Sorry it's been so long since my last entry but I've been on the road for days. Every morning we've all been waking up at 8 and getting home at 10 or later...We started off with a hike up Cappanabhaile (Cap-a-walla) mountain, a massive, rolling mound of limestone behind our house. It was from the top that we realized how small we were in relation to this expansive landscape now all around us. I remember thinking back to just an hour before...when there at the bottom I scoffed at this "hill" and thought to myself, no problem...
After that hike we didn't stop! Every day we went somewhere new or had a performer, speaker or artist coming to see us...it was great. Within days I felt as though I had met so many valuable people and learned so many things about this country, culturally as well as historically. As you might have seen in my photographs the views have been absolutely amazing. On the third day of field trips I made it to my new favorite place, Connemara. It is the county north of Galway which is much different in terms of landscape. I took some of my favorite footage there as well as some of my favorite pics...(I'll upload them soon....)
I really didn't know what to expect when I got here (to Ireland), and now that I'm here, I still don't! Everyday I am trying to meet new people so as to establish new connections. On Saturday I began my first project for my photography class, Portraits...but not just any portraits, 4x5 F64 Portraits. Some of you may have heard of the F64 Group from back in the 50's with Ansel Adams, Edward Weston and Imogen Cunningham (and others)...they were a group of photographers dedicated to "Strait Photography" "Pure Photography", in other words...unmessed with and highly focused. The "F64" thing deals with large format photography in which the aperture is stopped down to the smallest hole, rendering the sharpest, most focused image you can capture. ALL that said, I'm doing highly focused portraits of the Locals of my town, Ballyvaughan. I'll share them with you once I print them...
I am finally adjusting I think to living here...still frustrated about the rain 3 times a day and the lack of convenient travel...but enjoying my time nonetheless.

Posted by Roger at 11:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Hey Everyone,
I wanted to thank so many of you for sending me emails via the "contact Roger" button on the site, so thank you, it's appreciated to receive feedback as well as questions.

To "Troy" who asked me how I compare photographing the fall foliage of Hartford to the landscape of Ireland I would have to say that it's important to do both. I will miss the fall foliage and will miss the winter snow of the Hartford area and New England...but it's worth leaving knowing that I can come back with an entirely new view of the world. I love the US. My girlfriend had this talk with me about traveling once. She said that one of the greatest things about being an American is having the freedom to travel the world and come back. I spoke about wanting to move to Greece one day and she later shared her thoughts; "it's not fair to leave the place that gave has given you the opportunity to leave it". The point is that America is my home and I will always love it there and want to photograph there. For now I want to bring the world back to America.

PS. Troy...there is a lot of overcast and rain and wind...but if I wait for the right time or see the right thing, photography is everywhere.

And one last note to some friends and teachers back home. To some friends about to embark on trips to Europe, best of luck and safe travels safe travels to you (take some pictures and email me). To those teachers following my journey through Ireland (Fermi High School & The Hartford Art School), thank you, it means so very much to me that you're still there...

Posted by Roger at 06:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)