Author: dermotsullivan

I love being a Gougane Barra Wedding Photographer! Everything a couple needs is right there… The ancient historic location, St. Finbarr’s Oratory Church, the beautiful lakeside setting and the fairy tale forestry nearby, not to mention the Gougane Barra Hotel, which is situated 5 minutes from the famous wedding venue.

I have even photographed marriage proposals and engagement shoots at Gougane Barra. I have photographed weddings there in bright sunshine, during a hailstorm, when the grounds were flooded and when the lake was frozen.

Intimate Micro Weddings and Elopements at Gougane Barra

A wedding ceremony in St. Finbarr Oratory, as the church at Gougane Barra is called, holds around 45 to 50 people comfortably, and is perfect for small family weddings and short wedding days. I have photographed elopements with 4 people and marriage proposals with two people there as well as full family weddings.

West Cork Lakeside & Forest Wedding Photography

When you have finished your Gougane Barra wedding ceremony, there is a short walk you can take around the lake to take beautiful bride and groom and wedding party photos. Finally, I bring you to a point just outside the gate to capture a classic photograph of yourselves with the lake and the famous church behind you.

Best Wedding Photo Locations at Gougane Barra

Most couples who get married at Gougane Barra also want to have some wedding photos taken in the beautiful ancient national forest park nearby. It is a short drive to the forest and you have to pay €5.00 for each car that you want to bring through the barrier. The park is huge, but I know the best and most accessible locations. The forest has pathways flanked by tall pine trees and has a timeless atmosphere, perfect for romantic wedding photographs.

Gougane Barra Hotel Weddings

Cork City Intimate Wedding Photographer | Dermot Sullivan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are 15 of the best Cork wedding photographs which received an award from the Wedisson International photography competition in 2024…

Award Winning Cork Wedding Photography

Why are these the best wedding photographs?

So, why do I think that these photographs are my best of 2024? Well, I describe my wedding photography style as a mixture of directed and documentary and I think that this selection show that off best. 

I spend time on the wedding morning doing classic portraits of the bride and her parents and bridesmaids and then before the ceremony I do the same with the groom and his parents and groomsmen. 

This covers what I would classify as the “must have” photographs, (click here to see a selection of family photographs) and that allows me to work more instinctively for the rest of the day, looking for connections and unique moments that capture the unique essence of that day. (click here to see some Real Wedding moments)

Later in the day, usually after dinner when it’s dark, I like to try some creative and experimental photographs with off camera flash (click here to see some creative night shots)

If you are planning to get married in 2025 or 2026 and you would like to have a chat about your wedding plans and how I would approach your day, contact me here… 

Cork Wedding Photographers New Equipment For A New Season

I started 2024 wedding season with a new Nikon camera system, the style is called Mirrorless, and it allows you to see the image in the viewfinder and make any exposure adjustments before you take the photograph. It’s basically a game changer

The camera also automatically finds and focuses on your subjects eye, which is a little bit like magic and makes the process of taking wedding photographs a whole lot faster.

According to the stats, I uploaded over 50,000 wedding images for my couples to see this year, which means I took around a quarter of a million photographs in total, an average of around 5000 per wedding, which is a big leap on previous years. 

I have a friend who photographed weddings in the 1960’s, and he did it on three rolls of film with 12 exposures each, 36 photographs per wedding in total. But wedding photography on film used to be particularly static, almost Victorian really, where as now it is fluid and much more creative.

Click here to see the wedding photographs Cork Brides like best

My Best Cork Wedding Photographs of 2024

Please allow a few moments for Small Wedding & Elopement Photographer images to load

The 3 Hour Wedding

I started to photograph small intimate weddings when the Covid restrictions would only allow 25 or 50 guests and there was no option to go to a reception afterwards. 3 hours of photography coverage was enough to cover everything, and I found that I really liked doing them, so I kept them on as an option when the restrictions were lifted.

Elopement Photography

Some people refer to small weddings as elopements, but elopements tend to have very few people there, sometimes just the bride and groom, the celebrant and the photographer. I have often been the witness too and the couple have asked a passer-by or the hotel coordinator to be the other witness!

Intimate Wedding Photography

A lot of couples don’t want to have the huge wedding experience, with 150+ guests and photography and videography all day. With the popularity today of Civil Ceremonies rather that Church Weddings, there is a trend now for weddings in held in restaurants or on farms and family homes where the photography of the main elements of the day are enough for the couple. 

Short Wedding Day Photographs

I like to arrive about 30 minutes before the ceremony is due to begin and start with some photographs of the groom and his party. Then I move on to where the bride is waiting and take some portraits of her with her family and bridesmaids.

The ceremony takes around 30 minutes and couples often have a greeting line with their guests afterwards. A lot of photographs are taken during this period when there is lots of movement and emotion, especially during the brides entrance, the readings, the vows, the newly married couple’s exit and the congratulations from families and friends.

After the Wedding Ceremony

Afterwards the guests will head to the drinks reception and I will gather the two families for the formal family photographs. This takes about 20 minutes to complete and then the families can relax while I take more casual photos of the couple and their guests enjoying the party.

When I have about 40 minutes left of the 3 hours, I will take the bride and groom and the wedding party off for some photographs and I will finish off with some romantic location photographs of the bride and groom together.

At the end, I grab any last photographs the couple would like with family and friends and let everybody get on with the party and dinner.

I will deliver a “Sneak Peek” selection to my couple within 48 hours and their full set of edited images will be ready in around a month.

I have added 60 photographs from a total of 430 edited images that I delivered to my couple

Click here to see my Best of 2023 Wedding Photographs

Click here to see my Winter Weddings in Ireland Blogpost

Small Wedding & Elopement Photographer for Cork and Kerry

Please allow a few moments for the Best Wedding Photographs of 2023 to load

After the craziness of 2022, when we were still catching up with all the weddings the were postponed and rearranged due to Covid, 2023 had an air of normality about it. 

Guest numbers were back to normal, dance floors were full and greeting lines with guests after the ceremony were back in fashion. The only thing still missing is the sign of peace handshake during the church wedding ceremonies. Maybe that will return in 2024.

I photographed most of my weddings in Cork again, with the occasional trip to Kerry. Fernhill House Hotel in Clonakilty was the venue I photographed in most, followed by The Maryborough and Dunmore House Hotel. 

Civil ceremonies are catching up on Church ceremonies and will probably overtake them in the next few years and outdoor wedding ceremonies are increasingly popular.

I went to The Blasket Centre, The Aghadoe Heights in Killarney and  The Walter Raleigh in Youghal for the first time this year and I’m looking forward to revisiting them when I can.

I received 12 Wedisson International Photography Awards, some of which are featured below.

I’ve added a 3 hour wedding package for smaller weddings and elopements to my list and it is becoming popular with couples who don’t want a full day’s coverage.

I’ve also bought my first mirrorless camera which I will be using when I get started again in February. Come back this time next year to see if it has made much of a difference to my style of photography.

I had a very difficult job picking this end of year selection. I wouldn’t call these my actual favourites as there are loads of photographs that I am really proud of, but they would mean more to me and the people in the photographs that to someone unconnected with the families. You can see those photographs in the family gallery link at the bottom of this post.

So, I have tried to choose wedding images that work without any connection to the people in the photographs. Some were structured and directed, particularly the backlit night shots, but many were captured on the fly as things were happening around me. The god of photography smiled on me as I pressed the shutter and everything fell into place!

I’d like to thank all the brides and grooms that trusted me to photograph their most important day and I’m looking forward to working with lots of great couples at fantastic venues in 2024.

Click here to see the wedding photographs Cork brides like best…

Fun Family Photographs…

Best Cork and Kerry Wedding Photographs of 2023

Ballyseede Castle is a luxury wedding venue located just outside Tralee in Co. Kerry and it is a fantastic location for a wedding photographer in Kerry to find themselves working at. It was the perfect venue for Claire and Liam’s Elegant Ballyseede Castle Black Tie Wedding.

Ballyseede Castle Civil Marriage Ceremonies

Ballyseede Castle dates from 1721, but it has been thoroughly modernised with the addition of a new accommodation wing and a beautiful orangery, a glass structure where you can have your drinks reception after your church wedding or a civil marriage ceremony. Humanist and Spiritualist wedding ceremonies can be held in the hotel’s original dining hall or outside in the manicured gardens. Ballyseede is one of the best outdoor wedding venues in southern Ireland.

Documentary Style Wedding Photography

My photographic style is a mixture of documentary and directed photography and my approach is to work out a timeline and a schedule with each couple that fits in with their vision for their day.

This Kerry wedding venue is big enough for the bridal party and the grooms party to get ready in the hotel without bumping into each other before the ceremony and there are lots of places to do a first look if the wedding couple want to do one.

At Claire and Liam’s wedding, I was able to move between the fun of the bridal prep to the guy’s pre-ceremony visit to the bar and back again. I could to photograph both teams getting ready and have time for more personal family portraits on both sides before the 2pm ceremony began. 

I always schedule time before the ceremony the get these important legacy family photographs. Everybody looks their absolute best just before the ceremony begins and it saves lots of valuable socialising time at the drink’s reception in the afternoon.

Irish Wedding Ceremony Photography

During a wedding ceremony, whether in a church or a civil setting, I know where to position myself in advance of each element so as to capture the events as they unfold. There are no “take twos’ ! Claire and Liam had readings, a traditional hand fasting, an exchange of rings and the signing of the register before they rocked back down the aisle.

After the ceremony, everybody filed past and congratulated Claire and Liam and then made their way to the drinks reception. I gathered both families and we went into the front drawing room to the formal family photographs. These are possibly the most important and the boring photographs of the day for any wedding couple, but if you have everybody that you need in place, you can fly through these in 15 to 20 minutes.

Wedding Speeches and Wedding Sparklers

The next part of the day flew by! I took shots of the wedding guests in the orangery, dodged the showers to bring Claire and Liam out into the gardens for some couple photos, shot the wedding cake and the dining room and then photographed the wedding party having a quiet drink in the bar while the guests were being seated for dinner. 

Claire and Liam were led through a cheering crowd into the dining room by a saxophonist. They decided to have their speeches before dinner was served so that the speakers could enjoy their meal. 

After dinner, when it got dark, we gathered around 20 guests and did some wedding sparkler photographs followed by some creative night time photographs at the beautiful temple in the gardens.

After that, all that was left was to hit the dancefloor for the first dance and then get everybody to party on for the rest of the night.

Click here to see my Favourite Kerry Wedding Venues…

Click here to see my Winter Weddings in Ireland Blogpost…

Claire and Liam’s Elegant Ballyseede Castle Black Tie Wedding

Visit Ballyseede Castle