First Visit Adventures!
Tim Boudreau November 2006
My Irish adventures began when I moved to Ireland in 2006. That autumn, one of my closest friends came to visit for a bit, and we went on a few photographic excursions.
I brought along my Fuji FinePix S7000, which was my first real digital camera. Today it would be called a “bridge” camera, but when it was new there weren’t any real digital SLR’s out yet. There were some in development by the big names, but none had been released as of this point. I also brought along my 1965 Canon Pellix QL 35mm film camera, with a roll of Kodak TMax P3200 black and white film. I shot a bit over 20 shots on the roll. Because I didn’t finish the roll, I did not take it out of the camera.
Black & White Film Developing Adventure
Some time later I went to use the Canon, and opened the back to insert a roll of film without remembering that there was a roll still in it. This caused some light-strike to the film, especially around the sprockets. The first 20 exposures or so came out alright when I got around to developing the film over eleven years later. The film was shot in November 2006, and developed in January 2018. The exposures were pretty well spot-on.
I had looked several times for places around Dublin to get B&W film developed commercially. The number kept dwindling and I never got around to developing it. At this point there appear to be only two places in Dublin that take in B&W film for developing, and they both send it out. This prompted me to purchase a developing tank and other necessary gear, along with developer, fixer, and a rinsing agent. The P3200 was my first test with the new developing equipment, and it was definitely a success. I found a great place here in Ireland for photographic supplies called The Photo Shop.
Tim Boudreau and camera
Temple Bar Photos
Tim and I took a trip to the Temple Bar section of Dublin and we spent some time taking photos and walking around nearby. We took photos along the Liffey, and spent some time listening to a trad session in the Ha’penny Inn, right by the South end of the Ha’penny Bridge.
Ha’penny Bridge
Grattan Bridge
Two Women or The Hags with the Bags
Bombardiering
Bombardiering, or just driving around randomly to see where we end up, is something my friends and I have always done. We jumped in the car and drove up towards Drogheda to stop for dinner.
Small Castle Ruin
Horses in the Tower Paddock
We came across a paddock with a couple of horses and a nice tower ruin. The horses were friendly and seemed to enjoy the attention of being fed grass by hand. They were perfectly able to reach the grass to eat it, so I think the social aspect of having it handed to them was something they enjoyed. None of the photos I took of the horses came out. It was getting pretty dark, and they were dark horses standing in the shadow of the tower.
Long and not-so Winding Road
Longest, Straightest Road in Ireland?
Another bombardiering trip was out towards the midlands. We took the N7 out of Dublin and randomly chose a place to turn. This was a very nice and extremely long, straight, country road. I haven’t seen many roads in Ireland that are that straight for that long.
House and Barn Ruin
Flop House in the Middle of Nowhere
On this road we found a dilapidated house with a barn ruin. The house had obviously been used recently.
Barn Ruin
The House
Quaint
Rusted Gate
Entryway
Through the Window
Evidence of Recent Habitation
It appeared that people might have come to the house to drink and party, although there was some evidence of “sustenance” type foods as well as party supplies. The number of alcohol bottles seemed low for a place where teens were partying.
Graffiti on the Walls
Recent Framing Work
There was evidence that someone had relatively recently begun efforts to restore the house, but even the newly installed pieces appeared to be damaged or vandalised.
Around the Back
Notice the bird’s nest in the corner by the ceiling.
The state of the house did not improve if you went around to the back of the building.
Sunset in the Midlands
Sunset
The sun went down while we were investigating the flop house, and I was able to get a nice sunset shot.
Different Ficas
Black & White Shots
There were not many good shots in the black & white that I took. Fast film is no substitute for long exposures on a stable tripod. Most of the shots were too grainy to use without downsampling them significantly. Here are a few that I liked.
Ficas
Closer Ficus