Starting Fri., 1/22 - Get To Know Aidan Bradley

[Mac Plumart]

Garland...that is exactly right!!!!

I get that, which is why I think Melvyn's posts are funny.  Imagine sitting in a pub in the UK drinking a pint (or Scotch) with Melvyn and his posts make total sense!!!

Nice work!

[Bill_McBride]

Well, I'm glad that's been explained to everyone's satisfaction!

[Aidan Bradley]

I have enjoyed this thread and hope in some small way it has been informative. Thank you George for the invitation. However, the tone of this discussion has once again taken a decidedly negative tone and I for one will not be part of it and would appreciate it if you gentleman would take your petty bickering outside.

If anyone has questions which are relevant to this thread please feel free to send me an email and I will be happy to respond. Thank you and good bye.

Aidan.

[Melvyn Morrow]

Aidan

I am sorry Aidan, you are right and this topic should be about you and your great work. It was my fault for trying to inject some humour which was not understood.

I hope others will seek answers from you and again I apologies

Melvyn

[Jud_T]

Aidan,

For us mere mortals, do you have any thoughts on the Leica D-Lux 4 Compact?

[Tony_Muldoon]

Thank you Aiden for posting on here and for taking part in this thread.

Thanks again for your generosity to someone you've never met.

My Office

[Rick Shefchik]

Ed,

Twenty odd years ago I went home to Ireland for a week to celebrate my brothers wedding. Upon arrival my mother asked me to drive to Millstreet, a small town near Cork where I was born, to pick up my younger sister who was attending a local convent. The Reverend Mother would not release my sister but suggested I return some three hours later.

Millstreet is not a very large town (population 1400) but boasts more pubs per capita than most Irish Villages. It was a typically miserable Irish day so I searched for a pub that had a warm fireplace to pass a couple of hours.

When I finally found the perfect spot I bellied up to the bar and ordered a pint. It didn't take long to realize that there was only one other warm soul in the establishment. I spotted this wonderful gentleman sitting at the end of the room by the window. I have never been one to take pictures of other's  but something within pushed me through my shyness to approach this man.

I asked him if I could take his picture and without hesitation he agreed. As I fumbled with my camera equipment I noticed he was preparing himself for the photograph. I asked him to leave everything just as it was and to lift his glass  in a typical Irish salute, Slainte (to your health).

I nervously snapped off three shots. As I was putting away my equipment I noticed him pulling back his coat, revealing a jacket underneath. Opening his jacket he delved into a breast pocket in his vest. He pulled out a little plastic purse which he squeezed open and extricated a few coins. He stretched out his hand and offered me a few shillings.

"What are you doing", I said. "You took me likeness, I have to pay you".

I called over the bartender  and ordered a couple of pints of Guniness. His name was Owen Riordan. He had worked all his life in the fields, behind horses ploughing and tilling (check out his hands). He had never left the village but did have some friends who had sailed to the "new world". Sacramento.

Upon my return to California I made some prints and sent them to him. I never heard from him again but it wasn't important. I have been paid a lot of money to photograph grass but images like this are priceless. I am glad that it has given you a little pleasure.

I had a quite different experience outside an English pub in 1984. I liked the look of the pub's exterior and made a photo from a good 70 yards down the busy street. After putting the camera away and walking toward the pub, we were approached by a man I'd never seen before. He had apparently had been sitting outside the pub when I clicked my shutter.

"I don't really mind ye' takin' my picture, mate," he said to me. "But ASK first."

[Jud_T]

Same hole (The European Club #17) photographed from the front and behind/ with something of interest in the foreground.

Aidan,

You are quite talented.  I don't recall the European Club looking anywhere near that good in the flesh!

[Tony_Muldoon]

If the European Club is a Links course what is this doing there?

http://www.habitas.org.uk/gardenflora/hebe.htm


Apologies for threadjack.

[Troy Alderson]

Hi Aidan,

Do you use medium or large format cameras or stick with 35mm and digital?

Troy

[Ralph Thompson]

Aidan

How do you manage to look through the viewfinder on your camera first thing in the morning when your head must be splitting after drinking that Irish c-ap that they try and pretend is whisky. Its nearly as bad as the American version!