James Stokes Photography

  • Portraits
    • Senior Instagram
  • Weddings
  • Commercial
  • Contact
    • Senior Portraits
    • Lifestyle Portraits
    • Weddings
    • Commercial
  • Clients
  • Journal
    • Seniors
    • Lifestyle
    • Newborns
    • Press
    • Personal
    • For Photographers
    • Weddings & Engagements
Menu
  • Portraits
    • Senior Instagram
  • Weddings
  • Commercial
  • Contact
    • Senior Portraits
    • Lifestyle Portraits
    • Weddings
    • Commercial
  • Clients
  • Journal
    • Seniors
    • Lifestyle
    • Newborns
    • Press
    • Personal
    • For Photographers
    • Weddings & Engagements

North Central Wisconsin Senior & Portrait Photographers James & Katie Stokes Located in Medford, Wisconsin // Ireland    

Tag Archives: Ireland

Ireland | VSCO Film 05

/

February 25, 2014

/ James Stokes

Irish Landscape Photography  Glendalough upper lake Irish Landscape Photography Irish Landscape Photography Irish Landscape Photography Irish Landscape Photography Irish Landscape Photography VSCO-FILM-05-ARCHETYPE-IRELAND-07 Irish Landscape Photography Ireland Travel photos Wicklow Mountain Ireland Photos  Saint Kevin's Church Wicklow Mountain Ireland Photos Wicklow Mountain Ireland Photos Irish Landscape Photography Powersc court waterfall Ireland photo Wicklow Mountain Ireland Photos VSCO-FILM-05-ARCHETYPE-IRELAND-38 Powerscourt waterfall Ireland photo Powersc court waterfall Ireland photo Ireland Travel Photos VSCO Film for Photographers

A goal of ours for 2014 is to share more of our personal life and travel photos on our blog. We thought we would start with our 2012 trip to Ireland.

While staying just outside Dublin at the Louis Fitzgerald, Katie and I rented a car and took to the roads. Mind you it was the opposite side of the road and the stick for the manual car was in my left hand and the roads were nearly half the size as they are is the US, but we survived and have quite a few stories to tell.

At the time, Joren, now two, was just five months old and we weren’t about to leave him behind and miss out on all the fun, so we took him along much like our camera gear and he lived on our backs.

When we weren’t getting lost driving around in circles and listening to the nice British man’s voice on the GPS, we were taking in the view up and down the Irish coast. One of our favorite stops was in the Wicklow Forest – a place called Glendalough, meaning “glen of two lakes.” There a monastic settlement founded in the 6th century by St. Kevin still stands alongside an aging cemetery filled with lichen covered Celtic Crosses.

Not far from Glendalough is Powerscourt Waterfall – the highest waterfall in Ireland at 121 meters high.  Water just so happens to be my element and I absolutely love photographing and playing in rivers. I really must invest in some underwater equipment at some point so these two loves of mine can come together.

On the west side of the Island we visited the city of Limerick in the province of Munster. There we toured King John’s Castle; I just so happen to be descended from John Lackland King of England – who truthfully wasn’t the greatest man to have ever lived. We also visited Galway where were saw the Cliffs of Moher. Katie captured a photo of Bunratty Castle in County Clare, Ireland as we drove by.

Being of Irish Ancestry and also a history buff, every turn felt like a new adventure, and looked like it was straight from the movie Braveheart (in fact some of the scenes were shot in the Wicklow Mountains). I was surprised to see so much open space and farmland there were sheep and beef cattle on nearly every field we saw. We were fascinated to discover that there were no mosquitoes on the island so residents would leave their windows open without screens.

 There is something about visiting a ruin that is older the United States itself that makes you realize how very short our time on earth is. One of the pubs we ate at was over 1000 years old! There are likely spots in Wisconsin that people have never stepped on before. If you haven’t guessed, Katie and I can’t wait to go back, however next time we hope to bring back many more photographs.

* All images were edited with the New VSCO Film 05 Presets

Personal / Ireland, VSCO / Comment

Like A River

/

April 12, 2013

/ James Stokes

When I was a little lad, as my grandfather would call me, I dreamed of being the next Ansel Adams. I loved photographing landscapes. I saw my grandfather painting them and they adorned our house. A few even hung in my room, birthday gifts I received when I was six. They were of the African Savannah featuring lions chasing their prey. Years later, my room would be filled with similar images of big cats. Little did I know, my family crest, which is also apart of my logo, was in fact an English Lion. Anyway, I photographed the Utah/Wisconsin landscapes as best as a 8 year old could with a point and shoot 120 film camera. It produced 5×5 photo booklets when printed at the local food-mart. I have boxes of these silver-hinged things. Most of the images in them appear to be blurry or out of focus, but everyone has a shaky beginning at something, especially photographers.

Eventually I upgraded and 35mm and Kodak T-Max 400 film became my friend. My mother took me to a camera store on main street in Stevens Point once, long since closed, – she recalled how I was like a kid in a candy store. I was hooked.

From then on, it was what I simply spent my time doing. It was an expensive hobby, but my family quickly appreciated the convenience of having a pint-sized photographer in their midst. My grandmother, who turned 83 today, might be the only person who would much rather go without having her picture taken. Growing up the only time we ever were photographed professionally was for school and the church directory. Frankly, we never would have been able to afford a family portrait otherwise. Olan Mills did a great job of capturing my mother’s big hair and square shoulders, not to mention my braces and square glasses. Yes, I was a true nerd. Thankfully the headgear stayed home and I was introduced to contacts. Nevertheless, sports were painful and photography seemed an odd match because I was nearly blind without vision correction.

If I could have found a way to make a living traveling the world and photographing creation I would have. National Geographic photographer was also near the very top of my “Future Dream Job” list. Nearly a year ago, my wife and I photographed a Destination Wedding in Dublin, Ireland. We arrived early and traveled across the small island in a small rental, which I learned to drive promptly after stepping off the plane. Ireland was something I had promised Katie when we first got married and within five years I had kept my end of the bargain. Husband points for me. Regretfully, I didn’t take nearly enough photographs. I don’t think I ever would have been happy with just 2000 images from a 1 week trip to Europe, but that just gives me another reason to go back in the future.

2012 was one of the greatest years of my life and with us being literally hours away from becoming parents again, I begin to look back – when really I should be looking ahead. Where will the future take us? Only God knows the answer to this question and I put my trust in it, but I cannot help wonder where our journey is going to take us. One of my favorite verses is Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

While I might not be ‘Ansel Adams’ of a National Geographic Wildlife Photographer, I am not disappointed in the least because God’s plans are so much greater than my own.

“May what I do flow from me like a river, no forcing and no holding back, the way it is with children.” –  Rainer M. Rilke

 

I leave you with the Wicklow Mountains.

 

f. 16 24mm 1/80sec ISO 400  Wicklow Mountains National Park Photo of River

Personal / Faith, Ireland, Landscapes / 1 Comment

Philip & Eadaoin {Trinity College – Dublin Ireland Wedding}

/

February 6, 2013

/ James Stokes

Katie and I had the privilege of traveling to Dublin, Ireland this past June to photograph Philip & Eadaoin’s Irish-American destination wedding at Trinity College followed by an intimate reception at Leixlip Manor in Kildare, Ireland.

From the vintage trolley, to the groom’s cravat, this wedding blends old-world class with new world traditions and style. Half of the guests at the wedding were American, which allowed for a great fusion of both Irish and American nuptial tradition and celebration. We were fortunate enough to photograph the bride and groom inside one of the many halls on Trinity’s campus.

Philip is from Wisconsin and Eadaoin is from just outside Dublin. Both currently are working on the Ph.Ds in Physics at the University of College Dublin, however, they met by chance at MIT here in the states . Upon one of Eadaoin visits to the US, she attended her first wedding. This led to the couple renting a trolley for the transportation of the bridal party from the center of Dublin to the countryside Manor, where guests and family were waiting with champagne and crocket. Guests partied through the night in Irish fashion. A five course meal was served along with elegant hors d’œuvre and traditional Irish drink into the early hours of the morning. Their day was filled with eloquent speeches, impromptu love songs, a little rain for good luck, and a gay pride parade for a splash of the unforgettable. Ireland, with all its history and identifiable cultural traditions, made Ireland the ideal emerald backdrop for Philip and Eadaoin’s nuptials. Dreaming of a destination wedding?


Destination Wedding
Destination Wedding Photographer Destination Wedding Photographer
Wisconsin Destination Wedding Photographer
Wisconsin Destination Wedding Photographer
Wisconsin Destination Wedding Photographer
Wisconsin Destination Wedding Photographer
Trinity College Wedding Dublin Ireland
Trinity College Wedding Dublin Ireland
Trinity College Wedding Dublin Ireland
Trinity College Wedding Dublin Ireland
Trinity College Wedding Dublin Ireland Trinity College Wedding Dublin Ireland
Trinity College Wedding Dublin Ireland
Trinity College Wedding Dublin Ireland
Trinity College Wedding Dublin Ireland
Trinity College Wedding Dublin Ireland
Trinity College Wedding Dublin Ireland
Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug
Trinity College Dublin Ireland Wedding Trinity College Dublin Ireland Wedding Trinity College Dublin Ireland Wedding Trinity College Dublin Ireland Wedding Trinity College Dublin Ireland Wedding Bride standing at the bottom of a long staircaseIrish Bride at Trinity CollegeIrish Bride Photo Bride and Groom kissing
Downtown Dublin with Bride and Groom Kissing near Trinity College

Leixlip Manor and Gardens - Exclusive Kildare Wedding
Leixlip Manor and Gardens - Exclusive Kildare Wedding
Irish Food
Leixlip Manor and GardensLeixlip Manor and Gardens
Leixlip Manor and GardensLeixlip Manor and Gardens Irish Wedding
Leixlip Manor and Gardens
Leixlip Manor and Gardens
Leixlip Manor and Gardens Wedding
Irish Manor Wedding
Irish Manor Wedding
Wisconsin Groom Irish Bride Wedding
Irish Wedding Food Ideas photo
Irish Wedding Food Ideas photo
Irish Wedding Food Ideas photo
Irish Music at Wedding
Cultural Irish Wedding In Dublin
Cultural Irish Wedding In Dublin
Wisconsin Travel Photographers to Ireland
Wisconsin Travel Photographers to IrelandWisconsin Travel Photographers to Ireland
Ceremony: College Chapel – Trinity College Dublin  (http://www.tcd.ie/Chaplaincy/chapel.htm)
Reception: Leixlip Manor and Gardens in Leixlip,Co. Kildare, Ireland   (http://www.leixlipmanor.com/)
Wisconsin Destination Wedding Photographer
Wedding / Destination Wedding, Ireland, Wedding / 1 Comment

© 2019 James Stokes Photography // Wisconsin Husband & Wife Wedding & Portrait Photographers // Weddings // Engagements // Seniors  // Lifestyle // Newborns // Medford // Wausau  // Stevens Point // Eau Claire // Green Bay // Madison // Milwaukee // Chicago // Minneapolis //