Background
I was born in Wales and grew up on a farm high up in the mountains of Carmarthenshire. My parents were dogged, hard working and passionate about farming, I, on the other hand was not! I knew from an early age that this way of life was not for me. After several years spent pen pushing in local government I finally found something I liked doing when I started pulling pints in a small pub. My gift of the gab and seemingly inoffensive personality meant I was able to chat to the punters about all things. I took this new found skill and set off for a year down under to travel Australia.
A bit more hair and a few less pounds
Towards the end of my time in Oz, I got a nice chunk of my tax back and chose to invest it wisely in my first camera, a Minolta Dinax 500si and my love of Photography began but more on that later. Not long after my arrival in Dublin I started working in a traditional pub in the heart of the city centre and spent 16 years pulling pints. I had been snapping away with the Minolta for a few years at this stage and started taking some images of Dublin which many commented on. After selling a few pictures I realised that I might have potential to earn a living from it and I began shooting weddings...and so, in 2005, Celtic Photography was born.
"A penny for them" Newport, Pembrokeshire, Wales
From little Acorns..
Fast forward a few years and I changed direction going full time into Commercial Photography. I joined the Kildare Chamber of Commerce, and that was the best decision I could have made. The help and support I received from my peers within the group was worth far more than the business I did.
On the job, Mondello Park, Kildare
My Own Personal Brand..oh and a Morris Commercial LC5 dating around 1953
Where to from here?
So this is me, and I used this new website as an example of establishing a brand. I've taken on a new logo, I've got my blessedly patient wife to take lots of images of me in different locations and I've spent a long time researching and establishing exactly what MY story is. I looked back to where I grew up, around where I live now, what my interests are when I'm not clicking the shutter, what my attitude is to the world around me and more beside. There's nothing quite so revealing as taking a good hard look at oneself.
A glimpse of my past
These images show me in and around my home in Wales. I'm very proud of my roots, love bragging about being Welsh whenever I get the opportunity, normally around the time of the six nations! My wife would tell you I get quite nostalgic and sentimental whenever I go home. I particularly love the image of me on the trailer as it reminds me of when I used to be the chief bale stacker at hay time...mainly because I couldn't drive a tractor and wasn't strong enough to lift the bales onto the trailer. Of course, its now mostly big bale sileage but I still get goose bumps when I smell the grass cooking in the hot summer sun.
A glimpse of the present
As a photographer, and one with a passion for landscape photography, you'll often catch me either up in the Dublin and Wicklow mountains or patrolling the beaches of the east coast. Anyone who knows me, knows that I'm a bit of a sports nut too. I was brought up on rugby, of course, but since I've lived in Dublin I've discovered a massive passion for Hurling. Whether sharing an apartment for ten years with a Tipperary native influenced me I'll let you decide, but I've been fortunate enough to attend 6 All-Ireland finals at this stage. Check out my blog when I give a blow by blow account of what its like to be a welsh hurling fan.
Of course, none of what you're reading here would have been possible without the incredible love and support of my beautiful wife, Yvonne. She's my rock. She's also from Tipp, I've no idea if this was a conscious decision on my part but it was certainly a lucky one.
and that, ladies and gentlemen is MY story. It's definitely an advantage understanding how to approach a client, determining their personal brand and knowing how to tell their story when you have gone through the process yourself.
The new logo designed by the amazing guys at wedomedia.ie
I love my job!