St Patricks Day in Dublin brings out all the fancy floats and bands from around the world but every year Paddy Drac shows up dressed as Dracula. I don’t know how many years he has been taking part but every year I’ve been there he has gone up and down the parade route with as much enthusiasm at the end as at the beginning and he always stops and performs for the kids and the growing number of cameras pointed in his direction. He’s also a good point to bring a little colour into this blog.
Italian Snow
For the last 6 months I’ve been back and forth to Italy with work. Terrible how real life gets in the way of hobbies isn’t it. You might think that Italy would be a great place to take photos but I don’t get much time to go out. The hotel is a little away from town and it’s usually dark by the time we finish work and leave the office. Still last week I woke to a very unusual winter wonderland. It shouldn’t be snowing this much this time of year but one morning the whole area was blanketed over night. It didn’t last long but it was pretty while it did.
Pillars
I like this view in Dublin. Standing the north side of the pillars in front of the old House of Lords now Bank of Ireland and look towards Trinity. It shows a very grand view of Dublin architecture which unfortunately isn’t matched by its surroundings. I wonder if the buildings we build today will be as impressive in hundreds of years as these ones? I doubt it.
By the way, this is the first photo I’ve published here from my new Canon Powershot SD1200 IS. I like the camera. Easy to use with enough manual settings to keep me happy. It’s a good size to, fits easily into any pocket but the viewfinder might as well not exist since it’s too small. Image wise it’s a good performer, way better than my old point and click. The photo above was taken handheld at night time and camera shake was well handled plus noise was at acceptable levels as well, that said I keep it at ISO100, noise does increase as you go up the ISO levels, but that is the case with all cameras. The 3x zoom is a little limited but it’s a 3x zoom so what do you expect. It wont replace my SLR but it lives in my laptop bag or coat and goes where ever I go so in that respect it’s better than my SLR. As the saying goes the best camera to take a photo is the one you have with you.
Property
Another oldie but one I remembered from a previous visit to Dublin Castle when a group of us went on a photowalk and also visited Dublin City Hall. The thing that stood out to me was this statue that had a quotation written on it “Property has its duties as well as its rights” by Thomas Drummond, a Scot who became the Under Secretary in Ireland in 1835, effectively the head of the Irish Civil Service. Given the property boom and subsequent crash it seems like we could use some of the same thinking in the Civil Service today.
Dublin Castle Again
After taking some photos from the corner I moved to the front and grabbed some photos. I half expected to be moved on but I guess the security dont mind photographers with tripods unlike other places I’ve heard.
Dublin Castle
A photo I took with my new B&W ND110 filter. I went into Dublin Castle and set up in one of the corners. The long exposure helps remove the tourists walking around.