Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin

This is the main aisle at Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin, Ireland.  I loved this place.  It’s just incredibly beautiful, inside and out.  And although it’s a bit of a cliché to take a shot up the aisle like this, I do it anyways, virtually every chance I get (unless they don’t allow photography, of course – which oddly happens in some churches).  It’s never original or ground-breaking in any way, but it’s worth doing if only to have it in your collection.  Funny though, I don’t see many folks doing it.  I wonder why?

If you want to see the exterior, you can check out this shot I took during an awesome sunrise.  I just reread that post and guess I was feeling a little spunky when I wrote that one!

Trinity College architecture

Travel photo tip: if you are in a new city and looking for something interesting to shoot, a University is usually a good bet, if you like architecture.  Generally speaking, the architecture found on a University campus is pretty awesome.  It pays off more often than not!

 

That’s exactly what led me here to Trinity College one morning in Dublin.  I saw it on a map, and took a wild guess that I might find something worth shooting. 

Trinity College is Ireland’s oldest University and sits squarely in the middle of the city.  As far as history goes, it has a lengthy one since it was founded in 1592.  That makes it pretty old, by my calculations. :-)

It’s also pretty beautiful, and the architecture is fabulous.  It didn’t hurt that I got some incredible clouds and color while wandering there that morning.  

One thing to note though if you go there and plan to shoot with a tripod - they aren’t allowed.  I did it anyways, but only because I didn’t know.  I was literally taking my last shot when a security guard found me and told me no tripods.  I just kept him talking long enough for that last set of brackets to finish. :-)

Temple Bar in the morning

This is the lovely Temple Bar in Dublin, Ireland.  I freakin’ love this place, and not just because they serve Guinness.  Well, ok that may be part of it, but honestly finding a nice cold Guinness in Dublin ain’t too hard, as you can imagine.  In fact, the Guinness factory is in Dublin (though they don’t actually brew it at that factory anymore).  But I digress.

This entire area is called Temple Bar in fact, and from what I can tell it’s the cultural and entertainment hub of the city.  It’s just cool, you should go.  Really - just get on a plane and get over there.  You’ll love it.  Plus, the Irish people are so kind and welcoming.  And that accent - that’s cool too!

I will be visiting Dublin again soon and am looking forward to seeing this beautiful area again (and...ok...I will probably take a few photos too).  I shot this one around sunrise, because any other time of day it is fully packed with tourists, and really packed at night, since there are numerous Irish bars along this street. 

So, here are your takeaways from today’s post:

1. Get yourself to Dublin
2. Go to Temple Bar
3. Get up at sunrise and photograph it (ok, this one can be a little hard!) 

Entering Rosenborg Castle

Copenhagen is a very photogenic town.  I loved my visit there.  I am basically a Europhile - loving just about everything about the culture, history and sights that I have seen over there.  In fact, I have yet to find a city in Europe that I didn’t like.

But something about Copenhagen stood out to me.  As a photographer, I am always looking for interesting and beautiful things to aim my Nikon at, and found them aplenty in Copenhagen.  Castles, canals, statues - heck, even graffiti - this town has it all! 

This is Rosenborg Castle, which sits sort of in the middle of town.  I saw it on my handy little map, and was wandering the streets trying to make my way there.  Then, the streets and buildings ended, and a large, open public space stood before me, with this at the center.  And yeah...I took a few photos. :-)

The Bell Tower at Trinity College

This is the bell tower at the center of Trinity College’s campus in Dublin, Ireland.  I was shooting around there for a while at sunrise one morning - which was great because I had it to myself, and as you can see there was a lot of interest in the sky.

Unfortunately, not long after this, the security guard took interest in me and told me shooting with a tripod on campus was not allowed.  What a stupid rule.  Anyways, I was actually firing my last shot when he found me, so I just talked with him while my last set of brackets fired, and I was done, so I left letting him think he won. :-)