Tuesday, February 07, 2006

Some pics from Flickr

I HAVE ranted many times about Flickr and how great it is, even in terms of inspiration and ideas. And after the honour of being nominated in the Irish Blog Awards Best Photo blog category and realising that it has been a while since I did a purely photographic post here goes.

I haven’t used my camera as much as I have over the last year for work and also for me and it’s great, I’m loving it. I was once told that most photographers work to take the pics they want, very few work taking the pictures they’d like.

And while I agree with this, digital has made it a lot easier. Unfortunately I need to do some serious archiving, but Flickr is helping me with that too.

One of the projects I gave myself was Travels on the Buses. Being one of those countless commuters in Dublin I find examples of interesting things to photograph all the time.

Here’s some from that set which is a project in progress.

Bus Reflection
Parnell Square reflected on the back of a bus

Steamy Windows - Caught in the act by waving tourists

Tender is the bus

Handing out Metro

Smoking On The Bus

Another thing I love about digital cameras is the ease with which you can carry them about, take out of your bag, pocket, snap something and off you go again. I do this all the time, there is something exciting about from the hip photography.

Here’s some examples.

Walking fish

HapennyBridge

Into the light

Course developing your own film and prints is still absolute bliss and something I haven’t done in a long time. I must hunt out all my old negatives and book into the Gallery of Photography’s dark rooms (just a thought I hope digital hasn’t knocked that facility on the head!).

Here’s three oldie but goldie pictures from about 1997.

Swans on Royal Canal at Croke Park

Making a swing

strange gravestone

And because I am from Belfast, here’s some from home.

Madden's Bar, Belfast

Belfast Fire Eater

Clonard, Lower Falls, Belfast

The 8th Wonder of the World, the Giants Causeway

Glen Road Cottages Gate

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10 comments:

Emma in Canada said...

That last picture brought a tear to my eye. My dad's last home in Belfast was on the Glen Road. When I went there, I searched for his house and was dismayed to see that all the work he and his brothers had done on the outside had been destroyed.

Fantastic photos, redmum. I wish I could take pics like that.

Anonymous said...

Superb pictures! Can you tell me where in belfast the pictures were taken? As a fellow belfast born girl I would love to know!

Anonymous said...

Lovely shots there, Mum!
Mine are at www.flickr.com/users/tomcosgrave.

Best of luck in the awards! I'm one of your rivals (www.thisisdiopter.org)!

Red Mum said...

Emma:Was your Dad's home in the west Belfast Glen Road? Cos that would be a very small world.

Teenage Kicks: Its your mum's old house, but I don't know if this is the last official pic, but I am delighted to have captured the wonderful gate.

Lisa: The boy up the pole was taken down the Lower Falls, the bar pic is an old favourite haunt, Maddens bar off Castle Street. The flame thrower was taken in Cornmarket Christmas about 1997, the two boys on the bike were taken down from Clonard on the Falls Road. You know the Giants Causeway and the last was my pal's childhood home which was knocked down a couple of years ago.

And hello Tom sure haven't I popped by your pics loads of times already:) Best of luck in the awards too.

Emma in Canada said...

Yes it was. I didn't know there was another one.

Red Mum said...

There is another Glen Road on the other side of town.

So did your Dad grow up in the cottages cos there was only about 10 to 12 and my friend and her family lived there for a couple of generations.

Emma in Canada said...

No he was West Belfast, they gradually moved down the Falls Road and eventually to Glen Road.

I had to call my dad about the cottages, although I knew he didn't live in them I thought he'd probably know of them. And he did...he lived very near and a friend of his married a girl from there.

Certainly is a small world.

Scholiast said...

I've only been to Ireland once. I bought a guide book before I went, and particularly noted the preface, which stated that "freckled farm kids will [I loved this "will"] appear from behind the stone fences and greet visitors".

I went to the Aran Islands (or Inis Oirr, to be precise) and walking towards the youth hostel, in the fog, what appeared from behind a stone fence? You guessed it, three freckled farm kids. Greeting us as we walked by. I just loved that... (Possibly not the same kids on your photo, I just came to think of it...)

Great photos!

Paul O'Mahony (Cork) said...

I love your bus journey photos. That is a wonderful project and I hope you keep it up. I used to be a bus conductor in London for nearly 4 years. After that I was a bus inspector, a revenue inspector and later a roadside inspector who stood out in the wind, rain and sun. I won't bore you with the rest of the biography but 31 years later I am still working with bus people. Your photos make me think back over all those years and I feel sorry I didn't keep a diary.
Thanks.

Anonymous said...

oh..I like your photos so much. I just interesting in taking a photo , but I can not do it so well. :( By the way I like to take a digital camera in my handbag, it makes me can take a photo in interesting situations,places and persons. :) But when I'm on bus I still can not take good photo. :(