How I See Galway

One of our local newspapers, the Galway Independent is holding an amateur photo competition at the moment. First prize is a Nikon DSLR...I'm planning on entering soley because I would absolutely love to win that camera. You see, my current camera is years old, kinda falling apart and most definitely on it's last legs. It keeps bugging out on me and the light sensor is all over the place...shots look accurate one second and completely bleached out the next. Don't get me wrong I love my camera...it's been a faithful ally for many a year, and although it looks the part it's unfortunately not capable of capturing photos anywhere near the quality of  the more expensive DSLR's. The truth is I've asked far more of my camera than it was ever designed to do....

Realistically I don't really stand any chance of winning...my photo's are a bit too 'arty farty' I fear...and admittedly probably not the best. The shots, angles and themes that interest me are not to everyone's tastes.

Of course none of this is going to put me off. I'll give it a go just for the fun of it, keep my fingers crossed! : ) - Now I just need to figure out which three shots to enter..

Fridays Galway United match was a passionate affair. The crowds were riled up, as were the players, managers - stewards -  everyone. It's a hard time to be a Galway United fan - and even more difficult to be a player on a losing squad. Fair play to them for kiting out every week and doing their best - that's really all anyone can ask for. We all just want to see our club survive and the team return to winning ways. We lost the match but the atmosphere was pretty special. In particular I must commend our young keeper Conor Winn. He was very unwell leading up to and during the match. It showed great dedication and strength of character that he played the full 90...

As usual I was taking photos for the club programme ...(That's another reason I could really do with a 'proper' camera. My Galway United duties would be made all the easier with a professional camera) The shot below is of a young fan picking out a winning ticket for the half time draw...

Dig deep...

This next shot is of Tuna, my sister in law. She made a Galway United scrapbook and waited after the match to get autographs during warm-down.

Even in defeat...

I took the following shots in town today. The competition theme is "How I see Galway". I really liked the idea of how a dog might view the hustle bustle of shop street. As my wife patiently stood by I squatted down in the middle of the pedestrianized walkway and took a couple of hundred dogs-eye-view shots of passers by. It proved a really interesting set. It kinda reminded me of what it's like to be a kid. If I had been standing taking those shots everyone would have ducked out of them. But because I was only a few feet off the ground nobody really payed me any attention and just walked by as normal...It seemed a pretty accurate and hugely interesting snapshot of an average Galway day... (click photos for full-view)

Generations...

Everyone's City

Dogs eye view of the city - 'Hello'

Dogs eye view of the city - 'Goodbye'