References for mikeb

Hazer

I was lucky to get a place at a workshop run by Mike Brown at the New Generation Camera Club studio in Dublin. For many years I had known and followed his work as an outstanding landscape photographer and so this was a side to his work I had not seen previously. He said he would challenge us on the day and he did. We did not use the studio lights really but shot only with the modelling lamp. A new experience and with the wonderful Lavina M as a model we had a great day. Thank you Mike and Lavina. Highly recommended.,

Alan T

I wish to, personally and professionally, thank Mike B for the Master Class he held today in the magnificent NGCC Studio, sincerely so.

This was also with his collaboration with the fabulous muse that is Lavina M.

I picked up and learnt so much from Mike, really innovative and thought provoking methods.

So many tips, techniques, craft and most importantly...ideas. From the first words he had with me to the last, from the first demonstration of his lighting techniques, his presentation ideas and his magnificent delivery on creating... his genuine passion for the visual...

He genuinely invited people into his craft making, allowing people to assist him in small ways, generously sharing his artistry and artisan methods. A gentleman above all.

It was a pleasure meeting Mike alone, but an honour to be gifted with his diligence and innovations to his mind set, imagery and craft.

Thank you so much Mike ...I will take away so much and use your mentoring to support my own visual creations....sincerely so.

LEnza

I had the chance to work with Mike recently at his studio in Cork while I was in Ireland.

We organized the shoot very quickly and I am so glad everything went smooth. He collected me from airport and we went to his studio right in the center of Cork city center.

Enjoyed my shoot with Mike from start to end. We worked on Wet Plates which was new for me and wow.. blow minding experience! I loved it. Observing the whole process was so interesting and fascinating. Taking the time, working slowly it is something I really enjoy. Wet plates results looked amazing!

Can’t wait to have the chance to work with I Mike again and, of course, 100% recommended to any models and creatives.

Thank you again Mike for the enriching experience! See you soon :)

KatyB (Katex)

Ive worked with Mike before and have used his studio in Cork plenty of times and i always look forward to my arrival!

Mike is ridiculously easy to get along with, hes laid back, interesting and most importantly he can have a good laugh! A day shooting with him flys by, watching the process in the dark room and scheming out how to create a pose that looks natural, but also is holdable for up to 10 seconds is such achallenging twist to my day job - i love it! Mike makes it as comfortable for the model as possible, and its clear he has respect and likes to work as a collaboration.

His skill is still mingboggling to me! To take just one shot took around 5 minutes of setting up, focusing, dashing into the darkroom with his chemicals, focusing and finessing, back into the dark and then plate is slotted into the camera.. He counts down and I stay as still as i possibly can. Once its taken he was kind enough to ask if wanted to see it be developed, so after each shot we took i was able to watch the magic happen.. and it was just that.. magic! We were so chuffed with a good 80% of what we created that day - and even on the one where i wiggled a little and something was off on his end, we decided to do it again and we clearly saw how we both improved the shot.. and thats what makes this type of photographry so great and special! Its clear its his passion and I was humbled to be a part of it again.

His communication before my arrival to Cork was spot on, he was helpful and gave me an idea of what style we would be trying to acheive and sent images of some ideas of clothing items to bring, was as understanding as ever when i needed to postpone (covid) and I learn so much when i work with him.

Highly recommended.. cant wait to be back!

Thanks Mike,

Katyb

Teila

I had my first time shoot with Mike and all I can say is just wow. He introduced me to a method called wet plate , he explained me all the details before we even started and he showed me all the progress of it and I just absolutely loved it.

Mike is very talented, respectful and very kind person and I enjoyed the shoot from the beginning to the end. Time went so fast as we had lots of fun and I definitely came out of this shoot with some new knowledge.

I would highly recommend Mike as he is such a lovely person knows exactly what is he doing as our results were just brilliant and I would definitely work with him again.

LucyH.

Second time I worked with Mike .

First time we did some amazing work that I never seen before. Wet plates. It was fascinating! I enjoyed watching the progress and see the results straight away.

Second time I worked as a model at Mike’s workshop. Met many amazing and lovely people. I was well looked after, atmosphere was relaxed , everyone was very friendly.

Time flew by and I really had nice time. Looking forward working with Mike again and I can highly recommend him for work.

Something About Olive

Had a really great shoot with Mike at the Platform 3 Studio in Cork. I didn’t know what to expect from shooting wet plate but it turned out to be so interesting and such a fun experience with Mike talking me through the whole process from start to finish. We chatted really easily throughout and communication prior to shooting was fantastic too. I think we ended up with some beautiful plates and I would definitely recommend working with him.

Bluu Sinn

This is was my first time working with Mike.

I worked with him on a interesting shoot on my Ireland tour.

Mike is so respectful and professional. So much talent. I enjoyed working with him and I hope I get to work with him again!

100% recommend!

You won’t regret working with him.

Lauren

Jynx

My second time working with Mike at his studio Platform 3 in Cork and heres to future shoots!

Mike has excellent pre-shoot comms, he is organised, provides detail and really useful info, which is key when touring. Professional, but also great banter!

As a person, he is funny, genuine and great to chat with. As a photographer, he is skilled (shooting wet plate is awesome) knows what he wants to achieve, how to make use of his space/set and provides brilliant lighting. Taking the time and energy to check everything is correct before taking the shot, his results speak for themselves.

Go to Cork and go shoot with Mike!

Highly recommended!

Misuzu

I had a fantastic shoot with Mike on my Ireland tour in October. It was arranged last minute and was only a very brief shoot but it was so much fun!

It was my first wet plate shoot and it was a fascinating process. Mike was happy to explain the mechanics of what he was doing as he went along and answer all of my questions.

Mike is so easy to get on with and shooting with him was a lot of fun! I can't wait until my next trip to Ireland so I can work with him again (hopefully for longer!!)

I definitely recommend working with him!

Mia Liberum

I don't know where to begin...Mike is such an amazing person! I was very flattered such a talented photographer wanted to fly me over for a wet plate photoshoot (always a cool experience in itself- I really enjoy seeing the photos develop on the plate), and the whole experience was even better than I could have imagined.

Mike is incredibly professional- his communication is definitely the best I've experienced with a photographer (he's clear, has good attention to detail but doesn't overload you with info, and always replies within a reasonable time frame), which is especially handy when you're travelling overseas and have a lot to organise. He's also professional in that he knows what he wants and how to get it- which makes my job a lot easier, and we got beautiful photos as a result!

He looked after me well, picking me up from the airport and making sure I was fed- we had plenty of breaks and lots of interesting conversation.

If you're lucky enough to get approached by Mike you'd be silly not to grab the chance!

Very highly recommended :) Thanks for everything!

Angharada

What can I say ! My second trip with Mike and I absolutely loved my time with him again! I could gush on for ages but I’ll keep it somewhat short and sweet ! Mike collected me from the airport and is so helpful when models are organising tours in the area of Cork, he also organised a fairly last minute workshop for ourselves (much appreciated) at this BEAUTIFUL historic house, oh my word, it was actually overwhelming! I think Mike has such a way of bringing creativity out of people and encouraging to think different to the usual, which I really appreciate and we are both on the same page here! He is so down to earth, and lives a life of authenticity which really reflects in his work- and I admire him so much ! True artist and genuinely passionate about what he’s capturing. My stay with them, like before, was absolutely wonderful, home from home and I felt so comfortable and looked after by the hospitality of Rita and Mike! Really, truly I feel like the luckiest human when I meet kind souls like these - and I am truly thankful that we shared a few days of adventuring, creativity and great conversation, and good food !! Highly, highly recommended if you get the chance to work with the lovely Mike !! - ALSO - very happy to hear news that one of Mike’s photos of me got accepted into an exhibition in the States! Yay! Thank you for everything x

EvyeniaKarapolous

Had an absolutely lovely shoot today with Mike. He was the pinnacle of professionalism in regards to clear and polite communication. We created beautiful images and he even provided transport and food! Highly recommended.

Kitty Quinzell

Mike helped me to arrange a studio day on my Irish tour, at his lovely studio Platform 3. The facilities were great, and though small there was a lot you could do with the studio space. Mike himself is a lovely, friendly and generous man.

I even had the honour of modelling for one of Mike's wetplate images which was such a fascinating process to be part of!

I hope to return next year :)

Pippa.

Mike really opened my eyes to a whole new style of photogaphy which I never done before on an old 1800s camera! I was well informed of the procedure and develpoment time, and even got to see the images produced in the dark room too!

I truly enjoyed the more thoughtful and relaxed but meticulous way of producing an image, it just made the image seem so much more precious than the several 1000's you can capture on digital.

Mike is that rare mix of both technician and artist, in the way he is incredibly methodical in how he sets up the image to absolute second as well as giving a story and creative interpretation into each image. It was brilliant working with you Mike, thank you!

KatyB (Katex)

On my Ireland tour Mike set up a studio day for me in Cork, and it was absolutely brilliant! He met me in the centre and helped me with my bags on the way to the studio. Hes a really friendly man and we ran through what photographers id be working with, what styles of shoots they normally go for and offered to grab me a coffee or lunch at any point throughout the day. He was there if any photographer needed help with lighting or if i had any questions. He's got a great sense of humour and i was also lucky enough to shoot with him at the end of my studio day. We were going to do a wetplate shot, his speciality. Unfortunately it didnt go exactly to plan.. but we gave it a go twice and his spirits didnt drop after the first, as he knows it can be difficult sometimes. We're planning to try it again later on in the year.

I cant thank him enough for inviting me to work with these creatives.. and i cant wait to come back and do it all again and especially.. Nail that wetplate shot!! :D

Thanks Mike, it was an absolute pleasure.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.*

KatyB

brunutty

I worked with Mike for the first time during my trip to Ireland. It was one of the most fascinating shoots I have done in a long time. It was so interesting to shoot onto wet plates. It was also a very relaxed shoot. Mike is easy to get along with and he also kindly hosted me for the night; where I felt comfortable and had everything I needed. I love the results from our shoot and I would highly recommend him to other models :)

PixiePie

Had pleasure to work with Mike doing wet plates photography.

I was in awe of his work.

Always such a pleasure to work with !

Angharada

I stayed with Mike for two nights which allowed us to shoot wetplates for the whole day in the studio and it was amazing ! It’s always hit and miss with this style but I thought we got sooo many hits! The first one we did was awesome, right off the bat. It was a lot of fun to wait for the results each time and I loved all the poses and ideas we created! It’s not often you get to shoot wetplates so any model that hasn’t tried it, you should!

Mike was truly lovely to work with, made me feel comfortable at all times, and so graciously hosted me with his family. I was really well looked after and I’m so grateful for the experience!

Thank you for the photography book too Mike, and can’t wait to work with you again. ❤️

Gabriella the Good Fella

Had the pleasure to work with Mike on my Ireland visit. Was the first time i saw this plate photographies and i absolutely loved the result. It was interesting to see all the process! Was a great, fun and different photoshoot, Mike is super easy going and time flew! I would absolutely shoot with Mike again and i reccomend him to all models! Thanks Mike :)