Doodles to designs!

As soon as I hold a pencil in my hand, I start doodling curvy, delicate patterns. Lines meander off across the page. Before I know it, I have designed another headpiece! It's not quite that simple but I love this part of my work!

I'm so inspired by natural patterns and forms. I won a wrapping paper design competition in school when I was 7 and have been a pattern addict ever since :-)

So yesterday, while researching/noodling over on Pinterest, I discovered the amazing photos of Anna Atkins; an English botanist and photographer (who may have been the first female photographer). Her Cyanotype technique involved laying plants on paper with a photo-sensitive solution and then exposing them to light. Look at that fern wreath. Isn't it beautiful?

I don't think it's possible to create patterns that are more beautiful or intricate than ones found in nature.

Anyway, these beautiful fern images reminded me of a piece I designed for a Christmas photo-shoot. Let's time travel back to December. Claire Barry from White Sage Events asked if I would like to design some jewels for a festive photo-shoot. Yes please! It's always a fun challenge to design something new.

The Theme was Luxe Christmas, with lots of gold and red elements. Claire wanted sparkle over bling which is right up my street! I've picked a few of my faves below but you can view lots more over on One fab Day.

The top design is a crochet beaded headpiece which is inspired by ferns. It can be woven into the hair in lots of different ways. The second design is called 'Gold waves'. Those delicious 1920's finger waves were the starting point for this piece :)

A big thanks to Lisa O'Dwyer for allowing me to feature her photos. The images were shot on film which gives a lovely quality to them. The dresses for the shoot were by Patrick Casey and Adah Lynch. Check  out more photos from the day via One Fab Day.

If you like these designs, have a look at some more of my recent bespoke pieces or get in touch if you'd like to chat about your ideas. I'd love to hear from you.

Credits:
White Sage Events - events company
Lisa O'Dwyer Photography
Anna Atkins photos via Wikipedia

a thousand words - Lisa O'Dwyer

Great photographs tell a story by capturing a moment in time. In this series, I am asking some of my favourite wedding photographers to describe one of their cherished photographs. My inspiration is the book Photography Speaks: 150 Photographers On Their Art. This book features a number of iconic photographers who share some personal reflections about one of their photographs. Although I don't yet own a copy of the book, the idea captured my imagination and is the inspiration for a new series of guest blog posts with photographers.

This month, we're chatting with Lisa from Lisa O'Dwyer Photography. Lisa is originally from Pennsylvania, has travelled and lived all around the world and now lives in Ireland with her husband and children. Here is one of her favourite bridal images that she took at a recent wedding.

"The reason I like this photo is because I think it captures the couple's personalities and the relationship they have together perfectly. They are a fun people and I like how the groom is teasing the bride by tickling her and then going to play at chomping down on her cheek. I like how they interact with each other and play together. I can't recreate this pose and lighting for another couple. I feel that this photo is unique to the couple that has been captured.

The sun was low in the sky and so we got the lovely backlit "California" style lighting. I LOVE to get this kind of lighting in portraits. It's simply magical and worth waiting for.

The way I approach creating the couple's portraits is to find some great light and background, then to let them interact naturally with each other while I snap away. If they start to get stiff or awkward at getting their photo taken, I joke around and generally embarrass myself to get a laugh. I find that being a Yank is to my advantage because people like to laugh at my accent and the weird stuff I come up with. I direct them a bit because I find people generally need this for me to get artistic portraits. I've found that when I have had my own picture taken, I've needed the direction too. I want the photographer to have an artistic vision of what they want and to help me get into that vision by giving me some direction.

For the photographs I create, I want them to look artistically composed, but natural, with a couple who feels beautiful and looks like they're having fun and enjoying this moment in their lives. Time passes by so quickly and it's so important to document our lives with artistic photography that is natural and emotive. I think it's the exact opposite of studio-based photography which is contrived, artificially lighted, and stylised."

This is a beautiful image Lisa. Thanks for telling us more about how you interact with your subjects too - Now I want to see a video of you in action!

Make sure to check out Lisa's website and blog to see her varied portfolio and read about the other featured photographers in the series.