Yes, very exciting news today. This morning at 7.30am Ross the concrete man (not sure what his actual job title is) and the Dunedin Concrete Pumping company arrived to complete our house foundations under a fiery red sunrise. Apparently the sunrise was fiery red, Steven told me that later because there is no way I get up at that ungodly hour.
I presumed everything kicked off that early because it took all day to pour the concrete and finish everything. Not at all! By 8.30am Steven came in to tell me they were almost finished the pouring stage, so I had to race out with my camera to record events. I'm very impressed. Of course I've witnessed concrete pouring before on Grand Designs so I know how these things work, but great to see the pad being finished so quickly.
Its been a long time coming, but since we are paying for the house as we go along there's no point rushing!
He's not having a tea break - the coffee cup is for pouring extra water out. Quite a posh cup for concrete work I thought.
Steven's handiwork:
This is Ross smoothing out the surface:
You just want to squidge your hands in there don't you?
Exciting times! Those bits of wood on the edge are to level the pad up to exactness - it was 5mm out on one corner. Ross was very impressed, he said professional builders are routinely 40mm out. That's my perfectionist husband! I can't wait for the rest of the house to go up. I might record all these little perfect bits on our journey to housedom, take them to the bank and say "SEE?! You wouldn't give us a mortgage but we did it anyway. NAAH!"
I presumed everything kicked off that early because it took all day to pour the concrete and finish everything. Not at all! By 8.30am Steven came in to tell me they were almost finished the pouring stage, so I had to race out with my camera to record events. I'm very impressed. Of course I've witnessed concrete pouring before on Grand Designs so I know how these things work, but great to see the pad being finished so quickly.
Its been a long time coming, but since we are paying for the house as we go along there's no point rushing!
He's not having a tea break - the coffee cup is for pouring extra water out. Quite a posh cup for concrete work I thought.
Steven's handiwork:
This is Ross smoothing out the surface:
You just want to squidge your hands in there don't you?
Exciting times! Those bits of wood on the edge are to level the pad up to exactness - it was 5mm out on one corner. Ross was very impressed, he said professional builders are routinely 40mm out. That's my perfectionist husband! I can't wait for the rest of the house to go up. I might record all these little perfect bits on our journey to housedom, take them to the bank and say "SEE?! You wouldn't give us a mortgage but we did it anyway. NAAH!"
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The House Pad - Finished!
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These days when I meet with clients I am often asked about what I do to my images after I bring them home. What 'photoshopping' do I do? Hopefully it's not the kind of thing that is obvious in my images, so I thought I'd blog about my post-processing, and my philosophy behind it.
When I transitioned from film to digital a few years ago, I did so with a little reluctance. I loved the depth and rawness that film offers, the skin tones of Fuji Velvia and the grit of a 1600 black and white. Being a wedding and portrait photographer, I want to show people in their best light, I want people to feel beautiful, but I also want to show the real them.
So my current processing techniques stem from that basis - I want my images to be film-like, to have a cinematic quality rather than a 'snapshot' quality, and also to look real.
Every image I keep gets edited for exposure, colour, contrast, and tone. Some images require a bit more work to turn them into the vision I had when I pressed the shutter. That might mean lightening someone's face a little so that they stand out against the background a bit more, making some red shoes a little redder, or adjusting the temperature of an image so that it is warm and cosy looking. I'll also do some blemish control, and make sure skin looks good, but I would never change how somebody looks.
Here are a few examples of recent images I've processed in the digital darkroom....
Love this image from Chris and Natalie's wedding, but it needed some colour work, a little dodging and burning (lightening some areas, darkening others), contrast, and a warm, vintagey glow....
BEFORE:
AFTER:
The moment before Sacha walked down the aisle to marry Sean. This image needed a little cropping, some dodging/burning and absolutely had to be black and white.
BEFORE:
AFTER:
Another black and white conversion from Shireen and Andy's first dance. I wanted to focus on Shireen's face a little more so I isolated her from the background a tad. I think black and white can really add depth to moments like this.
BEFORE:
AFTER:
And finally, another image from Sean and Sacha's wedding, including something I try to avoid... see if you can spot what it is!
BEFORE:
AFTER:
And do you know why I had to do that? Because in every other image of this same grouping, one person was blinking!
I don't do any fancy trickery in photoshop, and I don't believe that just because it can be done, it should. Why? Because you want to look through your wedding album in 50 years time and still be in love with those images.
When I transitioned from film to digital a few years ago, I did so with a little reluctance. I loved the depth and rawness that film offers, the skin tones of Fuji Velvia and the grit of a 1600 black and white. Being a wedding and portrait photographer, I want to show people in their best light, I want people to feel beautiful, but I also want to show the real them.
So my current processing techniques stem from that basis - I want my images to be film-like, to have a cinematic quality rather than a 'snapshot' quality, and also to look real.
Every image I keep gets edited for exposure, colour, contrast, and tone. Some images require a bit more work to turn them into the vision I had when I pressed the shutter. That might mean lightening someone's face a little so that they stand out against the background a bit more, making some red shoes a little redder, or adjusting the temperature of an image so that it is warm and cosy looking. I'll also do some blemish control, and make sure skin looks good, but I would never change how somebody looks.
Here are a few examples of recent images I've processed in the digital darkroom....
Love this image from Chris and Natalie's wedding, but it needed some colour work, a little dodging and burning (lightening some areas, darkening others), contrast, and a warm, vintagey glow....
BEFORE:
AFTER:
The moment before Sacha walked down the aisle to marry Sean. This image needed a little cropping, some dodging/burning and absolutely had to be black and white.
BEFORE:
AFTER:
Another black and white conversion from Shireen and Andy's first dance. I wanted to focus on Shireen's face a little more so I isolated her from the background a tad. I think black and white can really add depth to moments like this.
BEFORE:
AFTER:
And finally, another image from Sean and Sacha's wedding, including something I try to avoid... see if you can spot what it is!
BEFORE:
AFTER:
And do you know why I had to do that? Because in every other image of this same grouping, one person was blinking!
I don't do any fancy trickery in photoshop, and I don't believe that just because it can be done, it should. Why? Because you want to look through your wedding album in 50 years time and still be in love with those images.
Liana:
eyes closed!!! phew not a bra strap because then I would be in trouble!!
(04.26.10 @ 01:55 PM)
Two:
Very interesting!
(04.28.10 @ 05:36 AM)
Sinead Photo:
Yes Liana, keep those eyes peeled or you'll get the sack.
(04.28.10 @ 08:50 PM)
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Photoshopping
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Natalie and Chris got married on the shores of Lake Tekapo. Only one of the most beautiful and photographed places in New Zealand! It was 34 degrees when we drove up on the Friday, but thankfully cooled down enough by Saturday for me to not have unsightly sweat patches as I ran around with my camera.
Chris and Natalie met the old fashioned way - whilst out dancing in a bar one night. I love the story of their meeting. I don't know why I think that's old fashioned.. maybe just that SO many people hope they'll meet the love of their life on the dancefloor and it so rarely happens in reality. Anyway, that's how my parents met, and since my parents have the best marriage ever then it must be a good omen.
I love it when people write their own vows, and I love it when people are as expressive as these two were when they said them infront of their friends and family, my camera, and several onlooking tourists and cyclists on the road up above. Beautiful.
(Chris is an architect)...
Chris is a very keen photographer, and photography featured quite a bit in the wedding, from a running slideshow of images at the reception, individual framed prints of the bridal party on table settings.... and this!! Steven probably wouldn't have been surprised if I'd pulled this trick at our wedding. So cool!
Thank you four random passing motorists!! I'm such a weakling...
The following shots are all taken from the observatory lookout point above the lake... This is why I see other photographers saying "Oh I'd love to photograph a wedding in New Zealand". How cool that this is my job!
Last summer wedding of 2010 folks! I have lots more to post in the next couple of months before my winter weddings kick off though....
Chris and Natalie met the old fashioned way - whilst out dancing in a bar one night. I love the story of their meeting. I don't know why I think that's old fashioned.. maybe just that SO many people hope they'll meet the love of their life on the dancefloor and it so rarely happens in reality. Anyway, that's how my parents met, and since my parents have the best marriage ever then it must be a good omen.
I love it when people write their own vows, and I love it when people are as expressive as these two were when they said them infront of their friends and family, my camera, and several onlooking tourists and cyclists on the road up above. Beautiful.
(Chris is an architect)...
Chris is a very keen photographer, and photography featured quite a bit in the wedding, from a running slideshow of images at the reception, individual framed prints of the bridal party on table settings.... and this!! Steven probably wouldn't have been surprised if I'd pulled this trick at our wedding. So cool!
Thank you four random passing motorists!! I'm such a weakling...
The following shots are all taken from the observatory lookout point above the lake... This is why I see other photographers saying "Oh I'd love to photograph a wedding in New Zealand". How cool that this is my job!
Last summer wedding of 2010 folks! I have lots more to post in the next couple of months before my winter weddings kick off though....
Olivia Brabbs:
Wow - amazing work Sinead - what a stunning setting. You've captured a real sense of the emotions and laughter of the day....
(04.17.10 @ 03:54 AM)
Monica:
Thanks Sinead. Almost 37 years after our first dance in the Crystal Ballroom in Dublin....
(04.18.10 @ 08:01 AM)
Dad:
I hate to be pedantic, but it's 41 years. Your mother's grasp of maths has always been suspect.
(04.20.10 @ 03:30 AM)
Anonymous:
It's just the first four years passed in a blur!!!!!!!!!! And then we got married...that came out wrong...
(04.22.10 @ 06:14 AM)
Ciaran:
Who is this anonymous woman who married my father...?
(04.23.10 @ 11:25 AM)
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When we live in the house, we'll have a big decking area outside. And when I say 'big', I mean the size of two living rooms. Imagine! Our plan all along was to have a house where the outside was just as important as the inside. I often walk over to where this deck will be, and imagine myself lying in a hammock... I'll be reading a book, curling my toes in the sunshine, and Elmer will be bringing me cocktails.
It's so strange to be building a house (especially for someone who comes from a country where this is not common), and the only thing that makes it real at the moment is walking over to stand on the foundations. I wonder if it will match the image I have in my head when it's finished....or how long it will take to feel like home..
This wood will make up the frame for the stairs and the bridge-walkway above the living area. It is huge (see baby wellies for proportion) and it smells GREAT.
It's so strange to be building a house (especially for someone who comes from a country where this is not common), and the only thing that makes it real at the moment is walking over to stand on the foundations. I wonder if it will match the image I have in my head when it's finished....or how long it will take to feel like home..
This wood will make up the frame for the stairs and the bridge-walkway above the living area. It is huge (see baby wellies for proportion) and it smells GREAT.
Betty:
Oh my God Sinead your blog is just wonderful. I am a terrible aunt here in Dublin Ireland and hardly ever contact you. But Monica keeps me in touch all the time . Have just looked at the latest batch of photos of Elmer, he is a real little character now. your house is going to be wonderful with all your lovely ideas.
(05.01.10 @ 08:32 AM)
Sinead Photo:
Aw, thanks Betty! You're not a terrible aunt, you're a great one. xx
(05.04.10 @ 02:10 PM)
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Big bits of wood in our barn
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I promised to upload an image of the ducks enjoying their new pond. Somehow I've also taken many many photographs of Elmer. Not sure how they snuck in....
Me, Elmer and the dogs (I know grammatically that should be "Elmer, the dogs and I" but I don't like that rule) took a couple of walks around the land and I took my camera. It was a cold when I took these, and I thought it might be the end of summer.. but today, a week later it is beautiful and I'm sat here in my shorts!
How can I not take photographs of someone THIS cute??
Those are man-tights by the way.
The ducks...
I think Regal is the word you're looking for:
For all the people who ask, "Sinead, why are there no photographs of the house being built on your blog?"
Believe me, when something of interest happens (i.e., something other than the foundations), it will be photographed.... and blogged... The exciting thing is I think the house will definitely be built before Elmer goes to school :)
I'm off to dig up potatoes. The Desirees have come up lovely.
Me, Elmer and the dogs (I know grammatically that should be "Elmer, the dogs and I" but I don't like that rule) took a couple of walks around the land and I took my camera. It was a cold when I took these, and I thought it might be the end of summer.. but today, a week later it is beautiful and I'm sat here in my shorts!
How can I not take photographs of someone THIS cute??
Those are man-tights by the way.
The ducks...
I think Regal is the word you're looking for:
For all the people who ask, "Sinead, why are there no photographs of the house being built on your blog?"
Believe me, when something of interest happens (i.e., something other than the foundations), it will be photographed.... and blogged... The exciting thing is I think the house will definitely be built before Elmer goes to school :)
I'm off to dig up potatoes. The Desirees have come up lovely.
Liana:
Yes they are man tights!! and he wears them so well!! they are soo cute and these manly men just need to get over them, there not girly!! I think I have the cutest Nephew in the world!
(04.08.10 @ 06:35 PM)
Two:
I LOVE the man tights almost as much as the McGivern pout :)
(04.09.10 @ 04:13 AM)
Stacey Butson:
Sinead Elmer is soo cute and especially all wrapped up in his winter clothes! its scary to think that already the summer has left us!
(04.10.10 @ 11:49 AM)
Monica:
I hope we have a dull day in the UK summer so I can show off those man-tights. But it's that slightly worried face that I adore! Is he concerned about the colour of the ducks' water??
(04.12.10 @ 01:12 AM)
Sinead Photo:
Thanks all! Mum the duck water is fine (!) just a bit cloudy from the clay soil. They love it!
(04.12.10 @ 12:48 PM)
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The ducks, The baby, The house...
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Yay! How exciting!! xx
(04.29.10 @ 01:23 PM)Well done Steven!
(04.29.10 @ 10:32 PM)Perfect baby and now.....perfect house! Goes without saying about the wife of course..
Thank you mum :)
(05.01.10 @ 12:02 AM)Two men in our life - and now a concrete foundation! Love the pics of Elmer. It must be exciting to see those foundations down - real progress? It's a year since we saw you (ANZAC day 2009) but we remember the Jervis Bay days with big smiles. Love to you all. Mike
(05.05.10 @ 03:24 AM)Aw thanks Mike! How lovely of you to comment. Yes, two wonderful men, and when I have my walk in wardrobe life will be complete! haha. I'm home in the summer so hopefully see you then x
(05.05.10 @ 09:09 PM)