Category Archives: Phoenix Park

The First Ever Deer-Bird.

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What do you get when you cross a deer with a blackbird ?
Can’t say I know the answer to that but these two lads are definitely working on it for me.
Animal researchers of the world take note, there could very easily be some flying deer hovering around the Phoenix Park in the next couple of years.
Every time the blackbird sat on the deers back I would obviously have the camera pointing in the wrong direction. There were literally hundreds of deer sitting around this area at the time, I spent at least an hour sitting patiently for something interesting to happen. The deer are very much happy with a bit of human attention, so long as you don’t go running and shouting at them, they will sit perfectly still and allow you to get quite close to them. Sometimes I like to simply sit and watch them go about their business in the park, leave the camera in the bag and just enjoy this amazing piece of nature so close to the city centre. It’s hard to believe you are literally only a couple of miles away from a busy metropolis.
For anyone unfamiliar with the Phoenix Park these lads just wander around freely in large herds, along with the trees, they pretty much own the place. They are never that hard to find, just drive up through the main road and keep your eyes peeled for them.
So now you know, it’s not only trees that catch my attention !

You can now purchase this print by clicking here

This Wee Bridge Saved My Life

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I spent ages trying to decide if I actually liked this photo or did it just look too unreal not to be faked.
Basically, the sky is exactly as it came out in the camera, I did slightly adjust the contrast but apart from that it’s simply down to pure luck and a very large dose of patience.
I think I spent over an hour hovering over the camera waiting on some kind of decent cloud cover to appear, at the same time as the sun. They say you need patience to photograph animals in the wild, well let me tell you, just because trees don’t move around you still have to do a lot of waiting / stalking.
I have always loved this particular collection of trees, I have visited them many many times during the course of many different seasons and lighting situations. I have never really been happy with the photos I have taken and it was on this cold september day that I finally approached them from a different angle and found this cute little bridge just begging me to include it in the shot. I duly obliged and I should really go back to that wee bridge and thank it for all the help.
Well worth a walk through some very soggy ground.
I love this particular spot during the summer, it’s just a perfect place to hide away from the world.

I spent ages trying to decide if I actually liked this photo or did it just look to unreal not to be faked.
Basically, the sky is exactly as it came out in the camera, I did slightly adjust the contrast but apart from that it’s simply down to pure luck and a very 

large dose of patience.
I think I spent over an hour hovering over the camera waiting on some kind of decent cloud cover to appear, at the same time as the sun. They say you need

patience to photograph animals in the wild, well let me tell you, just because trees don’t move around you still have to do a lot of waiting / stalking.
I have always loved this particular collection of trees, I have visited them many many times during the course of many different seasons and lighting

situations. I have never really been happy with the photos I have taken and it was on this cold september day that I finally approached them from a different

angle and found this cute little bridge just begging me to include it in the shot. I duly obliged and I should really go back to that wee bridge and thank

her for all the help.
Well worth a walk through some very soggy ground.
I love this particular spot during the summer, it’s just a perfect place to hide away from the world.

The Less Friendly Trees.

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I promise I will eventually make it as far as the Pope’s Cross to photograph it, but every time I head in that direction something catches my eye and that’s me done for another hour or two.

At least this time I actually managed to capture the cross, somewhat in the background but at least it’s actually there.
There are hundreds of these wild gnarly looking trees all over the park, I simply can’t resist photographing them to be honest. I love the fact that they always seem to be just sitting in a wide open space all on their own, for some reason they never seem to grow in groups. This makes me think of them as some kind of grumpy loner that doesn’t enjoy the company of other trees, you can almost imagine them shuffling along in their early years until they find a spot in the park where they won’t be disturbed by the other trees. It may seem like a crazy idea but part of me does believe that trees can communicate with each other in some way or other, don’t ask me to explain it, you either believe or you don’t.

I tend to approach these angry-looking lads with plenty of caution, it’s best not to get too close, you can never be too sure. They may be small but I have yet to see anybody brave enough to try to climb one of these little fellas, they are covered in prickly spines, even the squirrels dare not attempt.

You need to be very quiet when near one of these trees and don’t ever turn your back on them.

The Perfect Winters Day.

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These kind of perfect winter days always ends up screaming one thing to me when I am out with my camera – get out your infra-red filter and start shooting the world as the human eye can’t see. It’s something I particularly love about infra-red photography, whilst this spectrum of light does actually exist, we as humans can’t actually see it. I am going to try and keep the technical blurb out of this blog for as long as possible, I would prefer it to be about the images rather than how they were made.

This photo was taken just last week in the wide open plains near the Popes Cross, I was actually on my way over to the Popes Cross as it was perfectly lit up with late afternoon winter sunshine. I never made it that far, this kind of thing happens to me quite regularly, I stop to shot something else and then an hour later the sun has gone and its time to head home.

I like the effect of the walkway in the grass, it looks like some kind of alien entity making its way towards the trees.

You can now purchase prints or postcards of this photo here
 

The Visitor Centre in Infra-Red

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Phoenix Park Visitor CentreThe visitor centre in the Phoenix Park has some of the most stunning trees to be found anywhere in the park. I think a lot of people visit this area of the park on a daily basis and simply don’t even think about looking up.

There are some of the finest and probably oldest trees to be found right in front of you but most people visit this area to have a look at the visitor centre and maybe a picnic in the summer. Don’t get me wrong there is nothing wrong with that, in fact I think the visitor centre and cafe are two of my favourite things to do on a rainy day.

If you ever find yourself in the visitor centre then I recommend you walk out past the beautiful little mini-maze and just stand in the middle of the grass by all the picnic benches, then slowly raise your head and take in some of the tallest and most beautiful trees to be found in this wide expanse of woodland. The gardens and general area around the visitor centre and superbly maintained, credit must be given to the staff for the job they do around here.

There was something very striking about this tree and I have gone back to it on many occasions, I have never been happy with any of my photographs though. There are so many other trees close to it that it’s always been really hard to isolate it in a photo, I think it deserves a photo all to itself. I just happened to chance a visit a few weeks back with some infra-red equipment, it was one of those bitterly cold but sunny mornings and I thought it was worth trying out in infra-red. Finally,  I got a shot that I was more than happy with, I think the infra-red really does it justice and seems to remove anything else from the shot altogether.

Just because I finally got a shot of this tree that I am happy with doesn’t mean I won’t be visiting again, and again and again and again. Trees are so dependable, they are always in the same place you left them regardless of how long you leave them til your next visit.

This particular tree should think about getting an equity card, its only a matter of time before the producers of the Hobbit movie come looking for its like.