Martin Hayes at Feakle Church 2008
August 13, 2008 | Filed Under Music, Photography | Leave a Comment
Yes there really is a place called Feakle!
Yesterday I returned from Ireland which I visited for the Feakle music festival.
Now for most people in the world this will mean absolutely nothing but this particular little corner of East Clare is one that I’ve grown to love for it’s wonderful music. Whilst much of the Irish tradition is gradually being eroded it still has a firm hold here.
The principal (but certainly not the only) reason to visit the festival was to see the virtuoso fiddle player Martin Hayes play in his local church along with his long time musical partner Dennis Cahill. I know Martin would make light of the virtuoso tag; I once heard him question the word genius applied to his playing at a major London festival when he exclaimed that playing the fiddle in Ireland was probably something to do with being too stupid to do anything else.
Martin’s family is well known in Feakle not least for his father P. J. Hayes a fiddler who led the famous Tulla Ceili Band. His sister Helen is also a fine singer. Whilst some may argue that he has strayed from the tradition - for me Martin has grown to become the best living Irish fiddle player. What makes Martin Hayes stand apart from the rest is the pure emotion he brings to the music, when he plays the world stops - nothing else matters. He takes you to a higher level. It’s hard to explain (especially as I’m tone deaf!) but there is no one else in the world who can take me on that emotional journey and believe me I’ve seen some fine musicians from Led Zeppelin to Dylan through to the finest of traditional Irish players.
Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill at Feakle Church August 2008
Martin and Dennis Cahill have played together now for quite a few years and their playing is as one. Dennis plays guitar with such subtlety that many may not even realise what he is doing but the two play as one, the sit very close and watch each other like hawks. It is two minds playing the most uplifting music as one being.
Now Feakle would appear, at first sight, to be the ‘back of beyond’ a small village in a forgotten part of Ireland. But don’t be fooled some of the finest musicians in the world live here. They, of course, wouldn’t describe themselves as anything out of the ordinary - they just took up an instrument as soon as they could stand and started to learn to play in the slow lyrical way they do in East Clare. The list is almost endless; Mary McNamara’s is a fine concertina playing, her somewhat ‘contrary’ brother Andrew’s is a fiery accordion player, Martin’s uncle ‘Paddy’ who died a few weeks back was a legendary fiddle player, Mark Donnellan a local farmer is also great fiddle player and so the list goes on. Then every year the little village has a festival; not a festival in the U.K. sense of regulations and structure but one where the four pubs, become the venues, a wet farmer’s field the camp site and people just turn up from all corners of the world to share this wonderful music.
Sessions like this one at Pepper's Bar go on all through the festival
There is of course much more to the festival and there were legends everywhere like Frankie Gavin, Ged Foley, Jackie Daley, Máirtín O’Connor and Róisín Elstafty. There was the final Ceili in the small marquee behind Pepper’s Bar where Martin rejoins the Tulla Ceili Band where dancers’ feet whirled all night. However, for me the highlight was the concert in the church, decorated with candles and flowers and filled to bursting point, where Martin and Dennis played the finest, most uplifting music you will ever hear in your life.
John Burton
Tearsheets please!
August 11, 2008 | Filed Under Photography | Leave a Comment
Being a working professional freelance photographer it’s always nice to see my photos published. This happens regularly, through my various agencies and via self-created contacts. However, often I’m being published and I don’t see the resulting pictures. When I get a sales report, along with payment, my info shows the publisher, and often this is a newspaper that published work months before and trying to find the issue is almost impossible. My photo agencies pass on any tearsheets they receive, but often than not they aren’t being sent on. Perhaps in this digital age few are employed to cut up newspapers / magazines and send on the tearsheets, but would it be possible to inform the agencies/ photographers via a digital tearsheet ? To view a small selection of my published photography/ tearsheets, and much thanks to all the newspapers/ magazines that have sent them to me,check out the tearsheets section of my website at http://www.paulquayle.co.uk/tear_sheets.html
Paul Quayle
Lightroom Version 2.0 Released
August 2, 2008 | Filed Under Computers, Photography | Leave a Comment
Adobe have just released version 2.0 of Lightroom. Additional information (as Adobe say in their marketing speak) on product features, upgrade policies, pricing, and language versions is available at www.adobe.com/products/photoshoplightroom/
now I like Lightroom and find it helpful to my workflow (although not having a Mac I can’t say how it compares to Aperture).For ‘non photographers’ Lightroom is software that both keeps track of photographs on your computer and allows you to make non destructive changes to the ‘processing of them’ before they are (generally) exported to Photoshop.
The biggest problem for those of us in the U.K. is Adobe’s pricing policy which means we end up paying much more for software. Adobe claim that pricing is based on a number of factors such as the need to provide local version’s of software. For more info on the disparity in pricing see http://www.amanwithapencil.com/adobe.html
Anyway I shall not be rushing to upgrade. I’ll let someone else iron out the bugs first.
John Burton
Wedding Fayre / Wedding Exhibition in Somerset 2008
August 1, 2008 | Filed Under Weddings | 1 Comment
Holbrook House, near Wincanton is holding a Wedding Fayre on September 14th 2008
Paul Quayle
Wedding Fayre / Wedding Exhibition in Dorset September 2008
August 1, 2008 | Filed Under Weddings | Leave a Comment
Salterns Harbourside Hotel, Poole are holding a Wedding Fayre on September 7th 2008.
Paul Quayle
I want to be a photographer! and not be paid.
August 1, 2008 | Filed Under Photography | Leave a Comment
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I want to be a photographer! and be paid!!
August 1, 2008 | Filed Under Photography | Leave a Comment
Well you can.Celebrity picture agency “Big Pictures” has added a mobile phone service to their MrPaparazzi.com website. This not only enables content to be downloaded to a mobile, but allows mobile pictures to be uploaded for immediate sale. The agency hopes to encourage anyone with a cameraphone who spots a celebrity to become an instant “pap” and earn a cash reward. However, contributors do have to agree to terms stating that submissions have not inconvenienced or invaded the privacy of the subject.
Many highly qualified lawyers are going over privacy laws v in the public interest, whereas Joe Public with a cameraphone has to make an instant decision, “Mr Beckham, or can I call you “Golden Balls” I’m not inconveniencing you am I ?… I’m not invading your privacy am I ? Okay, I just wanted to make sure.