Music » Ronan Palliser Photography

“You are my sunshine…”

Sep 012011

If I’m photographing someone’s wedding I’ll ask them if they are having any flowergirls or pageboys and I’m always delighted to hear them answer yes. As I’ve said many times before, from a photographic point of view at least, kids are great at weddings. Who else would try for a sneaky iced bun having just put on her dress, for instance? Last weekend Ailish was playing the double role of flowergirl and bride’s niece for Clodagh and Mike’s wedding in Galway (actually he was Michael for the wedding, but I’ve known him for years as Mike) and she was as cute as they come. She also was kind enough to cooperate with me on an extra special treat for the bride and groom, thanks to her beautiful singing voice and a very appropriate song for the day. This will probably be the cutest thing you’ll hear all day.

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A family affair at Shakira

Music 2 Responses »

Dec 172010

I was at the Shakira concert last night in the O2 in Dublin – a near sell-out as it turned out, and a very enjoyable show – and I chanced bringing along my camera. As in, my proper camera. I usually don’t, for fear that it’ll be taken off me on the way into the venue, but last night two things in my favour prompted me to bring it. Firstly, I was parking at the O2, so if I was asked to leave it outside, I could take it back to the car. Secondly, my sister is in Shakira’s band, so I thought that connection, and the VIP badge that resulted, might work to my advantage should a steward take an interest in my photography. As it happened, a steward did take an interest, and rather than use excuses, I stopped photographing. I’d got the shots I wanted by then anyway. Well, all but one. And the one I got with a little bit of stealth. The story, and more shots, below.

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The Top 1% – Lighting a choir

Music No Responses »

Nov 202010

The final post of my Top 1% mini-series caused me to deliberate a little about which post I would choose. The one that narrowly missed out is the post that is about what is probably my favourite shot from all the shots on the blog, and it missed out in favour of a shot that was both the most enjoyable and the most terrifying to take at the same time. Because when you’re standing on a chair with 70-odd people eager to start their concert looking at you, willing you to take the photo, it’s a bit terrifying. And when you pull it off with a shot that you’re very proud of, it’s very enjoyable. And when one of your photographic heroes tweets subsequently about your photo – well, it just doesn’t get much better than that.

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Una & the Balkan Bears

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May 102010

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My sister Una was in Ireland this weekend (she is based in London) for the first tour of her new band “Una & the Balkan Bears“, and their Saturday night gig at the Mermaid Arts Centre in Bray was a chance for me to get to see them perform for the first time. And yes I may be biased, but I have to say they were brilliant. Not only was the music and singing brilliant, but it was great to see her take centre stage headlining a gig with her own group, and of course to get a couple of photographs of the occasion.

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Opening the show

Music 1 Response »

Mar 032010

A photographer will, I believe, naturally develop a style of photography over time that tends to reappear in most or all of his or her images. The ideal scenario is that the photographer becomes known for their style and that someone can look at an image and identify the photographer from it. In reality that will be an aspiration for all but a select few, but we can live in hope. From time to time though, by accident or design, it’s good to break out of the mould and create images that look a little different to what we normally produce.

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