Sat 7th April: Danny O’Brien Memorial Photowalk

 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.

And we have a winner the competition and it is Lorraine O’Donovan with this lovely shot of the fireworks on Saturday night. Well done Lorraine.

Fireworks Display in Trim

And second prize goes to this super shot by Darren Carr