Duncan Ireland Photography

New wedding photography packages for 2012

2012-02-23T21:20:00.000Z

I'm very excited to announce my new range of wedding package and albums for 2012, all details are now online here on my website. These options are now available to all wedding bookings for 2012-13.

The best news is if any of my existing clients would like to switch to an equivalent 12 inch square album as part of their package - they can do so at no extra change.

I'll have my range of new albums on display at the Easterbrook Hall Wedding Show in Dumfries this Sunday (26th February). See you there!

Wedding Fayres for Spring 2012

2012-02-04T13:36:00.000Z

I'll have my photography on show at two wedding fayres this Spring:

The Easterbrook Hall Wedding Show - 26th February 2012
The Friars Carse Wedding Fayre - 4th March 2012

I don't attend many wedding fayres during the year, so these are a rare opportunity to see my albums and have a chat about wedding photography. I'm really looking forward to these events, as I'll be unveiling my new wedding package and album lines for 2012.
If you're able to come along - look out for me and be sure to say hi...

Jacqui and Ed Gallery Update

2012-01-12T16:24:00.001Z

I've just added this photograph to Jacqui and Ed's online gallery! Jacqui asked me to keep this a secret, until their wedding album was complete, as a surprise for their guests. …Album safely delivered, I'm now able to share the photograph, Jacqui on a zip-line, in her wedding dress, at the end of the wedding day.

This is the final image of the day and sums up why I enjoy wedding photography so much - it's such great fun!

Taken just after 8.00pm approaching darkness, this shot uses a slowish shutter speed to capture the movement of the zip-line, emphasised by panning the camera during the exposure and a burst of flash to freeze Jacqui in motion.

Thanks for being such great fun guys, see Jacqui and Ed's wedding gallery here. What a great way to finish your wedding day!

2012-01-04T20:46:00.002Z

Change of Pace

2012-01-03T12:33:00.001Z

Every so often it's good to have a change of pace, get away from the immediacy of photography and explore a different creative direction. So this year I decided to paint Katrina's Christmas present (subject chosen by her).
When I was young (...er) I used to paint often, but the appeal of photography took over - it's still nice to dust off my paint box and enjoy a different image making process - good fun, and the canvas went down well on Christmas morning! It's been a great Christmas break, now the paints return to the box and I'm back to making images in 1/1000th of a second - roll on 2012.

Arbigland Shoot Photographs

2011-12-17T11:50:00.000Z

With 2011 almost at an end my final commissioned shoot for the year was in the beautiful grounds of the Arbigland Estate, on the Solway Coast. A first for me - joining a shoot for the day. It turned out to be a beautiful winter's day, with low, warm sun all day long. It was great to be out in the open...and I learned a lot about a pheasant shoot, and how to photograph one. Here's some edited highlights:

Down to the smallest detail

2011-11-16T20:32:00.001Z

I thought I'd post some photographs of my new wedding DVD cases…yes you read right, potentially the most boring thing I could blog about - but have a look. It's a small detail, but these DVD cases are a great finishing touch, and a perfect complement to your album.

Each case contains two discs of digital wedding photographs - one with every image in colour, the other with every image in black and white. The cover features a panoramic image, personalised to you, with your names and wedding date. This is now the standard presentation for my digital wedding photographs, and I'm really pleased with them. I love when you can take something as basic as DVD packaging and make it special, just because - details matter.

Jacqui & Ed's Caerlaverock Castle and Mabie House Hotel Wedding

2011-09-15T15:37:00.001+01:00

Jacqui and Ed planned an outdoor wedding ceremony at Caerlaverock Castle.

This was a small, intimate wedding in stunning surroundings. Caerlaverock Castle is one of the jewels in the crown of Dumfries and Galloway and on a good day, as an outdoor backdrop to a wedding - it's hard to beat for wow factor.

I'd been looking forward to this wedding all year, and the beautiful weather was the icing on the cake. Jacqui and Ed's ceremony was very personal, full of carefully thought out details, including a traditional hand fasting ceremony. I took some photographs that I'm really proud of, from a very special wedding day. Click through to my website here to see the highlight gallery.

Live Music

2011-08-14T23:18:00.001+01:00

It's been a busy summer!
I've had a great time photographing some amazing live performances by a host of bands from The Courteeners, Maverick Sabre, and Sophie Ellis-Bextor to The Script, Erasure and Texas, and a whole whole host of other great acts. I've put up a collection of sample galleries on my website here.

Victoria and Gavin's Springkell Wedding

2011-08-08T21:57:00.000+01:00

Sun…glorious sun!

After a wet start to the year the weather bucked the trend for Victoria and Gavin's wedding.

Victoria got ready at her Sister's house with stunning views over the Solway firth, alongside her six bridesmaids and a house full of helpers.

Preparations complete, all headed to Springkell were Gavin was waiting in the beautiful secret garden for the ceremony. Ahead of Victoria's entrance - her youngest bridesmaid led the bridal party singing 'here comes the bride' in front of the entire 180 strong congregation - it was the cutest thing I've seen in a long time!

Following the wedding at Springkell the guests and wedding party headed to the reception marquee. Reception over - the beautiful light persisted and I took Victoria and Gavin off for a few photographs before sunset, which produced my favourite images of the day.

Below are a few highlights with the full gallery on my website here. Light, love and lush green grass - what a great summer combination.

Mint and Steve's Aberfeldy Wedding at the Brae of Cluny

2011-07-06T18:31:00.002+01:00

An exploding wedding cake, floral pheasants, guests that had travelled the world over and fireworks at midnight!! Here's Mint and Steve's wedding at the Brae of Cluny, Aberfeldy. For the full gallery please see here.

Rachel and Michael's Crichton Church and Easterbrook Hall Wedding

2011-06-23T00:20:00.003+01:00

It's always easy to tell couples who are well thought of, by how much their friends, neighbours and guests pitch in to help during their wedding. This was really evident with the amount of coordinated effort that had gone into Rachel's preparations. Her neighbour had kindly provided his yard for the carriage and horses (from Horses for Causes) to prepare and the setting was ideal for photographs.

Rachel's journey by carriage from Dumfries to the Crichton Church gave me just enough time to capture Michael's anticipation before the ceremony. As Rachel walked down the aisle, Michael had the biggest smile on his face, and held on until almost Rachel's last step down the aisle before turning to see her for the first time - then he managed to find an even bigger smile!

Rain persevered all day long, but we got the better of the weather and used the stunning interior of the Crichton Church for photographs - thanks to the help of the excellent Crichton staff. It was a fantastic day, with the Easterbrook Hall providing the setting for one of my larger wedding receptions this year - 270 people. A great day, lovely guests - thank you everyone and special thanks to the passer by who steadied my ladder for the group picture, which had previously blown over in the gusting winds outside the Crichton! Below are a sample of photographs from Rachel and Michael's wedding, with the main highlights gallery here.

Dumfries Guid Nychburris

2011-06-19T11:36:00.000+01:00

I've just returned from photographing this years Guid Nychburris (Good Neighbours) Day ride out in Dumfries. Quite an eventful day - the rain could have been a spoiler, but didn't dampen anyone's spirits and everyone had a great time, with a huge turnout and I dug deep to get some new views of the event.

Based on previous year's experience I abandoned trying to follow the riders by car (too much traffic), instead opting to cover the ground on foot - which ultimately ended up with me in the back of a police car…the local D&G constabulary took pity on me and offered me a lift around part of the route - thanks guys!

Covering new ground really paid off and I'm very pleased with the results. Please have a look at the full gallery of photographs available to order here. Congratulations to Scott Cowan and Lesley Thomson (cornet and cornet's lass) and to the Dumfries Cornet's Club for organising such a great event in challenging conditions.

Rebecca and Richard's New Zealand Wedding - yes - New Zealand!

2011-05-23T20:27:00.001+01:00

Ok, it's been a little while since I managed to get a blog post up; the reason is I've just returned from my first overseas wedding - in New Zealand (a very special place for a first foray photographing outside the UK). What an amazing experience the whole adventure has been. I've come away with some wonderful memories, some very lovely new friends and some pretty special photographs.

Rebecca and Richard were married in Alexandra on New Zealand's South Island. As we in the UK were coming into spring I arrived in New Zealand at the peak of stunning autumn colour. During the first few days location scouting (and recovering from the 36 hour journey) the autumn light was amazing - but the wedding day itself redefined my ideas of now amazing light really can be. In a few days I'll post some more images, until then here's a little preview. Congratulations on a wonderful wedding guys!

Alice and Callum's Maxwelton Chapel Wedding

2011-04-06T21:26:00.000+01:00

Alice and Callum travelled all the way from Australia to be married at the beautiful Maxwelton Chapel near Dumfries. I first met Alice and Callum when I photographed Callum's sister Catriona's wedding last year, and it was lovely to see many familiar faces for a second time. Alice's veil was a family heirloom from the 1800's, passed down through the generations, how's that for "something old" !

Maxwelton Chapel is so small, it just held all the guests, with standing room only at the back. As I entered the Chapel ahead of Alice I'd just enough time to turn and catch a view of her about to make her way inside in fantastic light. It was a lovely day and an absolute pleasure to photograph. Here are a few of my favourites; the full gallery is here.

Favourite Locations ~ Moffat House Hotel

2011-02-07T20:34:00.007Z

Continuing my review of favourite wedding locations is the Moffat House Hotel. Here's a fantastic venue, in walking distance from my home in Moffat, Dumfries and Galloway. I always look forward to weddings here - I've come to know the Moffat House so well; the layout, and where the light will be during the day. I get a lovely sense of familiarity when I'm working here, and yet this place seems so adaptable - there's always so much variation from one wedding to the next.

The absolute best thing, from my own experience, and echoed by the couple's I've photographed here is the fantastic staff. Time after time - the feedback I get from couples who are married here is the staff are the reason they book the Moffat House and they're what make the day complete. Well done to Paul and all you're dedicated team !

Favourite Locations ~ Auchen Castle

2011-01-27T21:40:00.000Z

I thought it would be interesting to review some of my favourite wedding locations and looking back over previous weddings - there was no doubt that one location in particular just jumped off the page - Auchen Castle.

Auchen Castle is a a stunning wedding venue, right on my doorstep in Moffat. Auchen Castle's also a big favourite of mine because the weather's always been kind to me here, look at that sky! The staff are wonderful and full of energy, the grounds are beautiful, loads of quirky interest for photographs everywhere you look. And it's just the right size to take over with a wedding party and feel really luxurious yet cosy.

The "Light Fantastic"

2011-01-23T01:45:00.000Z

One of my New Year's resolutions is to increase my use of prime lenses for wedding photography, and I'm very lucky to have received two of the first copies of Nikon's new f/1.4 prime lenses to enter the UK.

By contrast to zoom lenses, these fast primes have the most amazing image quality, and they transmit four times more light compared to the best zoom lenses, so I can work in lower light without flash. These are the 24 mm and 85 mm f/1.4 lenses from Nikon.

Photographs courtesy of Nikon Europe

I can't wait to show you the results. I've used these two on some of my personal projects over the winter months and am really looking forward to using them at my first weddings of 2011 - please check back to see what a difference they make to my wedding photography.

2010 Year in Review

2011-01-01T15:05:00.001Z

2010 was a fantastic year for me, below are just a few highlights. Thanks to everyone I've had the pleasure to photograph in 2010 and here's to a great 2011.

...there was also more than a little splash of colour.

Katie and Martin's Dalhousie Castle Wedding

2010-10-16T22:43:00.001+01:00

Dalhousie Castle near Edinburgh was the setting for Katie and Martin's wedding - a new venue for me, and plenty of opportunity for some creative abstract images. Their sample image gallery is available to view here.

I met Martin and Katie at Lindsay and David's wedding in 2009 - they share a lot of mutual friends, so it was great to see familiar faces at both weddings.

Abi and Terry's Moffat House Hotel Wedding

2010-09-25T22:55:00.000+01:00

Abi works in show business, is lovely to be around and full of warm personality; the sort of person who puts you at ease the minute you meet.

I'd only got the chance to meet Terry and his best man Tony on the morning of the wedding. They also made me feel so welcome. What a blessing it is - getting a good reaction to being photographed from a first meeting like that - thanks guys!

Terry and Abi have a cute terrier - Jack, who wore a Newcastle United strip for their wedding, I had to get a good photograph of him - and he had great fun making me work for it.

When Abi walked onto the balcony of the apartment used for her preparations she looked like a film star, backlit against a perfect blue sky. We took Abi and Terry's group photographs in front of the 260 year old Oak tree at the Moffat House Hotel.

At the end of the night Abi sang for her wedding guests, accompanied by her fantastic three-piece swing band. And she sounded fantastic !

Catriona and Jonnie's Penpont Church and Marquee Wedding

2010-08-21T23:20:00.000+01:00

In the simply stunning surroundings of Penpont Catriona and Jonnie were married in Penpont Church. It's a really privileged position to be able to see the whole wedding day evolve, from the preparations in the morning to the actual ceremony and the celebrations into the night.

Catriona and Jonnie gave me fantastic access to photograph every aspect of their day - the result is a set of memories that show their day in beautiful candour. The full gallery (albeit of a very small selection of their images from the day) is available to view here.

Claire and John's Moffat House Hotel Wedding

2010-08-20T23:24:00.005+01:00

A lovely, intimate wedding at the Moffat House Hotel - click here to see the full gallery.

Zoe and Martin's Amisfield Tower and Moffat House Hotel Wedding

2010-08-14T23:29:00.001+01:00

Zoe and Martin's wedding took place at Amisfield Tower, a really enchanting venue, and afterwards at the reception at the Moffat House Hotel I couldn't believe the wonderful light during the evening. Plenty of great moments for photographs, and I loved that car! For the full gallery - follow this link.

Janette and Allan's Auchen Castle Wedding

2010-08-12T23:41:00.001+01:00

Auchen castle provided a stunning location for Janette and Allan's wedding. Even the odd downpour couldn't spoil the wonderful outdoor ceremony. The August rainy season of Moffat intervened, but it only gave more scope for photographs. The Auchen castle staff saved the day - thanks to a rapid response with their supply of umbrellas. Click here for the full gallery.

Morven and Matthew's Wedding in Sutherland

2010-07-10T23:45:00.001+01:00

I was delighted when two of my closest friends Matthew and Morven asked me to photograph their wedding. Having talked beforehand about their plans I was expecting a visual treat, but I was bowled over at the effort put into the details of the day.

It was a wedding of two visually distinct halves; the outdoor ceremony dominated by verdant greens and a warm and atmospherically lit reception, dominated by rich red tones. Colour and character abound.

Below are just a sample of the images - the full gallery is here, a wonderfully memorable day and a joy to share with the best of friends.

Gayna and James' Auchen Castle Wedding

2010-04-12T23:50:00.003+01:00

The beginning of April felt like a summer's day - a fortnight before we'd had snow here in south Scotland, but the weather turned and brought a perfect day for Gayna and James' wedding at Auchen castle.

Gayna and most of her family had travelled up to Dumfriesshire from Bristol and were greeted by great weather.

A lovely couple with very friendly family, what more can I say - come to Scotland to get married; it's fantastic...Full sample gallery available to view here.