When: Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 February, 2012.

Where: Cliffony, Co. Sligo, Ireland. We are situated beside the N15 road right on the outskirts of Cliffony as you approach the village from Sligo town. (54.428231,-8.458785)

Cost: €10, payable by Monday February 20, 2012. I accept PayPal and Google Wallet payments.

How do I reserve my place? Pay the deposit fee or let me know either here or via email.

What should I bring? A sleeping bag, a tent, weather-appropriate clothing and your camera gear. If the weather is anything like it was last September then “weather appropriate” should be read as “warm, layered and with strong footwear”.

It helps me out a lot if you bring (and clean :p) your own plates and cutlery. I have plenty on hand here to use, but it simply reduces my logistical overhead if I have less dishes to fret about.

Tell me more…

Dun dun dunnnnnn.

Yes, again. A spring walk to match the autumn one, although I doubt that the weather will have changed all that much in the intervening five months.

Alright, some of you were at the last photowalk, and some of you undoubtedly be new faces. Here’s the gig:

1. Turn up Saturday, and have a delicious lunch.
2. We visit somewhere in the locale and stop into a pub.
3. Come back, have dinner.
4. Go somewhere else. Where, exactly, depends entirely on the temperament of the weather on that night. There are ruins in the area for light painting, and if the weather cooperates we have gloriously dark skies.
5. Then we sleep.
6. The next morning is breakfast.

There is no set schedule, and indeed the whole point of the weekend is for some photographers to get together and relax.

The menu of thunderous fury!

As of today (January 11) the menu is somewhat provisional. Alternate dishes will be offered based upon any given allergies and any professed aversions.

• Lunch: Homemade vegetable soup, served with white and brown breads.

• Dinner: A Mexican-style buffet. Savoury taco beef and beef chili served on corn tortillas wraps. Toppings include fresh salsa, guacamole, cheese sauce, refried bean dip, pickled jalapenos, iceberg lettuce and sour cream.

  This meal will be both savoury and strongly-spiced. I will have alternatives in place for those who aren’t up to the task.

  Dessert will be ice cream and brownies supplied by a local friend. Toppings include chocolate and strawberry sauce, wafers and whipped-cream-in-a-can.

  Bring your own alcohol.

• Breakfast: Tentatively fried potatoes, bacon and eggs. Fast, easy to cook food that’s full of delicious unhealthiness to get your arses out the door.

A special request

This might strike some as an odd request, but I need one person to bring an electric kettle. A significant choke point last September was in getting everyone a hot cup of tea/coffee in hand on the Sunday morning. An extra kettle will go a long way to relieving the congestion.

I am thinking of:
Time: 7pm
Date: Wed 11^th January
Start: Georges Quay (Opposite Custom House)
Direction: – down the docklands towards Samuel Beckett Bridge – cross to Dublin Convention Centre.

This walk is great for reflections and different shutter speeds.

Who is welcome?
Everybody!
Even if you have a Point & Shoot or a film camera, are an amateur or Pro.
Everybody is welcome.
You will need a tripod, if you don’t have one then say so and someone may have a spare for you.

Register your interest here and I will try and send you my mobile num nearer the date.
Mention what camera you have and somebody might bring a spare lens for you to try.

7Up Winter Wonderland Photowalk

Time: 7pm
Date: Monday 12^th December
Start: Spire to Where the lights end
Direction: Spire – down Henry Street to Jervis Centre – Jervis Street to Liffey – into Temple bar – on to Georges Street – TBC

Who is welcome?
Everybody! Even if you have a Point & Shoot or a film camera, are an amateur or Pro. Everybody is welcome.
You will need a tripod, if you don’t have one then say so here and someone may have a spare for you.

Register your interest here by pressing on the Join button below and I’ll DM you my mobile number nearer the date.

(I’m still trying to work out where there are Christmas lights on ‘d south side’)

The WDD Blue Monument challenge:
In 2010, over 900 monuments and buildings in 84 countries lit in blue on 14 November to raise awareness of diabetes and World Diabetes Day. As a result of the continued popularity of this initiative, it will continue to be a core component of the WDD campaign. In 2011, the blue lightings will take centre stage for all World Diabetes Day-related grass-roots activities and events, reinforcing the link between the colour blue and diabetes, and strengthening recognition of the Blue Circle as the global symbol of diabetes.
In Ireland, to date, the following Buildings will ‘Go Blue’ in support of Diabetes.

- Fire Restaurant at the Mansion House
- PricewaterhouseCoopers, IFSC
- The Convention Center, North Quay
- The Dublin Wheel, Point Village, East Wall Road

Diabetes Ireland plan on growing this list over the next two weeks, and if feasible any new additions will be added to the walk.

The Plan
The current plan is to meet at the Mansion House on Dawson Street between 6.45pm & 7pm on Monday 14th November. We will start by photographing Fire Restaurant from there we will walk to the IFSC to the PricewaterhouseCoopers building, then onwards to The Convention Centre and finally on to The Dublin Wheel. See below for the route.

Due to circumstances beyond the control of the Convention Centre and Diabetes Ireland, the Convention Centre will be going blue on 13th but are unable to use the blue lighting on 14th, so the Convention Centre will not now be a part of the walk. If anyone is around Dublin on 13th Nov, you might want to get some shots of the building in it’s blue lighting.

Diabetes Ireland has been in contact with all of the locations and so we will have no problem taking photographs. I’d like to thank Kate Moran for her assistance in doing this.

There is now a group on pix.ie “Diabetes Ireland WDD 2011″ for the event to enable everyone share their photos from the walk, just upload to pix.ie and use the tag WDD2011. Diabetes Ireland would also appreciate it if Photowalkers would allow them publish some photographs in their magazine (credit will be given) contact details will be available on the night for those willing to provide some of their shots.

If you are talking part, warm clothing and comfortable walking shoes are recommended. A tripod could be useful too.

Oh, there’ll be T-Shirt for everyone taking part!

Diabetes Ireland have just announced that they would like to feature the best photograph from the Blue Monuments photowalk on the front cover of of ‘Diabetes Ireland’ magazine.

The route we will be following is:
Starting at Fire Restaurant beside the Mansion House, we will then walk across Molesworth St to Kildare St (turn left) down Kildare St on to Leinster St (turn right) continue to Lincoln Place, around to Westland Row, continue along Lombard St to City Quay (turn right) continue along Sir John Rogerson’s Quay (at this point we can photography Beckett Bridge with Dublin Wheel behind it) spend some time in this area shooting across the river towards PWC, DCC. Cross the Beckett Bridge (turn right) travel along the quays to the Dublin Wheel. Around the wheel & East Wall road. End of walk. Personally I will probably talk the Luas from the Point Village stop back to Connolly.

Uniquely for an art exhibition all of the work (with the exception of Brian Maguires work in S18) can be photographed freely, giving visitors the ability to record how they see and experience the exhibition through their eyes and lenses. Photowalkers securing a limited ticket to this event will have complimentary access to the the beautiful Earlsfort Terrace Venue on all floors, and all of the exhibition of course. (Usual single ticket price is €15)

Hit the ‘join this event’ button below, and please indicate in the comments the day you’d like to attend.

When?

Saturday 1 October, 2011 from 2pm to 5pm.

Where?

The fountain, Eyre Square/Kennedy Park, Galway City, Ireland. 53.274716,-9.049387 for those of you navigating by GPS.

Cost?

Gratis! Free as in beer.

How do I reserve my place?

You sign up at the official photowalk page on the Worldwide Photowalk website.

What should I bring?

Your good self, a friend, a family member and, of course, a camera or two.

How do I contact you?

Email mark@bhalash.com or call 086 190 8088.

Tell me more…

The rain has barely stopped falling from the Cliffony photowalk of furious thunder, yet here I am diving head-first into another event being held right in the medieval heart of Galway City. This year’s Scott Kelby Worldwide Photowalk event is being organized by, yes, me! I am taking over from Sean McCormack who is taking a break from this due to burnout and other commitments. Here I am and there you are. I think we’re going to have a great time.

Or else.

The annual Worldwide Photowalk was started in 2007 by the said Scott Kelby as a way to promote photography, foster community and drag professionals and amateurs alike out into the light of the bright daystar for some fun shooting. Since 2010 he has also donated proceeds from photowalk t-shirt sales to a Kenyan orphanage (snip):

Q. So are you going to try and work some angle so that Orphanage in Kenya gets something out of this?
A. Ahh, you know us too well. Last year Scott was trying to come up with a good tie-in, but luckily one of his blog readers, Rob from Towner Jones Photography, came up with a great idea—we created an official Worldwide PhotoWalk T-shirt. We’re doing it again this year, and 100% of the profits from the sale of any of these t-shirts will go to feeding the kids at the Springs of Hope, Kenya Orphanage. We think it’s a great idea, and we’re so grateful that Rob came up with it! The online store will be up very soon!

There you go.

On the Saturday we are to meet up at Eyre Square for 2pm – look for the surly and gap-toothed guy with big beard. Dress appropriately for the season and weather, bring a camera and be prepared to enjoy yourselves.

Route

Unlike the Cliffony photowalk, which, due to its nature and the weather, became more of a “turn up and we’ll figure out a route as we go”, I am setting a firm route. I am making a conscious choice to avoid the city centre and the main shopping areas due to an honest discomfort in crowds. Instead we are going to take off on a tangent around Galway City to avoid the worst of the crush:

1. Down Eglinton Street to the Town Hall theatre.
2. From the Town Hall theatre down to the Waterside. First stop.
3. From the Waterside to the Salmon Weir bridge.
4. We will cut across the bridge and venture up to Earl’s Island to visit the Fishery. This stage is currently (15/09) tentative: I need to contact the fishery to confirm if it is okay, and what numbers we can bring in there. Second stop.
5. After the Fishery we visit the Cathedral and stop here for a little while to photograph the architecture.
6. Exiting the Cathedral, the group will head down Nun’s Island to Bridge Street. We’ll visit the Saturday afternoon market, St. Nicolas’ Church.
7. And finally, we’ll cross the road to Kelly’s Bar for a well-earned pint.

Simple, right? I’ll see you all there on the day.

Come along to Paul Freeney’s 12th Photowalk in a hugely historic and peaceful part of the city. Hear interesting facts spanning over 1,000 years amid some of Europe’s most beautiful buildings and gardens.

The walk will take in:

• Heuston Station,
• Parkgate Street & the new Dublin Criminal Courts,
• The Wellington Monument, famous for being ignored.
• Sarah Bridge, the most beautiful of the older Liffey bridges.
• The Dublin Rowing Clubs,
• The War Memorial Gardens, a national treasure.
• Bully’s Acre Graveyard,
• The Royal Hospital, with beautiful formal gardens.

A stop for a late lunch is planned two thirds of the way through our walk at a lovely coffee shop opposite Kilmainham Jail & The Royal Hospital also has a good coffee shop.

I propose an informal debriefing in the fabulous Bongo Ryans of Parkgate Street.  Please enquire or register your interest by sending a mail to paul@paulfreeney.com

When: Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 September, 2011.

Where: Cliffony, Co. Sligo, Ireland. We are situated beside the N15 road right on the outskirts of Cliffony as you approach the village from Sligo town. (54.428231,-8.458785)

Cost: €10, payable by Monday September 5 2011.

How do I reserve my place? Pay the deposit fee or let me know either here or via email

What should I bring? A sleeping bag, a tent, weather-appropriate clothing and your camera gear.

Tell me more…

This grand adventure began as a humble one-day photowalk, but the extreme location (travel across Ireland until you run out of Ireland to travel across. That’s where I am) and the promise of nighttime photography prompted me to extend it overnight. So there you go, a two-day event.

And there you have it, another photowalk organized by myself. This one is being held in celebration of my family and I moving home from Galway to Sligo and starting school.

But wait, there’s more! You do not need to be a photographer to attend, no sir, no ma’am. Any geek is welcome to come up to our house over the weekend. You are welcome to sit on our couch, welcome to use our Internet and welcome to eat our food. This wonderful caveat comes courtesy of the hackers at Galway’s 091 Labs who jumped at the idea of food and couches, but were put off by the lack of a camera.

Final details of the actual walk route will have to wait until I actually move to the area and get a feel for good routes, but I want you all to to mark your calendars and book time away from work and spouses now!

Dinner

The €10 is to cover food and other expenses that might be incurred during the camp out. My wife is an excellent cook and promises a three-course dinner, full lunch and breakfast on the Sunday morning:

I will probably do a pulled pork or a rolled roast and some roasted chicken with roasted potatoes, vegetable salad and bread for dinner. Brownies and ice cream for dessert. Lunch will be green salad cheeses, cold cuts, fresh bread and pasta salad. Breakfast on Sunday will be cheese omelet with sides of crumbled bacon ham, sautéed mushrooms, bell peppers, spring onions and sour cream. They can build their own with whatever toppings and we will have waffles with syrup, sausages, bacon, toast, jam, coffee, tea, juice, water and soda.

Please alert me in advance if you have food or animal allergies, or require a special diet.

The schedule

The draft schedule for the weekend is as follows:

• Saturday lunchtime: Everyone arrives, sets up their tents, has a light lunch and then departs toward Mullaghmore/Cliffony beach for a photowalk.
• Saturday evening time: We return to the house, unload our photographs, have dinner and chill out for a few hours.
• Saturday night: If the weather permits, I want to return to Cliffony beach for night time shooting. I plan to give an impromptu class on long-exposure, star trails and interesting bits and bobs in the sky.
• Sunday morning: Breakfast, tidying up and departure.

Fine details of the route and any workshops will be made available as we get closer to the weekend It’s safe to say that we will be spending a fair bit of time on the Saturday down on the beach.

Email mark@bhalash.com for more information or with your own suggestions for activities over the weekend.