Coinciding with the Trim Balloon Fiesta, our photowalk will take place on Sat 7th & Sun 8th April – Easter weekend.

This event will span two days and will involve a little more than just taking photos. [...]]]>  It’s that time of year again when we remember our friend Danny

Coinciding with the Trim Balloon Fiesta, our photowalk will take place on Sat 7th & Sun 8th April – Easter weekend.

This event will span two days and will involve a little more than just taking photos. Of course taking photos will play a big part and again we are delighted to announce that Irish Balloon Flights have given us a fantastic prize for the best pic of the photowalk. The winner will receive a midweek Hot Air Balloon flight for one. If you’ve never flown, it is an experience you will never forget.

We’re still working out the details but you can expect workshops, talks, print auctions and much more over the two days.

Keep an eye on this page and over on our facebook page for further updates.

Time to book your accommodation in Trim if you plan on staying over.

One of the attractions is a walking photo exhibition over the weekend. The shops in Market Street have kindly donated a space in their shop windows where you can see a selection of photographs on display. You’ll have to walk up one side of the street and down the other to see them all but it will certainly be worth your while.

OK folks, our itinerary is as follows.

Saturday 7th February.

Meet at the church car park on Patrick Street at 11.00am.

From there we will walk to the cemetery at 11.30 and spend a few minutes with Danny. We will then be met by Noel French, our local historian who will give us a guided walking tour of Trim. Noel is a mine of information and a very entertaining guide. The tour should take about an hour or so and following that we will head to Porchfield to see the balloons.

At 2.00 pm we will have the first of our presentations. Peter Fitzsimons, a local Trim Photographer will give a talk on IR and Film photography.

At 4.00 pm our second photographer, Darren Carr from Sligo, will give us a presentation on his iPhone photography.

You really don’t want to miss either of these talks and they are both free. All the talks will take place in Porchfield in the Pilots Briefing Tent courtesy of Trim Balloon Fiesta.

Print Auction.

This is one of our big events of the weekend and to kick it off we have created an auction website so that you can view what’s on offer and make an early bid. There is a fantastic range of original photographs, some framed and ready for hanging.

At 6.30pm we will hold an auction of prints in Brogans Hotel, High Street, Trim. The auction will be hosted by Ray Butler TD and ALL of the proceeds from the sale will got to the RAY club. The RAY club was founded by Danny O’Brien on the day he passed away and it is a valuable resource for the kids of Trim. Danny’s wife Phil is actively involved in the club so we hope you will give it your full support. It is also an opportunity to acquire some top quality prints, some of which are framed, from Ireland’s leading photographers.

After the auction we will proceed to the river to witness the Trim Fiesta Balloon Night Glow. This is a sight not to be missed where the balloons are lit in sync to well known music.

After the night glow, Danny’s family will release some Chinese Lanterns into the night sky in his memory…………………….

That will bring our Saturday to a close and no better place to meet up than in Brogans again where there may be some banter, chat, music, singing and even a drink or two.

SUNDAY 8th.

For those brave enough, sunrise is at some ungodly hour and I’m sure there’s a photo to be had down by the castle.

For the rest of us, we will have a presentation by Sinead McDonald on print preparation at the more reasonable time of 1.00pm in Porchfield again. If you haven’t been to one of Sinead’s workshops, this is a must see. It will open your eyes and make you want to print more.

At 2.00pm and especially for the children, Aafke Bakker from Holland, will give a hands on workshop on Continental Easter Egg Painting. Learn how to decorate real eggs as our continental neighbours do it.

At 3.30pm we will have another presentation by Barry Delaney titled “Fighting for the underdog”. Barry is a photographer with a story to tell. Some of you will know him as The Baz on Pix.ie, but this is a presentation you don’t want to miss.

As on Saturday, all the presentations are free of charge. However, in keeping with Danny’s spirit, we will be providing empty brown envelopes outside the tent. If you would like to make a contribution to the RAY club, please feel free to make use of the brown envelopes.  We don’t care how much or how little you choose to put in the envelopes. They will be handed over to the club unopened and completely anonymously. We think Danny would have a giggle at the use of the infamous “Brown Envelope”.

Of course during all this whole weekend you will have lots of different balloons and kites to photograph.

Don’t forget the competition. All photowalkers will have the opportunity to win the fabulous prize of the balloon flight.

We’ve extended the closing date until Wednesday to give all the film buffs a chance to get their rolls back from the chemist

Please resize your photo to 750px on the longest side @ 72ppi and e mail them to info@allseeing.me – Closing date is Wednesday 18th April. One entry per photowalker so make it your best shot.

Start: O’Connell Statue on O’Connell St (see image)
Direction: Going down the ‘Boardwalk’ from O’Connell St, past the Ha’penny bridge and down to Millennium Bridge. Cross over to Temple Bar and start heading back towards Westmorland St (the main road [...]]]> I am thinking of:
Time: 7pm
Date: Wednesday 14th March

Start: O’Connell Statue on O’Connell St (see image)
Direction: Going down the ‘Boardwalk’ from O’Connell St, past the Ha’penny bridge and down to Millennium Bridge. Cross over to Temple Bar and start heading back towards Westmorland St (the main road leading to O‘Connell Bridge) while doing some street photography

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

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 [...]]]>

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 11th January
Start: Georges Quay (Opposite Custom House)
Direction: – down the docklands towards Samuel Beckett Bridge – cross to Dublin Convention Centre.

This walk is great [...]]]> This proves to be a popular walk so I will start off this year with it…..

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.

A tripod will be essential as will warm attire. Entry is free and lemonades are available in several of the venues for an all important debriefing.
[...]]]>

7Up Winter Wonderland Photowalk

Time: 7pm
Date: Monday 12th 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 [...]]]> I am thinking of:

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. [...]]]> In association with Diabetes Ireland I’m organising a Photowalk to mark World Diabetes Day (WDD) and the Blue Monument challenge.

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.

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

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

Gratis! Free as in beer.

You sign up at the official photowalk page on the Worldwide [...]]]>

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.