Rymus {dot} Net

Well, back from Dublin and from Peoples Photography. All in all a tiring yet wildly enjoyable couple of days. I loved peoples photography but predictably enough, still 80% hate Dublin city centre. Next time I’ll shell out for more expensive lodgings too, don’t like being treated somewhat like a prisoner in the evening returning back to the glorified hostel and then being treated to a crap breakfast in the morning served in a manner last seen in a line up in the canteen of some maximum security prison. So Saturday on the green was largely uneventful, apart from the arrival of my glamorous assistant and the spanking new Canon 30D. More on that later…

There didn’t seem to be any sales at all on the south side on Saturday. I was shocked. Well, not too shocked. Had a stroll around the perimeter of the awfully large green to see that some of the exhibitors had brought depressingly good prints, some had brough depressingly bad prints and the rest of them were somewhere in the middle. Saw a couple I’d buy if I wasn’t saving up for a massively expensive new lens. According to various trustworthy resources, some were charging up on €600 for a print. Madness!?!

My reassuringly modest setup could well have expanded into the space beside me if not kept in careful check… by the person who eventually turned up and setup beside me. Drat and double drat! Next time I might just bring twice the number of prints! Next time we’ll also have to sort out an area of space big enough for all the boards crowd to stay together. It really was too long to walk just to take the piss out of someone.

After Saturday’s lack-lustre performance both sales and crowds wise, it was time to drown the would-be sorrows with a trip to the porterhouse. Somewhere I’ve never been (because I hate Dublin city, remember?) but always wanted to try. Their strawberry beer, despite looking like a pint of alcopop, is simply marvellous. Also, standing at the bar screaming “A pint of strawberry please” makes one question ones sexuality. 10ish pints of it later, it started to become decidedly average. The beer that doesn’t come with a mandatory hangover (so I was informed by my so called trusty resources) left me with a feeling the next morning that led me to believe strawberries were eating my brain from the inside out and had kept my eyeballs for dessert. Nice. I must say I was incredibly surprised that my farts didn’t smell like strawberries though. Surprised is the wrong word… more dissapointed.

So it rained in short bursts, more the second day but I didn’t really care because my prints were well protected (and I had setup under the shade of a tree, wah ha ha). We got a quota of sun too and Sunday picked up both numbers and sales wise. I managed to sell three and wondered how many I’d have sold if I was in Fermoy instead. Hmm… I’m open to correction on it, but with so much choice and competition that weekend, is it really an area conducive to sales? I mean if you have a print of a flower macro and are selling it for €40, someone right around the corner from you might have a similar print for €25 or €30. Psh, I’ll just have to stick to Fermoy where I’ve currently got the monopoly on photography.

So I think we’re all pretty much in agreement that it’s a goer for next year. We’ll just have to get in early, block book a few spaces for all interested boards photographers and bring a disposable barby. Oh and a table. And perhaps a patio umbrella. And a deck of cards. And most importantly of all, a honking great big sign that says “Prints For Sale!”

I’ve stuck a few photos from the 2 days up on Flickr if anyone (everyone) is interested. Expect more news on the 30D once I bother to post it.

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