Nature

It is so easy to let the mind wander back into space…….

Depression, Health, Mental Health, Music, Nature, Photography, Travel, Uncategorized

To quote the title of a Ministry album “The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste”” and it really can be so true. Of course everybody is different and depression and mental health problems hit and affect people in widely different ways.For me I started putting this particular post together before Christmas 2022, and never made it to the end. My productivity just stops, disappears and this time around it took many months before I managed to get anything going at all. Unfortunately there is no magic switch, people deal with it in very different ways depending on what type of treatment they are on or if they decide to try and work through it themselves, what I always did myself until it became too much. Now I am on prescribed medication, but I would prefer to not increase the dosage beyond what I am on, so kind of a vicious circle, but in my head if I can’t work through it (even with help from meds) myself in some way it is pointless just numbing everything with meds…….. we will get there 🙂

So let me fill you in on some of the stuff I’ve been doing the last 8 months. Well I decided it was time to leave the day job and take a break, that’s extended quite a bit past what I had planned but at the same time my head hasn’t been in the right place for work anyway, so I’ll get back in shape a little and go find something less stressful to do.

I did manage to get to some festivals/gigs between August and November 2022, which were good, but the work on photo was very slow afterwards for the Festivals. There was HRH Sleaze in Sheffield at the end of August and Indoor Summer 2022 in Hamburg at the start of September, and gig wise I covered both Sepultura and Amorphis in Dublin around November time, which was awesome. Have a lot of plans this year, have started off really badly, but managed to shoot HRH Blues in Sheffield a couple of weeks back and I’m off to Uprising in Leicester next week, fingers crossed.

Photos are always a bit subjective, and for me this is definitely one of them, I both love it and don’t at the same time, I love that I managed to get a jump shot (something oddly I have had problems with over the last couple of years) but at the same time it’s not as clean as I’d like etc…….. anyway, it’s Christmas week (was when I typed this), so we will go with the love side of things 🙂

Was great to get away and catch up with friends and colleagues, and the same was true at Indoor Summer in Hamburg, my first time visiting Germany and loved the Festival and atmosphere.

Lee Aaron closing out the Indoor Summer 2022 Festival.

It’s amazing being able to catch up with friends from all across Europe, including Ireland, when you travel to an event like this one, already looking forward to Sept 2023.

We now have a standing visit to Dublin Zoo on or about the 29th of December each year, it is usually not crazy busy and we seem to have luck with the weather. Also it is certainly one of the places to see if you visit Dublin.

Every time I get the chance to shoot a band that I’m a massive fan of it is a real privilege, and that holds through when shotting them for the 2nd, 3rd or whatever time. I’ve been listening to and going to see Sepultura for more than 30 years, so getting to shot them in my home time was something a bit special for me, similar with Amorphis and I’m forever grateful to Metal Planet Music (or whichever organisation I’m shooting on behalf of) for the opportunity to do so.

2023 for me didn’t start well, I just couldn’t get my head working, so the first 3 months were a bust, nada, nothing missed a lot of gigs. So as April started I was slapping myself saying right lets just do this, and I was determined to get going, and I have at least gotten started. Another trip to Sheffield this time for HRH Blues has helped immensely, ok, didn’t help my bum knee, but that’s a different issue 😉 Two days, 15 bands on a single stage, so not so much running around as usual. But getting to see new bands to me, working with friends and trying to get back into the swing of things was brilliant. Hard work, but brilliant. Tested out some new travel routes and will try that again next week for Uprising in Leicester. will just mean less working around and train time.

The Bad Day – HRH Blues VII, O2 Academy – 09-04-2023

Alongside that we managed to get a break in last week to Donegal, this time Carrickfinn, Donegal. Just beside the Airport, beautiful Beaches, stunning landscapes, all you could want, add to that it’s not too far from a lot of other places to visit and it’s hard to beat, the Wild Atlantic Way really is a stunning Below are a couple of shots from the wonderful Killahoey Beach, Dunfanaghy, Co. Donegal.

Wish me well with getting back on the horse and getting out and about a lot more, Have gotten a couple of album reviews written, but have 2 more to finish today, if possible. Nearly there, but as I have found out the problem now is that last little bot a paragraph or two that become impossible to drag out of the recesses of the mind.

Hope you all have a brilliant Spring/Summer, and whatever helps you with any problems make use of it, life is too short to live on the couch when you can be up and about…..

A little change from the music photography………

Depression, Health, Mental Health, Nature, Photography, Travel, Uncategorized

Just a quick post with some photos of a wonderful visit we recently had to the Wild Ireland sanctuary in Burnfoot, Co. Donegal. It’s the second time we have visited in 2 years and loved the many additional animals we managed to see this around along with the Wolves and Bears. Also managed to catch some informational talks from the staff on the animals and work being done on the habitats.

Artic Fox – Wild Ireland – Burnfoot, Co. Donegal. Ireland

This time around we were very lucky with the weather and managed to get around for the whole day without even getting wet, definitely unusual for October, with a lot of sunshine. I don’t ever remember seeing a Golden Pheasant before, but they are beautify and the ridiculously cute Artic Fox.

Golden Pheasant – Wild Ireland – Burnfoot, Co. Donegal. Ireland

There are so many places to take in when visiting Ireland, especially when you travel out towards the Western Coastline, but I think this place is now on our list when we go to Donegal. It wasn’t far from our base in Carndonagh either so not a million miles from Malin Head. If you are checking out the Wild Atlantic way, especially in the North West of the country then definitely check it out. There were a lot more animals than I have put in this post, but didn’t want top overload it. A nice walk among nature certainly does a lot for your mental wellbeing, keeps the head straight and brings better thoughts into the mind. And this is certainly the kind of thing that brings you out of a Depression funk.

more photos below, keep safe and enjoy the many holiday seasons ahead.

Snowy Owl – Wild Ireland – Burnfoot, Co. Donegal. Ireland

Getting a break to save some sanity, but everyone has the same idea.

Depression, Health, Mental Health, Nature, Photography, Travel, Uncategorized

Well 2022 seems to be the great escape for most people, if they can and especially with the costs rising as they are both for flights, accommodation and anything else you need for spending money has to be recalculated, inflation everywhere is so much fun. For us it was another staycation, but this time in the South West of Ireland, Kerry to be precise, as we continue to explore the stunning Wild Atlantic Way and the Coastline on the opposite side of the Country to where we live. But holidays and trips away at the moment are much more than just a vacation, they really can be therapeutic.

Portmagee, County Kerry on the Wild Atlantic Way

Beautiful peaceful place, but perhaps when you are feeling down that is not enough, I know that even during the depths I was in last year getting out and checking out the local scenery around my walking routes did a lot of good, and the same has to be said about being on a trip away, getting out to parks, gardens etc provides additional help without doing anything else. One big additional bonus on this trip was nighttime, the area we stayed in is a Dark Sky Preserve, what this means is that there is a lot less light pollution and the Night Sky should be more visible. While we have beautiful weather a lot during the daytime, nights were often quite cloudy, one night I noticed the Moon being bright and visible so took a walk outside around midnight and wow, what an amazing sight, spirits were lifted immediately, the whole Sky was fully illuminated with stars, constellations and sheer beauty,I had never seen so much clarity above me and the brightness of the illumination was just amazing.

View of Valentia Island from Portmagee Cottage

Sadly I have no Night Sky photos with the exception of a couple of shots of the moon, will pus one below. But there are photos here around Valentia, Kerry Cliffs and the Beaches.

One of the many stunning views from the Kerry Cliffs.

Times to reflect and sit out in the evening sunshine, just putting your feet up and watching life pass by, boats on the lake beside us, cars climbing hills on the Island opposite, this was just what we needed. Don’t get me wrong we always have our struggles, and we are never sure that plans will ever be what the little guy wants to do or if it’s just going to be one of those days, but the 10 minutes of joy can make up for anything else when away on a trip. The Kerry Cliffs were simply beautiful to check out from different angles and we would definitely recommend them for the small entrance fee, it’s well worth it. Plenty of islands to check out other than the Skelligs and I’m sure the many species of birds to be spotted around the Cliffs adds to any visit.

After getting back we were already looking at organising trips for next year and the area we were in this time around remains very much in our thoughts, alongside a return to Donegal next Easter.

But please remember, you don’t need to get away far, but a break anywhere can do wonders for the mind, your mental health or just to get a rest and fresh air, even if you can only afford or take a day trip somewhere then do it. We all need it, we have rolled into September now but the weather is still decent and perhaps last minute deals are looking better than they were. From the time I started writing this to the time I finished it there’s no doubt I got caught up in my own head for a while, and then all of a sudden some Festival Trips took over. Please remember to keep the mind active, get out of the house get some fresh air, enjoy your surroundings if you can or take a trip to the nearest park or green area.

Why’s it so hard to just get out of the house these days ?

AOR, Depression, Health, Mental Health, Music, Nature, Photography, Travel, Uncategorized

Well it’s been a while since I posted, so here’s a little update on the oddities of life in 2022. Although many have been saying that the Covid Pandemic is over, and don’t get me wrong, I can’t wait for it to be finished, it’s definitely not and is still affecting life in general.

Over the last couple of weeks a few more gigs or Tours have been cancelled because band members have contracted the virus, have seen the same across Europe and the US, it doesn’t take much for smaller bands to have to cancel or postpone things when a date or two are going to be missed out on. There’s bound to be some issues for venues too with regards to staffing.

This week sees the start for me of getting back on the train with regards to going to and shooting gigs, tomorrow night I have Dark Tranquility making their very long awaited Irish debut. Then at the weekend I have a trip planned to the HRH Blues Festival in Sheffield, all going well, with Bernie Marsden and Wilko Johnson Headlining each night.

Between working from home full time, health issues and the added problem of Depression over the last 10 months it really has been a messy couple of years, and it’s taken a toll psychologically. I did get away to the Uprising Festival in Leicester last year, but that was it, and have struggled to get the motivation to get out to things locally over the last couple of months. Leaving the house isn’t a problem, still walking regularly, and building up the distances again to 10km a walk, so that’s good, but for sanity and the soul I need to get back to gigs. Photographing tomorrow night and at the weekend, so that should be motivation enough, and a lot of additional work to do, but it’s worth it.

Hasn’t just been a lack of motivation with regards to getting out and about, it’s massively affected writing anything, review wise, for so long now. it’s a real struggle to finish things off, and you’d thing that would be the easy bit sometimes. But I’m trying to work on it from a different perspective and we will see how it goes.

This could well be the last year I’ll be able to do multiple UK Festivals, even for individual shows it’s getting more and more expensive to travel and get accommodation in the UK from here. At the moment I think travel anywhere is expensive, but it eventually reaches a line where it becomes just too much. Checking prices for later in the year and it’s much more than usual, when it starts costing as much as a family holiday it really would be too much. The cost of living generally is going to make things more difficult anyway, so when you have additional costs for everything travelling becomes less fun. So I’ll go out with a bang this year and hit as much as I can, along with the Indoor Summer Festival in Hamburg which I’m looking forward to immensely, will hopefully be a very exciting and interesting few months ahead. With gigs still getting announced every week it looks like you won’t be able to walk out of the house without hitting one, and it’s great to see pictures of full venues for shows with small or large capacities.

Not too long now until the outdoor Festival season either, so bring it on. Bloodstock for sure, maybe a day or two here and there aside from that…. would love to get over and bit a farewell to KISS at Download, even if it was just for the Friday night. Aside from all that we will be doing another staycation this year, trying the beautiful South West this time around to cover off another part of the Wild Atlantic Way. There will be day trips here and there and I need to get back to the Botanic Gardens soon.

Wishing you all a very happy, interesting and safe year to come, and Rock it .

Balancing the Meds, the everyday stresses and strains, a new year and trying to make your World work better for you.

Depression, Health, Mental Health, Music, Nature, Photography, Travel, Uncategorized

Well here we are in 2022, and what a strange messed up year 2021 was, it started with the same high hopes we have now for the upcoming year, the hope that Covid is reducing in strength and severity, and that we will soon be able to get back to a more normal or familiar way of living.

Once again we all have had to continue to embrace a lot of changes with more Lockdowns here in Ireland and many other countries, Working From Home becoming more the norm than the exception, everyones schedules being thrown off track, whether you are an adult or a child. schools reopening and closing again, and of course the newer variants affecting kids more for the first time. So a lot to cope with for everyone. Keeping life balance along with mental health has been even more difficult over the course of 2021. One thing is for sure I am not the only person to get to a stage where it all became too difficult to deal with. Glad that I didn’t continue to dig don deeper into the hole this time and bury my head, In August 2021 I took a big and important step and decided to seek some professional help rather then just try and fix it myself, and that was a wise move. Life’s stresses and strains, the loss of my mother (which if being perfectly honest I probably haven’t grieved properly for ye) and all of the stuff that comes with that, depression takes it’s grip, so I went to a Doctor and started working on it.

After trying some different things we decided to try medication, and personally it seems to be the path that makes sense for me, everyone is different and how it affects you and the type of person you are will have a lot to do with what is best for you. So now I’m taking two slow release medications, one for the Epilepsy and the other for Depression, the one good thing is that having taken medication for many years and adding to that with the heart meds, nothing is a surprise, just like the Epilepsy meds it’s all about finding the balance that works for you with regards the amount of mediation needed to help and make sure it works without causing any issues. Still working through that but there is no doubt that it has helped me significantly, I’m not there yet, but on a new dosage the last couple of weeks and it should be taking affect now. All I would say is listen to the experts, take the time out of work or whatever that you need to, don’t rush it or you will end up back to square one and that won’t help at all. Besides it does take time to find the right dosage for you, so keep working at it with the doctor/s and keep talking about it. Other things you may need to thing about are changing things in life that are not helping you to keep ahead of things, of course some changes will be more difficult, the younger you are and depending on circumstances , it may not be possible to change working, reduce hours etc, but if it would mean helping your mental health, you need to check out all the options, it’s of no benefit to anyone for you to be out for months anyway.

But the most important thing, if it’s all getting too much for you, go talk to someone, a friend, family, a GP or more specialised Professional, talking about these things isn’t as difficult as it seems when you go and do it.

So balancing everything out is very important, of course things can be a little more difficult when people can’t do their hobbies/pastimes that help people to relax. Personally I’m looking forward to 2022, admittedly with some trepidation as it didn’t work out so well in 2021, but hoping that we will get back to living our lives, or whatever the new norm is this coming year. The Music Industry has been hit so had over the last couple of years,, for everyone that works in it, fingers well and truly crossed that I get to see and shoot some shows this year, it’s a much needed outlet for a lot of people and has been sorely missed. One manage to get to one event in 2021, the This Is Not An Uprising weekend, and it was brilliant to see a couple of friends and safely attend a show, but it’s not happening over here at the moment and more Tours are being rescheduled every week (have never had/seen so many Gig Clashes before, caused generally by everything being rescheduled multiple times and ending up on the same nights) if things get back on track quickly this coming year will be crazy for Gigs everywhere.

Getting out for walks is still very important, so need to get back to walking properly now, has been a bit sporadic the last couple of months while trying to sort things out, but walking is good for the mind, listening to audio books, spending time in parks or gardens for some nice nature to change things up a bit, nice to have a different bit of scenery to the same Roads I’ve been pounding for the last couple of years. Still I managed to walk over 2,000 KM in 2021, which isn’t bad, will see how we get on this time around. Planning some more trips to the Botanic Gardens and further afield and will bring the camera along too.

Travel wise, well I’m already resigning myself to missing the first few trips of the year, but hey what can you do, when stuff gets cancelled, postponed or simply travel becomes so difficult it’s not worth taking the risk, there will be future Gigs, fingers crossed.

So wishing you all a Very Happy New Year and hoping 2022 brings us all more good stuff than 2021 did, stay safe and communicate, like the old add said, It’s Good To Talk……….

Here are some resources for Mental Health Services in Ireland, they are easy to find online these days in many countries and since Covid there are more online resources available like video course etc……..

Aware. – https://www.aware.ie/programmes/online-self-directed/

HSE – https://www.hse.ie/eng/services/list/1/lho/northdublin/mentalhealth/mentalhealthsucidesupportdublinnorth.html

How do you know when the fog is lifting……

Depression, Health, Mental Health, Music, Nature, Photography, Travel, Uncategorized

It’s been a very difficult and often confusing last few months on a personal level, that Fog of Depression fell heavily and it can have some very odd effects on a person, time can just drift without you getting anything done, even the most basic tasks can be started and then disappear into space. But hey, it is what it is and with some help and trying to get the right balance of medication we will get there. with a bit of luck and continuing to try and get something done each day we will get out of the mire.

Yesterday got out for a walk with the family to a wonderful calming place that I’ve mentioned before and National Botanical Gardens in Glasnevin, Dublin is that place for me, always has been, and alongside getting out for a lovely walk I managed to bring along the camera and take some photos, so a productive day, and with nature providing us with some beautiful colour at this time of year it’s a nice time to get out there.

My son bumped into some squirrel friends and a few ducks along the way and I don’t think we’ve ever managed to get so close to Heron’s and a Moorhen that hangs around in one of the Ponds, these are all things out in the fresh air that manage to clear the head a little and help you to feel a little more like yourself, I think I’ll get up early one morning next week and get down for a few hours. The little guy doesn’t normally take much notice of the wildlife around the Gardens, but he had a good laugh with one of the squirrels yesterday which was nice to see, and then he decided he wanted to get in a Mini Digger that the workers were using to clear out and area, can’t bring him anywhere 🙂

There is something though about being out in nature that changes the mind frame in a positive way. The quiet is generally only interrupted by the running of water cascading around, or birds rustling in the trees and scrabbling with ducks for some visitors scraps..

Really need to get the walking and diet back on track and alongside it the some of the other things will start to fix themselves. Sleep alongside exercise and diet make a huge difference, but when you are down in a hole it’s just so easy to fall off the rails a bit, or a lot, and not as easy to get back on track again when you do it. Wellbeing is a work in progress now, there is no doubt in my mind that the pandemic and issues that came along with it piled onto already strained mental capacity. What I would advise to anyone though is don’t just try and deal with it on your own, when you reach a point where you are no longer picking yourself up and feeling better by yourself, go talk to people, family, friends or professional, just do it, sometimes talking won’t be enough and medication will be needed to help you back up on the ladder, it’s a process and it can take some time, there’s not defining it to say you will be better in two weeks.

Currently, like many places in Europe Ireland is once again suffering from rising Covid cases, to an extent where our hospitals are again at full capacity and going forward it’s an unsustainable situation. Staff are overstretched and there’s clearly not enough of them to cover surges, illness cover for themselves or God forbid any sort of major incident that required a number of ICU beds, they simply aren’t available. So for the moment entertainment is back open, but for how long, I’m still missing gigs terribly, had to skip a couple last week, but fingers crossed will get to a small show this weekend, I know already that getting to live music helps me mentally, so if some form of events are still on I’ll try and get to them, but would definitely think again about Sold Out shows at busy venues, catching Covid isn’t something that would help at all right now. From tomorrow Thursday 18th November in Ireland Pubs/Nightclubs will have to close by Midnight, which will more than likely have a knock on effect on gigs planned for venues with Nightclubs, if a decision is made to not open the venues for Nightclubs they may also decide to stay closed, showing it’s still a very difficult time for Venues and Promoters, and of course for bands and workers in the industry. We can just hope that some sort of stability comes back soon, even though gigs are back in the UK and other countries they are far from stable, far from the way things should be and a lot of the time you don’t really know who’s on a lineup until you are there.

So far the new medication seems to be having no bad effects with the other medications I’m on, so that’s definitely a positive, the increase in strength is a balancing act much like my Epilepsy medication, so nothing I’m not used to and once it’s correct things should start to feel a lot better, fingers crossed. All we can do is keep working on these thing and look after our mental health as much as possible, it seems to be much more difficult in this day and age when it should in many ways be much easier, what a strange time we live in. But this week I’m not feeling quite so lost, let’s see if we can keep track of the days, as that’s definitely something that has fallen to the wayside recently, hours disappear into days, days into weeks and all of a sudden it’s nearly the end of 2021. Won’t be sad to see the end of another year which hasn’t brought much good to us all, but even mid November I look forward to 2022 and what it may bring, more gigs, better health and hopefully a World with a better way of dealing with the Covid crisis.

Musically, I have been to a sum total of one weekend of Live Music so far this year, with some luck 2021 will finish with me being at a few more and maybe even getting to shoot some of them, starting this weekend.

Shrapnel at This Is Not An Uprising in Firebug, Leicester.

Stay safe out there, even when you have been vaccinated you can still catch Covid, still end up in Hospital or very sick, so hand washing, wearing a facemask, whatever is in place, let’s keep on helping each other by doing it. In 2022 I’ld like to be able to travel to Gigs and Festivals again, in Northern Ireland, the rest of the UK and Europe if I can, it may not be easy. but lets be honest, life often isn’t that easy, but we get through it, so a bit more positive thinking may be in order to help us get there.At the end of the day it’s a lot more involved than just being able to travel to a venue, the festivals this year have been ravaged by losing so many US and European acts that had either made the decision not to travel this year, were unable to do so anyway, or the sheer logistics could not be figured out to make things work. Here’s hoping to an improved time for the industry as a whole, I’m looking forward to catching bands, but most importantly to catching up with friends that I’ve not been able to see in person for 2 years now. Even if that turns into 3 years, it will happen again and that will be some feeling.

Things we take for granted…..

Health, Mental Health, Music, Nature, Photography, Uncategorized

Well ok, that could be a list much longer than my arm, but with everything that’s happened in general over the last 18 months, and that additional personal stuff, it was nice to take a couple of hours out on a sunny Sunday morning at the weekend, bring the camera with me and just enjoy some nature in the area that I live in Dublin. This is certainly one of those things that we don’t pay nearly enough attention to, I’m not saying I don’t look at things as I walk by, but these photos are all from one of my normal walking routes, but grabbing a glance as you walk, run or drive quickly past when out getting exercise is not the same as taking the time to enjoy it and be part of it.

Simply taking the time to stand or sit and watch the wildlife go about their daily tasks is an eye opener, it has an ability to give you a bit of a lift and brings a smile to your face. So it’s great for the mental health. The two Horses have been resident in that a field for quite a while now, and I usually raise a little smile as I walk past as their is usually someone there saying hello to them, people seem to bring their young children just to visit the Horses which is nice. The Swans moved their young Cygnets up and down a couple of stretches of water and decided they liked this small manmade pond to gently swim around.

Most people have suffered to some degree with their Mental Health during this extended period or Pandemic, have lost loved ones or just had the whole thing affect their health, so it’s important to just take a step back, get your mind out of it all and free yourself up from thinking about it. Taking a walk/run definitely helps to some degree, but taking time out for much more gentle times with some nature is an even better way to reset somethings. Doesn’t make problems disappear, but some days they can just wait a few hours and often you can look at a problem from a different perspective when you get back from some relaxation.

Photos aside the world keeps turning slowly, dates come and go with little difference, having recently lost someone I honestly couldn’t tell you very much of what’s been going on the last 3 weeks, what I’ve been doing or to be honest what day it is. On the flipside we have gotten through a lot of work, Cleared a house, started a new project to digitise a few albums worth or old photographs, some very old, a lot from my childhood, and plenty we are not sure who is actually in them – but I guess that’s half the fun, we will go through them with relatives and try and figure them out. The older photos don’t have negatives, so a bit more work involved in cleaning up the images a bit, trying to bring them back to life a little without taking away anything from what they are. May take a bit of time, but it’s going to be interesting and hopefully a lot of fun.

Lot’s a things crop into the mind at a time like this, how short out time actually is on this rock, maybe it’s time to change things up and make some choices that will make life a bit more simple, less stressful and demanding while at the same time still being able to pay the bills, as they never stop coming in 😉

Going to try and get back to posting updates a little more often, there’s enough going on. Going to get my 2nd dose of the vaccine this coming weekend, so that’s not exactly something I’m looking forward to, but it’s another step forward. Pilot music events have begun or been announced here, so hopefully, all going well we will eventually get back to some little bit of normality in the not too distant future. Sadly however I don’t see it coming quickly enough for some of the events I have Tickets for, and will have to try and sort something out with the Tickets. Can’t see there being refunds for events in another country when it is actually going to take place. But will have to wait and see if that’s how it plays out. One in particular is going to be in my opinion lucky if they get the go ahead, even though they have done a lot to fulfil all requirements asked of them, that doesn’t really matter when it’s a liquid situation and the goalposts keep changing. If it doesn’t happen I will be there next year. One thing is for sure if things improve enough in the rest of the year 2022 is going to be one hell of a busy year music wise. so many bands will be out touring when they can. Travel, well that’s a different story – time will tell.

Things may be changing in a positive way, but……..

AOR, Health, Mental Health, Music, Nature, Travel, Uncategorized

Well here we are in March 2021, one full year since things locked down in most places, certainly here in Ireland, and from my perspective I was just about to test the water so to speak with regards to going back to the Live Music scene. Being 100% honest, even now a year on I do not know if physically and mentally I’ll be able to do Gigs and more worryingly for me, Festivals anymore. Time will tell, but I really hope I can, it’s something I love doing.

The effort required to shoot 3 consecutive Days of any Festival is probably a lot more than people appreciate, it’s not just a case of sitting around for 10 hours and going to stand for 10 minutes of every set, that’s for sure. Take my normal situation for a Festival in the UK, lets take something in the Midlands, 2 or 3 Day Festival,

I would fly into either Birmingham or East Midlands on the first flight, arriving between 7-9am.
Make my way to the City where the venue is by Bus or Train.
Check into my Accommodation
Organise my Camera bag and Festival accreditation
Double check camera batteries are charged, memory cards are cleared
Depending on the start time for that day either lay down and rest for an hour or make my way to the venue, grabbing a sandwich on the way.
Check in, catch up with friends and colleagues.
Get ready for shooting, test the camera/s for basic lighting etc.
Then we begin the process, queue for the Photo Pit to open, first 3 songs to shoot, pray that there is some decent lighting for the early bands.
Depending on the Festival, get some shots from the back of the venue or the balcony if that’s permitted.
Then get back in the queue for the next band or move to the 2nd stage to try and catch the band there for coverage. REPEAT 🙂
Oh and try and remember to get some foot and maybe find somewhere to sit down for 30 minutes at some point.
Last band will either be 11:15pm or 2:15am when the shooting stops, but as I am normally reviewing as well it means I have to watch the last band of the day until they finish, so maybe 2:40am
Back to the accommodation, dump the photos from the memory card/s to a laptop & back up Hard Drive.
Edit a selection of photos picked somewhat at random and post a couple of Social Media.
Try and get some sleep before you get up for a shower, Breakfast and begin again for a busier day on Day 2 and REPEAT :-). You get a lot of steps in, but it’s tiring and hard work.

So we will see first of all if we do get any Festivals running this year, and whether or not I can get to one. As it stands now early March we have already had major Festivals in June postponed again to next year with Download pushed back recently, only today Bloodstock started the difficult decisions of having to announce changes to the lineup, with a number of US bands pulling out of the 2021 event due to the current situation, they are still hoping to go ahead and put the Festival on in June. Other Festivals in September are already preparing people for the possibility that they can’t proceed, as with everything in Covid times, we will wait and see 🙂

The main problem for smaller Festivals I think is that is you add in restrictions on the size of the crowd, and other stuff it makes it neither Financially viable to continue nor would it be the event they had planned it to be. From my reading of things right now, it looks like a lot of US bands will not be travelling to Europe this year, as things currently stand anyway, everything of course is fluid but for Festivals they have to make decisions a little earlier than one off shows, so as you head towards April/May you can add 3-4 months onto the events that will be effected. Another UK Festival due to take place in July is now looking like UK bands only, and there’s nothing wrong with the bands in the lineup, it’s just that some of the bands no longer there would have been a big draw for most patrons, and it does effect the vibe if it were to take place. Ryanair Flights in June are currently being cancelled so that will affect other plans.

I do think that we will get some shows happening later in the year, and that’s something to look forward to for sure. Smaller local events might be good for me to test my stamina and get back to using the camera again in a live setting, so fingers crossed. Certainly my walking schedule will help, just have to make sure I’m taking rest days the odd time. I can be either doing nothing for too long a period like happened at the end of last year, or probably doing too much as I am at the moment, almost up to 500KM done in 2021 already so a day ever now and then, or my body will get overtired. I was going to do some charity stuff this month like “50 Miles in March” but i’ve already don’t 50 miles 🙂 might just do another 5KM walk on St. Patricks Day. Am adjusting my year end Target from 2,000KM to 2,500KM so that will keep me pushing forward through the months. Right I’m now signed up for a 5KM on Patricks Day now in aid of Aware, a Mental Health Support organisation here in Ireland, and in the last couple of days I’ve passed the 500KM mark since the start of the year, so will just keep going and think when the weather is a bit nicer I might increase the distances again. To be honest I’ve been a little bit mentally exhausted the last few weeks, so just glad to be doing stuff, sometimes I need to overdo things just to reboot the head and get things back on track, but hey, but listen if that’s what it takes it’s a small price to pay as long as I’m sensible enough to get a little more rest around this time to balance things out a bit, the fickle way of things. Of course the diet always takes a bad turn at these times, the exercise helps to somewhat cancel it out along with the extra rest of course, so will move on re-align and hopefully click back into place again, so many things to do as we approach more challenges coming into middle age.

The little monster finally went back to Preschool last week, and we noticed the happy change in him almost straight away, which is awesome, much happier in himself and loving being back in his school routine. So much happier to be doing his thing, which is just great to see, makes us all smile 🙂 and lifts your spirits as we look like we may be staying in Lockdown for another 6 weeks or so. There is a definite feeling at this stage that we have been doing out bit for a long time, but I guess a little more is needed, perhaps this is all due to delays with the promised supply of Vaccine, would like to be scheduled for mine so at least I know then where I stand, but as with everyone else we are just in the dark, hopefully soon.

So what else has been going on, well, work has been busy, I haven’t been able to get back into writing reviews, been busy with everything else that’s going on in life at the moment alongside work and exercise. I really would like to get back into it though, there are a lot of good albums being released at the moment and scheduled for the coming months. As strange as this sounds, as time goes on and the fact that it has been so long since I had my last fit, I almost forget about the Epilepsy at times, yes I know I said it sounds strange, after all I take tablets every morning and night to keep it under control, it hasn’t just disappeared. Well recently we’ve had a lot of great information, lots of wonderful stories from people about when they got Epilepsy and what their stories have been, through Epilepsy Ireland (really some wonderful, heartfelt stories and certainly some that I know from personal experience are not always that easy to tell other people about, brave to do it and so very informative for people that have been recently diagnosed. When I first was (well I was kind of diagnosed) some 31 years ago I had no idea where to go to in order to get information, who I could tell or talk to, but as I became a more confident person I decided to own it and I have been very open about my condition ever since. Touch wood I will stay incident free for another year and will continue to never let it dictate my life. This weekend marks the 6th anniversary of the first time I officially shot a Music Festival, HRH AOR 3 (or HRH United as it was, which also combined Hammerfest and Sleaze, was a really great weekend in North Wales and kicked off many trips to the same venue at the Haven Holiday Camp in Hafan Y Mor, Pwllheli. The main hall there is just something they don’t make for venues anymore, lots of thought in the attendees being able to see from wherever they are, 3 tiers leading from the back to the stage large bar and an exit directly into a couple of food venues, with a cpacity of over 2,000 just a great space, and ideal for small Festivals. The black & white image at the top of this post is of Swedish Hard Rock band The Poodles from that very weekend.

We did jump this week and book our family holiday for later in the year, will be staying in Ireland, so that eliminates a number of extra complexities with foreign travel, a beautiful cottage nestled in what looks like some lovely local views in Donegal, I took the below photo of Mukish Mountain from the wonderful Glanveagh National Park, the cottage for this year is just a few minutes drive from the mountain so hopefully will be able to get some nice shots, and we do love the area, so we have no problem with staying close enough to home when the scenery is stunning and we know our way around, slightly new place to stay so good to have some change. We already have some day trips sorted out in our minds and hopefully the little guy will be a little more involved it things this time around, the fresh air is always good for him. Plenty of new explorations and interesting new things to see and learn about. Having a nice break to look forward to is always a good thing for the mental health, just as much as getting out in that beautiful air and exercising helps, having a nice trip to look forward to is definitely another thing that helps.

Mukish Mountain shot from Glanveagh National Park, Co. Donegal in 2019

Reminds me of an old political slogan…….

Health, Mental Health, Music, Nature, Uncategorized

As I mark the 1 year anniversary of my Heart Surgery it’s probably time to take stock again. Well yes it’s been one of the strangest and most difficult years we all could have had, but to try and recuperate for the majority of the year was a double edged sword. On the one hand with everyone working from home it was somewhat easier to adjust to, after all I’d already been home for a couple of months, but then again knowing that you are now imunocompromised in the whirlwind of a Global Pandemic is definitely a stress marker.

Adding to that of course my release of Gigs and Music Photography simply wasn’t available, in the first couple of months before lockdowns began, I just wasn’t either physically able or recovered enough to even think about it, doubt I’d have lasted standing for as long as a support set even. Wasn’t supposed to be doing any exercise for a couple of weeks after I got home, and I know from my own stupidity I should have been heading that advice. Of course there haven’t been any gigs here since, and I’ve gotten the camera out a bit, shooting the moon, garden birds and a trip to the Zoo, some pics littered around this post, but it’s very little for 12 months of time at my age, feels like a lot of wasted time.

So what would I say after 12 months – A Lot Done, More To Do….. once used by Bertie Ahern as a campaign slogan, but sums things up pretty well as to where I stand a year on. I have worked hard for a number of months during that time, losing weight, becoming more physically fit and altering my diet. But that is I guess only part of the story, along with the good feelings from achieving minor goals and targets, the darkness can still seep in, I would be surprised if any of us have been able to completely avoid the shadow of Depression in one for or another over the last year. For me the ups and downs have maybe been less frequent than in a normal year, but also perhaps more severe.

While initially in the first recovery stage things started to close down, so my physical Cardio Rehab was delayed for a couple of months, me rather stupidly starting exercising sooner than I should and pushing too hard too quickly., and dealing with trying to organise care for a relative things got on top of me pretty early into last year, and it’s happened a few times since, doesn’t coordinate directly with lockdowns, that’s for sure, but times of stress, going through a near death of a family member from Covid and all that entailed it makes me ponder the future alongside the present. Whether working in the position I do, or the type of work will be possible long term, I remember talking in the hospital to a couple of more experienced men on the very subject, once was back in suffering from angina (but who had been in and out of the hospital so much in the last 20 years that all the staff in a busy hospital knew him and came up to visit) and the other to have something replaced in a complex operation as overtime things had changed and both had to take early retirement and also scale back the amount/type of work they did. It’s a difficult one to think about, there’s obviously monetary issues involved, that goes without saying, but long term the viability of pushing a body that’s not as strong as it once was may mean that I need to make a decision before it makes the decision for me. Another attack could take any voluntary thoughts on it null and void.

Starling with a nut in the back Garden Dec 2020

But hey, like I say ups and downs and achieving goals has been a big lift. That family member somehow coming through the Covid virus, along with another elderly relative and a couple of friends that were seriously ill, and in reality 8 months on are still recovering. Watching my little boy, who is growing and developing all the time, but still has to work hard and we still have a long way to go, can be frustrating and very noisy, but we will all get there. If the vaccine does get out there quickly enough and spread out there widely enough maybe the 2nd half of 2021 will see some Gigs return to the calendar, when they do restart get out there and get to see your favourite bands, the shows will be amazing with the pent up energy from bands and patrons alike even if there are restrictions involved the atmosphere should be off the charts. There’s of course the slimmer possibility that we get Festivals back of travel for Gigs, at this stage I’d settle for some local stuff to get started.

For now 2021 is still 2020, the problems remain, the virus continues to cause pain and suffering, the hospitals are at full capacity, but we will see how the vaccine’s change things, if indeed they can. For me each week this month I cut out something else that brings me closer to what I should be eating again…..almost back there now, and back to getting proper exercise (do believe the hype, a good walk in fresh air – even if it’s cold is brilliant for your Mental Health), just gotta make sure the blips don’t last longer than a day and become less and less frequent. No hospital appointments until October 2021 and hopefully will be reducing the medications by 1 or two in the coming weeks…….. have managed to avoid Covid up until now, so touch wood can continue to do so until I can get vaccinated, how long that protection lasts time will tell, but one thing is for sure this Virus will be with us just like Flu or the common cold, with much more serious side affects, so people, don’t just decide everything is fixed, be diligent and stay home if you are asked to, stay safe.

Me out Walking, great exercise – Nov 2020

So what’s in the plan for 2021…. your guess is as good as mine

Health, Mental Health, Music, Nature, Travel, Uncategorized

Apart from personal hopes and aspirations for this new year it would appear that everyone is staking their house on the recently available Covid Vaccines getting us out of this horror scenario, and they well might do just that. But something in me just makes me scratch my head. Look let’s all hope that we are on the road back to some form of normality, it’s what we need. What I have found bizarre over the course of the last month or so is how Governments have decided to give the information out to their nations subjects.

Lets take the countries close to me here in Ireland. The UK was the first country to start the rollout of the Vaccine, and that’s great, doesn’t require the amount of bluster that has been made of that, but the more worrying thing for me was that once they started telling people they made them thing they’d have it in a couple of days, and that it’s all sorted. Now, sure lifting peoples spirits and helping with mental health is great, it’s important, but there like here in Ireland it looks like that was the trigger to people no longer taking the precautions seriously, it coincides so closely with onslaught of the new strain it’s a massive problem. The numbers for new cases and deaths have now approached 10 times the daily totals back in March at the 1st lockdown, with the problem being the amount of people that are going to get sick before the vaccination rollout catches up with the numbers….. capacity can’t be there for healthcare and a massive vaccination program alongside taking care of the increasing hospitalisations, it’s the same staff doing both. Hospitals in this region are either at or close to capacity should their be any spikes from here we are all in trouble, so lets just hope it comes back under control.

I’m sure that after a bit of time they will get on top of the problems, but it does take time, so people, please continue to follow the restrictions, keep safe and keep others safe.

For me my mother will be vaccinated soon, which will be another weight off my head, but there have been more cases and deaths in nursing homes….. let’s hope that’s the last of the Covid related deaths, touch wood. We face into a new week with the uncertain and unknown of starting virtual learning with a 5 year old autistic child, the main uncertainty of course being how he will take to it, if at all. We”ve already put together some ideas if hw won’t interact with it, but we are hoping his abilities with a tablet with help immensely. But aside from that we would love to be able to take him to visit his grandmother, it would certainly be great for her.

Me, well I had a really bad December, no beating around the bush, no pretending I didn’t, I fell back into bad habits, the exercise regime almost ground to a halt for a few weeks and Chrismas saw a lot more overindulgence than it should or than it will next year. It’s one thing to have a treat or to loosen up a bit over the holiday period, but it’s another to be stupid about things. pulling a muscle somewhere certainly wasn’t helping, made it easier to just not get out and that then increases the Devil on your shoulder. But we live and learn (hopefully) have managed to get things back under control diet wise and back out walking again, just have to build up again bit by bit, so should be back to normal this coming week weather permitting, and if not it’s time to make use of the treadmill. and I will make use of it. I’m trying to get back into reviewing some music again, so headphones on, music or audio book and an hour on the treadmill should do it, will help focus the mind too. If it turns out to be too much to take on right now I’ll have to stop away again, time will tell.

There are definitely somethings in life I’m going to have to sit down and thing more about for the long term and the good of my health, or what’s left of it ;-). things that at the age of 50 I didn’t think I would have to, or should have to. But whether stress of perceived, or brought on by myself or it’s just actually brought on by what I do, maybe it’s time for something with a little less strain, I already know there are certain things I can’t do, so perhaps it’s time to put a little more focus on what I want to do in parallel with what I should be aiming for. That’s a very difficult thing to contemplate, but though calls could also make things a lot easier. With some more health issues in the family and the loss of another friend over Christmas it all gets put back into perspective again.

We’re already pretty sure that our trip to Kerry in March is out of the question, I’ve ruled out Festivals until at least July, so will be another quet 6 months. We are trying to tie down some days for Donegal around then, because hopefully we’ll at least be able to get around this country more easily. Weather should be good then too, so will get the camera setup sorted for that. (The pic is from our Donegal 2019 Trip)

Speaking of music, the vaccine programs have gotten people pretty excited about the restarting of live shows, and I really can’t wait to go to a Gig, but realistically, summer time at the earliest. There are so many things that need to be falling in place before it can happen, I’m positive, but not thinking too short term about it, when it happens so many of us will be back in a happy place, it will be amazing. But one step at a time, one bridge at a time to cross.

So to everyone, stay safe