Civil Partnership Photography

With the landmark first civil partnership in Ireland today we are glad to be able to offer the same care and attention toward civil partnerships as we give to weddings.  See our Civil Partnership page here.

Blog now moved to Moiraobrien.com

I have now moved my blog to my professional website www.moiraobrien.com/news/.

My personal blog is now here – www.moirajane.net/

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Cork Zombie Walk

This Saturday saw the first Cork Zombie Walk.  It started from Bell's Field and progressed through the town centre to the amazement of the afternoon shoppers!  This wonderful spectacle was organised by http://www.theresistanz.com/ and raised funds for Marymount Hospice, Corks much loved hospice care.

Musings on the motor car or Why I love Ireland

I am writing this in England at an M4 motorway service station (yes Fianna Foil, such things do exist) on my way to Swansea to catch the sailing of the MV Julia for the first time.  My journey has taken me on the A21 (a lot of traffic), the M25 (heavy traffic followed by congestion), and then the M4 (heavy traffic again).

All this has prompted me to think about a few things.Firstly, our love of the motor car.  Now don’t get me wrong – I plead guilty as charged on this count, though living in Cork city has reduced my usage considerably. There is no doubt that motorised transport has transformed our lives over the past 45 years (the time I have held a full licence).  Yet, driving through these congested motorways I am forced to ask the question – where are all these people going and is it REALLY necessary that they go by car?

Now I have a good excuse. I am exporting my 10 year old Toyota Avensis to Ireland as it is younger by a few years and has done half the mileage of our existing car.  As it has outlived it’s usefulness in England it can now live out it’s days usefully in Ireland. This inevitably involves the journey from Tunbridge Wells to Swansea to catch the ferry.

What of all these other cars? Alright, it is Sunday and many people will be visiting relatives and in these days of the widely distributed family such relatives may live far away. This accounts for a few. More may be family outings.  But the majority of cars contain only the driver. So I remain in ignorance. In my experience, this day is no different to any other day.

Secondly, I appreciate all the more the uncongested Irish motorways. Now, living, as I said, in Cork city, I am painfully aware of the nightmare of having to negotiate the city centre by car at any time between 8am and 7pm – and the impossibility during rush hour – and please don’t get me started on the Mums delivering their darlings to school in their 4 x 4′s, that is the subject of a rant all in it’s own.  But anywhere outside the major conurbations and unbypassed towns, our motorways are deserted by comparison and driving is so much less stressful than here in England.

Of course there are many other reasons why I love living in Ireland – or rather, in Cork – being 2 hours from some of the most beautiful countryside in the world, West Cork & Kerry, to name but one.  It would take some time to list all the reasons. Rather sadly, given the main subject of this missive, the reason just stated involves the use of a motor vehicle and the fact that the vehicle most used for these journeys is my camper van is no excuse.

Sent from my iPad

 

A short update

I have not posted for some time, not because I have not been doing anything interesting but more because I did not have anything really interesting to say. Life has, indeed, been quite busy – some photo-shoots for clients, organising Moving Image Cork, flying to London for my regular working and family visits and working on a couple of films.

You may have noticed from previous posts or tweets that I was involved in the shooting of a feature film called “The Vein Within”. Indeed, there was some two weeks of shooting in early June, around Cork city and harbour. Sadly this was not a success, through no fault of the crew who gelled into quite an efficient and cohesive body of people despite our amateur status. Suffice it to say that only one of that original crew of about 20 people is still involved with the production. Failure though it was, I for one came away with many lessons learned about how to organise a film production and quite a few lessons about how not to film it! Hopefully these lessons will be translated into better run and better filmed future productions.

Following the launch of Moving Image Cork I became involved with a short film production called “The Tunnel”. While I can’t say too much publicly at this time as the film is still in the editing stage, the few people who have seen early rough edits have all been most complimentary. Many thanks to director and writer Brian Whelan for coming up with the idea.

In the last week I have been attending a course on documentary film making at UCC. This was interesting and, as always with this kind of course, extended my knowledge and helped improve my filming skills. The finale of the course was to film a short documentary of our own choosing. My team of 6 chose the subject of “Greetings” and consists of interviews with various residents and visitors in Cork city centre. It proved quite interesting, fun to film and hopefully will result in some good footage. There is a lot of editing to do before it will be ready for publication though.

An excellent video interview with Philip Bloom

For those of us who are shooting video with HD-DSLR cameras and want to hear the expert giving really good advice, then you could do a lot worse than to watch this interview.Philip has been a leading light in HD-DSLR shooting since Canon introduced the 5DMk2 and has done sterling work in testing out the many peripherals that have come onto the market to help us shoot better with these cameras.  A browse through his website www.philipbloom.co.uk is well worth while.In the meantime, here is the interview.

Cinematic Film from an iPhone?

Philip Bloom and Deltree are collaborating on making a cinematic film using only iPhone 4′s.  Here is the trailer for the film, on Vimeo:

I am glad that a person of Philip’s stature in the HD film world is taking on such a project as it will show the world what can be done with such a simple piece of technology.  Mind you, I have no doubt that attached to the iPhone will be some expensive kit – I know only too well having spent a considerable sum kitting out my Canons 5DMk2 and 7D to turn them into excellent movie cameras.  I forsee another secondary market springing up very soon with gizmos that you can attach to your iPhone which no doubt will make the cost of the phone pale into insignificance .

Posted via email from Moira O’Brien Photography

Amazing Time Lapse of the Shuttle Launch

Given that the Shuttle is shortly to be consigned to history this film is a timely addition to the Time Lapse repertory:

http://blog.planet5d.com/2010/05/awesome-canon-eos-5d-mark-ii-space-shuttle-timelapse/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Planet5dBlog+%28Planet5D+Blog%29

Moving Image Cork

It has been a very busy few weeks, what with trying to organise the formation of Moving Image Cork (www.movingimagecork.net) and finishing off the edit for the short film by Martin Vallely “Testament” of which I was DP and editor.Moving Image Cork had its inaugural meeting at the CIT Crawford College of Art and Design last Thursday and over 30 members attended – and what a great bunch of people you all are.  I was bowled over by the enthusiasm shown by everyone.  As a result of that meeting, at least four short films are going to be made this summer and there is a suggestion on the table that we might organise a Film Festival in Kinsale this winter for first time movie makers to showcase their work.  Exciting times ahead.

Meanwhile…… Martin Vallely’s short film Testament, which was made as a result of a course we both attended at the Cork Film Centre, was premiered tonight in front of an enthusiastic audience at the Roundy Pub in Cork City, along with John Horan’s short film “Hardcore”.  Both films were very well received and both are destined for the Cork Film Festival as well as other short film festivals at home and abroad.  Sadly we have just missed entry to the Fastnet Film Festival.  Testament can only be viewed by my friends on Vimeo.com.  If you are not a member, then get a free account and become a friend – http://vimeo.com/user2638872.  After the Cork Film Festival, I will make it public viewing for all.

In addition to all this activity, I have been intimately involved (as DoP and script editor) in the production of a new feature film “The Vein Within” by Philip McCarthy, which is due to start filming at the beginning of June.  We are on target (just about) with the script in its nearly final form, locations being sorted, permissions sought etc.  This film is to be shot entirely on Canon HD-DSLR cameras – the 5DMk2 and the 7D, technology which has brought high quality film making within the reach of the small independent production company.

Did I say that these are exciting times?

Posted via email from Moira O’Brien Photography

Greenpeace Advert by Philip Bloom

Following on from the last post on recording sound with HD-DSLR cameras, this advert for Greenpeace was shot using the 5D MkII and sound was recorded on a Zoom 44N, synchronised in Final Cut Pro with Pluraleyes.

Posted via email from Moira O’Brien Photography