July 21, 2009

Greetings From Dublin

Reporting in from Dublin Ireland, as we are getting ready to start a weeklong tour across the country with friends from PPA and Texas School. Helene and I came in a few days earlier that the rest of the group as my good friend photographer Ronnie Norton of Dublin arranged for me to do an all day Photoshop program sponsored by Adobe and hosted by local companies from the UK and Ireland. It was hoped that we could get around 75 attendees to come in for a day class, and we ended up with over 250 for a great day of Photoshop and digital photography workflow training. Thank you Ronnie and thank you Adobe for making this happen! We had a great time, as the Irish photographers are always great to be with as all of the people here. It had been many years since I have done a program here and it is just one of the most beautiful countries you can visit. (The beer not half bad either) We had Ireland venders DML and GMS there as well as Adobe, Canon, and OnOne Software reps coming in from the UK to talk to the attendees on the breaks. The overall response was just fantastic as they are more than ready for the next installment of training in the near future. Afterwards we ended with a couple of pints of Guinness and a good chinwag with some of the local photographers. (a new term I learned)….

Coming in early before the tour, Helene and I had a nice time for a few days relaxing and shopping as we stayed in the Westbury Hotel in the heart of Dublin. On our first night here, we caught a performance of RiverDance in a small local theater and enjoyed visiting the local pubs, shops, and restaurants. Today we met up with the other photographers coming in for the week and went on an afternoon tour of the sights of Dublin including St Patrick’s Cathedral and Trinity College to view the Book of Kells, a ninth century Gospel manuscript transcribed by midlevel monks. At night we all went to dinner and show of local Irish music and dancing at The Abby Tavern outside Dublin located along a picturesque fishing harbor. The Tavern nestles against the ancient ruins of Howth Abby, which dates back to the 11th century.

I will be posting a bunch of photos next week when as we stop in different towns along the countryside of Ireland so stay tuned for more….