Bank Holiday

This weekend is a bank holiday weekend in Ireland. This basically is a holiday for the sole purpose of celebrating the first Monday of June. These bank holidays are sprinkled around the year, and are a great break in the normal routine. This bank holiday weekend is especially nice because summer decided to show up! The last few days have been amazing.... a scorching 75 degree temperatures... sunshine... and a few days of no work....... does it get any better than this? I spent most of Saturday afternoon 'working' in the garden. Little did I know that Dee was checking up on me... I should have known better than to leave the camera in the house...







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Timing is.... (part 2)

Here is another picture that I took the other night on our mad dash through the mountains. This one was taken from the side of the road as we raced to watch the sunset. Again... we were right there at the right moment... I would have been happy to have stayed there in this spot for hours... but I'm glad that we pressed on and were able to see some other amazing spots.






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Timing is...

I have become convinced that timing is 75% of good photography. It is a bit of a gamble and a bit of a game to know when to stay an extra five minutes or to rush to another spot... You never really know if the spot around the corner will pay off or if you will get there and be disappointed. It only takes a split second for a cloud to move... a person to change expressions... or for the lighting to hit the right spot.... a second on either side of the right moment and the shot is just not right. There have been countless moments where I was off... where the shot/moment was lost forever... but occasionally... and just occasionally - The shutter clicks and I know that I was right there at the right moment. I think that this game is part of the reason why I like photography so much. It does not always depend upon me... sometimes I just get lucky and everything lines up just right.

All of this to say... my timing was right the other night. Dee and I had a group of students with us, and we had decided to drive up in the mountains for a scenic drive. It was not originally part of the plan, but at the last second the clouds were breaking, and we decided to do something different. Every turn as we drove through the mountains revealed a new and more awesome shot. Thankfully - the students were excited to park on the side of the road... to climb rock walls... and to run in the bogs with me as we chased the next perfect shot. In the end, We watched the sun set in three different locations, and I ended up with a ton of great pictures. Here is just one...








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More from the photo shoot

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Photo Shoots

I have had some really fun photographic opportunities over the last few weeks. I was hired a few weeks ago to photograph at a first communion mass, and several friends in our community have asked us to photograph their kids. Needless to say - it is a bit intimidating to be asked to take photos. Until this time, I have really only taken candid shots in public or shots of family members who were willing models. The first thing I did was to call my cousin Jason. He is starting a photography business in Oklahoma and had already taught me a great deal about planning a shoot when I went to visit him last fall. Jason gave me some great pointers for shooting kids.

Finally... the day of the 1st communion mass came. It turned out to be a beautiful day, and I was able to get some really good shots (at least I feel that they are good). After the mass I came home and was pumped! The day had turned out to be so beautiful, and I was on such a high from the first shoot that I called my friends and made arrangements to photograph their kids later that afternoon. We ended up taking two sets of twins and one little girl out to play and take pictures. Dee and S (one of the moms) helped me to wrangle the kids into a field of flowers, and I just let them play and make faces while I took pictures. It was a little crazy at times, but was a lot of fun. I think that the kids had a good time also... The other day I was out walking and as I walked past their house two of the boys were yelling at me "Wallace - come take our pictures again".

These first two photo shoots turned out so well, that I think I'm going to do some more. Here are a few pics from the 2nd shoot. Hope you enjoy.



























(Pictures posted here with permission)

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Today's Random Pic...

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Views from the kiln...

You might have read on here before that I do a bit of pottery (for fun) during the winter months... well, last night was probably one of the most memorable firings I have ever been to. Let me explain... Once a year a local potter has a special firing in an outdoor kiln (pronounced "kill-in" here). We wait and wait for a nice night to drag the big metal kiln outside to bake our pots and sculptures that we have been working on for a couple of weeks. The evening is usually a lot of fun as we all stand around the kiln talking and warming ourselves as it heats up to 1000C.

As I walked down to the pottery studio last night I noticed that there was a very faint rainbow out over the sea. I stopped along the way and took a couple of pictures, but they really didn't look all that spectacular. As the night progressed, however, the rainbow kept growing brighter and brighter... and longer and longer... until it was the brightest rainbow I had ever seen and it reached completely across the sky. I stood out there with my pottery friends in amazement at the beauty of this somewhat common occurrence in Ireland.... One of my friends in the class made the statement that she never gets tired of watching the sea and the weather, that they are always so amazing and magical.... I had to agree... In the end, the rainbow must have lasted an hour and half before it faded away into nothing, and we all had a fun and memorable time around the old kiln...


















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Today's Random Pic...

Allergy season in Ireland...






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Happy Anniversary

It is hard to believe... but this weekend was a bit of an anniversary for us. It was six years ago yesterday that we first stepped foot on Irish soil. wow! I can't believe that it has been that long! In many ways the last six years have been some of the best and hardest. At first it was very hard to settle here, and we had a hard time getting to know people. We have, however, really learned a lot about ourselves, and have discovered many interests that we never would have guessed that we had. Ireland feels like home now. We do love it here, and we are grateful to be here.

A few more random pics...

Dee and R at the farthest west point of continental Europe.




I feel the responsibility to say and show that Portugal is just like any place in Europe. It is extremely beautiful and historic while at the same time modern. Too often I feel guilty about only showing the beautiful side of places here, and not showing the traffic... rubbish... or power lines.




Photo by Dee... this is yours truly!




Everywhere we turned we were constantly reminded of Portugal's past and present connection with the sea.




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More from San Fran... I mean Lisbon...

So... Dee and I have made it back home to Ireland. We had a wonderful time in Portugal, and I think that the time away was really well timed and needed! Spending some time resting and playing with our friends was exactly what the doctor ordered!

It will take me a bit to finish sharing about our time there... we did so much and took so many photos... So, bare with me the next couple of days as I post some more about our time there...


In my last post I shared about the Golden Gate bridge in Lisbon... well, there were some other cool links with San Fransisco. Lisbon has a trolley system much like the one in San Fran.. In fact, many of the trolleys still going are "vintage". Taking a lift on one of these classic old electric tram cars (with their wooden interiors and old-style controls) is like taking a ride back in history. If, however, you take into consideration all of the hills in Lisbon and extremely narrow streets they are often more like riding a vintage roller coaster. You really did have to keep your hands and heads inside the car at all times!

Here are a few pics...

















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San Fran?

I have seen several cool and unusual things here in Lisbon... but I never thought that I would see the Golden Gate Bridge.... The bridge in the picture below was built by the same people that designed and built the San Fran landmark. On the far side of the bridge is a large statue of Christ that is much like the one in Brazil.






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Some more pics...

Sorry for the lack of writing in this post and in the previous one... we have been on the go so much that I really have not had time to sit down and catch up on what all we have been doing. We head back to Ireland on Tuesday, and I really hope to tell a few fun stories about our time here. Until then... here are a few more fun pics of us here...


















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Today's Random Pics...

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A willing model....

Our friends were tied up for most of the day, so Dee and I spent most of the day out on our own. We explored a great chunk of the old city.... but I'll tell you more about that later. Right now... let me post some pics of my beautiful wife. I still can't believe that we have been married for almost 10 years...



















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More from Portugal

Today turned out to be a really nice... and hot... day. I ended up getting lost (partly on purpose) in the old part of the city for a while this morning. I had read that there was a market set up somewhere in that part of the city... but did not know exactly where it was going to be. So... I wondered around the small streets until I started seeing people carrying things. I followed them like pieces of bread crumbs left in the woods until I came to the market. You could really find anything in this market... antiques... old shoes... rubbish... coins... toys... new clothing... I ended up spending a lot of time combing through piles of old books and coins that were baking in the sun. I didn't end up with any books... but I did find some coins... and some nice antique bottles for my dirt collection.

Here are a few of the pics that I took as I wondered the back streets of Lisbon...

"Enjoying the view"










I came across this tree when I was absolutely exhausted. I sat here under the tree for about thirty minutes listening to two old women talking in the door to the left.




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Today's Random Pics...

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Hello Mr. Sun!

Hello from Portugal! Dee and I left our house around 1am this morning... after a VERY long night we made it down here and are getting to see some of our dearest friends. R&B came to visit us about a month ago, and now it is our turn to get to come and see them!


This is our first trip to Portugal... and it is awesome!!! Lisbon is an amazing mixture of new and old. We are staying with in our friends' flat in one of the newest areas of the city. Apparently, back in 1998 the world expo was held here. Lisbon tore down large industrial areas and created a new 'cleaner' side of their capital city. I have to say - It is amazing to be walking around an area where nothing is older than 11 years old. The new architecture in this new section is truly unique... Many of the buildings have been built in a theme/style that reflects the importance of the sea on the history and culture. My favorite building (after one day) is the metro station in this area. I can't really explain the amazing feeling and look of this place. It is made almost completely out of concrete, and has a cold impersonal feeling... It is as if you are entering into the mouth of a giant whale... slowly moving in past the ribs as the halls get smaller and smaller.... Here are a few fun pics...




























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Today's Random Pics...

An old rusty bike...











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