Sorensen Piling On

THE COMPOSITION

The power of social media played a part in my securing this gig. I had just put up a post on LinkedIn regarding the job I had for done for Kildare County Council, shooting the installation of the steel girders for the new bridge that would span the River Barrow as part of the Athy Distribution Road. I was fortunate that Eoghan from Sorensen spotted the post and approached me about shooting a project they were working on in Killybegs in Co.Donegal. They wanted the project photographed and drone footage provided over a period of time showing the progress of the Pier rebuild.

THE PHOTOSHOOT

I know this part of the country pretty well having stayed in the vicinity on a number of occasions so I had no hesitation in accepting the offer from Sorensen. It's a beautiful part of the world, Killybegs harbour is Ireland's largest fishing port and this would be a pleasure to work on. I had received a brief from Eoghan as to what things he was specifically looked to have shot. I approached the excellent, Dave Kenny of Green Road Media, who I've collaborated with before to do the Drone work.

We were hamstrung slightly by the timing of when the specific part of the job would be happening. We had no wiggle room so would have to deal with whatever weather conditions we were dealt. As anyone who has visited this part of the country would know, the weather in these parts can be very harsh so we were very much in the laps of the Gods. We kept a close eye on things and with a couple of days to go it looked that we were in for dry weather albeit cloudy. More importantly, it was scheduled to be a calm day with little wind which meant the drone could get off the ground.

We met Eoghan on site around 10am and got a walk around first, he pointed out all the relevant areas they wanted shooting. He had done a lot of the preparation and made sure we had all the lads co-operation. Whats more, the site foreman was all too willing to help us with anything we needed. The concrete was due to be delivered around 11am and there was no hanging around. It sets quickly so there was one chance to get the shots needed. A working site like this, is often 'cluttered' so angles and points of view had to be strategic to try and make the images look useable or much as possible and branded clothing had to be clean wherever possible. A small boat was available for shooting from the water which offered up a different viewpoint of the different parts of the operation.

We spent a few hours on location shooting all things and all angles to try and get the best vantage point. The freshwater puddles made for great reflections, and the landscape couldn't have been more dramatic.