In search of the Dublin Dolphins

On Sunday last, I headed off in the direction of Killiney as I had heard of so many people who had seen dolphins swimming in the Irish sea off the coast of Dublin/Wicklow. I had also heard that the best place to spot them was Killiney beach.

When I got there, I was met with huge disappointment. Not a single Dolphin in sight. I even had the zoom lens on my DSLR camera to see if they could be spotted with something more than the naked eye. Unfortunately, I was out of luck.

The light however made for great shooting conditions. It was that sort of “sun trying to break through the clouds” light that gives very pleasant landscape images. The beach was very busy ; a lot of people were out for a Sunday walk. This first image was a general landscape which captures the lighting. Because the contrast wasn’t too harsh, I was able to capture a good degree of high dynamic range.

Lots of people out for the day in Killiney. No sign of the Dolphins though

 

Graffiti 'd beach shelter.

 

I will make the effort to come back to this location for a sunrise shoot which would capture more vibrant colours and I might catch a glimpse of the Dolphins.

 

 

 

Pancake day

Ask anyone what today is and they will straight away tell you that today is pancake tuesday. Half of them don’t really know what it’s all about. They know it’s something to do with religion and the more intelligent bunch will inform you that it’s the day when Jesus went into the desert for 40 days. What they do know is that for their dinner, they will be having pan cooked flour and egg mixture along with lemon, sugar and some other sweet topping such as chocolate or jam.

In fact I saw a very funny tweet by someone. “I wonder what toppings Jesus had on his pancakes, before he went into the desert?” I found it quite humourous to say the least.

Lemon is a spot in the centre of Dublin City Centre which serve nothing but pancakes. Instead of serving on Shrove Tuesday, you will find them open all year round (well maybe not Christmas day). On previous years I have seen large queues forming out the door on this day. They certainly were prepared by opening till 9pm. Pancake Tuesday to them must be how the high-steet stores feel about St. Stephen’s day.

Today however, it seemed surprisingly less busy. I managed to call by on my lunch-break from work and had no problem getting inside. It looked in-fact like any day at lunch.

Pancakes anyone?

 

I tried to get a good look in the door to see if they were having better luck on the inside and they had the chefs working hard but it wasn’t crazy busy.

Working hard

 

 

Maybe this is just a sign of these recessionary times. People can’t afford to spend their hard-earned cash on something that costs a fraction to make at home. It’s literally just eggs, flour and milk.

 

Home-made pancakes are cheaper

 

That’s exactly what I decided to do for my pancake fix. I had the batter made from the night before using a simple recipe. Let me know how you eat your pancakes because for me it’s the simple, lemon and sugar

 

 

A Dog’s Life

Sometimes after I’ve parked the car and while walking towards the Luas stop to begin my morning commute into town, I come across this fella. I think he is just amazing. He just lies on the pavement and watches the world go by.

I can only imagine what goes through his mind. While the other dogs are out chasing cats or leading their owners along the morning walk, this guy just soaks up the morning sun.

It's a dog's life

Valentine’s Day

Yes, it’s Valentine’s day. The day when loved up couples show their true affection for one another. They exchange flowers and cards.

However I found this day to be a great day to experience great photo opportunities.

I saw this guy buying flowers from a street vendor who, I have no doubt, made a mint yesterday. And sure why wouldn’t they? I was told that they were charging up to 50 euro for a bunch of roses. Crazy money considering the same is probably going to cost half price when it’s not valentine’s day.

 

Too macho to buy flowers?

 

I did have some luck yesterday. I found the infamous heart door on South Anne Street that I have heard about. For those who don’t know, there’s a door on number 30 South Anne Street that features a very unusual heart shaped design for the door lock. What a better day to photograph this, than on Valentine’s day.

 

The infamous door on 30 South Anne Street