Clarke Construction Ltd

A Case Study

The Composition

I was contacted by Colin Clarke from Clarke Construction Ltd who wanted to gather a collection of images and video of a few different properties that he had worked on for a new website. The key was to capture the magnificient detail and spec of each house he had worked on...


The Photoshoot

This was one of the most satisfying photoshoots we have done as we got to photograph some amazing properties all over north Dublin. Colin was anxious to try and get the best images he could as he was very proud of the work he had done on these houses and with good reason. There were ten houses in all and the fact he wanted video as well meant we had to collaborate with our friends over at Frame-It Productions to try and organise suitable times and dates that suited everyone, causing the client as little disruption as possible. The project ran over the summer months so it inevitably meant that repeat visits would be in order.


We were blessed with a good spell of weather which helped immensely but the key was to get the right light to really bring out the best in each of the houses. The first house was actually in Ranelagh so not north Dublin at all, and was a magnificient Georgian house. Colin had built a beautiful extension for the client, which blended perfectly and complemented the old style of the house. The owner was very happy with the fully glazed extension that allowed the sunlight to stream into the property.

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The beautiful all round glazing allows the light to flood in.

The next job was a really interesting property as the whole house had been previously renovated by Colin but this time the client wanted an attic conversion added. The attic space afforded amazing views over the north of the city and the job featured some interesting details including a beautiful round window on the landing, a z style sliding door that allowed him to install a toilet in a very confined space and a gorgeous open plan ensuite bathroom in the bedroom. Very chic!

The next house was another extension and downstairs refurbishment. Again, Colin created a beautifully styled space with masses of natural light. The gorgeous doors installed were a fine feature and the client had also engaged the services of a landscape designer to make the most of the garden space. Made for a very pleasurable shoot. One of the key ingredients to great architectural photography is making the most of the leading lines to draw the viewers eye through the image. In jobs like this, there are stunning straight lines everywhere which lend themselves perfectly to stunning images. One such feature were the specialist storage presses Colin built under the window. Some other images below really show this off.


The beautiful all round glazing allows the light to flood in.

The next property was one of my favourites, I'm not saying I wouldn't live in any of these properties given half a chance but this one stood out because of the innovative way Colin moved the downstairs upstairs and vice-versa. As the house is built on the side of a hill it allowed the home owner to drink in the fabulous views over Howth and Dublin Bay. It also allowed them to get the evening sun that streamed in from the lovely garden space outside.


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Stunning light streams into the upstairs living space

There were two or three more properties including a presbytery which provided some interesting challenges as the main feature Colin had worked on here was the roof so he wanted to show off this detail as much as he could. There was also a full house refurb and extension in Sutton which had an unique full length window installed that mirrored the shape of the extension, a nice feature.


A roof and a window!

As we worked our way around the very properties, a pattern started to form. The quality of Colin's work was apparent for all to see and it was really important to take a step back and really soak in the detail of his work. This wasn't property photography for an estate agent, this was all about detail and quality. This was no more evident than on the last house we photographed in Clontarf. A truly stunning Georgian house on four floors which had received a full refurb and a huge extension on the rear of the property that was incredible. I spent the best part of 6 hours photographing every inch of the house, making sure every last detail was captured and the results were worth it.

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Archtecture and Photography in perfect harmony

I was also aware that most of these houses would benefit from being seen in evening light, you know the "golden hour" that us photographers go on about all the time. The whole point of having the beautiful glazing in all these properties is to take advantage of the light when it's there so I returned to a couple of the houses in late evening to capture Colin's work at a different time of the day.


All in all this was a very satisfying project and I'm delighted that Colin was really happy with the results he got. As a builder featured on RTE's Room to Improve, the quality of his work is second to none so it was important that my architectural photography reflected that....I'm happy it did.

Results from the Darkroom