Tag Archives: Phoenix Park

Phoenix Park Does Exotic

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Phoenix Park in Infra-Red

Another recent photograph for you today.

This was taken on May 2nd, just a week ago to be exact on a truly beautiful day here in Dublin. The sunshine was truly amazing, strong but still slightly hazy, great for detailed close up shots but really bad for those wide angle landscapes. Whatever way the light was catching these trees just drew me towards them no matter how hard I tried to avoid it. I have taken pictures of this bunch of trees on several occasions from many different angles so I really tried to move on and see what else I could find. Every time I looked over my shoulder the light just got better and better, so you can guess the rest. Well I suppose I don’t have to finish telling you, otherwise how could I have taken the photo.

By the time I succumbed to the trees in question it was almost midday and the light appeared to be slowly overhead and was actually not quite so dramatic as before. I was almost disappointed until I walked all the way around and discovered that the trees almost seemed to be in totally darkness as there was no more sunlight able to reach down through the foliage. I love the darkness in the tree trunks, if you look further passed them its pretty obvious how sunny the day was from the brightness of the smaller trees in the distance.

There is something very exotic about the trees themselves, they seem to be from a distant land and not something we would be used to seeing in Ireland. I love the way we always use the word exotic for objects that we wouldn’t normally see here in Ireland, I wonder what word people from so-called exotic countries would use instead of exotic to describe something that is maybe a little bit out of the ordinary.

Anyway, you know exactly what I mean when I use the word exotic.

It’s almost hard to believe that this scene came from the likes of the Phoenix Park, I have to keep reminding myself that I am pretty much in the middle of a city centre, not quite in the heart of it but a good swing of a golf club would send a ball into the River Liffey.

Enjoy the photo.

You can purchase prints or postcards of his photo from as little as €2.50 by clicking this link.

This Crocodile’s Having A Laugh

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Crocodile In Dublin Zoo

Anyone else get the impression that this guy is having a bit of a laugh at me.

There is something about the expression on his face [I’m sure he is not aware of it] but it looks like he has a huge grin on him, he’s probably thinking “Another fool with his camera trying to make it look like he was on a safari somewhere”.

I could try and lie, pretend I was on a safari somewhere but then the photo wouldn’t fit into the Phoenix Park theme would it. This shot was actually taken in Dublin Zoo. I must admit I am quite fond of this crocodile and regularly visit him when I go to the Zoo, which at this stage is about once a week. I have never been able to get a decent photo of him out of the water, I shouldn’t complain, it’s what crocodiles do isn’t it.

I finally caught him basking on one of the rocks in the enclosure and just as I am about to press the shutter on the camera he opens his mouth really wide like this and remained that way for as long as I was in the enclosure. I suppose I shouldn’t have been dangling the massive fresh fish I brought with me for bait in front of him.

He seems a somewhat jolly happy go lucky kind of fellow to me, always there with a great big smile on his face for all the visitors. I’m pretty sure he has other things on his mind whilst we all think he is smiling at us, they do say crocodiles don’t naturally hunt humans but I’m sure some of the smaller kids that visit look like a rather nice snack to him.

Fearsome and all as they actually are there is something very jovial and cuddly about this fella, next time I am going to ask the keepers if I can nip in for a play with him.

I will end by saying that I think Dublin Zoo is probably one of the finest in the world, they have made such amazing use of the huge space they occupy in the park, with a brand new enclosure for the Gorilla’s coming very soon too. Pay them a visit sometime, you will be very pleasantly surprised if you haven’t visited in the last ten years.

You can purchase prints or postcards of his photo from as little as €2.50 by clicking this link.

An Explosion Of Trees.

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Another blast from the past for you today.

This shot was taken in May 2008, again using my brand new toy, a Hoya infra-red filter.

I think this one works particularly well due to the one lonely white tree right in the centre of the shot. To be honest it didn’t look that much different to the rest of the trees with the naked eye but the infra-red filter really brought out the contrast between the two different type of trees.

The trees actually look like they are blowing in the wind, they all look like they are leaning from left to right but to be truthful it was a beautifully calm summers day and there wasn’t a breeze to be found.

I love the way the trees seem to be all clustered together, safety in numbers maybe.

There is a lovely soft almost cloud like feeling about the photograph.

After showing this photograph to a friend of mine recently they have commented that it almost looks like some kind of strange explosion of trees coming out of the ground. I never really noticed that before but if you step back a bit it does look like they are exploding out of the ground, like some kind of nuclear mushroom, except they are made from trees and thankfully completely harmless.

The Wellington Monument Plays Hide And Seek

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Phoenix Park, Wellington Monument

I’ve been trying to get a decent photo of the Wellington Monument in the park for quite some time now, I tend to give up for months and then head back down and start off all over again. I have never been a great lover of photographing such huge upright monuments [or buildings for that matter], there just tends to be so many problems with trying to achieve decent results. I tend to give in and head off to meet some familiar trees instead.

Speaking of familiar trees, I am truly gutted to discover that I missed an exhibition by Thomas Pakenham in The Molesworth Gallery, in whose wisdom was it to have such an amazing collection on for only two measly weeks. If you are not familiar with this man then I suggest you run out and get yourself a hold of a book called “Meetings With Remarkable Trees”, and that’s just for starters. I guarantee you that you will end up buying all of his photographic books, especially if you are tree fanatic like me.

Anyway, back to my main subject here today.

I was going through some old infra-red photos from about three years ago and found this here little beauty, obviously that’s my personal opinion, you can be the real judge of that. The photo doesn’t feature the entire monument but I really like the fact that it appears to be attempting to hide behind the trees, I wonder is it aware that we can all see it. Not the greatest game of hide and seek I have ever witnessed. I also get the impression that the trees on the left of the picture seem to be looking towards the monument with a “We can see you, stupid” look on their faces.

Ok, so the trees don’t have faces and the monument can’t actually play hide and seek, they do when you have the imagination of a two year old running around the house.

This one’s for wee Paddy who has opened up my imagination all over again.

Can You Hear The Noise

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Furry Glen

I kind of like the idea of a photograph having an actual sound. Let me explain a little bit about that theory.

If you look at this photo and imagine the cracking sound this tree made when it finally toppled over, imagine also the noise it made as it most likely snapped several branches from other trees on its way down. Every time I look at this photo I can help hearing that lovely dry cracking sounds of branches breaking, I can’t say it happens with every photo but I do hear sounds in them from time to time. There are also plenty of occasions when I can get a sense of smell from some photos, I love the way certain images can evoke a particular smell………….please tell me you agree with me and I’m not just going completely mad.

Anyway, this one was taken quite recently during my trip down the Furry Glen. It was quite an awkward shot to capture, I had to set up the camera on quite a steep slope and delicately balance the tripod on shifting ground. I think it was worth the effort.

Somebody just mentioned to me that it looks like some giant bear has been on the warpath through the woods, I replied “Trust me, if there were bears in the Phoenix Park I wouldn’t have stood still for long enough to take this photo”, I like the idea though, it adds to the many fables I hear about the Furry Glen area.

The Boathouse in Farmleigh

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Boathouse in Farmleigh

I took this photo about three years ago on a truly beautiful summers day in Farmleigh.

Believe it or not but a beautiful summers day is not always the best time to take photographs. Sometimes the light from the sun can be so bright and strong that it makes things very difficult to photograph. The difference between shaded areas and those in direct sunlight can be so vast that you have to decide what you want visible in the photograph. I stood in this spot for about twenty minutes slowly waiting on some clouds in the distance to arrive so I could finally get just the right light on these plants in the foreground. I tried to capture the scene on infra-red but the gentle breeze just made it impossible to keep the upright plants still enough for such a long exposure.

If you get the chance there is a really lovely walk around the lake, don’t worry it’s not too long but well worth the effort.

Farmleigh can get quite busy during the summer at weekends so if you are like me and free during the week then I recommend you take a trip with the kids or a camera.

Enjoy the photo and as always, comments are greatly appreciated.