Our trip to Ireland almost seemed doomed from the start. While waiting for our flight from Jacksonville to Chicago, they post a weather delay of 45 minutes, blaming the weather in Chicago. Almost immediately that 45 minutes went to an hour and a half. Thankfully, the weather delay also affected the plane we would be flying to Ireland on, which was to fly to Chicago from Newark. Fate being what it is, we were able to catch our flight out of Chicago, but not without some nail biting.
This was the weather over Chicago as we were landing...
Mom and Greg in the tunnel between terminals at Chicago O'Hare International...
The flight to Dublin was uneventful, if not really, really long. The bigger downside is that I couldn't sleep and it was a red-eye. We finally arrived in Dublin, albeit a little late, and were off to our hotel.
A friendly reminder...
We got settled into our rooms at the Crowne Plaza Dublin and then went down to one of the two restaurants at the hotel. We were able to fend off some ever-increasing hunger pangs with some noshing food and some coffee.
Now, it's important for Americans traveling to Ireland to understand one thing about coffee in Ireland.
IT SUCKS.
I drink my coffee black; I have for almost 40 years. Well, that's ill-advised in Ireland. While I didn't try their cappuccino or espresso, I did have the misfortune of ordering the "Americano", which is their version of what they think we drink here in the States. For the first time in almost 40 years, I put sugar (and a lot of it) in my coffee.
This is what black coffee looks like in Ireland. "Americano" coffee? No bueno...
So, after a quick bite and some "coffee", we grabbed a taxi and proceeded into downtown Dublin. It was already a bit late in the afternoon, but we figured we'd use this opportunity to kind of find the "lay of the land".
The Tourist Office on O'Connell Street in Dublin. We didn't use it, but it was nice to know it was there...
Awesome architecture was everywhere...
Sometimes it seemed as though Dublin has as many buses as New York City has cabs...
The O'Connell Bridge, at the foot of O'Connell Street, not far from Temple Bar...
We ended up at a place called Fitzgerald's for dinner a few hours later. Of course, we would have to start the meal with a Guinness.
The first of what would be many pints of Guinness...
We made our way back to our hotel and decided to call it a night (and an early one). We were all pretty tired as none of us really got anything that resembled "quality sleep" on the 757 we'd spent eight hours on the night before.
Now, before I go on about our first full day in Dublin, let me back-step a bit.
When I was planning this trip I wrestled with whether or not we should rent a car. Given that Ireland's drivers are all right-side drive, and given that most of the rental cars are manual, we opted out.
Best decision I've ever made.
While I'm confident that I could've grasped the operation of the vehicle, a more immediate danger would've manifested in the form of traffic. It's pretty nuts as it is, and I can only imagine that it would be exacerbated by a wayward American driving on the wrong side of the road. Besides, the taxi drivers in Dublin are awesome! With the exception of one driver who was Chinese, every driver damn near gave us a history lesson about Dublin and Ireland as we rode along. We even learned that there's a world of difference between being "British" and being "English" (who knew?)
So, our first full day in Dublin included our first day on the "hop on/hop off" bus that makes its way around Dublin (and, presumably, every other tourist city on the planet). If you're unfamiliar with the concept, you pay one fee (for us it was € 30 a piece) and you can ride around town as much as you want for however long your ticket is good (ours was good for 48 hours). You can, as the name implies, hop on and off all over town, as often as you want.
My brother Greg enjoying the double-decker experience...
What this type of tour allows you is the ability to see things that you probably wouldn't be able to see on your own without knowing where you were going, but the guides are only too happy to tell you all about the sites seen along the way.
This is the greatest truck ever made...
The Samuel Beckett Bridge in Dublin...
The River Liffey...
The Dublin Convention Center. It's said that the angle of the glass portion of the building is at the exact same angle that you would be holding a pint of Guinness when taking your first sip. I have to say, I think it was pretty damn close...
Our first stop for the day was Dublin Castle. Now, you might expect a castle to be located out in the countryside somewhere or along a coastline and, certainly, those castles do exist. Dublin Castle, though, is located in the heart of downtown Dublin. Originally founded in the year 1204, only the Record Tower, which dates back to the year 1228, remains from the original 13th century building.
The Record Tower. The Chapel Royal sits to the right and the rest of the castle is to the left...
Another view of the Record Tower. This is one of my favorite photos from the trip...
The actual castle doesn't really look like a castle. It seems more like what I would expect a palace to look like, steeped in ceremony and pomp and circumstance. Many of the rooms within the castle are strictly for ceremony and, in fact, every new President of Ireland assumes office within its walls.
One of the castle gates...
The State drawing room...
An actual throne...
St. Patrick's Hall. Every new President of Ireland assumes office here...
The Gothic Room. Not quite sure why it's called that...
Looking out into the castle courtyard...
The Portrait Gallery...
The State Corridor...
The entrance gates to the courtyard of Dublin Castle...
The castle gardens. The "lines" you see are actually meant to depict snakes, which were driven from Ireland by St. Patrick. In fact, it's believed by some that "snakes" was actually a metaphor for the druids, who Patrick is said to have driven from Ireland when he established Christianity in Ireland in the 5th century...
Once we were done at Dublin Castle, we decided to grab some dinner at Murray's Bar, a well-known eatery along O'Connell Street in downtown Dublin. The food was excellent and the Guinness flowed like chocolate milk but, before long, it was time to go back to the hotel and prepare for the next day of our hop on/hop off extravaganza...
In less than 48 hours, we'll have already boarded our flight from Jacksonville, Florida to Chicago, Illinois, en route to Dublin, Ireland. Everything has been confirmed; flights, seat selections, hotel reservations, all of it. Now it's just a matter of packing.
First up for me is the camera bag. I won't be using it between now and the time we leave, so I might as well get it as packed up as I can. All I'll need to pack into it Tuesday morning will be my computer.
The weather is supposed to be, well, a bit wet. Unfortunately, there's no way to prepare for the weather when you start planning your trip three months in advance. So, you've just got to roll with the punches and hope for the best.
It did not look this way in the brochure...
Now, as that as that may look, it bears pointing out that only two days ago there was a lot more in the way of sunshine in the forecast. Four days ago it looked like it does now. Consequently, I think the only thing we can really conclude with 100% accuracy is that we don't really know what the weather's going to be like. We're also going to be taking trips outside of Dublin so, with any luck, we'll find some nice weather somewhere along the way. Or maybe it'll find us. Either way I think I'd better bring a jacket.
So, this is it until after we touch down in Dublin. Everything that can be done has been done. All that's left to do now is go on vacation.
In a mere six days, we'll be landing in Dublin. We'll be leaving Jacksonville on Tuesday, flying to Chicago. We'll spend a lovely three hours or so in the Windy City (well, in O'Hare Int'l) before boarding our overnight flight to Dublin, Ireland, where we'll arrive at 10:45am local time.
Everything's been confirmed; flight and seat selections, room reservations; everything. All that's left now is, once we're there, to figure out our itinerary while we're there.
As we'll be arriving somewhat early in the day, the plan is to get settled into our hotel and then grab a cab into Dublin (our hotel is by the airport). I'm told the cost will be around €15-20 ($17-$23 US) so, while not nearly as cheap as a public bus, not prohibitively expensive and it'll get us into town a lot faster. From where I sit, that's the payoff. And, while they don't have Uber in Dublin, they do have something similar known as MyTaxi, so that could be another option.
While we're enjoying our first day in Dublin, we'll scope out the day-trips and the "hop on/hop off" buses which operate in the city. We'll likely do the in-city tour bus thing for the first two days, simply because it would be impossible to see everything we want to in a single day. After two days of exploring downtown Dublin, we'll venture out beyond the city to explore the countryside; the rugged coastlines and the castles and small towns.
For walking around downtown, I've downloaded an app called "maps.me". Basically, it's got frighteningly detailed maps of just about anywhere on the planet. Looking at the map for Dublin, I can't imagine wanting to get somewhere in Dublin and not being able to find it.
I'll be bringing at least one camera, and my brother is bringing two. He plans on shooting black and white film as well as digital. That should produce some interesting results. I have in the neighborhood of 30 film cameras, but I'm leaving them home. I would only want to use a medium format one, anyway, and that can take up some room.
So, the excitement is slowly ramping up. We've never done a trip like this before, so it should be both fun and interesting to see how we fare. I suspect this will end up being a trip to remember for a long, long time...
There's a lot to do to get ready for a trip like this. For the last several weeks, I've been researching everything from how to get around Dublin, tours, where to eat, yadayadayada.
Since I have absolutely no intention of not checking mail or posting on social media for the week we're on the Emerald Isle, I'll be bringing my computer. Of course, I intend on shooting a butt-load of photos while we're there, and I'll want to download these onto my laptop so I can run them through Photoshop. I'll be running PSE 18 by then, so I'll be able to open the raw files produced by the 6D MKII.
All that aside, I had one primary concern: space.
I've only got about 116 GB of space left on my computer's hard drive, so I wanted to clean that up a bit. While I'll try to move photos onto an external hard drive every so often, I haven't done it since the first week of January. Ergo, it's time to move the photos off of the laptop's hard drive.
All 88,304 of them.
I first moved them onto a 2TB Western Digital Passport. This drive will go into my safe deposit box. As I type this, I'm also transferring all 88,304 photos onto a 4TB Seagate Back-Up Plus external hard drive that I picked up yesterday (pro tip: only $94 at Costco). It's astounding to discover how long it takes to move so many files. I haven't been timing it, and I've been doing other things while these transfer, but my best guess is that it takes about four hours.
But, at least I go into this knowing that I'll have more than enough space to dump all of the photos I take on our trip.
As a photographer,I'm always thinking about what equipment I'll want on hand for whatever shoot is coming up next. You see, a concert shoot requires different lenses than a real estate shoot which, in turn, requires different lenses than a portrait shoot. The trick here is going to be choosing what to bring so I'm prepared for the majority of the photos I'll have the opportunity to take while we're in Ireland.
Camera body? That's a no brainer. I'll be taking the Canon 6D MKII. I could take the 6D, as well, but I'm not convinced I'll need a back-up. The 6D MKII has proven to be a pretty robust unit, so I don't suspect I'll have any problems. Besides, that extra camera body is a lot of extra weight and it takes up room I can use for something else. With this type of traveling, space and weight considerations are important, regardless how insignificant they may seem.
So, the 6D MKII will get the nod for this trip. The nice thing about this over the 6D is the articulating LCD screen. I didn't think I'd fine much use for it, but it actually comes in handy from time to time, especially when shooting in tight quarters.
The Canon 6D MKII in all of its 26.2 megapixel glory...
The Canon 6D MKII with the articulating LCD pulled out...
I've been looking at a lot of photos these past couple weeks, taken all over Ireland, and many of the photos I seem to like the most are night time shots. Of course, the only way to get a night time shot, in Ireland or anywhere else, is to use a tripod. This presents a bit of a problem, considering I don't want to lug my big, honkin' Manfrotto across the pond with me.
Enter the Slik Mini Pro.
The Slik Mini Pro is a very compact tripod which, with legs and center column full extended, measures only about nine inches. Of course, the most common issue with small "travel" tripods is that they're seldom sturdy enough to hold anything but the smallest of point and shoot cameras. Not so with the Mini Pro. It's a strong and sturdy option that comes in under thirty bucks, and it handles the 6D MKII with a lens perfectly:
This is the set-up I'll probably using the most for night time shots in Ireland.This is the 6D MKII with the Canon 17-40mm f/4L attached; 2.61 pounds...
Of course, I can't imagine making a trip like this with only one lens, so I'm not even going to attempt that. The 17-40mm will probably be the workhorse for this trip. But I know there are some places, such as the Cliffs of Moher, where I'll want a longer lens to get a bit more compression. I'm also going to want to have a nice portrait lens. Let's face it, we're probably never coming back here, so why not have nice pictures of us taken of us here?
So, I think I've settled on a four lens line-up which will get me through a week in Ireland. With the exception of the 17-40mm, I'm going to be bringing only prime (non-zoom) lenses. In addition to the 17-40mm f/4L, I'll have the 100mm f/2.8 Macro (for photos where I need a bit more reach), the 85mm f/1.8 (a superior portrait lens in my opinion) and the 50mm f/1.4 (which is a solid, all-around good, low light lens):
The 17-40mm (mounted on the camera), then the 100mm, the 50mm (in the middle) and the 85mm...
What's pictured above will constitute the majority of the photo gear I'll be carrying with me to Ireland. Additionally, I'll have a remote release batteries, chargers, memory cards (216gb worth), etc; basically those necessary little accessories I'll want along the way. I haven't decided if I'm going to bring a flash but, if I do, it'll be the Canon 580 EXII. If I bring that, though, I also have to bring batteries for that, as well as the chargers for those batteries. At present, I'm leaning towards leaving it at home.
All of this will be neatly packed into my Tamrac CyberPro Express,
which is what I'll be using as my carry-on. It will also have my laptop,
chargers (camera batteries, phone), power cords and whatever else I
feel I won't be able to live without or don't want to check. I did a lot of traveling when I worked for Taylor Guitars, and this bag became my go-to carry-on for every single trip I made after getting it:
The Tamrac CyberPro Express...(photo courtesy of Tamrac)
So, the questions of what gear I'm bringing to Ireland have been answered. I think the equipment I'm bringing will allow me to be as prepared as reasonably possible to capture the vast majority of what I want to. The hard reality is that I simply can't bring everything, so I think I've got this rig dialed in nicely...
My Mom decided that she wanted to go to Ireland for her birthday. She's talked about it for a couple years now and, initially, I think she had the idea that it would be for a milestone birthday; the 85th or the 90th. But, frankly, I think she's considered the health of some of her friends that are her age (or even younger) and figured that, since she's healthy now and able now, that now was the right time to do it. So, it's Ireland for Mom's 84th birthday.
In order to do this, of course, we'd need a plan. We would need a plan and someone to coordinate it. We would need a plan and someone to coordinate it who had extensive knowledge of booking flights and hotels and various yadayadayada for more than one person. It appears as though that person would be me.
I did some extensive searches once the decision was made. I looked at hotels all over Dublin and the outskirts (what's the Gaelic word for "suburbs"?) and became mind-numb at the number of choices we were being offered. Out of sheer necessity I became a ninja at the ways of Travelocity. Somehow, I managed to plan a trip for three to Ireland.
Ireland is actually pretty small. We'll be staying in Dublin, but Belfast (which, as it's in Northern Ireland, is actually part of the UK) is only two hours away. Ideally, we were hoping to stay at one of those quaint little castle-type inns you see on the Travel Channel, but that didn't pan out. First, those quaint little castle-type inns you see on the Travel Channel can be really expensive. In some cases, a week's stay in one could easily cost three or four times as much as a larger chain. Also, we'll be getting two rooms, and all of the quaint little castle-type inns you see on the Travel Channel offered rooms with only one bed. Mom is going to have her own room and Greg and I will be sharing another. I love my brother, and I look forward to embarking on this once-in-a-lifetime adventure with him, but I sure as Hell don't want to sleep in the same bed with him. So, given all of that, we selected the Crowne Plaza. In another life I traveled pretty extensively for business, and I found that Crowne Plaza properties were remarkably consistent.
We've ditched the idea of getting a rental car. First, they're all right-hand drive over there. Now, I drove a right-side drive car when I was in Australia in 1984. It really doesn't take too long before you're used to it. The wild card, though, would be that all of the renal cars are manual transmission. That's just a recipe for failure that could only end in tears.
Suffice it to say, there are more than enough things to do while we're in Ireland. Of course, we'll take in the Cliffs of Moher and many of the castles which have stood since the Middle Ages. But we're also going to spend a couple of days just cruising around Dublin. There's no shortage of churches and cathedrals there and, of course, those are great photo subjects. Christ Church Cathedral, which was founded around the year 1030 is absolutely magnificent, inside and out. Needless to say, my photography jones is starting to go into overdrive.
Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin. Its more formal name is the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity(or Trinidad Cathedral) was founded in Ireland in the year 1028...
Inside Christ Church Cathedral...
So, now that I've successfully worn the Travel Agent hat, it's time to put on my Tour Guide hat. Over the next several weeks, I'll be researching what there is to see and do not only in Dublin, but also in Belfast, Howth, Moher and a hundred points in between. And, surely we can't ignore the fact that both the Guinness Storehouse and Jameson Distillery are located here.
I welcome any input anyone has on where to go, what to do, where to eat, etc. Just send me an e-mail at steve@steveparrphotography.com or make a comment here...
(Exterior photo of Christ Church Cathedral courtesy of projectirelandhipatia.blogspot.com) (Interior photo of Christ Church Cathedral courtesy of thousandwonders.net)
As a
photographer, I've had the opportunity to meet and become friends with a
wide array of people. And, given the time I spent at Taylor Guitars, it
probably would surprise no one that there are a lot of musicians on
that list.
I've had the opportunity to meet and hang out with
people like Ted Nugent, Otis Williams of The
Temptations, the guys in Styx, Eric Johnson; I could go on. Hell, Barenaked Ladies even makes sure I have
a shady spot backstage during their outdoor summer shows. These people were all riding high when I
met them; legends, some. And all of them wonderful people.
But
perhaps the one who impacted me the most, probably because I got to know him better than many of the others, is someone I met long after his
"rock star" life was done. His heyday, spanning from the early
1970's to the early 1980's, marked a period in my life where I was
diggin' the kind of music his band was playing. As a kid growing up on
Long Island, we waited with great anticipation for the southern rock
tours to come to either the Nassau Coliseum or the Long Island Arena in
Commack. The Charlie Daniels Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Outlaws; man, they all
came through and kicked our collective ass with their guitar-searing,
don't-give-a-shit-and-get-the-Hell-outta'-my-way attitude.
Molly Hatchet did that, too.
I'd
met Banner Thomas briefly in 2014, but got to know him better as I was
preparing to interview him for a magazine article I was writing about
him. What I found was not what I expected. I sat down with a genuinely
quiet, thoughtful guy. His speech was deliberate, and almost Jimmy
Stewart-like in its delivery. Banner thought about what he was going to
say and then he said it. Period. And, if there were ever wild days of
rock n' roll stardom to be lived, he'd certainly done that and left
those days in his past.
A full page manufacturer's ad in Guitar Player Magazine? Yeah, Banner was the real deal...
At first, it seemed a little surreal
befriending a guy like this. Here was this bona fide rock star, with
three platinum albums under his belt, sitting in Tradewinds Tropical
Lounge in St. Augustine where he would play bass with this band or
that band, depending on what night of the week it was. Between sets he would
always walk the room, talking to folks and thanking them for coming out.
Some, of course, knew who he was. Most, I think, probably didn't realize it unless someone on stage mentioned it during a set.
This was taken first time I met Banner. "Don't be too impressed" he said. "I just might an asshole"...
This is the photo I took of Banner Thomas to accompany the piece I wrote about him for St. Augustine Social. The article can be found here: The Musical Chair - Banner Thomas
Here I am on stage at Tradewinds, presenting the photograph from the magazine to Walt Kulwicki (left) and Chris McVey (right) of Those Guys. They accepted the photo on behalf of Tradewinds owner Janet Leonard. The photo now hangs in Tradewinds, right next to the stage where Banner's amp used to sit. I still don't know how I got through that presentation without breaking down a little... (photo courtesy of RMP Photography)
I
remember Banner being almost overly appreciative of the article I wrote
about him. His appreciation was sincere and heartfelt, and he always
let me know how much he enjoyed being featured in the magazine. We had
done a short interview and photo shoot, and I remember not wanting to
screw it up. "Get this one right, Parr" was the only thing running
through my head. We talked about a myriad of things, from him being a
founding member of Molly Hatchet to touring Europe with The Who and,
finally, living a somewhat quiet life in northeastern Florida. He seemed comfortable with where life had led him.
He
was always humbled whenever I would mention how much I liked Molly
Hatchet as a kid. He particularly liked the story of how, while in Navy
boot camp in Orlando, I would run the song "Flirtin' With Disaster"
through my head while waiting outside to march to the mess hall at five
in the morning. "Well, glad I could be there for you" was a comment he
made once about that story, and that's always made me laugh. Never once back in those boot camp days did I ever envision that, 35 years later, I'd sitting in a St. Augustine bar with the guy who wrote it.
Over the
next 18 months or so following my interview with him, Banner and I became pretty good
friends. I enjoyed hanging out with him. We would talk about anything
and everything and sometimes nothing. I think he enjoyed the fact that I
was able to get beyond the "Holy shit, it's a rock star" phase that,
undoubtedly, was probably awkwardly evident when I'd first met him, and I consider myself
fortunate that the friendship he and I had was genuine. Banner had many
friends, many much closer than I, but I was proud to be counted among them nonetheless.
Banner, Molly Hatchet founder and guitarist Dave Hlubek, Dewey Via and me at Tradewinds in St. Augustine...
I had the
opportunity to sit in with him on stage on occasion. The first time was
when he was playing with The Dewey Via Band. We were going to perform
"Dreams I'll Never See". It was written by Gregg Allman, but Molly
Hatchet had made it their own. But not only was I going to be playing this song with one of the guys who made the song popular, I was going to be playing the song with one of the guys who made the song popular in front of a room that was packed with friends who came out to see how bad the carnage would be, so I was nervous as Hell. Thankfully, it went well. But it was an
amazing experience to play that song with one of the guys responsible
for putting it into the southern rock mainstream. When we got done, I remember how he just turned around and smiled. He didn't say a word. He approved. I'd passed the test.
Not a very good photo, but one I'll always cherish. Sitting in that night was a true, and humbling, honor...
Banner gave my Strat a quick test drive before our set...
About a year and a half ago, Banner asked me if I'd like to have some lighting
equipment that he had bought on a whim at a pawn shop. When I met him to pick it up, I
saw that it was some relatively cheap stuff; light stands in a ripped
carrying bag. In all honesty, it was stuff I would never use and I told
him thanks, but no thanks. He then asked if I knew anyone who could use
it. He'd rather I give it to someone else than throw it away. I told him
I might know of someone and I put the bag in my car The truth was I knew of no one, but I could tell it was important to him that the stuff find a good home. I guess I was kind
of surprised when, on occasion, he would ask me if I was able to find
someone to give it to.
"Still looking, Banner, but I'll find the right person."
I've
never found anyone to give it to, and doubt I ever will. In fact, I'm pretty sure I've stopped looking. I just
can't bring myself to throw that bag away. It's still sitting in my garage.
It got to the point where Tuesday night at Tradewinds was a weekly thing. You just didn't miss Those Guys. I'd usually get there before the first set. It was always a pleasure to sit down with Banner before the gig, and just talk about what had been going on during the previous week. He'd usually be at one of the front table with his laptop open, looking at whatever had piqued his latest interest. He was quick to engage and always had something to say, and I remember that I was always eager to listen.
Hangin' out on "the bench" at Tradewinds...
I
had returned from a short cruise to the Bahamas on Palm Sunday (April 9) in
2017. Tradewinds was doing their annual Palm Sunday music extravaganza
and I was hoping to get back to St. Augustine from Port Canaveral in
time to catch Those Guys
performing their set. We made it back to town but, for whatever reason,
didn't make it to Tradewinds in time. The band had just finished
their set when we were pulling up. I saw Banner loading his gear into
his van and slowed the car to say hi. He said he wasn't feeling well and
was going home. "Take care of yourself, pal. See you Tuesday". "Stay out of trouble" he replied.
That was the last time I ever spoke to him.
The
next day I was walking into a Publix grocery store when I received a
text from my friend Rachael asking if I knew what had happened to
Banner. Instead of responding back via text, I called her. The news was
stunning. I felt tears well up in my eyes. Suddenly I couldn't hear
anything; everything was silent, save for the cacophony of every
conversation he and I had ever had running through my head all at the
same time. Everything stopped.
He wasn't my best friend. But he was a great friend.
And my friend Banner Thomas died on April 10, 2017.
