I’ve been suffering with Photo-Block, I go out with the camera and come back not having taken a single shot, I’m not sure where it came from but I’ve definitely been in a rut. That’s why an email that I got last week from Lauren from Simply Zesty really cheered me up. It was to invite me along to a Photowalk around Dublin with the theme “Cheer Up Ireland” which was being organised to promote Vodafone’s “Cheer Up Ireland” competition on Flickr (€3000 voucher prize so well worth entering!). I’ve not been on a Photowalk for ages and I always find that they’re a great way to shock me out of my comfort zone. We met up in town yesterday morning and we all agreed that having seen the brown slushy streets and grey skies it was going to be a challenge to find anything cheery to photograph. We set off for the Phoenix Park where it was still a Winter Wonderland and I started to wander away from the group to see what I could find. I spotted a family with some sleds and decided to follow and see where they were off to, I mean, what’s cheerier than a family having fun on sleds? Well, after a lot of walking I came through some trees and discovered a whole hill of people of all ages insanely throwing themselves down the slopes on everything from boogie boards wrapped in plastic bags to car bonnets. Perfect!
So, after about an hour of photographing all the fun I realised all the other Photobloggers had already moved on so I hoofed it over to Smithfield where I found them all on the Ferris Wheel:
After an impromptu snowball fight with the mischievous guy below we were all feeling a little bit cold and hungry so we headed back to the Odessa for a delicious lunch laid on by Vodafone. It was great to see all the familiar faces and I really enjoyed taking photos for the fun of it again so thanks to Simply Zesty and Vodafone, it was just what I needed!
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Disappointed I missed this but great to see you back blogging Claire.
The sled photos are perfect for the theme!
Hopefully there’ll be another photowalk soon – judging by the twitter talk, it sounds like it was a phenomenal day!
feckin fantastic. that little fecker in the last photo looks almost pleasant. thankfully the photo didn’t manage to capture the soundbite he was putting out. The little bollicks.
Very cool. Particularly like the one of the snowball mugger. I like how you put the little coloured band on the bottom of each picture too. Nice branding!
Really lovely photos Claire, and good to chat to you again. I don’t think I got anything as good as that at all – just don’t think I was really feelin’ it…
They’re fantastic Clair! One of those has to be the winner for the day.
That checky little fecker had a grin that hid a more menacing warrior
Also love the little branding on the bottom of each pic, pure class 
Ha you never said you got such great sleigh pics, they’re brilliant, actually they all are, love love the shot of the cheeky monkey at the bottom, well done.
These pictures are phenomenal – I love the last one – sums up his attitude to a tee – he was a little hero!
Superb photos Claire. Love the sledging shots. So tell me, how do you plan spending your Amazon voucher?
Smashing shots Claire, love the last one, the mischievous one. Brave snap taking the thugs on the carousel ;-p
simply amazing photos claire. absolute genius in fact
agrees with shane but I prefer the 3rd last one…. seems I’ll have to make do with my pic of john 
great to meet you again
beir bua
peter
I was directed here by ‘jensblogbooks’ via twitter and so glad I clicked! Fantastic photos, the sledging ones are just brilliant, I couldn’t pick a favourite. Cheers for a bit of inspiration from a fellow photographer who has been stuck in a bit of a long-term rut!
I’m chilled to the bone, looking at your Photos! Fantastic images.
Hi, Claire! My name is Dasha. I’ve been following your blog for a while now. Love your work! These images from the photowalk are fab! They’ll defo put a smile on everyones faces! I’ve only started treating my photography seriously last year, and I’ve never been on photowalks with other photographers. Is there any chance to join any in the future? I kinda went on a walk to document the beautiful side of The Big Freeze. I was at the lake, it’s mad how thick ice is! Resulting images can be found on my blog http://www.exhibitemotions.blogspot.com.
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I don’t think I got anything as good as that at all, just don’t think I was really feeling it. Lovely photos, thanks for sharing.
that puts the fun back into the snow. love the photos!
Great images Claire. And I’ll second what Niall said about the branding at the bottom of each pic, I love how the custom colour of each enhances the image.
Wow, so many comments – thanks everyone! Thanks for the comments on the branding too, I know it can be cropped off easily enough but I prefer it to watermarking.
Dasha: Lovely photography on your blog! Thanks for sharing your link. Photowalks happen all the time, are you on Twitter? That’s where they usually get organised. This particular one was organised by Vodafone but most of the time it’s usually just a suggestion by one or other of us. If you are on Twitter, my Twitter name is @gingerpixel. Follow me and I’ll try to let you know when there’s one coming up.
Thank you, Claire! Will defo do! I’m still in the process of putting all my pages together, but I’ll be done soon!
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Great images ~ they have just cheered up a little corner of England, as well as Ireland ~ thank you.
Looks like a great time. Wish I could have made it. So where’s all this snow I heard about? I still see lots of grass! Great images though Claire. The last one is really great!
Hey Christina, welcome back. The snow disappeared so quick I’m starting to wonder if it was an illusion.