over 12 years ago and Jess was one of my housemates.
Watching her being a mum and wife was a true joy.
Needless to say I can't wait to bring my crew out to see them and enjoy this wonderful beach.
Peter Rollins // Hollywood, California
Peter is a theologian, speaker, thinker and author from Belfast.
Growing up in Belfast I remember the name Peter Rollins being referenced by a lot of people around me.
Peter is a theologian, speaker, thinker and author from Belfast, who now plies his trade in Hollywood California. I contacted Peter through our mutual friend Phil Harrison to see if he was interested in hanging out when I was in California this October.
I love doing portraiture work. It challenges me creatively and gives me the opportunity to spend time with some incredibly talented and inspiring individuals, and getting the chance to share a bit of time with Peter was no exception.
Peter is hosting an online series called Atheism for Lent through March & April, followed by a lecture in Belfast on the 10th of April. Following that he hosts his boutique festival in Belfast called Wake which is in its 5th year.
Two Door Cinema Club // My Two Door Two Day Tour and a bit more.
11 years ago, I had just started a new job as a youth worker. About 3 days into the job, one of the guys I was working with came up to me and invited me to come with him in Belfast as he was going to see his little brothers band play a gig. I asked their name, Life Without Rory.
11 years ago, I had just started a new job as a youth worker. About 3 days into the job, one of the guys I was working with came up to me and invited me to come with him in Belfast as he was going to see his little brothers band play a gig. I asked their name, Life Without Rory.
I went along and was really impressed, the small crowd seemed impressed too.
Not long after this gig, Life Without Rory, made up of 4 best friends, amicably split as a band but remained good friends. Patrick, the drummer, left and joined another local band. Sam, Kev and Alex decided to start a band from the ashes of Life Without Rory. The band? Two Door Cinema Club. Who started making a name for themselves as the band with no drummer, deciding early on to use a drum machine in place of a drummer. The boys from the band, I would see a couple times a week as they would help me run our local youth club. Listening to their conversations about how their new sound was forming, it was fun to watch. Any spare time they had, they would spend practice and jamming in Alex's mums house.
Life Without Rory - Pavilion Bar, Belfast - 1st August 2006
As it got towards their sixth form year in school and people started asking what university they would be going to, the boys with a chilling calm would tell you, that whilst they had places at Uni, the band was going to be their next big step. I can remember being amazed by their certainty, and it was only when I asked them to play a gig at our youth club I started to be less amazed at their confidence, it started to make sense. I announced that they would be playing and 300 people turned up and I got to experience their live set for the first time. [Check out a video below taken that night on someones mobile]. It was electric. That night people got to get their hands on their first EP - Four Words To Stand On. Think I still have some copies of this lying around.
As it approached the summer of 2009, with the massive success of their EP, the boys told me they where moving to London to see if the band was going to go anywhere. First thing that came to my mind was milking them for all their worth before they go. I was leading a team to Uganda that summer, a team that the boys had shown an interest in going on but clearly had different plans. So as part of a our fundraising for that trip I asked the boys to play a gig in the local town. I had no money to pay them, so demanded they did it and only paid them in beer and pizza. The only date that would work was the weekend before the flew off to London which meant we had a small window to promote the gig. On the night only a few people showed up, but I can remember thinking in a years time if people heard they had the chance to see Two Door Cinema Club in Bangor up close and personal, and they didn't take that chance, they would be raging. Low and behold, a couple of summers after this [2011], the boys did return to bangor, but to play a sold out Tennent's Vital in support of The Script, playing 400 yards from the small building our gig was in.
Two Door Cinema Club - Hamilton House, Bangor - 9th June 2009
Fast foward 8 years, and after announcing what would be their sold out UK tour for their third and latest album Gameshow, I had a text conversation with Kev and we thought it would be fun for me to come out on tour with them. So after syncing diaries, the gigs that made the most sense to be at was Liverpool and Glasgow. Over those two dates, amidst getting to see how normal touring life was for them, I also got to document life on the road and the faces of the fans that came along to both gigs. I stood in the pit or back stage and watched as they brought pure entertainment to the crowds that had come to see them.
As I post this blog, the boys will be preparing to go on stage on the last two dates of this UK tour in Alexander Palace, playing to over 10,000 people each night. It was an honour to hang out and capture their tour and some of the people that make it happen.
Two Door Cinema Club // UK Tour 2017 // Liverpool Guild of Students // Thursday 2nd February
Two Door Cinema Club // UK Tour 2017 // Glasgow Barralands // Friday 3rd February
Two Door Two Day Tour - Faces In The Crowd - Liverpool & Glasgow
I can remember the excitement. The energy would build. From the moment that I would walk into Virgin Megastores in Belfast to purchase the ticket. The nervous wait whilst the cashier would look at the availability of the tickets.
I can remember the excitement. The energy would build. From the moment that I would walk into Virgin Megastores in Belfast to purchase the ticket. The nervous wait whilst the cashier would look at the availability of the tickets.
For about 2 years, I was addicted to this. My friends and I would be into all sorts of music and would be straight on the phone to each other when a band we loved would release their tour dates. From the moment of buying the ticket it was about all that we would talk about. We went to see so many bands, from Ash to Stereophonic, from Manic Street Preachers to Placebo and even a very young Coldplay just after the realise of their first album.
When Two Door Cinema Club released their UK tour dates I arranged to join them for a day or two and see how the shows were going.
One of the things that hit me when I stood in the pit or side of stage apart from how MENTAL the crowds were in Liverpool & Glasgow and how great the boys are, was the excitement in the faces of the crowd. The energy everyone brought to the room was insane and brought me right back to going crazy in the middle of the crowd and getting lost in my favourite songs when I was younger.
If you were there, you might look through the photos and see yourself, if so and you would like a copy of the photo, just get in touch, or you might not have been there but recognise the energy of being at a concert. When the lights go up and all the faces turned towards the stage the only eyes on the faces in the crowd are the bands, these are the faces they saw. Having spoken to them at length about the fans after each gig and showed them these photos, they saw you and really deeply appreciate your support.
Two Door Cinema Club // Liverpool Guild of Students // Thursday 1st February 2017
Two Door Cinema Club // Glasgow Barralands // Friday 3rd February 2017
Ric & Orla // Engagement // Greenisland
I have know Ric for a long time, he's one of the reasons I passed my A Level ICT, as he would invite me round to his house and force me to sit and revise. So you can imagine my excitement when he got engaged to the brilliant Orla
I have know Ric for a long time, he's one of the reasons I passed my A Level ICT, as he would invite me round to his house and force me to sit and revise. So you can imagine my excitement when he got engaged to the brilliant Orla. I had the please of spending some time with them both, and their two dogs, down at the beach out the back of his mum and dads house.
