My Life

DeVreeze Wedding

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Earlier this year, some very wonderful friends of mine finally decided to tie the knot. Knowing that I enjoy photography, I talked things over with H & J and offered that instead of actually buying them a gift, I’d save them some money and do both their wedding portraits and the wedding event photography. I wanted to document the day from beginning to end – and make sure that their memories were saved – and also not based on a time limit. (Here in Dublin, for 5 hours of wedding event photography it costs about 600 Euros – and that doesn’t even include prints nor a cd/dvd of the images taken!)

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It’s not the first wedding that I’ve photographed – but it was the most intense and wonderfully gratifying experience that I’ve had in a long time. I got there at about 10 am, and left around midnight. Over the course of the day, there were some 1500 pictures taken – which were later parsed down to about 350 that were kept as good enough to put in the photo book of the event. I think they were delighted – because I managed to cover everything from the moments of the family getting ready together, through the bus to the registrar’s office, to the first kiss.

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I also remembered to get the decorations, the cake (which was decorated by a baker in the family), and then both the wedding brunch at the Crowne Plaza and the Barbeque in the backyard where the first dance, flower toss, and cake cutting ceremony was performed.

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I also found the opportunity to get the quirky things that perhaps another person would have missed, but that I really was able to pick up on because I know them as individuals and as a couple. Things like the two of them kissing – and their shadow merging into one, The bottom of H’s shoes as she went into the registrar’s office (she’d pasted stickers of hearts and the words I DO),

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The teasing that happened at the wedding brunch (balancing spoons on their noses)

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And the naturalness of them walking down the street, holding hands – J carrying the picnic blanket and H carrying the beautiful red cups – as if they were walking into the rest of their lives.

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Sure, I was exhausted when it was all over, but after 2 days of photo processing and then turning over the photos to them- I feel not only blessed to have been there, but also blessed to have been allowed to take the photographs of such an amazing event in their lives.

Congratulations, H & J.

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My “feral” family

Sitting on the neighbor's balcony, Mom kitty

Back in June, for about 2-3 weeks, I kept seeing a little mottled black and gold female kitten wandering around the area and up to the local grocery store. Not too long after, I saw the same scrawny cat in my back garden, and realized that she had had kittens. Because I’m such a softie, I decided that I couldn’t watch the cat starve to death (she was all skin and bones) and had to start putting out a bit of food for her.

Mom kitty getting fed

By the first week of July, I started seeing random fluff balls peeking out of the bushes in my back garden. They would scatter at any bit of noise. Eventually, as I continued feeding the momma kitty (now nicknamed June), I got to see the kittens playing in my back garden romping about on a sunny day. It was then that I realized that momma kitty had 4 tabby kittens…one of whom would always be in hiding when 3 others were out.

Most of the kitten family

After several weeks of daily feeding of her and the kittens, I’ve now reached the point where they know what time they get fed. They sit outside my back door and meow, curl up in the window sill, and even know their names – even if I can’t pet them, per say. They’ve become my “feral” family, and I do worry about them – especially now that I’m not sure what happened to Bibs. Last weekend, when it turned colder and the fall rains started, I decided it was time to buy a “cat house” for them. Unfortunately, I didn’t find one that I thought would work. So, I improvised and bought a storage box with a lid – and cut a hole in it. Then, I filled it half full with straw. The kittens shunned the box for 2 days, despite my putting their food on top.

The "winter box" of kittens

Today, when I got home from work, it was pouring down rain. It’s been raining all day and the weather service is predicting floods. I figured that by the time I got in, I would have some seriously soaked, miserable, bedraggled kittens to put food out for. I opened the bedroom curtain and peeked out, and could just see what looked like two “logs” pressed up to the side of the box. I started to think “great, they maybe think it’s a litter box” and put on some shoes to check if that was the case. As I opened the back door, I was quite relieved. Why? Because this is what greeted me:

Runt and Two Socks We're here, k?
(we’s found a warms, we stay in here, okayz?)

Yep, Runt, 2 socks, Ms. Piggy and momma kitty were all curled up inside the box, warm, dry, and purring happily away. It makes my heart sing.

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St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Ireland

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March 17th in Ireland is a huge Day. It’s a day of National pride as not only is Saint Patrick the patron saint, it’s also an “unofficial” day to celebrate all things Irish. Everyone gets in on the act – from kids to adults, businesses and private homes alike. The day is one of great festivity.

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For my first St. Patrick’s Day, I decided that I had to go to one of the biggest celebrations – nearly half a million people turn up – and see the Parade in Downtown Dublin – with the city turning into a mass of people all dressed in green,orange, and white.

The Aftermath of 200,000 from the parade.. a flood of green

All my life I’d heard how crazy the party was and how great the Parade was, and while it wasn’t what I was expecting (I was thinking something more along the lines of Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City or the Rosebowl Parade in California), it was still a very spectatular event.

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Hanging above the street… she performs with no net.

For comparison, the parades in the states have huge floats and giant balloons that float over the city and the spectators down below. The Parade here has some large floats – but mostly it’s about the color and the people participating in the parade. You can’t quite get the blimp or helicopter views like you can in the states – but it’s a stunning event just the same – because as a parade watcher – you’re just as much a part of the spectacle as the Parade itself. This year, there were some 4000 street performers most in costume – and many of whom were from the Dublin School of Art and Design (this was their final project, can you imagine!!!).

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(One of many representations of the “black dog”)

This year’s Parade theme was based on a competition to write a short story – the winner was Booker Prize winning author Roddy Doyle’s story “Brilliant”. (You can read the story here) The story is about how all of Dublin was depressed due to the recession and how the “black dog of depression” needed to be chased away by a group of well meaning children. As they race about the city’s famous landmarks and places, they encounter fantastic characters and eventually (chapter by chapter) bring back sunshine, rainbows, and happiness to the people of the city.

So, how about a few pictures? You can see more of the flickr set here.

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Check out the makeup!

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At the end of the Parade, The Phoenix Carries off the Black Dog… and the city re-emerges anew

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