Simply click through to http://www.flickr.com/groups/visitdublin/ and send us on your Dublin Photos. You could win a fantastic Canon PowerShot SX210 and an exclusive 2 Night break in Dublin city. This fabulous prize includes 2 x 3 Day Dublin Passes for you to enjoy.

How to enter:

1. Join the Visitdublin group.
2. Upload photos to your account.
3. Go to the page of the photo(s) you want to submit to the competition.
4. Click the “Send to Group” button between the photo title and the photo.
5. Choose the “Visitdublin” group and you’re done!

Best of luck!

If you were snowbound or otherwise trapped under a warm duvet for the January trip, don’t miss this one!

The date is ‘September sometime’ because I want peoples opinions on a Saturday or Sunday in September to hold the walk. When are you available? As with the last walk, we’ll meet at the Botanic Gardens at a reasonable hour and after a decent serving of cake and bitching in the cafe, make our leisurely way around the gardens.

Right, simple as that. Get suggesting a day!

Update: Sunday September 19th appears to be a date that suits most, so Sunday September 19th it is.

Meet at Starbucks Dame Street 7.30 Friday August 20th.

Following our hugely successful Carnsore Point Photowalk in July, I have changed direction yet again. I have had occasion over the last couple of months to be in Dublin at night and have brought my camera, but being on my own I didn’t want to be lumbering around a tripod. I have learned to use railings, rubbish bins and post boxes as a means of steadying my camera and it has developed into the idea of a City Nightshoot Challenge.
So here it is: The Dublin City Nightshoot Challenge, a Nocturnal Photowalk.

Rules and Guidelines:

1. No tripods, Monopods, Gorillapods, in fact no camera steadying implements whatsoever (at least none that are made for that purpose). If you want to use your camerabag or rolled up hat, that’s ok, but you get the idea!
2. My own preference is that everybody turns up with a single camera and lens, slung over the shoulder, partly because it will be easier to look after and will be less of a security risk (this is Dublin on a Friday night !)
3. It is important that we stick together to a reasonable degree on this walk and look out for each other.
4. The Photowalk will end with a debriefing in Mulligans of Poolbeg Street, best pint of Guinness on Earth.

Examples of my own humble efforts of what can be achieved at night without a tripod are here:
www.flickr.com/photos/sebfotos/sets/72157624702923016/

If anybody would like to come along please express your interest below.
I can also be contacted at paul@paulfreeney.com
www.paulfreeney.com

I’m organizing a photowalk for Saturday September 11 in conjunction with the Galway City hackperspace, 091 Labs.

Location: 091 Labs and Galway city centre, Galway City.
Time and Date: 10am to 6pm, Saturday September 11, 2010.
Meeting Point: The 091 Labs workspace at Exchange House, Fairgreen Road, Galway City (Maps).
What else: The 091 Labs building features restrooms, refreshments, bandwidth, comfortable chairs and shelter from the inclement weather if it turns against us. If you are interested in giving a talk (see below) in the afternoon, you are invited to bring along your laptop; we have a secure storage area to keep it until needed.
Getting here: We are immediately across the road from both the Irish Rail and Bus Eireann terminal and next door to the private coach terminal. If you don’t feel like driving yourself, Bus Eireann, Citylink and GoBus.ie all have direct, cheap bus services from Dublin to Galway.

There is a suggested donation of ten euros to 091 Labs. This will go toward helping pay their monthly bills.

My rough plan for the day is:

• 10am: We meet up at either Eyre Squre, or at the 091 Labs workspace. The workspace is next door to and across the road from (respectively), both of Galway’s bus (and train) terminals.
• 10:30am-2pm: The motley crew of photographer proceeds around the beautiful centre of this medieval city, dodging Saturday shoppers as they pursue the sublime, perfect photograph, and then down onto the bay for landscape/beach/portrait shots.
• 2pm: Back to 091 Labs for lunch. We have plenty of choice in the area from Centra and fast food all the way up to rather good restaurants.
• 3pm-6pm: For the rest of the evening we hold a series of talks/workshops on photography and photography topics.
  Anything related to photography is welcome in these talks! Share your business tips, your shooting advice, your processing workflow, or even amusing rant, for between ten and thirty minutes. If you are so interested in speaking on the evening please contact me.

There isn’t what you’d call ‘a wealth of information’ on their website, but you can take a look at a couple of photos and what you can expect to see at www.irishsteam.ie.

In the same vein as the lack of information, there’s also a lack of directions to where the event is taking place. But it’s in Stradbally, so that’s probably good enough.

Once everyone has found their way, we’ll attempt to meet each other at 11am. Use the phone number if you need to. As always, it’s 086 1551616.

See you there, if we find where ‘there’ is I guess.

Nothing too complicated here, meet at 10am on Sunday the 11th July. Like Airfield Farm a few months ago, this one is of course entirely family friendly. Bring the kids, bring the significant other that always allows you to buy such fancy camera gear. Bring your granny and your neighbours parrot if you want.

Dublin Zoo is €15 for an adult, the rest of the rates are available on their website. Perhaps Lions and Tigers and Bears (oh my) aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, but I hope to see you there. If all the caged up wild animals don’t do it for you, I’m sure we can organise some hi-jinks or other shenanigans* in the park afterward.

Lots more info on Dublin Zoo, how to get there, maps and whatnot are readily available on their website over at www.dublinzoo.ie

(*hi-jinks and shenanigans will not be provided. Photowalkers are required to supply their own merriment)

A note on the date change: Put up the wrong date initially. This event is taking place next weekend, Sunday 11th July. Apologies if this messes up anyones plans to come.

Update 8th Jul: I’ve been thinking about what Christina said in the comments below and am  moving the meeting time to 10am outside the ticket office. That doesn’t mean you’ve to arrive at 10am though. If you’re sticking to the 11am time, give me a shout on the photowalk mobile number (086 1551616) when you arrive to say you’re around and so we can all meet up.

5th Paul Freeney Photowalk, Carnsore, Wexford, Saturday July 17th 11am.

It has finally arrived, the 5th Photowalk and it is the first outside Dublin so we look forward to meeting our country cousins and us Dubliners will try to be on our best behaviour!
First thing is first and I apologise to regulars who have to read this stuff over and over. Paul Freeney Photowalks are different; the word Photowalk is probably the wrong word to use because we welcome everybody, walkers, nature lovers, young, old, children and even dogs. If you can go the distance you are welcome and please do not think you have to bring a camera.

Why do we welcome non-photographers? Because we are nice people and enjoy good company! But also because photographers have friends and it is nice for photographers to bring their friends and talk to people who are not photographers. Photography is an often solitary experience so it is good for us to socialise.

Points to note, if you would like to come:

Location of Photowalk: Carnsore Point. Carnsore Point is the most south easterly tip of Ireland, it is wild in its beauty and more than just photogenic.
Date & Time of Walk: Saturday 17th July 2010 at 11am

Meeting Point: Beach Car Park opposite Carne Beach Caravan Park at Carne, County Wexford. The walk is not affiliated in any way with the Caravan Park so if you don’t want a blank stare do not contact them. The Caravan Park does have facilities for Camping, Camper Vans and towing Caravans if you want to stay over: www.carnebeach.com . Co-ordinates for the meeting point are: 52.11.55N 6.21.01W
The Route: See this posting for the route of the walk and what you will see: www.flickr.com/photos/sebfotos/4692984002/in/photostream/
Safety: We ask that everybody makes the biggest effort to look after themselves and keep an eye on others. There are some (not high) cliff walk sections to this walk so do be careful. The beach at Carnsore is ferocious, if you should go too near the edge you will be taken by the sea and I guarantee you will not come back out alive!
Distance & Duration: I have measured the walk on Google Earth and it is a little over 4.8 miles. I can only estimate how long the PhotoWalk will take and I think it will be at least three hours if not four so I do suggest that everybody bring some water and food to keep the energy levels up.
After: The Walk will end at the Meeting Point and conveniently there is a bar there called the Lighthouse, there is also a shop and a chip shop.
Alas we can not predict the weather so please bring appropriate clothing for the conditions and wear sunscreen as required.
Registration: Please register your interest in this Photowalk by sending me an email to paul@paulfreeney.com, responding here in the comments and by hitting the ‘Join Event’ button on this page.  If you have already joined and need to leave, just press the button again!

I look forward to meeting everybody and having yet another successful and enjoyable walk, bring a friend.
www.paulfreeney.com

I can remember taking photos with a Box Brownie type camera with its 120 film. I used to love watching the film numbers passing by the red window as you wound it on. Trying to centre people in the viewfinder by having to move it the wrong way was always a challenge, especially as I was only about 5 years old. I only recently sold that camera on E Bay to some guy in France – I should have kept it.

I bought my first SLR back around 1980 – a Yashica of some description. That didn’t last too long as I got caught up in the whole “must upgrade to the latest” gadget scene. So I splashed out and bought a Canon AE1 Program, complete with a telephoto lens of some sort. Boy was that a camera! I went on my first “Photowalk” with the Photographic Society of Ireland, a camera club based in Parnell Square, Dublin. It was to Glendalough and was called an “outing”. That was all a long time ago, back in the early 80′s. Life moved on, I got married and moved away from Dublin. Photography took a back seat and I eventually sold the camera and bought a gun – I’ve been shooting ever since. However the bug was always there. I’ve never not had a camera of some sorts and always tried to put a little bit of effort into taking snaps. The bug eventually reared it’s ugly head a couple of years ago and I splashed out on a Canon 40D. Amazing how strong brand loyalty is even after 30 years or so.

So why photowalks?

The whole idea of going to the same place with lots of other togs to take the same photos is brilliant. Getting out and about with like minded souls is good for the soul and you can happily snap away at the most mundane things without feeling foolish. That’s not something you would normally do on your own but there is comfort in numbers. Then within a week or so, you get to see everyone elses shots, all taken around the same time as your own but all so different. It is fantastic to see other peoples take on what you have shot. It’s always a pleasant surprise to see the variation on the same subject. It makes you wonder “why didn’t I see that”?

I’ve been to a few photowalks between here on Photowalk.ie and Boards.ie. I’m also a member of Navan Camera Club and have been on various outings with them too. I’ve met some fantastic people from all walks of life and made some new friends. I also renewed my friendship with the late Danny O’Brien through photography – he was, and still is, an inspiration to me. I do intend to try and get to every photowalk, no matter where it’s on (broken ankles permitting) and I suggest you try at least one – you’ll not be disappointed.

–

You can check out more of Denis’s work on his blog,  www.allseeing.me and on Pix.ie at http://pix.ie/pullandbang

Denis also Tweets at  http://twitter.com/DenisODonovan

I’ve always had a keen interest in photography and is the subject of my earliest memory. Crawling around the house at the age of three I stumbled upon what would be that years Christmas present. It was the most adorable little red and white film camera with images of bees on the front. As far as I know, this little camera is still buzzing around somewhere so I must resurrect it.

Being a veritable newbie at  SLR photography, I relished in the idea of attending my first Photowalk for many reasons. Firstly, I was going to meet some inspirational photographers whose works had utterly blown me away and secondly I was going to have the opportunity to learn a bit more about my new found obsession in a new environment. Since then i have been on countless photowalks and enjoyed every single one!

I’ve always been quite fond of taking unique pictures with my little point and shoot and am a certifiable Twitpic fiend. However when I had the opportunity to use a Canon EOS 350D, I jumped at it. Most of the pictures on my Just a little bit… or those posted on my Pix.ie profile have been taken using this camera and I’m delighted with the outcome to date.

Photoblogging, photowalking, sharing these surrounding images with others is what it’s really about. Framing a moment that may never happen again is why I love it so much and chasing these moments with others is so exhilarating and exciting.  Plus, who doesn’t love a day out!

You can follow Sarah on Twitter too at http://twitter.com/slkav

For those of you that have never been but always wanted to photograph the famous little church, we’ll meet at Gougane Barra at 11am on Saturday the 19th of June. After spending a bit there, you can either head into the woods at Gougane Barra or move further west down to Glengarriff. Entry to the church grounds is free, there is a nominal charge for entry to the woods during summer months.

In Glengarriff, we can take a ferry out to Garinish Island to photograph the ‘sub tropical gardens’. Ferries leave from beside Quills in the town about every half hour. Last ferry back from the island is 6pm. The ferry costs €10 and entry to the Island itself is €3.50 for an adult ticket. You do usually get a decent wildlife show on the way out to the island too

Retreating to Bantry after we’ve had our fill of islands and churches, you can either explore until you drop or reserve a high stool. Accommodation in Bantry is plentiful but as always, book early to avoid disappointment.

Returning to Cork city the following day, we’ll take in towns including Skibbereen, Clonakilty, Kinsale and a few others. I’llleave that last bit upto your imagination, no schedule or route is planned for the return Sunday trip as yet. All that may change after a few pints however! If the weather behaves, Kinsale is worth stopping in if you can find parking. A trip to Charlesfort just outside the town (on the city side) is worth it too. The views are quite impressive.

For anyone not too familiar with the route west to Gougane Barra, head towards Ballingeary. Coming out of the Jack Lynch tunnel (from Dublin/Waterford direction) you’re going to be on the N25. Follow signs for Tralee, which will bring you down the south link road, over the overpass at the Kinsale Road roundabout and onto the N28. Continue through two roundabouts and you’ll find yourself on the Ballincollig bypass, N22. Stay on this road until just before you come into Macroom. There is a left turn just before Macroom town. Possibly signposted Ballingeary, possibly Bantry. They’ve been fecking around with the signs at that junction for a few years.

In true Irish direction giving spirit “If you find yourself in a town called Macroom, you’ve gone too far!”

(Word to the wise, the road is the R584). Stay on that road, pass through Ballingeary and the turn off for Gougane Barra will be on your right. There’s a hotel at Gougane Barra so there is plenty of parking only a few yards from the church.

Hope to see all the regulars and a few new faces at this one. Now I need to start pimping the link with some of the Cork crowd!