No one, and I mean no one, goes to TribFest to be cool. After all, it's hard to look cool dancing to the music of Joe Dolan, ABBA, Tom Jones, Cher or Queen, well, maybe Queen, but... No, people go to TribFest to party, to listen to great music and most of all, to have fun. Fun, that's the most important part of a festival, and it was in abundance this year! The festival was a three day affair this time out and, for the first time, kicked off with a night dedicated to hard rock and metal, featuring IE/DC (AC/DC), Live Lizzy (Thin Lizzy), Whiplash (Metallica) , Guns Reloaded (Guns n' Roses), and Legendary (Bon Jovi). Was it loud? Yes, yes it was. Did it rock? Most certainly! Were the leather clad crowd entertained? Most definitely. What a way to kick off TribFest! Live Lizzy Whiplash Legendary Guns Reloaded IE/DC Night two of TribFest was a much more relaxed affair with sets from Mairead Rooney (Shania Twain), The Classic Beatles (The Beatles), Will Power (Joe Dolan)
April 2021 and, due to Covid Restrictions, there are still no gigs in Ireland. Other music photographers I know, both amateur and pro, have found other projects to sate their interest, but I was struggling.
What's the best thing to do when struggling? Simple, spend money on gadgets! I bought myself a Mavic Mini Drone. Now all I had to do was learn to fly it and figure out what to do with it.
That took a bit longer than I expected. The weather in February and March wasn't great, lots of rain unfortunately, and that's not good for flying drones. However, I did start to formulate a plan.
Out by Punchestown Racecourse, there are two Standing Stones. I figured I'd use the drone to get some images of them. Then I began to wonder if there were any more around Kildare. It turns out that there are plenty!!
So, each Saturday morning, weather permitting, I go out with my drone and camera to photograph them.
First up is the Standing Stone opposite the main gate at Punchestown.
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| Longstone at Craddockstown - Punchestown, County Kildare |
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| Punchestown Longstone - Punchestown, County Kildare |
A friend told me about a Stone Circle out near Ballymore Eustace. So after a small bit of internet research, I had its location and I was off to the Broadleas Stone Circle!
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| Broadleas Stone Circle - Ballymore Eustace, County Kildare |
One of the guys I work with told me of a Standing Stone near Kilcullen. That's only out the road from me, so after another quick Google search, I was off to find the Kilgowan Standing Stone.
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| Kilgowan Standing Stone - Kilcullen, County Kildare |
Whilst I was taking photos of the Broadleas Stone Circle, a local told me of another near Hollywood in Co. Wicklow. So, when I could manage to get out there, I did and it did not disappoint!
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| Athgreany Stone Circle - Hollywood, County Wicklow |
Late one night with time on my hand, I searched online for more interesting Stones in my locality and came across Adam and Eve, otherwise known as Boherboy Standing Stones in Saggart. Now, Saggart is close to Casement Aerodrome, so you can't fly a drone there. That didn't matter, the stones are easily accessible, so I just brought my camera instead.
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| Boherboy Standing Stones - Saggart, Co. Dublin |
And that's it so far. As restrictions lift and we can travel further afield, I'll continue to shoot these images. It's hard to believe that all these neolithic and bronze age sites are all only a few short miles from my home and the only two I ever heard about in school were the Punchestown stones.
So yeah, that's my new project. The one that will hopefully keep me sane whilst the country remains in lockdown! Stay tuned for more.
So yeah, that's my new project. The one that will hopefully keep me sane whilst the country remains in lockdown! Stay tuned for more.