I’ve decided to move this blog back over to my main website. From now on I’ll be posting at http://www.dylanmcburney.com/blog so please update your newsfeeds as appropriate.

This particular blog has been great to maintain and I’ve had a lot of fun sharing with you some of the absolutely fantastic weddings I’ve photographed here in Ireland and elsewhere in Europe. I’ve shared some of my personal family history on here too and I’m sure in the years to come these photographs will come to mean more and more. Caroline is expecting baby number 2 and we’ll keep you all posted on how that goes too.

So there you have it – see you all over on the new blog (once a week – I promise!).

I spent much of August in France and for most of September I have been shooting some fantastic weddings here in Ireland. As it’s been a while since I posted some wedding photographs I thought I’d just share with you some of my favourites from my last five weddings.

As always, none of these moments were prompted, arranged, setup or fictionalised by the photographer. All the elements contained within are real – I was merely passing by…

Here we go!

“I think about photographs as being full, or empty. You picture something in a frame and it’s got lots of accounting going on in it–stones and buildings and trees and air–but that’s not what fills up a frame. You fill up the frame with feelings, energy, discovery, and risk, and leave room enough for someone else to get in there.” – Joel Meyerowitz

Here’s a few of my personal favourites from Tori and Steven’s wedding.

Victoria and Steven sent me these lovely words last week while I was in France:
“Hi Dylan,
Photos are amazing!!! We came in off the beach today in the off chance you’d have them ready, and hey presto, they are there! Absolutely stunning shots, some real special moments eternalised in film! We are both so so happy, you definitely were the best decision we made for the wedding as we now will have the most beautiful photo archive to enrich our nostalgia and memories of an amazing day!
Hope all’s well.
Tori and Steve”

Someone asked me recently if I thought that my photographs were in some way a form of self-portrait. Which I thought was funny because the boy in this picture is also called Dylan! :D

For anyone wishing to contact me – please note that as of today I am travelling in France and will be away from the studio until Thursday 11th August. I will respond to all emails and phonecalls on my return.

What a pleasure it was for me to cover this one having photographed Kathryn’s sister’s wedding at Larchfield Estate back in September. It was wonderful to see so many friendly faces once again.

Although people and relationships are the focus of my photojournalistic approach to wedding photography, I consider light, colour and form to be equal ingredients. So with the guests enjoying the beautiful summer weather during the reception it was fantastic to have the challenge of taking pictures in the strong directional light at the front of the Museum.

It was great to be able to document this important part of the day rather than going off into Botanic Gardens for some posed pictures. With Kathryn and Brian deciding to forego posed photos altogether, my role, as ever, was to seek out the real gestures, expressions, glances, whispers, and colour and form that make a wedding day so special.

These are my favourite photographs from the day.

Kathryn sent me these lovely words after seeing her pictures:

“Hi Dylan,
We just wanted to take a moment out of honeymooning to thank you. Already friends and family have been in touch & there is a lot of talk about ‘beautiful moments’
You captured the feel of the museum and how special it was as a wedding venue.
We can’t wait to see them all, thanks so much,

K&B”

One of the great things about shooting wedding photographs for a living is the people you meet. And sometimes you discover that you may have actually met them before in a previous life! As it turns out Ricky and I traced the same path through primary school, grammar school and university. We grew up together just streets apart. Yet, as he was four years my junior our paths didn’t actually cross until Laura and Ricky booked me for their wedding.

So it was a real pleasure for me to photograph the wedding for them. As I looked around the room later in the day I saw some familiar faces. Their ceremony took place at St Comgalls in Antrim followed by a reception at the Old Inn in Crawfordsburn, County Down.

Here’s a few of my personal favourites:

Laura sent me these lovely words after coming back to Northern Ireland and seeing the images:
Hi Dylan
Ricky and I are just back from honeymoon this evening and I can’t stop looking at the pictures!!! I’m going to sound like all the other brides when I say that your black suit must become your Harry Potter invisibility cloak after a few minutes as I just don’t remember you being where you were! And again when I say we are reliving it all (and the stuff we missed) when poring over the pictures. There are some real gems in there. The ones with my Granny are just beautiful and bring tears to my eyes. I will treasure them forever. Thanks again for your expert eye and sense of anticipation.

Speak soon,
Laura & Ricky

I love photographing weddings at Belfast Castle. My sister married here in 2007 and the earliest photograph we have of my Mum is from a wedding here in the early 1960′s where she was a little flowergirl – so it’s a place that holds great memories for me.

Tara and Mark had their wedding ceremony at the Castle and then relaxed in the gardens with guests before heading down to La Mon Country Club for the evening reception.

Tara sent me a lovely email after seeing her pictures online:
“Hi Dylan

We sat down together to look through the slideshow and the photos brought back so many memories from moments we had forgotten (or missed on the day!), every time we look at the photos of the speeches we remember what was being said and laugh all over again.
You really captured the story of our day, we cant thank you enough.
Many thanks again,
Tara & Mark”

Here’s just a few of my own favourites from the first part of their day: