Will Knott

Given the song, I had to do this. The underside of the Cork Boardwalk just across from the Boardwalk Bar and Grill on the September Cork Photowalk.

I uploaded the photo sideways first time. It actually looks “not wrong”, which says something about the shadow in the water. By the way, am I the only one thinking that its weird to have a swimming pool on the other side of that wall?

Donncha is settup up another photowalk in Cork, this time on Sunday September 26 2009 (I’m including the year as this blog is now 6 years old. There is a lot of archive, and years need to be considered now).

I missed the last photowalk due to a family emergency, but I really want to get to this one. I also need time to find out what is on my camera’s memory card and upload more.

And given the fact that Cork is “De Capital”, I couldn’t resist this shot. Oddly, its more Waterford. Oh well.

Saturday July 18 is World Wide Photowalk day. Thousands of images will be taken on the day and uploaded to Flickr with an overall winner chosen by photographer Scott Kelby.

Now I’m uploading to Pix.ie, so I won’t be in the contest part, but I will be wandering the streets of Cork wielding a camera. Its not just Cork, there are photowalks taking place in Cashel, Tipperary, Dublin, Galway, Limerick City and Adare in County Limerick,

Some of these are booked up (the maximum on a photowalk is being limited to 50. (Try herding a group of ADD afflicted photographers dawdling with a camera in one hand and traffic rushing towards them. The 50 limit is probably a touch much). But if your nearest one is full, you can set up your own (New York has at least five at the moment.)

Then again, meeting a bunch of fellow photographers (or messers with cameras) and wandering around with them is a lot of fun. You’ll pick up things. You’ll also discover views of your city or town that you haven’t considered before.

To be seen by the organisers upload your photos and tag them with “skpwalkcork” (or skpwalkdublin or what ever is listed in the instructions for your intended photowalk. The SK stands for Scott Kelby.

Because you never know what you might see on the streets.

Will Knott

A little background for you. I stopped using Facebook a while back due to lack of interest. Recently I’ve updated my version of Tweetdeck, which now allows cross posting of your updates to both Twitter and Facebook.

I cross-posted that I had uploaded my photowalk photos, and the question arose (from my dead account); “What is a photowalk?”

Well, generally a photowalk is what it says on the tin. Two or more people get together and go for a walk taking photos. In practice, the walk portion can be replaced

But what makes that different from the clichéd image of a hoard of tourists snapping everything in site, including each other? (Yes, photobloggers take photographs of the other photowalkers).

So I posted the question on Twitter. And a few replies came back.

Tommy pointed out that “In my experience, photowalks are done by people from the same country. Also, tourists want keepsakes, p’walkers want good quality pix”. Given that the organiser of the Dublin photowalk isn’t from the Republic of Ireland, this isn’t quite true. Besides, I think that I have a few “keepsakes” in my collection. This was promptly followed by an invitation for the usual Irish photowalkers to go on a photowalk in Amsterdam. So there goes that definition.

McAWilliams then chimed in with “generally we take good photos and not snapshots!”. The “generally” then had a little discussion. Maybe photowalkers edit the results (literally edit the photos and not just sort them in to a ‘display’ and a ‘hide’ pile).

Eventually K.E. Southall came up with my favoured definition “photowalk = pre-emptive gathering of like-minded folk snapping random things. Tourists snap loved ones in front of famous sites”.

And she is right. Photowalkers tend to snap strangers that they find interesting, sometimes in unknown places.

And sometimes not even people.

But certainly random.

Click,
Will Knott

In case I forget, Phil (Iced Coffee) O’Kane proposed a photowalk in Dublin on Saturday April 11.

Which means a bunch of interesting photos being beamed all around the Irish Intertubes (again).

It you are that way inclided, there is even a FaceBook event for the occasion.

“There isn’t a ‘right’ way of participating in photography, but there are good reasons for encouraging young people to take it up, and to use it to articulate a vision, and not just record a scene. But there is everything to be said for experimentation and originality, and for the idea that art need not be for the elite; it can be everywhere.”

– Ferdinand von Prondzynski, President of Dublin City university on photography.

See some of his photographs.

It’s not just for the elite. Words that ought to describe my photography. But I’m trying.

So I’m looking at leading a group around Cork on a photowalk of Cork City on Saturday, and the talk of photographs and photography serves as a reminder.

Starting at 11am on Daunt Square, through the Cornmarket Street / Coal Quay market, across the new bridge and up those Cork steps (Widderings Lane) to St. Annes and the Shandon bells.

Then down (hill) Shandon street and along North and South Main street saying hello to the Cork Vision Centre and then Saint Finbarre’s Cathedral (and maybe Elizabeth Fort).

Then through the side streets to Douglas Street with a view of the Red Abbey and the graffiti paradise of South Parish.

Personally I want to see if its possible to gain access to The Elysium (the Japanese style gardens if not the buildings themsleves) and then work our way along the quays to end up back at Patrick’s Street (and hopefully a chance to sit down at last).  Rumours of finishing at O’Conail’s chocolate shop will be greeted with thumbs up on my part.

I did try to work out the route on a Google map, but it seems it can’t handle walking directions through non-drivable streets and lanes.

So will I see you there?
Will Knott

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When you go off the beaten track; enjoy the view.

Take care,
Will Knott

(I really have to start writing posts again)

While in Doneraile, we stumbled across a giant squid

Ok, we didn’t. It’s a fallen tree, but the missing branch and trunk shape would certainly make Bruce Schneier shiver (or whatever it is that he does when he comes across another giant squid for his collection).

The funny thing is, the “eye”. It seems to be looking at you. I know it’s really a hole in a piece of once animate material, but isn’t that what an eye is (he typed conveniently forgetting everything in an earlier post).

At this time this arrives, I should be sitting at the information desk in Fitzgerald’s Park at the Lord Mayors picnic in the park (part of the Cork Midsummer Festival). I’m really hoping that there will be food, and there might be photos from the event here too.

Yup, I’m bringing the camera and keeping an eye on things.

but not this eye.

What was that quote about an abyss staring back at you?

take care,
Will Knott

You know the old quote about politics and mushrooms…

… keep them in the dark and feed them…

Well, never mind.
take care,
Will Knott

looking out from

inside a tree. Sorry I’m late.

I think this shot has a certain Chinese mountain look to it.
Am I wrong?

The tree is all hollowed out, so this is a shot through the roots and passed its own trunk.

There are more on the way,
take care,
Will Knott