Bessborough Lodge
![Ashtown Gate Lodge [police station]](http://visionsofthephoenixpark.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/ashtown-gate-lodge-police-station.jpg)
This very beautiful stone building at Ashtown Gates is known as Bessborough Lodge. It is joined to another gate lodge which you can just about see at the right hand edge of the photograph. There are two lodges at the Ashtown Gates, very beautiful matching brown lodges facing each other at the exit from the park. This particular building was designed by Decimus Burton and was completed way back in 1848. The house was originally built as a police barracks and was used to house policemen serving in the park and also had room to accommodate prisoners. It was obviously a fully serving police station when it was originally built but now it accommodates staff serving in the park.
I actually ended up chatting to some people coming out of one of the lodges after taking this photograph and they reliably informed me that the police barracks had several drunk tanks in it. Anybody caught wandering around the park under the influence of alcohol would be swiftly taken away and thrown in the cell for the night to sleep it off. Obviously drunkenness in the park was frowned upon back then, as I suppose it is nowadays too in fairness. Can only imagine how busy they would have been after the Swedish House Mafia concert there last year.
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To purchase a signed 10 x 10 inch print of this photo, just click the button below.
You can either pay directly via paypal or with your own credit card. Don’t worry if you don’t have a Paypal account, you don’t actually need one to simply pay with your credit card.
The Prints are €25.00 each and that includes shipping to anywhere in the world. Your print will be made to order and will ship out within 48 hours.
If you would like a bigger or smaller size please don’t hesitate to email me with your requests.
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Hibernian Cottage
Ok, so this is a recent film shot of a rather beautiful lodge in the park called Hibernian Cottage. The house is situated just at the entrance gates to St. Mary’s Hospital which was originally the Hibernian Asylum or the Royal Hibernian Military School as it was later renamed. The Hibernian Asylum was original built to help orphaned children of soldiers who had fallen during the war and was then extended to cover the needs of destitute families of soldiers leaving Ireland for services overseas.
This lodge has for many years given me so much trouble to photograph that any sane person would have given up at this stage. The big problem with trying to get a really good photograph of this lodge would be the fact that you can’t really see that much of it from across the road. Normally I would just get a little closer but that is not really a solution in this scenario. My only other option was to cut down all the hedges at the dead of night and hope that nobody caught me, but cutting down trees as you may well know is not really my style now is it. So I would try going back at different times of the day and even different times of the year to see what I could do to capture this really beautiful lodge on film.
Right, so there I am with some really lovely long shadows beginning to appear on an early summers morning, the branches above me making that lovely x like shape on the grass in the foreground. I must admit at this stage I was really beginning to feel good about this one. I spent a while walking around from side to side to just get the best angle of the lodge and the shadows. Once I had decided on an angle that I was happy with I got the camera all set up and made all my little adjustments. By the time I was all ready to go when this delivery van arrives and proceeds to stop right in the centre of my shot, to be honest I think the driver was on his phone but he sat there in my photograph for at least ten minutes. By the time he decided to move on and go on his way this scene you see in the photograph had pretty much miraculously appeared. The ladies in their wheelchairs and their carers had stopped off at the gates of the lodge to pick some flowers from around the gateway. I rattled off as many shots as the camera could handle before they all walked away and everything was back to normal. This was my favourite of them all. I really like the sense of movement that the girl in the middle conveys. I must admit that something as simple as the shadows on the wall really make me love this photo above the rest in the series.
The photograph was taken on a Bronica medium format film camera using Kodak Tri-x 400 speed film.
The print was made using my very own bare hands in a traditional darkroom.
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To purchase a signed 10 x 10 inch print of this photo, just click the button below.
You can either pay directly via paypal or with your own credit card. Don’t worry if you don’t have a Paypal account, you don’t actually need one to simply pay with your credit card.
The Prints are €25.00 each and that includes shipping to anywhere in the world. Your print will be made to order and will ship out within 48 hours.
If you would like a bigger or smaller size please don’t hesitate to email me with your requests.
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My New Website
I am thrilled to announce my new photography website is finally up and running after many months of hard work.
I don’t like to do things by half so whilst getting ready for my first really big exhibition I also decided to teach myself how to build a website in my spare time. It has been great fun learning how to do things like this, it’s very much more challenging than a blog but it’s close to being finished now.
If you have some free time I would love you all to have a look and maybe let me know here on the blog what you think of it. I am very much open to constructive criticism, or any type of criticism, it doesn’t really matter.
Anyway the site can be viewed at www.davekphotography.com.
Thanks
Dave
Phoenix Park Visitor Centre Exhibition
I am thrilled to announce the details of my upcoming photographic exhibition in the Visitors Centre in the Phoenix Park.
The show will officially open on Sunday 13th of January 2013 at 3pm with a short talk by myself and a very special guest talk from the former park superintendent John McCullen. John is also the author of “An Illustrated History Of The Phoenix Park” which has pretty much become my bible over the last few years. You are all very welcome to come and join me.
The show will run until the end of January and its totally free to visit.
There will be over 40 large format framed prints in the show and copies of each photograph will also be available to purchase. I will have signed and hand numbered framed prints available to sell at the show throughout the month.
The Visitor Centre is situated about halfway up the main road [Chesterfield Avenue]. If go as far as the big roundabout with the large phoenix monument on it then look out for the signpost to the Visitor Centre just before the turn for Aras and Uachtarain. There is lots of parking in there and a playground for the kids if you are planning on bringing the wee ones.
Full details in the image below.
Cricket In The Park
Ok, so they play cricket in the Phoenix Park and I know absolutely nothing about cricket. They use a bat and a ball, both are included in this photograph. There is a man who hits the ball called the batsman, also included in this shot and finally a guy who throws the ball called the bowler, he is not in the photograph. That’s pretty much my knowledge of cricket and it’s participants [most of which was gleaned from the internet]. I must say though, in it’s defence, cricket is a splendidly good way to spend a summer’s afternoon regardless of my lack of understanding. My spectator sport of choice would be Gaelic football but there is no chance of being able to lie back in the grass and a get a shot like this at Croke Park. Firstly I would most likely be removed by the stewards and secondly I would be trampled by blood thirsty GAA men in search of a football that one of them may or may not have in his possession. If you attend modern GAA matches you will know what I mean by that.
Anyway, cricket makes for good photographs so therefore I now like cricket.
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To purchase a signed 12 x 8 inch print of this photo, just click the button below.
You can either pay directly via paypal or with your own credit card. Don’t worry if you don’t have a Paypal account, you don’t actually need one to simply pay with your credit card.
The Prints are €25.00 each and that includes shipping to anywhere in the world. Your print will be made to order and will ship out within 48 hours.
If you would like a bigger or smaller size please don’t hesitate to email me with your requests.
Alternatively you can purchase unsigned prints or postcards of this photo from the Redbubble site from as little as €2.50 by clicking this link.
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Tree Lined Chesterfield Avenue
There is just something about a tree lined avenue that I simply cannot walk past without plonking my camera down on a tripod and letting the shutter go click.
I was actually out for a stroll a few weeks back on a very determined mission to try and continue my quest to photograph the lodges of the Phoenix Park. I had taken my bicycle with me to the park for a change, if you saw the size of my Bronica camera and tripod you wouldn’t really wonder why I drive all the time. I had this very precarious set-up which involved some old fashioned sturdy elastic straps to keep the tripod attached to the crossbar of the bike. A disaster waiting to happen really. Thankfully, said disaster happened whilst I was cycling in soft [and quite long] grass. Basically the elastic made a sound like “Boing”, the tripod fell to the ground and I had to make a very rapid stop, before I lost my tripod. I was pretty lucky the strap didn’t catch one of my legs [or something further up] as these things are like some old torture aid.
Anyway, I saw this scene and I started photographing.
The lodges can wait, they ain’t going anywhere in the near future.
This photo was taken on a Bronica medium format camera using Kodak Tri-X 120mm film. The print was made by my very own hands in a traditional wet darkroom.
(Comments and opinions are greatly appreciated, please feel free to let me know what you think)
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To purchase a signed 10 x 10 inch print of this photo, just click the button below.
You can either pay directly via paypal or with your own credit card. Don’t worry if you don’t have a Paypal account, you don’t actually need one to simply pay with your credit card.
The Prints are €25.00 each and that includes shipping to anywhere in the world. Your print will be made to order and will ship out within 48 hours.
If you would like a bigger or smaller size please don’t hesitate to email me with your requests.
Alternatively you can purchase unsigned prints or postcards of this photo from the Redbubble site from as little as €2.50 by clicking this link.
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Phoenix Park Exhibition
I am so delighted to say that two of my photographs have been selected in the “Phoenix Park Photographic Exhibition”. The competition was open to any amateur photographer so to say that I am over the moon is an understatement. The Exhibition runs from 8th of August to the 31st of August. All the winning photos are now part of a truly wonderful exhibition in the gallery at the Visitor Centre. There are about 40 different photos covering all genres of photography. It really is well worth a visit.
Here’s one of the photos that features in the exhibition.
Directions and opening times can be found by clicking this link
The Tree Went Boom
There is something about this tree that always reminds me of the mushroom cloud following an atomic explosion. Don’t get me wrong here, I don’t actually have any first hand experience of atomic explosions and I don’t think there has ever been one in the Phoenix Park, but maybe this tree has seen some video footage of one such explosion and has since decided to grow up exactly like one. These are the present dangers of allowing trees to look over your shoulder as you wander around the park with your smartphone watching youtube. Next we are going to find trees taking on ridiculous Jackass like comedy stunts. Just make sure you watch yourself next time you go to the park, you may end up having elastic bands catapulted at your head, or the back of your legs if you’re really unlucky.
This shot was taken in the stunning surrounds of the Peoples Flower Garden, you can find them just on the right hand side as you come in the main gates of the park.
The photographic print was made in the old fashioned way by my very own hands in a darkroom. The picture was taken using a Bronica medium format camera on Kodak Tri-x film, possibly my all time favourite film at this stage.
(Comments and opinions are greatly appreciated, please feel free to let me know what you think)
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To purchase a signed 10 x 10 inch print of this photo, just click the button below.
You can either pay directly via paypal or with your own credit card. Don’t worry if you don’t have a Paypal account, you don’t actually need one to simply pay with your credit card.
The Prints are €25.00 each and that includes shipping to anywhere in the world. Your print will be made to order and will ship out within 48 hours.
If you would like a bigger or smaller size please don’t hesitate to email me with your requests.
Alternatively you can purchase unsigned prints or postcards of this photo from the Redbubble site from as little as €2.50 by clicking this link.
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Old Zoo Entrance
This blog is slowly turning into a miniature history lesson, that may have something to do with my new found obsession with photographing all the lodges and dwellings within the park. It came as a great surprise to me to find there were 35 such buildings in the park, ranging from small gate lodges to the likes of Aras An Uachtarain. I have decided to try and photograph as many of them as I am allowed to basically, so sit back and relax as this blog turns away from trees and takes a long look at lodges. You will notice directly behind this truly beautiful lodge sits an equally beautiful tree, I just can’t stop myself, sorry.
This is actually the original entrance to the zoo and was built somewhere around 1833. The building has been beautifully restored to its original state and is well worth a visit if you have ten minutes to spare before or after you visit the zoo. My memory tells me I used to enter the zoo via this entrance when I was a kid in the seventies, but in reality I can’t remember most things I did last week, never mind forty years ago. It would make an amazing addition to the zoo if they were to open it up to the public again. When you are up close you will realise just how very tiny it actually is.
The photo was taken on a Bronica medium format camera using Kodak Tri-x 120mm film. The print was made by my very own hands in a traditional darkroom
(Comments and opinions are greatly appreciated, please feel free to let me know what you think)
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To purchase a signed 10 x 10 inch print of this photo, just click the button below.
You can either pay directly via paypal or with your own credit card. Don’t worry if you don’t have a Paypal account, you don’t actually need one to simply pay with your credit card.
The Prints are €25.00 each and that includes shipping to anywhere in the world. Your print will be made to order and will ship out within 48 hours.
If you would like a bigger or smaller size please don’t hesitate to email me with your requests.
Alternatively you can purchase unsigned prints or postcards of this photo from the Redbubble site from as little as €2.50 by clicking this link.
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Gates Of The Walled Garden
These are the side gates into the wonderful walled garden on the grounds of Farmleigh in the park. These gates are located to the right of the main gates to the garden, almost directly behind the boat house café. If you are familiar with Farmleigh you will most likely know exactly where these gates are, if you don’t really know Farmleigh then I recommend you rectify that matter and get yourself down there sometime. I love this place in both Summer and Winter, both seasons have their charm. The staff who look after this place have an awful lot to be very proud of, parts of it are wonderfully wild but other sections look like they have been trimmed with a pair of small scissors, such is the care that goes into it. Some day I expect to arrive and find an army of gardeners down on their knees trimming each individual blade of grass to the exact height. I have been informed by staff in the house that these mysterious gardeners only work in the dead of night though, so no chance of a photograph to prove my theory.
(Sometimes I like to bend the truth on this blog, this could be one of those moments)
The photo was taken on a Bronica medium format camera using Kodak Tri-x 120mm film.
The print was made by my very own hands in a traditional wet darkroom.
(Comments and opinions are greatly appreciated, please feel free to let me know what you think)
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To purchase a signed 10 x 10 inch print of this photo, just click the button below.
You can either pay directly via paypal or with your own credit card. Don’t worry if you don’t have a Paypal account, you don’t actually need one to simply pay with your credit card.
The Prints are €25.00 each and that includes shipping to anywhere in the world. Your print will be made to order and will ship out within 48 hours.
If you would like a bigger or smaller size please don’t hesitate to email me with your requests.
Alternatively you can purchase unsigned prints or postcards of this photo from the Redbubble site from as little as €2.50 by clicking this link.
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Another One Bites The Dust
Regular visitors will probably already know that apart from being dedicated to the world inside the Phoenix Park this website is also somewhat obsessed with trees, be they upright or fallen. Whilst I am always a bit sad to come across fallen trees, I do also love to photograph them in all their majestic [but dead] glory. This one has been sitting on the ground for so long at this stage that it was almost entirely covered in lovely soft fluffy moss.
I wish I could do a scratch and sniff feature with this photo as the smell in the area when I was taking it was just amazing. A friend of mine recently described it as the smell of slightly stale hummus, not sure I totally agree but I like it nonetheless.
(Comments and opinions are greatly appreciated, please feel free to let me know what you think)
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To purchase a signed 10 x 10 inch print of this photo, just click the button below.
You can either pay directly via paypal or with your own credit card. Don’t worry if you don’t have a Paypal account, you don’t actually need one to simply pay with your credit card.
The Prints are €25.00 each and that includes shipping to anywhere in the world. Your print will be made to order and will ship out within 48 hours.
If you would like a bigger or smaller size please don’t hesitate to email me with your requests.
Alternatively you can purchase unsigned prints or postcards of this photo from the Redbubble site from as little as €2.50 by clicking this link.
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The Phoenix Park Dolmen
I have been on the lookout for this particular spot for many months now.
My interest was originally sparked when I happened to see a Neolithic Cist marked on an old map which featured in the truly wonderful book “An Illustrated History Of The Phoenix Park” written by park superintendent John McCullen. I wasn’t entirely sure of its exact location but I did know that is was somewhere just outside the perimeter of the park ranger’s lodge. So my first job was to find the park rangers lodge. Not that difficult in fairness.
My research has led me to believe that this particular cist [or Dolmen as I like to call it] was known as “Knockmary” deriving its name from “Cnoc-Maraidhe” meaning the hill of the mariners. The mound on which the cist sits was originally about 40m in width and was possibly up to 3m in height. The mound was excavated [I don’t know when] and three human remains were found along with several grave goods, including a shell necklace. Unfortunately the cist is the only original element to survive to this day, but still, it’s a wonderful place to just sit and wonder about the history of this particular spot. I must admit it’s a lot smaller than other dolmens that I have seen in this country in the past but it’s still a thing of real beauty.
Imagine having this kind of history just outside your front garden, lucky park ranger eh.
(Comments and opinions are greatly appreciated, please feel free to let me know what you think)
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To purchase a signed 10 x 10 inch print of this photo, just click the button below.
You can either pay directly via paypal or with your own credit card. Don’t worry if you don’t have a Paypal account, you don’t actually need one to simply pay with your credit card.
The Prints are €25.00 each and that includes shipping to anywhere in the world. Your print will be made to order and will ship out within 48 hours.
If you would like a bigger or smaller size please don’t hesitate to email me with your requests.
Alternatively you can purchase unsigned prints or postcards of this photo from the Redbubble site from as little as €2.50 by clicking this link.
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Cloughjordan Exhibition
I am delighted to say I will be doing my second ever photographic exhibition at the end of June.
Starting on Wednesday the 27th of June in the truly wonderful surroundings of Sheelagh Na Gig bookshop in Cloughjordan, Tipperary.
The exhibition is part of the Cloughjordan Festival running from Wednesday 27th of June until Sunday 1st of July.
I will be hanging roughly 30 framed prints [both big and small] around the relaxing environs of the Sheelagh Na Gig bookshop run by the always enthusiastic Liz O’Shea on the main street of the town.
The exhibition will remain in the shop until the end of July.
The framed prints will all be on sale, limited to only one copy of each print.
I will also be selling limited edition mounted prints, specially for those who like to pick their own frames.
If you get a chance to drop down, it’s less than a two hour drive from Dublin, please do. If you don’t feel like buying a print then please make sure to buy a coffee or book from Liz, the shop is a wonderful resource for the local community.
Hopefully see some of you there. I’m gonna be there for the whole weekend.
Here’s some handy links
May Be The Gates Of The Cheshire Home
This was actually the photo I was on my way to take when I happened to stumble upon the dead pigeon in the previous post [click here]
I really have no idea where these gates lead to but my educated guess would be an alternative entrance into the Cheshire Home. The gates are now quite rusted and chained up with a big padlock. As you can probably see from the overgrown trees the gates haven’t been opened in quite some time. The tree on the right hand side of the picture is what really caught my attention [as I nearly walked on a dead pigeon]. It looks like some creature from a sixties low budget horror movie. It was almost consuming the gatepost but was actually attacking it from above. The next scene in this movie features only one gate post and the viewer thinking about what is missing.
I decided to get really low down on the ground to take this one [what must the staff in the park think of me at this stage], by that I mean I actually lay down on the ground, I really wanted to make the place look like the entrance to Bates Motel from Psycho. I think the dead leaves scattered on the ground really add to the haunting feel of the scene.
After taking the photo, I then had to go straight home as I was all wet from lying on the ground. I’m a fool for my art
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To purchase a signed 10 x 10 inch print of this photo, just click the button below.
You can either pay directly via paypal or with your own credit card. Don’t worry if you don’t have a Paypal account, you don’t actually need one to simply pay with your credit card.
The Prints are €25.00 each and that includes shipping to anywhere in the world. Your print will be made to order and will ship out within 48 hours.
If you would like a bigger or smaller size please don’t hesitate to email me with your requests.
Alternatively you can purchase unsigned prints or postcards of this photo from the Redbubble site from as little as €2.50 by clicking this link.
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I Didn’t Kill It, Promise.
Ok so I didn’t kill this bird, you have probably gathered that from the title of this post, but just to be totally and utterly clear, I didn’t kill this bird.
I found this poor dead creature just lying on the ground not far from the main entrance into the Cheshire Home. There it was just placed perfectly on the pavement in this exact position. It’s fair to say I grinned like the Cheshire Cat with camera in hand and everything ready to take a picture of the gates of the actual hospital. Then I started thinking this is just too good to be true, he started to look like somebody had placed him in this perfect position and was now watching me from somewhere nearby. I started thinking I am going to appear on one of these prank shows in a couple of weeks time. Well, it hasn’t happened yet and nobody jumped out of the bushes to surprise me.
Strange and funny end to the story though. As I spent about twenty minutes getting everything ready to take the photograph I did notice a park wardens van driving by on a few occasions. I didn’t want them thinking I had murdered the bird so I kind of pretended to be pointing the camera in different places, just to keep their eyes off the ground. When I finally finished with the shot and started to pack away my camera the van comes back again and this time it stops right beside me. The guy gets out of the van, calmly says “Are you finished with him then” and scoops up the bird with a shovel and throws him in the back of his truck. Seems it was a bin truck and he was just doing a general clean up in the area. He obviously knew about the pigeon all along.
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To purchase a signed 10 x 10 inch print of this photo, just click the button below.
You can either pay directly via paypal or with your own credit card. Don’t worry if you don’t have a Paypal account, you don’t actually need one to simply pay with your credit card.
The Prints are €25.00 each and that includes shipping to anywhere in the world. Your print will be made to order and will ship out within 48 hours.
If you would like a bigger or smaller size please don’t hesitate to email me with your requests.
Alternatively you can purchase unsigned prints or postcards of this photo from the Redbubble site from as little as €2.50 by clicking this link.
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Crucifix Tree
I should point out that I am no great knowledge on matters of lightening strikes and their frequency but quite a few members of staff in the park have assured me that they regularly see the results of trees being hit by it. I can honestly see no other cause to the damage done to this particular tree so lets just go with the flow here and assume that this poor fellow was a victim of nature and the cruel tricks it can play on its own.
I have passed by this particular copse on several occasions and have intended to wander a bit further in to investigate this tree sitting right in the middle. It’s a fairly muddy and damp little spot, surrounded by some very tall trees on the outside, so not a lot of sunshine gets through. The ground is very thick with grass and almost swampy in places but I finally kitted up in wellie boots and headed in. The day I picked was quite dark and was threatening to rain at any moment. It seemed like the perfect day to go on an adventure in here. Most of the tree trunks are covered in this beautiful lush green moss at the bottom and the smell is just wonderful. There is something rather wonderful about the damp smell of a thick cluster of trees when you get to the very heart of them.
Anyway, as usual I digress. When I was actually setting everything up I met one of the park rangers who told me about the lightening strikes and after a few minutes conversation he started to wander off, just then he turns around and tells me “It looks like a crucifix doesn’t it”, I couldn’t argue with him on that one.
(Comments and opinions are greatly appreciated, please feel free to let me know what you think)
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To purchase a signed 12 x 12 inch print of this photo, just click the button below.
You can either pay directly via paypal or with your own credit card. The Prints are €25.00 each and that includes shipping to anywhere in the world. Your print will be made to order and will ship out within 48 hours.
If you would like a bigger or smaller size please don’t hesitate to email me with your requests.
Alternatively you can purchase unsigned prints or postcards of this photo from the Redbubble site from as little as €2.50 by clicking this link.
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Wellington Testimonial
Ok, I think we are finally at the end of my [slight] obsession with the Wellington Testimonial, to use it’s proper name. If you are reading this Conor, then look, I have finally used the official name.
Most people, including myself I should add, call this particular structure the Wellington Monument, well I have news for you now my friends, it’s actually called the Wellington Testimonial.
The Wellington Testimonial was designed by Robert Smirke as a testimonial to Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington. It was completed in 1861 and is the tallest obelisk in Europe at just over 62 metres tall. I gather it was once the largest obelisk in the world, but alas no longer, that medal belongs to the Washington Monument in, er………………Washington.
There are lots of great stories attached to the building of the monument but I think my favourite has to be the poor butler who allegedly managed to get himself sealed up inside the plinth. The story goes he slipped inside with lots of dirty crockery after an al fresco opening party and nobody noticed he was inside when they laid the final few blocks to seal up the entire structure. The poor guy wasn’t noticed missing for a few days. I wonder did he stash any food inside on the sly.
See ya soon.
(Comments and opinions are greatly appreciated, please feel free to let me know what you think)
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To purchase a signed 12 x 9 inch print of this photo, just click the button below.
You can either pay directly via paypal or with your own credit card. The Prints are €25.00 each and that includes shipping to anywhere in the world. Your print will be made to order and will ship out within 48 hours.
If you would like a bigger or smaller size please don’t hesitate to email me with your requests.
Alternatively you can purchase unsigned prints or postcards of this photo from the Redbubble site from as little as €2.50 by clicking this link.
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Fallen Tree
I am beginning to think I have developed some kind of subconscious love of fallen or broken trees. Not sure when this actually started but I have discovered four or five posts on such subjects at this stage. I suppose it is just the nature of photographing trees that I am obviously going to stumble across many of these things, but what makes me have to photograph them I just don’t know. I suppose there is some kind of obscure beauty to these trees, nature tries to defeat them but they just struggle on and slowly repair themselves.
The trees in the background have appeared on this blog before, they are becoming regulars at this stage but I had to explain to them on this particular day they would have to play second fiddle. They were very understanding about this scenario and behaved themselves very well indeed.
The little stone bridge on the left hand side has also been captured before, who knows I may just have it set up on wheels and I bring it everywhere with me.
Enjoy.
(Comments and opinions are greatly appreciated, please feel free to let me know what you think)
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To purchase a signed 12 x 12 inch print of this photo, just click the button below.
You can either pay directly via paypal or with your own credit card. The Prints are €25.00 each and that includes shipping to anywhere in the world. Your print will be made to order and will ship out within 48 hours.
If you would like a bigger or smaller size please don’t hesitate to email me with your requests.
Alternatively you can purchase unsigned prints or postcards of this photo from the Redbubble site from as little as €2.50 by clicking this link.
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Sheelagh Na Gig
This week I spent a rather wonderful and relaxing day in the fine village of Cloughjordan. I was hanging five of my limited edition prints in a really lovely bookshop / coffee shop / music shop called Sheelagh Na Gig. Run by an old friend of Road Records, Elizabeth OShea. If you are near the Cloughjordan area then drop in a say hello, hell, even buy something from her, it will go a long way, if you are not in the area then take a journey. Three of the prints are part of my new limited edition series of handmade darkroom prints on proper old fashioned photographic paper, made by my very own hands and will cost you a measly €30 each.
I’m going to be doing a full on exhibition down there at the end of June, more info on that particular gem in the next week or two.
Check em out on Facebook when you get a chance at Sheelagh Na Gig
If you are reading this Liz, thanks again for such a wonderfully warm welcome, my first ever window feature, chesire cat is an understatement..
Another One Of The Dog Pond
Ok, I have actually published another shot of this particular little pond in the park before (see here) but this time I decided to get inside the cluster of trees and see what I could make of the outside world from within.
It’s kind of ironic as the previous post from outside the cluster of trees was captured on a digital camera and then processed to look like medium format film, whereas this one actually is medium format film. I’m still madly in love with the square format of the pictures that come of out my borrowed Bronica [thanks again Caroline] so I find myself revisiting many places to see just how differently I frame a shot within the same area.
It’s quite a simple photograph but hey, I kinda like it.
The photo was shot on a very old Bronica film camera using Kodak Tri-x 400 film.
The print was made by my very own hands in the darkroom in The Gallery Of Photography in Temple Bar.
Blast Off.
(Comments and opinions are greatly appreciated, please feel free to let me know what you think)
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To purchase a signed 12 x 12 inch print of this photo, just click the button below.
You can either pay directly via paypal or with your own credit card. The Prints are €25.00 each and that includes shipping to anywhere in the world. Your print will be made to order and will ship out within 48 hours.
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Broken Tree Stump In The Peoples Gardens
It’s a tree, I know that but it’s neither a full tree nor are there lots of them.
I know I said I was trying to challenge myself by moving away from trees, for a little while at least, but this is not my usual kind of view of life. I am not really one for getting up close and personal when it comes to photography, I do like to stand back from things a little bit. This shot, like many, came about completely accidentally. I am on a mission at the moment to try and photograph as many of the lodges in the park as I physically can, there are up to 35 in total so be patient with me on this one. Anyway, I was in the Peoples Garden one beautiful sunny day trying to get my hands on a decent shot of the lodge within the gardens. The lodge itself is completely surrounded by a five foot hedge so it was taking me a while trying to find a decent angle to allow the lodge rise above its surroundings. I found a rather large tree stump and after standing on it and setting up my camera discovered I could almost get the entire house into the shot from this elevated angle. By the time I had tripod set up, camera tested, light meter sorted, focus tested and retested, a crowd of about twenty teenage Italian students arrived on the scene. No problem there I thought, in fact they may just add something to the scene. Then they all started to practise some bizarre form of group dancing, you know the kind you see in really bad R’n’B videos. I’m not putting that in my photograph, sorry if I seem a bit snobbish about it but come on, group dancing in a black and white landscape photograph. So I waited……….and waited.
I sat down on the ground and held my head in my hands waiting on this to end.
Then I noticed this little fella looking straight at me with his “Please photograph me” stumpy branches. And so I did, and I ended up really liking the results.
By the way, I have absolutely nothing against Italian students, they just happened to be Italian students. In fact, I’m a part time Juve fan so you could say I have a love of all things Italian.
Arrivederci
(Comments and opinions are greatly appreciated, please feel free to let me know what you think)
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To purchase a signed 12 x 12 inch print of this photo, just click the button below.
You can either pay directly via paypal or with your own credit card. The Prints are €25.00 each and that includes shipping to anywhere in the world. Your print will be made to order and will ship out within 48 hours.
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Alternatively you can purchase unsigned prints or postcards of this photo from the Redbubble site from as little as €2.50 by clicking this link.
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Thank You
Thank You
I just want to say a really big thank you to everybody who came to my exhibition launch last night in the Workmans Club. I had a great night and I hope you all enjoyed it too. It was my first opportunity to display any of my pictures in public and I have to admit I got a real blast out of hearing peoples reactions to the photos and finding out all your favourites. To say I am happy is a huge understatement.
Here’s a photo of the Phoenix Park just to celebrate.
And for anybody who couldn’t make it last night, I know it’s hard getting out on a Tuesday night, the show will continue until the end of April. You can go and view the photos anytime until then. The bar itself opens every day from 5pm, so feel free to pop in and grab a quick pint, cocktail or just a coffee.
For anybody interested in buying one of the framed prints just email me at the address on the contact me page
Thanks again, and thank so much for all your kind words.
Dave
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To purchase a signed 12 x 8 inch print of this photo, just click the button below.
You can either pay directly via paypal or with your own credit card. The Prints are €25.00 each and that includes shipping to anywhere in the world. Your print will be made to order and will ship out within 48 hours.
If you would like a bigger or smaller size please don’t hesitate to email me with your requests.
Alternatively you can purchase unsigned prints or postcards of this photo from the Redbubble site from as little as €2.50 by clicking this link.
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Outside The Phoenix Park School
This shot was taken in a tiny little fenced in area directly outside the Phoenix Park School. I have always been intrigued by the building itself and to my shame I only discovered it was a school last year when I was given a gift of a book called “The Hidden Park”. It’s a really beautiful book of photography taken by people either working or living in the Phoenix Park. The book was produced and published by Ordnance Survey Ireland and features a host of works by various amateur photographers. If you have any kind of interest in the park and the people who work there then I highly recommend the book to you. It can be purchased directly from the Ordnance Survey Ireland offices located in the park, if you go past the turn into Farmleigh House you will see their offices on the right hand side.
The original school building seems to have been built around about 1848 and was designed by Decimus Burton. The school was built to cater for the children of the numerous people who actually lived in the park even at this early stage of its existence. Don’t quote me on this just yet but by my mental count there are between 30 to 40 different lodges / houses within the park so I’m sure the school itself was pretty busy.
I’m planning on a full count of lodges and houses within the park in the coming weeks, obviously with photographs to come too, so be patient with me while I do a little bit more research on these things. I have never really photographed many buildings before so this is kind of an exciting challenge for me.
All I need now is a bit of sunshine, anybody got any to spare out there.
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To purchase a signed 12 x 8 inch print of this photo, just click the button below.
You can either pay directly via paypal or with your own credit card. The Prints are €25.00 each and that includes shipping to anywhere in the world. Your print will be made to order and will ship out within 48 hours.
If you would like a bigger or smaller size please don’t hesitate to email me with your requests.
Alternatively you can purchase unsigned prints or postcards of this photo from the Redbubble site from as little as €2.50 by clicking this link.
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Cold Coffee And No Sunshine
This shot was taken at the very back of the visitor centre, I know I go there a lot these days but I will explain all of that in a minute. I am on a mission at the moment to try and stay away from photographing trees and I have a lovely new project on the way to share with you.
So, I’m in the park on a very lovely cold but sunny winter’s morning, one of the rare occasions when I also have the car in tow. With that luxury I can also bring both film and digital cameras with me. It’s such a beautiful morning that I decide to head to the coffee shop in the visitor centre to grab a takeaway coffee and then head about my business. By the time I have gone in to the coffee shop and waited literally two minutes for my coffee the sun has disappeared and its just started to rain. It’s not real rain, as we like to say in Ireland, it’s just kind of blowing around. It’s not really a wet kind of rain, just more of an annoyance if that makes sense. Still, it is raining so no chance of taking either camera out of the bag. I decide to give up on the thoughts of wasting lots of film on a day like today so I throw the digital yoke on my back, put up my hood and head out the back gates of the visitor centre. As soon as I walk out this scene grabs my attention and I start thinking about coming back some day when the weather is better to get a shot of these trees. As I stand and stare down the line of trees, I like to stand and stare, it’s much easier than walking all the time, the sun slowly starts to peak out from between the clouds. By the time I set up the camera and take the shot the sun disappears again, not to be seen for the rest of the day.
They do a nice coffee in the visitor centre by the way, just as well, I had to buy another one as the first one had gone cold by the time I took the photo. Really pleasant staff and they do great food at lunchtime.
(Comments and opinions are greatly appreciated, please feel free to let me know what you think)
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To purchase a signed 12 x 8 inch print of this photo, just click the button below.
You can either pay directly via paypal or with your own credit card. The Prints are €25.00 each and that includes shipping to anywhere in the world. Your print will be made to order and will ship out within 48 hours.
If you would like a bigger or smaller size please don’t hesitate to email me with your requests.
Alternatively you can purchase unsigned prints or postcards of this photo from the Redbubble site from as little as €2.50 by clicking this link.
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![Small river near the furry glen [2]](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8314/7982194642_e744d86030_t.jpg "Small river near the furry glen [2]")
