Last weekend, in the midst of the June heatwave, I got to spend a little time in Dalkey. As it was such a lovely day, I wanted to capture the sea and so I went to Colliemore Harbour, which I was told would be a good viewing spot. It was indeed, and from there, I had a great vantage point out to Dalkey Island, as well as the surrounding sea and Dublin Bay.
This weekend, the cross city Luas was undergoing testing. I happened upon some of the work going on at Stephen's Green. As I approached, I could see the Gardai supervising the traffic, while a small army of engineers and workers walked up and down with the tram as it was testing the tracks. Members of the public watched in fascination as the testing gave the first hint that the four year project was nearing completion.
Today was one of those days that I just happened to be in the right place at the right time. I was walking through the Stephen’s Green centre in Dublin and I happened to notice a bit of commotion out the side door. I walked out only to be greeted by a lot of people dressed up in old clothes on old bikes. It was of course Bloomsday today, and I had wandered into the start of the Bloomsday Bike Rally.
When I’m not out shooting, I’m generally working from my home studio. Working from home means you get to skip the morning commute which on rainy and cold mornings, which is always a pleasure but as spring and summer comes you miss out on the seeing Dublin wake up. A little while ago, I packed up cameras early to go into the city to get some photos, one of my favourite places to shoot , by the river Liffey.
Spring in Dublin is usually a mixture of rain and sun and on Saturday we took advantage of the good weather to visit the National Botanic gardens in the north of Dublin City. The sun was shining and the sky was blue, so it was a nice place to go to enjoy a beautiful spring day. Amazingly, it’s somewhere that I’ve never visited before, despite passing it many times when I was younger on a regular commute.
I was recently walking through the beautiful St. Stephen’s Green in the centre of Dublin, and here spring has begun in full. The daffodils were everywhere, and so too was this magnificent magnolia tree that can be found in the park. It’s a lovely time of growth and the light at the end of the dark winter.
Every year, at this time, the city of Dublin get’s a little greener. I’m not talking about some environmental initiative though. It’s not a sudden growth of trees or grass either. No, instead I’m talking about the annual build up to St. Patricks Day. Where every shop, pub and restaurant does it’s patriotic duty and adorns their premises in the requisite amount of green trappings, from Shamrocks to Leprechauns. If you didn’t know what was going on you’d think there was some kind of plastic outbreak.
A few years ago I was flying home from a trip abroad, and as we were approaching Dublin, I looked out of the aircraft window, and I saw a beautiful sight. As soon as I saw it it dawned on me as to why Ireland was called “The Emerald Isle”. There was something so distinctly Irish about the colour of the landscape, that I knew immediately that I was home. I have never forgotten that sight.
One of the questions that people often ask me, is how do I keep it interesting when shooting Dublin. The city is quite small, and I try to go out shooting as often as possible, so you might think that things would become stale after a while. But the city is constantly changing and I’m often trying to find new and different ways to look at it. Sometimes it can be as simple as using black and white rather than colour.
I happened to be in the right place at the right time the other day to capture an amazing sunset. While travelling back on the ferry from Holyhead to Dublin, the sea was calm and the sky was beautiful, and as we reached the middle of the journey the sun set on the horizon, in a beautiful display of reds and golds.