Howth's Great Secret. Quick! Before it goes.

Sun dappled rhododendron of Howth Head, Howth, Dublin, Ireland.

Maybe you have visited the lovely harbour town of Howth on the north side of the city of Dublin. If not you should oblige yourself to visit. It is a lovely harbour town. The West Pier is an active work place for fishermen, fish shops, cafés and restaurants - serving the freshest fish in Ireland. You can also pick up boat trips to Ireland’s Eye and Dublin Bay. If thats not enough for you then wander from the West Pier towards the East Pier for a gentle walk. Here you pass Howth Yacht Club and the marina, a kiddies playground and dramatic views of Ireland’s Eye, Lambay Island and Howth Head. If you would like a more challenging walk you can head for Howth Head cliff walk with tremendous panoramas, depending on the weather, of the Irish Sea from the Mountains of Mourne, Dublin Bay and all the way to Wicklow Head.

Candy floss like blooms.

But, in late spring and early summer, one of the annual highlights of Howth, if not Dublin, must be the display of rhododendrons on Howth Head accessed via Howth Castle Demesne. And now, the beginning of June, the season is coming to an end. This is a spectacular sight and botanical wonder. Access is free. How wonderful.

Footpaths are made magical with a cover of petals from the spent flowers.

Vibrant scarlet strewn like across the floor of the forest.

When you walk or drive up the avenue you pass the castle, family home of the Gaisford St Lawrence family for 800 years, pass the public golf course and make your way towards the summit you are in for a visual treat. The rhododendron of many different shades from purple to pink to red to white cascade down the rocky slope. You can walk along the edge and enjoy the view of the different species up close. Their petals cover the paths like vibrant carpets in some places. If you clamber under the cover of the foliage you are transported back to some ancient epoc with giant ferns and tree roots like dinosaur tails dragging along the ground.

When you make it to the summit you get great views of Howth, above, and Dublin and its Bay.

Keep on your walk to the top - follow your instinct - most of the paths will lead you up and then from one moment to the next your are taken from the primordial jungle like scene to a spectacular view of Howth itself, the north coast of Dublin and southwards the city of Dublin. Time to open your flask or just sit and contemplate for a while.

A pine tree appears to break through the canopy of rhododendrons near the top of the walk.

But beware the rhododendrons are coming to an end this season - so get there fast. And probably more scary, the Gaisford St Lawrences have put a statement on their web site announcing the sale of their castle and demesne to Tetrarch Capital who develop hotels( Mount Juliet and Powerscourt). So this might be the death knell for access to see this really beautiful rhododendron forest. But hopefully not.

So go there today. Bus 33, Dart, bike(new cycle path from Clontarf to Sutton), car, foot - so easy to get to.

If you would like to discuss any aspect of photography do feel free to contact me.

Eugene Langan Photography, Studio Eight, 32 North Brunswick St., Dublin 7. D07 TWX3

e-mail: langan@indigo.ie - tel: 353(0)872597907 - web: www.eugenelangan.com

Sweet Potato Pizza

The newly launched packaging for The Sweet Potato Pizza Company.

Food photography is always fun and rewarding and I was lucky enough to be photographing food for The Sweet Potato Pizza Company in my studio here in Dublin. Craig Grattan the owner of the business loves experimenting with food and came up with a novel recipe for using sweet potatoes in the pizza base. After much testing he came up with three variations; Parma Ham Mushroom and Rocket, Sundried Tomato Spinach and Red Onion, Chorizo, Feta Cheese and Spinach. Each one as tasty as the other. He then managed to win a spot in the Food Academy, a organisation set up by Local Enterprise Offices, Bord Bia and SuperValu, to assist artisan food producers at the early stage on their business. This assisted Craig with all the complexities of launching a food product from legal requirements to packaging design and photography. Craig’s enthusiasm is palpable - it lit up the studio when we were photographing his pizzas. He is blazing with ideas.

For the mood of the photography we used a natural daylight style with the pizza laid out on a dark slate surface. The selected props and garnishes were positioned to accommodate the design elements of the packaging. You can see the final packaging above. And next time you are in SuperValu, you can check it out for real.

A design template was used to compose and position the pizza, the garnishes and props.

If you would like to discuss any aspect of food photography do feel free to contact me.

Eugene Langan Photography, Studio Eight, 32 North Brunswick St., Dublin 7. D07 TWX3

e-mail: langan@indigo.ie - tel: 353(0)872597907 - web: www.eugenelangan.com

Concrete and the Cliffs of Moher. A winning combination.

After an early morning three hour drive from Dublin I spent a very windy day on the Cliffs of Moher photographing the Coach Park Reception Building for the award winning Denis Byrne Architects. The cliffs are really impressive and the visitor numbers are extraordinary. The building was designed to have a minimum visual impact on the stunning landscape. It is a wonderful example for the use of concrete using both its strength to hold back the mound, beneath which the offices dwell, and the finesse of the material giving shape and texture. Particularly clever and subtle are the lighting niches and skylights. The sharp angles of the entrances to the subterranean offices change depending on your point of view. Denis Byrne Architects won Best Building Category at the Irish Concrete Society Awards against really stiff competition. A big congratulations to them. I have photographed other award winning projects for Denis Byrne Architects over the years and they are always outstanding. A really creative team, it is always a joy to work with them.

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If you would like to discuss any aspect of photography do feel free to contact me.

Eugene Langan Photography, Studio Eight, 32 North Brunswick St., Dublin 7. D07 TWX3

e-mail: langan@indigo.ie - tel: 353(0)872597907 - web: www.eugenelangan.com

Beautiful Black & White Photography

Monochrome photography was where it all started back in the early to mid nineteenth century with Fox Talbot, Niépce, Daguerre and on up to Eastman founder of Kodak and his the Box Brownie and beyond. All using monochrome(single colour) - that could be black and white tones or sepia tones with red/brown hues or cyanotypes - with a blue hue. It caught the imagination of generations of people right across the world. The Box Brownie camera by Kodak was cheap and relatively easy to use and popularised photography to a huge degree. Black and white photography became a hugely popular medium right up to the 1970s when colour film began to take over. And still today the black and white image is still popular despite smartphones and digital imagery. There is something about going beyond colour in a portrait, for example, that allows us to examine a face more closely. We instantly see tones and textures. We can interpret character with seemingly more ease. Black and white photographs still carry great prestige. I would never argue that black & white photography is better than colour photography - it is simple different. (In fact you can see the same image on the left hand side in colour further back on my blog if you want to compare.) This is my way of introducing some black and white portraits I did recently. They were originally shot in colour and later the colour was removed to reveal these two black and white portraits.

The photographs are the start of a series of portraits of sailors. Sailors are an interesting group for me. They wrestle with the elements constantly. Handling themselves and their boats in conditions ranging from flat calm to storm force winds. A cool head is always needed. Then you get breakages or equipment failure which need to be dealt with even if the replacement parts are not available - some sort of jury rig will have to suffice until you get safely to port. Self reliance and resilience are the traits of the best sailors. And a zen type calmness to cope with the many different events that occur on a sailing trip.

I was encouraged to convert to black and white when I saw LensCulture opening a competition for black and white photography. So here they are. Do take a moment to see the work on the LensCulture web site. I recommend it, it is a great site. And do share if you get a chance.

If you would like to discuss any aspect of photography - black & white and colour - do feel free to contact me

Eugene Langan Photography, Studio Eight, 32 North Brunswick St., Dublin 7. D07 TWX3

e-mail: langan@indigo.ie - tel: 353(0)872597907 - web: www.eugenelangan.com