A New Year's Wish

So, yet another New Year arrives at the speed of light - and will disappear as quick. Best to fire up your resolutions as fast as ye can, so, as they'll all be mere what ifs and after-thoughts before you know it.

Last night I read New Year's Eve, a rumination on this time of year by the English essayist, Charles Lamb, written in 1820. I remember the piece well from school and it was fun to read it again, from the very different perspective of being of a certain age! 

Even if old Charles was not writing anything truly ground-breaking, (not even at the time), I re-learned a few life-affirming lessons from this fine essay, namely that:

• it is impossible to regard the new year with indifference as it offers us all a yardstick to meditate on how far we have come in our lives and then to draw on this to measure how much we've left to go or what we've left to do.
• to this end, looking back is as important as looking forward, because you can't just 'welcome the coming and speed the parting guest' - the balance is a fine one.
• few under 30 think of mortality but after that age everyone thinks of it a great deal und thus we should be 'content to stand still at the age at which I’m (we're) arrived'.
• no matter how hard you try to fight against time or meet its challenges with a smile, you're fighting a losing battle. (It was hard to keep a straight face as I read Charles' triumphant words of defiance, 'I survive, a jolly candidate for ... 1821!')

I suppose all these reflections are based on the truth that Time will pass either way and the best you can do is to try to manage the tiny portion you have been allocated in the best way you can and see how far you get - always remembering that, this time in T.S. Eliot's words, 'to make an end is to make a beginning'.

Happy New Year!
 

More soon ...

Rolleth on 1821, hometh-boys!

Mug Shots!

I got roped into one of those Facebook challenges recently, whereby I was to post a black and white photo every day for seven days that said something about my life - without making any comment. The picture was not allowed to have any people in it and after each post I had to nominate a different person and challenge him or her to do the same thing.

My nomination would've been one of seven made by the person who nominated me and, in turn, my seven nominations, had everyone consented to obey, would've generated a further 49 people, each of whose subsequent nominations would've done the same. Und so weiter. Not hard to figure then that a helluva lot of people got involved.

It's kind of beyond me how these things gain such momentum, but when I think about it, three factors need to be present if they are to be a 'success'.

First, an arbitrary set of lofty rules must be insisted on to give the challenge a veneer of credibility and to apply the mind to the task.

Second, there needs to be an implied threat that if you don't participate then you're either a spoilsport or a bit odd, and ...

... third, there has to be an order for you to order other people to perpetuate the idea using the same combo of rules and threats so that the show can stay on the road.

Oh and there's probably one more required element - there has to be a mug!

Hmmm, nah, won't be doing this kinda thing again!

More soon ...

 

Smoke and mirrors!

Wholly Smoke!

Followers of this 'ere blog will already know that I got a little fixated on photographing smoke earlier in the year and couldn't let it go until I got at least one decent snap.

I thought I'd purged my demon curiosities back then but somehow they persisted long after I'd blown out that final flame and put the camera away.

Yeah, they kept wanting to know what it would be like to take footage of moving smoke, videoed smoke, and they kept on and on at me to go and find out!

So I finally gave in to them earlier this month, dusted down the camcorder, fired up the incense sticks, kick-started the PC and got to work.

Here's the outcome which I hope you find, well, therapeutic at least! Accompanying track is from Brian Eno's ambient album, Music for Airports.

More soon ...

Holy shmoke!

Blinding Light!

Another picture from the archive. This one is of the blinds in the kitchen, or rather, the shadow that the blinds in the kitchen cast on the wall beside them when the sun shines through in the morning time.

In a way this picture kinda reminds me of the keys on some variety of piano and, as such, is similar to the shot of the staircase I posted here a few weeks back - which comes as no surprise as both were taken as part of the same project.

I don't have much to say about this pic other than to observe that interesting themes and visions are all around us if we only pay attention - keeping our cameras close to hand as we go!

More soon ...

Shadowblinds!

All Aboard!

So here 'tis - the clarion call for all those who can strum a ukulele to climb aboard the forthcoming Ukulele Hooley Bus Busk as it twangs its way from Dun Laoghaire town centre later this month (departing at 3pm, Sat, Aug 26th)  and heads towards the Killiney Castle Hotel and a big uke session replete with shanties and shandies later that afternoon!

All aboard!

Here's the wee promo video I made for the self same busk which I hope you like - particularly the singing seagull!

More soon ... 

Sky blue sunshine summer feeling sets me free!

Latest Flame!

Here's another shot from that photo-essay I completed earlier in the summer. This one needs little by way of explanation other than to mention that the candle came from the pound shop and the black background effect was achieved through a combination of art paper and a pretty tight aperture.

The essay's focus was on displacement and on the uneasiness people feel when they are in transition or in unfamiliar surroundings. That  made sense to me at the time, because that was how I was feeling back then. But the clouds have long passed and I've settled into my new place pretty well since.

Despite its calm simplicity, I named this shot, Eye of a Storm, because when I looked at the outline of the candle and at the glowing wick in its centre, it reminded me of those weather maps you see that trace the movement of a hurricane as it makes for landfall! As such, it kind of matched the theme of the essay, albeit in an abstract, even ambiguous, way.

If I had to re-name this shot now, though, I'd probably call it, Like a Hurricane. 

Oh, hang on a minute ...

Anyway, hope you like!

More soon ...

There's calm in your eye ...!

Coming Soon ...

... to a screen near you: a short film written and directed by yours truly and starring the two guys you see beneath, two great actors who lent their comic talents to this production free-of-charge and who, indeed, were the making of it!

Though I was brand new to the process of making programmes and films at the time of shooting, these guys were much further down the road and their experience told. Thus, what we, as a rookie film crew, wanted comically, is just what we got!

And for a first attempt, it's hard to argue with that. So sincere thanks to Eric and Jed for their co-operation, generosity and effortless effort.

My intention is to run this wee movie up on the blog as soon as I can. Can't do it now as I still need to dot an I and cross a T or two before it's good to go. But the time is almost nigh, so at least place the popcorn seeds near to the microwave and take the butter out of the fridge!

More soon ...

Coming soon to the Bag's Blog!

Heat, Shoots & Leaves!

It was a good time to be in Dublin recently if you like your sunshine to be hot and bright, and your day to be as balmy as the tropics, a phenomenon that is about as rare as a blue moon, or indeed a blue sky, in these parts. It was nice, too, to have the camera to hand in case the sun took it upon itself to shed any new light on any old thing while I spent the afternoons gadding around.

There's a golden rule in photo-journalism which demands that the photojournalist gets in as close as is possible to his or her subject if the shot is to be of any value or interest. Strangely, when this is applied to lazy days lounging between the gaff and the garden, it also rings true! A simple leaf, for example, doesn't look very simple at all when you shoot it up close! Rather, the more you zone in, the more wonderfully intricate it becomes and you begin to see it more as a work of beauty in its own right than as nature's solution to getting a particular job done. 

My old camera doesn't really have the capability to compete with its modern-day, megapixel, wunderkind descendants, I know, but, on its day, it can still surprise me, as it did on one of those sunny days with this example of nature's unassuming finesse!

More soon ...

Another fine mesh!

Musical Stairs!

A stairway running sideways or the partially inflated bellows of some class of accordion?  Or both? Or neither! Who knows!?

Another piece from my wee 'pictures out of places' mini-series of images taken over the past few months, the early to mid part of 2017.

I'm pretty pleased that the work was well received by the powers that photographically be when I submitted it at the end of term because I did spend a lot of time considering and then executing the idea.

I've no real reason for posting this pic other than the fact that I've always liked its soothing velvety effect.

But oftentimes the simple act of taking a photo is a pleasure in itself, especially when you can see something in the subject that might not always be there or when you manage to get a one-off glimpse of something that you mightn't always or otherwise see.

More soon ...

And she's buying a stair-airway to ...

Tile Style!

As a result of an assignment we were given a while back on the film course I'm doing, I've started taking relatively abstract pictures again, but this time my theme has been much closer to home.

In fact, it's actually at home, where I've been trying to frame the patterns and the, eh, beauty that is inherent in the ordinary, everyday things that are in all of our houses - if we just look!

Our hall floor is tiled in a diamond pattern, Argyle it might be called, and I'd always considered it solely to be the thing in itself i.e. a hall floor that exists to do exactly what it says on the tin.

That is until I looked at it a little more closely and decided that someday it might become more than just a floor - it might become something beyond itself, something that exists for a completely different purpose than what the tin says.

As the essence of a picture, perhaps!

So, lo and behold!

I'll put up a few more of these shots over the coming posts if that's alright with y'all.

More soon ...

Me tiles they shone like diamonds!

God's GIF - The Footie Action Card!

It's official, all the technological innovations that have occurred in the field of entertainment over the last forty-five years can be written off as completely and utterly pointless as nothing can or will ever compete with this game changer - the footie action card.

To those of you who have never experienced such wonder at first hand, I've made a little action card video video to show you just how much you have missed! Take a bow, you long-lost wonder and take a bow, too, you midfield maestro, Tony Green, Newcastle United.

More soon ...

'Just tilt the card and your favourite star 'comes to life''!

Smoking Ban!

Haven't seen this kinda whimsical wispiness since they brought in the smoking ban, way back in the day.

Right, that's it then, the end of my smokin' photos obsession. Well, for now at least!

Ach, tiocfaidh  ... no.

Níos mó luath ...

In am práinne, ná caith tabac!

Ten Things We Didn't Know Last Week(ish) - #5

Time, once more, to catch up on all those vitally important news stories and research findings that've eluded many of us in recent days and weeks - but for no more as I now reveal to you such critical nuggets as:

• the news that Adidas are set to launch a line of trainers made from plastic found in the ocean - another step towards its aim to end pollution. 
• the possibility that the memory of dementia patients could be repaired by injecting blood from the umbilical cords of human babies, which, experts say, restores brain function.
• the discovery that the mucus of a rare Indian breed of frog could provide the raw material for a powerful new class of drugs to combat the flu. 
• the advice that online daters shouldn't choose their own profile picture if they want to find romance as strangers are better at picking images that will draw prospective suitors.
• the finding from a study into email habits which shows that 'cc-ing' a manager is the best way to stop your co-workers from trusting you.
• new info which shows that LSD does indeed produce a 'higher' level of consciousness - but that this increased brain activity is 'different' rather than 'better'. Not so cosmic then! 
• the scary news that new computers will soon be able to delete your thoughts without your knowledge, which has ethicists calling for the creation of new human rights laws such as “the right to cognitive liberty” and “the right to mental integrity”.
• the sad news that Robert M. Pirsig, author of the autobiographical novel, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, died last week, aged 88 and ...
• that Erin Moran, who played Joanie Cunningham in the 1970/80s sitcom, Happy Days,  has also passed away. She was 56. R.I.P.
• the prediction that humans will need to colonise another planet within one hundred years to ensure our survival. This according to Professor Stephen Hawking.

Strange times we live in, indeed.

More soon ...

Most peculiar mama!

Got a minute and a half?

... well why not have a listen to a wee ditty I recorded for the intro to and outro of a short film I made earlier this year called, Gigapixel, which I am looking forward to posting here in the not too distant future, i.e., once I get the go-ahead to do so. But the tune is free to go!

I hadn't intended to write a song for the movie, initially anyway, as I thought I could use an old one for free, seeing as the project was a not-for-profit, student production, but, apparently, that's not the case. So, I decided that it might be better, from the point of view of originality at least, to cut a tune myself, which I did, with the help of two dudes who are good at this kind of thing! Real dudes!

So here it is, What's a matter, Baby?, doffin' its hat to the old boys and weighing-in at a less than hefty one minute and twenty eight seconds - just for you.

Listen out for the purring uke too. :)

Hope you enjoy!

More soon ...



From the soon to be released motion picture, Gigapixel!

Prefab Four!

I haven't messed about with Lego for years, since I was around twelve years old, I reckon. In fact, I think the last thing I remember making was some kind of vintage Cadillac set, which I pieced together over a Christmas way back in nineteen hundred and whatever yer havin' yerself!

I must've been nearing my teens by then, because once I'd finished it, that was the end of that!

But this weekend gone, I was at it again! It was just impossible for me to resist this particular gem, Yellow Submarine, which was released (with a little fanfare) late last year, the brainchild of mega Lego fan and designer, Kevin Szeto. As soon as I saw it advertised online, I knew I had to have it, and, thus, it was hurriedly added to the Christmas list!

Assembling it was a really enjoyable experience too, quite therapeutic in fact, even if George looks more like George Michael than himself!  It was a lot quicker and a lot easier to get right than I thought as well - though I'm sure I wouldn't be saying that, were there no instruction manual.

The point, though, I suppose, is that while part of me was insisting that I was being pretty hip, progressive and simply outré, the actual fact was telling me that, meh, nothing really changes!

Anyway, here's a snap of the finished article for you in all its glory!

More soon ...

All ye need is love ... and, maybe, eh, a leetil ova patience!

Altered images!

Of course, no, I just couldn't leave that wisp of smoke from the last post well enough alone!

It must be an innate need I have to see or create patterns. Sometimes it keeps me awake at night and, even then, there has to be a pre-fence and then a post-fence kind of order to the sheep I count!

But, yeah, I'm bleary-eyed from dealing with all that smoke by now! So, I'll open a window, and let some fresh air into the place before the next post!

More soon ...

Smoke gets in my eyes!

Back Smokin'!

After all these years, I've started smoking again!

Well, I mean in the creative sense!

Ever since I took an interest in photography as a teenager, light years ago, I've always been intrigued by smoke and how to make it really stand out in a picture. Yeah, I tried and tried for years to get it right visually and messed around with different forms of side-lighting and back-lighting, and whatever else there was to hand, in my efforts to create an image that captured the essence. And I smoked a lot of cigarettes and wasted a lot of money with Bonusprint in the process too!

I do remember getting a couple of shots that I liked, and have since lost, but I still recall that the percentage return on investment was pretty low in general. But with cutting-edge equipment and space age post-production software available for very little nowadays, it didn't cost me much to set up a new experiment and have another go.

So this time, with lights, camera and incense stick at the ready, I sprang in to action!

More soon ...



 Will of the wisp!

Am jugglin' like a chap ...

... possessed on this wee clippety clip fillumed in 4K (i.e. giant movie screen quality!) on a fairly pricey Blackmagic Ursa camera that we shot a couple of weeks back on my film course. Now, if this doesn't make me look presentable then I don't know what will!

More soon ...

The way the camera follows us in slo-mo!

Fugit Hora!

Well, now, would ye just look at that - another year frittered away in the space of just, eh, a year to be precise! Where, indeed, does yon time all go?

I sometimes suspect that it might just go scurrying across the sky - a bit like this here high-flying dancer who was careering through the Dublin clouds at the Customs House Sky Dance yesterday evening which provided a truly nice preamble to the New Year celebrations that followed.

Today, though, I've nothing else to say other than to wish you all the very best for 2017. May the road rise to meet you, or probably better still, may the sky swoop down and whisk you up and off in the same direction as the chap below - onwards, upwards and towards the focal point of your very own hopes and dreams.

More soon ...

Another one flies by!