I met Mark Senn while photographing him for SuperValu backed Food Academy. His new vegan fish alternative left me thinking. I was skeptical. Up until I tasted it while photographing Vish for its new packaging.
We shot Mark's portrait in his fantastic street side vegan restaurant, Veginity, off Richmond Street in Dublin.
This image appeared while working in the garden. So pretty, I felt it worth uploading.
If I was a photographer I would fancy myself as an industrial engineer. Redesigning everyday objects and getting the optimum from them both aesthetically and practically. One Off Design working with Dr Gearóid Ó Conchubhair they came up with this exquisitely designed and engineered Earo Chair. The chair is designed for concert musicians. If you ever notice the seats that concert musicians use are banal and ordinary and often lead to back pain and muscle strain.
The new Earo Chair is ergonomically designed to support posture for musicians and design wise is miles ahead of any other chairs used by concert musicians.
Is was fun photographing the chair and capturing the abstract shapes and modern design. It was even more fun having very talented musicians playing in the studio while we photographed them using the chair.
A much maligned plant is the dandelion. What a great swath of colour dandelion brings across the country and in unkempt gardens in cities. A rich beautiful yellow flower that opens and closes with the sun. Then it leaves us with its beautiful seed clocks. We blew them as children in the hope that they would return to us as chocolate Easter eggs. You can use roots, leaves and flowers for different recipes.
Here is a recipe for dandelion syrup made with dandelion petals.
We picked the flowers in a suburban garden in Dublin city.
Food Stylist Johan van der Merwe separated the petals...then boiled them in water for twenty minutes.
Strain the petals and let the remaining liquid sit over night. Add approximately the same weight of sugar as liquid to the dandelion water and heat gently until it thickens.
Store the syrup in sterilised air tight storage jars. Use instead of honey. For pancakes its a dream.
Red Dog Design Consultants asked me to work on the cover of Kerry Group Annual Report. The brief was to photograph a selection of food stuffs and make them vibrant, colourful and mouth watering.
We did some testing in the studio prior to the shoot days.
We moved towards the idea of a selection of berries and fruits back lit with effervescent water bubbling through them. Nice.
Shooting in studio with art director and designer from Red Dog, Susan Carberry and Food Stylist Johan van der Merwe.
The finished Kerry Group Annual Report front and back cover.
A selection of full page inside spreads shot during the same session.
If you would like to discuss any aspect of photography do give me a call or send an e-mail. I'd be delighted to chat.
Eugene Langan Photography
Studio Eight, 32 North Brunswick Street, Dublin 7. D07 TWX3. Ireland.
tel. +00353(0)87 2597907 e-mail. langan@indigo.ie
Spent some time in Coghlan's Artisan Bakery in Newbridge, Co. Kildare, capturing the whole process of baking bread and pastries. The bakers and staff were fantastic. The process fascinating.
If you are quick enough you can still forage wild garlic. April and May are the best times to harvest this lovely herb.You will recognise it instantly when you crush the leaves and smell the strong garlic scent.
You will see it growing wild on the shady floor of woods, along pathways and in gardens.
There are two types of wild garlic commonly found here in Ireland and across Europe; Allium ursinum, native to Ireland, is also known as ramsoms, or in Irish creamh. There is also the naturalised Allium sativum, also known as three-cornered leek, or glaschreamh in Irish. It's shown in the picture on the right which was taken at the Grand Canal near Mount Street in Dublin City.
Working with Food Stylist Johan van der Merwe in a wood in Wicklow, we collected a couple of handfuls of wild garlic
After finely chopping the wild garlic leaves with red chilli flakes Johan added virgin olive oil to make a wild garlic pesto.
Then fried up a few mushrooms with onions and a handful of wild garlic and served with the lamb chops and the wild garlic pesto. Lovely.
Its can be an unnerving experience for anyone to have their portrait taken. Here are a few pointers that will hopefully help you prepare for your portrait. It should be a fun and pleasant experience for everyone involved.
So to look your absolute best, here are a few suggestions:
Dress as you feel comfortable. And be aware of your company dress code.
If you are unsure about what to wear bring a couple of options on the day of the shoot and we can choose together.
If you wish to wear a dark suit, bring along a brighter one as well so we can make a call on which works best on the day of the shoot.
If tie wearers can bring a couple of ties this will give us more options.
If you need full length shots make sure you have clean shoes that match your clothes.
Avoid branded clothing and tops with your favourite team or beer emblazoned upon it.
It sounds silly - but do make sure that the suit still fits since the last time you wore it. And that your clothes are pressed and ironed as you prefer.
If we do not have a hairdresser or make up artist booked for the shoot you might consider having your hair done before the shoot.
Doing your own make up? Wear what you would normally wear but use a matt finish makeup. Avoid make up with SPFs.
If we have a make up artist booked it is a good idea not to apply make up yourself before the shoot.
Bring some hair clips and hair bands - just in case.
Don’t do any major tanning or face scrubs, peels etc immediately before the shoot - they often need a few days to normalise.
Other than that it should be an enjoyable experience and some diversion for your day. Bring a smile and enjoy the experience.
Oh! And a good nights sleep the night before the shoot really pays off.
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If you would like to discuss any aspect of photography or have any other questions relating to preparing for a portrait
just contact me at:
Studio Eight, 32 North Brunswick St., Dublin 7. D07 TWX3. Ireland.
Phone: 00.353.(0)87.2597907
e-mail: langan@indigo.ie
Getting access to interesting locations in one of the joys of my working day. I was working for The Iveagh Trust - that is their Bull Alley complex opposite the park. Originally we were trying to match a photograph that was taken more that one hundred years ago of the building site for the park and Bull Alley. The trees had of course blocked the original view so we altered our plans accordingly.
Here is the centre spread of The Iveagh Trust annual report with the two photographs for comparison.
If you would like to discuss any aspect of photography just contact me at:
Studio Eight, 32 North Brunswick St., Dublin 7. D07 TWX3. Ireland.
Phone: 00.353.(0)87.2597907
e-mail: langan@indigo.ie
It was lovely working on the recent St Valentines Day recipes with Siucre. The brief was to set a mood of the romantic - something you and your partner could snuggle up over. This Salted Caramel Chocolate Torte tasted devine.
If you would like to discuss any aspect of photography just contact me at:
Studio Eight, 32 North Brunswick St., Dublin 7. D07 TWX3. Ireland.
Phone: 00.353.(0)87.2597907
e-mail: langan@indigo.ie
It is great to be starting a new blog using a new format. Lets see how it goes.
The photograph is of Little Skellig, the smaller of the two Skelligs off the coast of Kerry in the Atlantic Ocean. This is a bare rock jutting out of the water. Even the monks didn't consider it as a possible hermitage site. But the gannets think different. These hugh sea birds with up to 2 metre wing span, have taken over Little Skellig. From the distance the rock looks like it has been dusted in sugar, there are so many birds nesting here. And above the rock they fill the sky. It is a truly amazing sight. This is the largest colony of these elegant sea birds in Ireland.
If you would like to discuss any aspect of photography just contact me at:
Studio Eight, 32 North Brunswick St., Dublin 7. D07 TWX3. Ireland.
Phone: 00.353.(0)87.2597907
e-mail: langan@indigo.ie