23
Feb
2010
Dispatches From Dublin
Wow, it’s been nearly a month since my last update! The main reason for this post is that I’ve completed the photos from Dublin, but I realize for anyone who doesn’t check Facebook, you may not know I ever got back! It was a mostly uneventful return. I did manage to leave my power adapter and a USB cord behind in the hostel. Some people leave their heart places, I appear to leave other bits behind… I actually remembered it on the train to the airport but did the math for what the train ticket cost me and realized I’d come out ahead just buying replacements rather than turning around. The airport in Paris was… an experience… I have experienced a good number of airports in multiple countries. From the cold and mechanical experience with security in Frankfurt to the cattle treatment at Atlanta Hartsfield, this was the first time I experienced someone who was personally hateful. I actually spoke back to him which I rarely do in these situations! I’ll save the details, but I was happy to be bound for the states! My last gift from France was a lingering cough that turned into an infection. This has not been a healthy winter for me. So much for lowering my stress and becoming healthier! But a good round of antibiotics and steroids and all better, which allowed me to begin working on my photos from Ireland in earnest!
Normally, I edit photos in chronological order. I very rarely deviate from that pattern, but I have this time. I think it helped me to attack the pile of photos by going at them in an order that doesn’t highlight how much is left to go. Thus, my first round of photos is from Dublin. Those who read the travel logs, know that I passed through Dublin multiple times in my trip, so the photos literally span the beginning, middle, and end of my time there. I will now be attacking other sections of the trip. I’m attaching a handful of photos to this post, but these are somewhat randomly selected. I rely on your collective feedback as well as my own second review to really cull the best of the lot any time I edit my photos.
Winter Skies
A view from Dublin’s Phoenix Park, one of the largest enclosed parks in Europe. The cross was erected in 1979 for a visit by Pope John Paul II. He conducted an outdoor mass here that was attended by more than a million people. The frost on the ground is just a taste of the winter that’s coming for my trip in Ireland!
The Distance - Glasnevin Cemetery
One of those predictable (from me) cemetery photos – Dublin’s Glasnevin cemetery in the snow – apparently snow is not common for Dublin, but I saw plenty of it. I’m just lucky like that!
Dublin's An Post
A view of Dublin’s main post office taken from O’Connell Street. It was the last of the grand Georgian buildings built in Dublin and still serves as the main branch post office in Dublin and the headquarters for the Irish postal service, An Post. The lady in red makes this photo for me.
Ridiculous River Liffey Panorama
While I certainly hope you will click through to see this and the other photos larger, this one demands it to fully appreciate. This is a panorama beyond reason, one of many photos I took along the River Liffey on this day (the light and skies were exceptional). It’s, if memory serves, six vertical images stitched together in photoshop. It’s probably around 160 degrees of view of the north bank of the river. The O’Connell street bridge to the right actually runs parallel to where I’m standing in reality. Despite the inherent distortions, or maybe because of them, I really love this shot.
Bright Lights, Big City - Dublin's Temple Bar
From my last night in Dublin is this fisheye photo of a pub in Temple Bar. Temple Bar is actually the name of a neighborhood, and not a specific pub, although I guess this one claims to be THE Temple Bar. I really liked the color, lights, symmetry, even the people waiting along the sidewalk outside. It’s my favorite of several shots I took that evening.
I certainly hope you’ll all check out the rest of the gallery and let me know what you like most amongst the lot of them!
20
Dec
2009
Churchill & New York City
What a truly random combination of work, but it’s what I have to discuss right now!
As I prepare to prepare (yes, I’m that far behind) for my trip to Ireland, I’m doing my best to finish editing my NYC photos. It’s a fair bet, however, that while I may post them in my gallery on my website, nothing new is going to make its way to my prints until I’m back.
I encourage you all to take a look at the NYC photos I’ve posted thus far and will likely add to in the next week (so check back).
Mark Tisdale – Sept 2009 in NYC Gallery
There’s already some photos in there of which I’m very proud. And as is often the fact, I look at them and ponder when I might make it back to explore more of what I saw. Not tomorrow by any stretch, but someday I expect.
Lady Liberty Lifts Her Light
Knowing my sometime predictable luck, it should be no surprise that the boat ride on my first day in New York was as close as I ever got to the famous Statue of Liberty. Bad weather the morning I intended on visiting left this my best view, but it was not bad at all. The statue is a true treasure, and my photos that day gave me an excuse to do something a little more artistic, creating this many layered image to resemble an old color postcard.
New York Rhythm
This is one image I was quite taken with. It does require a small amount of explanation, though. I am quite near sighted and have an astigmatism. I would not get far in the world without my glasses. I was on a night tour of the city and took my glasses off for a second and glanced down a side street. This is more or less what I saw. And I loved the view, the city boiled down to its chaotic best. Lights without form! It suddenly occurred to me that I could reproduce this for my camera by putting it out of focus. So, you can see the world as I saw it. I played with this off and on the rest of the evening, and may post more but this first try was my favorite.
And now that you’ve seen some New York City, I can jump to Winston Churchill, because the connection is obvious isn’t it? Maybe you don’t know that the iconic prime minister of the United Kingdom, in fact, had American ties? His mother was born in Rochester, New York, and was raised in Brooklyn and New York City. So yes, there is a connection between New York and the famous British Bulldog. However, truth be told, there’s a different reason I’m posting this one. A couple of days ago, I was contacted by a would be buyer who really liked my photo of the statue of Winston Churchill silhouetted in front of London’s Big Ben. However, she had a special request that I fulfilled.
She wanted me to include the Churchill quotation that I have always included with the description of this piece on the print itself. And I think it was an excellent request! I’m really happy with the result and wanted to share it. I think it definitely helps anchor and explain the image and it was almost as if I left that massive base just for this purpose. I wish I could have been that forward thinking! Anyway, here’s hoping she enjoys it when she receives it!
4
Oct
2009
London Tate Modern
It took four visits to London to finally make a call on London’s Tate Modern. In my defense, I had visited the British Museum (twice), The National Gallery, The National Portrait Gallery, and the Victoria And Albert Museum. I think I may be missing a couple in that list. The point is that London overflows with opportunity to take in the arts and the history of said human activity. I am less so a fan of modern art than what we would term traditional art, so it was not surprising that it took me so long to get to the Tate Modern.
Tate Modern
This is a view of the Tate Modern from the opposite side of the Thames. The Tate Modern actually occupies what was formerly the Bankside power station, a massive post-war building that embodies much of the modern in its blocky architecture. The power plant was shuttered in 1981 and in recent years converted into a wing of the Tate musuem, housing modern and contemporary art from 1900 and forward. Seen also in this view is the Millennium pedestrian bridge built to celebrate the 21st century.
Turbine Hall
The interior of the museum is as much a work of modern art as the extensive and revolving collection it houses. Stripped of much of the original and mammoth machinery this building once housed, you get massive spaces such as this, the Turbine Hall, in the middle of the structure. The lines of this place have to be seen to truly be experienced but I feel this print goes a long way towards conveying the proportions.
If modern art is not your thing, you’ll be forgiven for seeking out other places if you visit London with limited time, but if you have time to spare, or you are a fan of modern art, you must check out this place. As with many of the galleries and museums in London, the Tate Modern is free (temporary exhibitions are the exception).
12
Jun
2009
Meandering Through The Other Georgia
If it seems like I haven’t shared any news lately, it’s perhaps because there isn’t much to be had. I’ve been using a lot of my now spare time to do some handyman stuff at my parent’s house that I’d put off or only half done in the past. It’s hard when you’re only in town for a weekend to get a lot done. There’s still a lot to do (aren’t old houses fun?), but it’s looking like I’ll have some time as I wait for the house to sell. There’s also the chance that I might do a lttle meandering stateside or even take advantage of some last minute travel deals (harder to travel on the spur of the moment when you have a day job you know!).
I did finally take some me time realizing it had been more than a few days since I picked up my camera and did some wandering. I left late in the afternoon, and there are definitely worthwhile places I could have gone near by, but instead I wandered down Georgia 26 until I found myself in Hawkinsville, Georgia. I couldn’t tell you the last time I had been there – probably at least a decade. I saw a lot of rolling countryside on the way and had to make a couple of stops.
Framed By Clouds - Highway 26
There are actually several photos of this old house on that awesome hill (it’s for sale if you want a fixer upper, but I suspect the land is what’s really worth something). Definitely give the others a look in my new “Other Georgia” photo album. I had a hard time picking a favorite but don’t want to put them all in this post! If I didn’t pick your favorite, let me know which one was!
And for anyone wondering what the “other Georgia” is, it’s the part that’s not Atlanta. I’m by far not the first to reference it as such.
I wandered through Hawkinsville for a bit but only took a few photos – neat place and I’m sure I’ll wander back through again, but didn’t find anything too awesome photo op wise in the direction I chose to amble. I drove on a ways but decided it was too late in the day to keep wandering towards the coast unless I was prepared to spend the night in that direction somewhere. So I headed back to Macon County and got there in the best light of the day.
I took one stop in Oglethorpe for a photo I would only get on a quiet Sunday when no one would see me literally lying on the street next to the curb to get this perspective of the 100+ year old courthouse.
Macon County Courthouse
I was partially shielded from view by my car, but if anyone saw me lying there, my apologies! I wanted to get this view of that big blue sky.
After that, I stopped by Troy’s Snack Shack in downtown Montezuma and finally timed it for the light I’d hoped for on past stops. Now, a photo of Troy’s empty doesn’t tell the story of this Montezuma tradition. It’s been there for decades and it’s always busy!
Troy's Snack Shack - Montezuma, Georgia
Troy's Snack Shack Interior - Montezuma, Georgia
That second one is shot through the plate glass windows – I liked the result!
22
May
2009
Atlanta – Parting Shots
The absence of late equals getting settled in for the moment back home while I await the sale (fingers crossed) of my town house. Pretty much everything is in storage or sorted out. So, I finally had some time to edit the last few photos from my Peachtree walk.
The excitement of a big city for a lot of people is that there’s always something new. As I wandered up Peachtree, I was struck by how many new buildings there were. So many new office and condo towers that weren’t there a decade ago. This one, of which I know little, is The Mansion on Peachtree. If nothing else, it cuts a nice figure against a moody sky. This is viewed from the Lenox Marta station.
Urbania - The Mansion on Peacthree
It’s fitting my last shot was one of the first buildings I remember really noticing and liking when I lived near Buckhead lo those many years ago. It was almost brand new then and had few new buildings surrounding it and certainly nothing like the Mansion only blocks away. I used to think maybe the roof was truly hinged in some way but learned soon it was fixed permanently, but I still like the look. It gives the building a sense of motion or energy or something I can’t quantify but appreciate.
The Pinnacle on Peachtree
As pretty much always, these are just a few photos I’ve added to the Urban World gallery -be sure to check there for more if you’re interested.
That’s about it for news for the moment. I hope to get out and take some more rural shots soon. Maybe some light local traffic, but mainly I’m just hoping to get my house off the market so I can head overseas for a bit. But the break has been nice. It’s amazing that it feels like only a few days have passed not weeks but it’s a great pause in life to reflect, etc.
