Photowalker: Patrick Dinneen

Some bits about me? Okay, let’s see.  I’m Patrick Dinneen (also known as ‘Pa’), from Cork but living in Galway. I’ve always liked photogrpahy, must have gotten the bug from my dad. I remember one birthday many moons ago he gave me an slr as a present but all I saw was a big, clunky camera. So I was disappointed and would have preferred an easy-to-use compact. Looking back now I realise that he had my best interests at heart and probably wanted to teach photography to me instead of me just snapping away with a compact. I wish I could thank him now but can’t so instead I think fondly of him when I’m taking pictures.

Anyway that’s enough of the sentimental stuff. When I got married my aunt asked what I’d like as a present and I said I’d love a new compact, which I suppose  renewed my interest in photography. This compact was later upgraded to a great Canon S90. Next, when my first child was born I wanted something Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger (Daft Punk anyone?) so sold the Canon to help finance my newest toy, a Pentax K-X. A lot of people ask why, or rather ask why not a Canon or Nikon? The answer, I suppose is because it got great reviews and I liked the feel of it and the interface. Nobody told me that you had to buy a Nikon or Canon. When you’re chatting to someone and both realise that you own a Pentax it’s like a little meeting someone who has the same ‘alternative’ musical taste as you (Dan Deacon anyone?) and ye feel a bit of a connection.

Most of my photos are taken from around Galway but don’t fall into any one particular category, rather like an eclectic mix- a bit of everything that catches my eye. As I’m married with two kids I don’t get out to shoot as much as I’d like (does anyone?) so maybe that’s one reason why shoot anything and everything when I get the chance.

Photowalking; what’s that most people ask? I’ve only been on two but think they’re a great idea; an excuse for a day out with the camera, visiting a new location,  chatting with and learning from other ‘like minded’ people and seeing photos from other peoples perspective.

I blog and post my favourite photos to  my webstie/photoblog which has an  easy to remember url http://www.photoblog.ie/.  I post everything  (the good, bad and ugly) to Flickr- http://www.flickr.com/photos/pacork.

You can follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/pacork, where it’s mainly tweets linking to interesting photography sites, stories and pictures.