|
Originally Posted by Bettd
Pat and me got an old-timer from Kilkenny who had been a Press Photographer, and a top professional in his day , because he's retired and just wants something to do , and wants to help young couples get married traditionally in Church in the midst of this recession, because he remembers going through all of it himself and wants to help . And he travelled here to our wedding, Home, Church, Hotel and all in Dublin, charged no travel expenses, gave us two CD's full of the most beautiful photos you could imagine , quietly used the Top Gear in film and digital photography equipment and cameras like the expert he is - a guest remarked that a fellow like that could do it in his sleep ! We asked him how long he had been a photographer. He was a Photographer and a Journalist on a provincial newspaper called The Munster Express in Waterford , altogether a Professional Photographer for forty-four years .
And we got an album too, basic twenty 10X8 photo enlargements, it's gorgeous - but he gave us an address to of a firm called Miniphoto here in Dublin where we could keep adding pages to our album as we liked and as we could afford, plus the address of his professional lab, LSL, just to mention his name, we have added another twenty already , at cost :-)
All in all we had quoted £ 2000 for the fabulous job this old Pro did for us for 500 Euro all told, yes, FIVE HUNDRED , he wanted 600 but settled for 500 Euro up front - and he even gave us a personal present a couple of months afterwards of Pat and me in a beautiful photo he took of Pat placing the ring on my finger at the altar, to a BIG 10x12 inches size in a nice frame - FOR FREE, because he took a liking to us as we did to him, and I'm having him back for when my first is born for the christening when he is to do a huge 16X20 wall portrait for our sitting room of baby, framed and all, and he promised that for less than rwo hundred .
All and all, this old Pro ( sorry for calling you ' old' , Michael ! ) , was a God send, he even attended here at the house as me and my bridesmaids were getting ready, he produced some funny shots too, me in curlers and all, but he captured everything of our wedding day, absolutely everything, and he was working quietly all the time through the reception until he had to go and take the train back to his home in Kilkenny , and didn't charge us for that either !!!
He kept quietly taking the photos like the expert he is all through, we have a wonderful pictorial record from start to finish. He DID insist on posing and taking both our families and us in traditional groups, but we didn't even notice much, and he made sure they were all taken, the traditional photos, before anybody had a drink ! He wouldn' t touch a drink himself all through the day - and it only took him 20 minutes to take as many family groups, again expertly, posed to perfection, I love the skin tones he brought out in me too . We are thrilled with those groups , so are all our friends and guests, we never saw anything quite like it .
A Pro Photographer to his fingertips , a gentleman and a scholar as Pat observed, quiet but amusing, witty, even funny . And all for a mere 500 Euro , we felt like we were robbing the man, but he said he was delighted to be of service as it gives him something to do for the day now that he's semi retired. We just simply can't recommend Michael McGrath of Kilkenny enough , that's him, just google that, Michael McGrath, Photographer, Kilkenny City, and you will thank your lucky stars. He goes anywhere in Ireland just for the day out, Thanks again , Michael, if you ever chance to read this . Bettd xxx
|