Melissa Mannion Photography

2009-The Year in Review

Melissa — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 21:24:44 +0000

A little later than usual (I blame my trip to Nashville but more on that later…) I have completed my 2009 year in review highlights slideshow. It really was a fantastic year and I hope that my clients enjoyed the time we spent together as much as I did. I found it so difficult to narrow down my favourite shots of the year to just over one hundred- my first shortlist had 1,300 favourites!

There are so many photos that I had to reluctantly leave out- maybe I should do a directors cut
I want to thank my my two very talented assistant photographers, Mike Patterson and Angelo Mercone, who helped me throughout the year and who have photos included in this show. But mostly I would like to thank my wonderful brides and grooms of 2009 for allowing me the honour of witnessing and recording such a special day for them.

Drumroll please…

click here to view 2009 highlights slideshow

Thank you for veiwing and best wishes for 2010.

summer holiday

Melissa — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 16:36:23 +0000

I’m a bit late posting this but better late than never. I am over in the states at the moment on a little holiday. I’d like to say we are enjoying the summer sun but, alas, we are practically drowning in topical storm Danny- Oh Danny boy! We did have a few good days so I won’t complain. I hope you are all getting better weather back in Ireland now. I’ll be back at work during the first week of September- looking foward to a few weddings and catching up on the last couple of weddings I shot. When everything settles down I will post up some new favourite photos- I already have a few in mind.
In the meantime here are a few photos from used to be sunny New York:

making a splash in Mulranny

Melissa — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 19:07:21 +0000

Ok- the weather has not been great lately. Understatement. So, when the sun does grace us with its appearance there should be jubilant celebrations. Luckily I was fortunate enough to have a wedding party that did just that when the sun shone for us on the beach in Mulranny.
Kathleen and Anthony as well as their bridal party even went so far as to dip there toes into sea and do a bit of frolicking.

Hawking at Ashford Castle

Melissa — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 08:27:21 +0000

I am famously bad at redeeming vouchers. So, when I was given a voucher last September by my brother in law and his lovely wife to go on a hawk walk in Ashford Castle there were grave doubts that it would ever be redeemed. Seeing as I have a cousin over visiting from the states I thought it would be a good time to prove everyone wrong so off we went to Cong to see a man about a hawk.

I have to say it was a very cool present- the hawks were amazing to watch and to learn about. The guides at the school of falconry were incredibly pleasant and informative. Even Lily got fly the hawks- what an unusual experience for a six year old! Here are a few photos from the experience.

and one of Lily and I having tea after in the castle:

Thanks to Enda and Claire for such a fabulous afternoon!

sneak peek from yesterday’s wedding in Rosleague Manor

Melissa — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 10:36:37 +0000

Had a glorious day yesterday out in Rosleague Manor in Conemara with Suzanne and Shastri. The day couldn’t have been more beautiful and the setting was simply spectacular. I have not edited the photos yet but while I was organising and backing them up I came across this one and fell in love with it.

Suzanne had such an elegant and classic look and I think this photo really shows it off.

Here are two others from the same sequence:

Three of a kind- wedding three Mount Falcon

Melissa — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 12:44:16 +0000

And here is the last of my triple wedding weekend. The moring begain in Tracy’s parents beautiful house where the girls were busy getting all beautiful and cracking open the champagne. Tracy is lucky to have as a close friend one of the top wedding hair styists in Ireland, Martha Galvin. Martha did an amazing job on all the girls but really outdid herself with Tracy’s hair- a really unique and beautiful style.

Tracy’s dad drove her to the church in his own vintage car and he couldn’t have looked prouder- although it was unclear if he was more proud of his daughter or his car

The day was beautiful and Mount Falcon was a fairytale setting. I had great fun with the bridal party, its rare for the boys to be more into posing than the girls!

Once again my day was a pleasure and I am truly grateful to have been chosen to record such a special day for such a fantastic group of people.

Here are some of my favourite photos from the day:

Three of a kind- wedding two The Conemara Coast

Melissa — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 09:05:42 +0000

One of the things I love about what I do is repeat business. I don’t mean that in a financial way (although there is no denying that is good as well) but in the sense that I get to check back in with families over the years. Since I don’t advertise most of my business is through word of mouth and referals ensuring that I will be bumping into familiar people often.
Just over three years ago I photographed a fantastic wedding in Craughwell (if I have sent you a reciept they are the image on the top). I recently got to photograph the brides sister’s wedding- three years ago she was a bridesmaid and a week and a half ago she was the bride.
I think it adds a very personal feeling to the day when I have already met a lot of the guests and they know me and my work through the previous wedding.
I had a terrific time again with this couple- the girls were great fun and the boys were beautiful- oh wait, I got that the wrong way around! Natalie was not only a gorgeous bride but also a dynamo of energy with a thousand watt smile that just lit up the entire day.
And that is the most important accessory on the wedding day- not the dress, the shoes or the flowers…a big heartfelt smile full of joy and love.
Here are a few of my favourite shots from the day- click on the images below to see them larger:

Thank you so much to Natalie and Kieran, all the bridesmaids and groomsmen as well as the two (rather large) families for being so much fun to work with. To view the highlites slideshow click here

Three of a kind…wedding one- Ballynahinch Castle

Melissa — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 08:08:49 +0000

Last weekend I had my one and only triple wedding weekend for the year- something I try to avoid but somehow I manage to always book one weekend where I have three weddings. I can honestly say I was not looking foward to it as there was also a good bit of travel in between the three locations and due to the popularity of that particular weekend I was unable to call upon either of my usual assistants as they were off shooting their own weddings.
As it turned out, I needn’t have worried at all as I had three of the most easy going fantasticly loved up couples, the kind that truly make my job a pleasure.
I just finished editing the first of the three and would like to share a few of the photos. Meghan and Chris both hail from the mid-west in America and brought along nine of their closest family and friends to join them in their beautiful wedding in Ballynahinch Castle, Conemara.
After their unique and moving ceremony we had the quickest bride and groom photo shoot- a 14 minute tour that lead to some gorgeous (if I do say so myself!) photos.
The day was so intimate and special and by the end of it they made me feel like the unofficial 10th guest. Thank you so much for involving me in you very special day.

ps. in case you are wondering about the group shot- Meghan has a big interest in all things pirate!

To see a the highlites slideshow click here

click on the images below to see the full photos:

New album cover!

Melissa — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 09:13:20 +0000

Hello, the wonderful lab that I use for my albums has just introduced a new type of album cover that I love and think will be very popular. It is a photographic cover with a subtle matte laminitation over it which protects it. As the old saying goes a picture is worth a thousand words…

and here is what the inside looks like- I love the quality of both the printing and the album itself.

Big thank you to Sarah and Rob for allowing me to post these photos of their beautiful album!

The horses have arrived!

Melissa — Mon, 18 May 2009 22:21:55 +0000

I’ve been very anxiously awaiting the arrival of some of my friend’s horses who are having a bit of a holiday up at my house. Who knew that horses need holidays but apparently they do. So far just the first two have come up but later in the week Shannon, a yearling, will be arriving as well. I must say they really dress up the place. The evenings are so beautiful here with the last glow of the sun and the long shadows cast over the field so when I saw the two horses grazing in front of the chestnut trees I had to dash out with my camera. So beautiful!

Seeing double

and for any showjumping fans, here is a grandaughter of Cruising