Mini-meet Dublin Zoo this Saturday 01/04

Dimy

Hey all,

We're organising a little mini-meet this Saturday in Dublin Zoo. It all started in this thread started by Borderfox. Anyway, if interested just post in this thread and keep an eye on the details. If the weather turns out bad we'll postpone.

-Dimy

Borderfox

Here's the 3 day outlook from RTE.ie

3 Day Outlook:
Showers will continue to occur during Friday night, although they will tend to be isolated. Further showery weather will develop over the weekend, with the showers merging to longer spells of rain during Saturday. On Sunday the showers will become more scattered and there should be longer sunnier periods during the daytime. By that stage of the weekend, the winds will have turned to a more northerly direction leading to a cold Sunday night with frost reoccurring once more. Although the overall trend for the weather will be to remain unsettled for next week current indications suggest a good deal of dry weather for the start of the week. It will still be cool on Monday although pleasant in the bright sunshine that should develop; then frosty on Monday night. Temperatures will begin to rise once more on Tuesday as the winds swing back Southwesterly.

Dimy

Borderfox wrote:

Here's the 3 day outlook from RTE.ie

3 Day Outlook:
Showers will continue to occur during Friday night, although they will tend to be isolated. Further showery weather will develop over the weekend, with the showers merging to longer spells of rain during Saturday. On Sunday the showers will become more scattered and there should be longer sunnier periods during the daytime. By that stage of the weekend, the winds will have turned to a more northerly direction leading to a cold Sunday night with frost reoccurring once more. Although the overall trend for the weather will be to remain unsettled for next week current indications suggest a good deal of dry weather for the start of the week. It will still be cool on Monday although pleasant in the bright sunshine that should develop; then frosty on Monday night. Temperatures will begin to rise once more on Tuesday as the winds swing back Southwesterly.

It's been raining so much lately you'd be thinking it should stop by now... but apparently not . Well...let's see and decide saturday morning. Maybe sunday is a better option?

Fajitas!

Shame about the weather - I'd be back in Waterford for the weekend either ways though.

EireRoadUser

I'm working ,great to see people meeting up though.

And as for the meeting point I miss my relations ,haven't seen them in years .

EireRoadUser

I'm up to my tonsils in work ,sorry if I came accross intrusive.
Haven't been on the boards at all ,everyones gas boilers seem to be breaking down the last couple of weeks.

If theres a chance at all on a sunday meeting i would love to tag along.

Steffano2002

Well I couldn't make it on Saturday because of all the Heineken Cup action so I was planning on going on Sunday (weather-permitting of course...)

captain P

I'm studying for my finals... so im pretty much stuck indoors with study and boredom and no picture taking for the next 2 months. Great idea though. the Zoo is cool. I miss the elephants though.

(plus I don't have a lovely 70-300mm zoom lens YET.)

PaulieC

I was at the zoo last saturday and it rained the whole time. It's definitely not worth going unless it's sunny. We hardly saw any animals outside, they were all inside. Even the sealions were staying under the water

Valentia

I miss the elephants though.

Are the elephants gone? I stopped going to the zoo about 15 years ago after a trip to Zimbabwe. The state of the elephants in the zoo really upset me. They reminded me of the images coming from Romania of the young children in the orphranages. They were doing the one repetitive move over and over again stuck in a really small mound of concrete.

I may go back and see what it's like now.

Have a good day gang. I'd love to meet up too some time, though I might feel a bit of a generation gap

Dimy

Valentia wrote:

Are the elephants gone? I stopped going to the zoo about 15 years ago after a trip to Zimbabwe. The state of the elephants in the zoo really upset me. They reminded me of the images coming from Romania of the young children in the orphranages. They were doing the one repetitive move over and over again stuck in a really small mound of concrete.

I may go back and see what it's like now.

Have a good day gang. I'd love to meet up too some time, though I might feel a bit of a generation gap

Generation gap? I don't think you should worry about that... Anyway, it's nice to have people from all ages together sharing the same passion/hobby isn't it? I have no idea what age the others on the board are, I'm 28 myself.

As for the Zoo.... let's keep an eye out on the weather and tomorrow around 10.00 AM we can discuss on this thread whether it's worth going or not. If not we just postpone till next week.

-Dimy

Steffano2002

Dimy wrote:

Generation gap? I don't think you should worry about that... Anyway, it's nice to have people from all ages together sharing the same passion/hobby isn't it? I have no idea what age the others on the board are, I'm 28 myself.

I'm a quarter of a century old!

Dimy wrote:

As for the Zoo.... let's keep an eye out on the weather and tomorrow around 10.00 AM we can discuss on this thread whether it's worth going or not. If not we just postpone till next week.

-Dimy

Is Sunday out of the question?

Dimy

Steffano2002 wrote:

I'm a quarter of a century old!



Is Sunday out of the question?

You make it sound really old that way And to answer your question, no it isn't. Either Saturday of Sunday is fine for me.

Steffano2002

Dimy wrote:

You make it sound really old that way

It was to make Valentia more comfortable!

Dimy wrote:

And to answer your question, no it isn't. Either Saturday of Sunday is fine for me.

Cool! It all depends on the weather now... :rolleyes:

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

Was there about three weeks ago - can relate to what Valentia was saying, got a lovely shot of a lion sleeping. Only when I downloaded it did I realise his eyes are actually open and he looked soooo depressed.

That said, I recommend the red pandas.

I'm more of a people photographer myself. You can get some great shots of pople reacting to the animals at the zoo. Unfortunately due to prior engagements I won't be able to attend...

MartMax

if the weather looks good in the morning, i'll go!
i'll bring my cheap point and shoot digital camera.
just for the fun, come on mr. lion, smile!

who else going?

Steffano2002

I'm definitely going on Sunday if the weather is nice.

I'm after checking 6 different weather forecast websites and not 2 are the same! :eek: Weather forecast is a load of cr@p anyway IMO... :mad:

Dimy

Steffano2002 wrote:

I'm definitely going on Sunday if the weather is nice.

I'm after checking 6 different weather forecast websites and not 2 are the same! :eek: Weather forecast is a load of cr@p anyway IMO... :mad:

Yeah same here...and the weather they predict is crap as well. It seems like Sunday is going to be a nicer day though, so maybe we should opt for Sunday instead.

EireRoadUser

Is everyone just going to hang around outside the zoo ?? and wait for everyone else to get there ??

Will you lads be private messaging your real names ,or will there be only pretend names outside the zoo:D

I'm 29 and from north dublin, about a 20minute cycle from the zoo.

Photography is something i'm only starting at.

I wreckon i sound nothing like i type here on boards, still relatively new here so it's still just a fad.

I was thinking it would be a stinky april fool joke to have someone on there own outside the zoo :eek: :rolleyes:

Steffano2002

EireRoadUser wrote:

Is everyone just going to hang around outside the zoo ?? and wait for everyone else to get there ??

Will you lads be private messaging your real names ,or will there be only pretend names outside the zoo:D

Hell no I'm not giving my real name to people I meet on the internet! I'll be dressed like Cartman and I'll be holding a sign saying "Steffano2002" I will!

EireRoadUser wrote:

I'm 29 and from north dublin, about a 20minute cycle from the zoo.

Photography is something i'm only starting at.

I wreckon i sound nothing like i type here on boards, still relatively new here so it's still just a fad.

Photography is all new to me also and I'm cr@p at it. That's why such an excursion would be ideal for me! And that's why I won't be posting any shots on boards either! I refuse to be demoralised by Shrimp!

EireRoadUser wrote:

I was thinking it would be a stinky april fool joke to have someone on there own outside the zoo :eek: :rolleyes:

Ah now that's just nasty!

Dimy

Yeah well I'm all new to photography as well, got my first decent cam back in january. I used to live in north dublin for a while (2 years in blanchardstown) but live in south dublin now. And in my "previous live" I lived in a small town in the middle of Holland where I was born and raised. Little more than an hour cycle for me to Phoenix Park but that's alright. As for my real name, it's Dimitry hence the nickname Dimy. I won't have to dress up as you can find my picture on my Flickr profile. I'm not gonna bring a red rose either! I suppose we can just meet up in front of the entrance:



Looks like a good meeting point right there

So Sunday it is? Seems like the more of you are available for Sunday rather than Saturday...also the weather forecast seems to be better for Sunday.

EireRoadUser

No one forget their memory cards.

I read an article in a magazine where a bloke travelled a fair distance to a spot at the crack of dawn and just as he took his first shot ,realized he forgot his memory card.
I drive if anyone wants a lift ??

Steffano2002

I'm Stéphane (pronounced: Stefan). I'm definitely up for this on Sunday! And meeting point looks good to me!

Steffano2002

EireRoadUser wrote:

No one forget their memory cards.

I read an article in a magazine where a bloke travelled a fair distance to a spot at the crack of dawn and just as he took his first shot ,realized he forgot his memory card.
I drive if anyone wants a lift ??

Oh my God! Gutted!!!

My memory card never comes out of the camera so that could never happen to me!

Dimy

Steffano2002 wrote:

Oh my God! Gutted!!!

My memory card never comes out of the camera so that could never happen to me!

Don't forget your camera then! :rolleyes:

Steffano2002

LOLLL Wouldn't that be funny now!

Fajitas!

Hmmmm...If it's on Sunday, I might just pop along. It'd depend what time your there though!

Shur, even if I turn up late, I'll look out for the group of lads with an array of cameras, and you look out for the tall guy with a 70-300 hanging off his camera!

EireRoadUser

Can we pm a certain person or something with an exact time ,so the whole world isn't outside the OOZ

Borderfox

Pity I can only make it on Saturday, I got to look after my horse on Sunday (his day off) Hope the weather stays good for Sunday. Enjoy

Steffano2002

Right so what time should we do this at? The Zoo opens @ 10:30 so 11:00? 12:00? 13:00? I live 15 minutes walk away so any time is fine for me!

EireRoadUser

If the weather is on and off bad ,will it be still on or does the weather have to be brilliant ???

Borderfox

I will take a chance. Leaving for the Zoo in 15 minutes

Borderfox

Anyone going look for someone in a blue jacket with a big zoom lens on an EOS 350d...:)

Dimy

I think we can forget about brilliant weather this weekend... it's brilliant right now but it has been every morning for the last couple of days only to get a lot of rain in the afternoon :mad:
Anyway, I'm in for tomorrow. Let's just hope for reasonable weather. As it will take me more than an hour to get there for me I'd prefer around 12:00-13:00. Any idea if we can buy some food there for lunch?

Steffano2002

Well if the weather stays like it has been for the last few days, the earlier we go the better!
I'd say around 11:30~12:00. What do you think? (I would have said 10:30 but that's unreasonable considering it's a Sunday morning and Dimy has to cycle for an hour!)

Dimy

Steffano2002 wrote:

Well if the weather stays like it has been for the last few days, the earlier we go the better!
I'd say around 11:30~12:00. What do you think? (I would have said 10:30 but that's unreasonable considering it's a Sunday morning and Dimy has to cycle for an hour!)

Actually I was just thinking the same thing! The mornings and early afternoon's have been great the last couple of days. 11:00 is reasonable enough for me, I don't have any plans to go wild tonight anyway ;-) I've just done a walk around Blackrock Park and the coast, got some nice birdshots while testing my new lens and some macro shots of a bumblebee... yeah seems like spring is finally starting!

P.S. Eireroaduser, don't you have MSN or something? I just added Fajitas and Steffano to my contact list.

Dimy

Borderfox wrote:

Anyone going look for someone in a blue jacket with a big zoom lens on an EOS 350d...:)

Man you were lucky...the weather forecasts were all wrong! I hope it's the same tomorrow!!

Borderfox

Great day got there at 10.30 before all the screaming kids!! Filled up a 1gb card. Didn't think much of the African Plains, it seems to be missing something (like animals). They have moved the Meerkats into a resturaunt and you can only take pictures through quarter inch glass with hundreds of greasy kid hands...:( Overall though it was very good, I will post up some pictures when I go through them.....

Dimy

Borderfox wrote:

Great day got there at 10.30 before all the screaming kids!! Filled up a 1gb card. Didn't think much of the African Plains, it seems to be missing something (like animals). They have moved the Meerkats into a resturaunt and you can only take pictures through quarter inch glass with hundreds of greasy kid hands...:( Overall though it was very good, I will post up some pictures when I go through them.....

Weren't there any animals on the plains? There were quite a few when I was there in 2003, just been through my old photo's from back then. The cats were behind thick glass as well, kinda ruining the picture. I hope we'll have some fine weather for tomorrow.

Borderfox

About 4 zebra, the Giraffes were in their own enclosure. Pity about the thick glass too. Hope weather is good too, my horse love's his day off to run around the field. Good luck Dimy

Dimy

Assuming it's not raining tomorrow morning, I'll leave here around 10 am, I should be at the Zoo between 11:00 and 11:30. That alright for you guys? I'll wait at the meeting point in the picture above and am wearing a blue jacket. If it is raining.... well... I'll post here again . I'll check this thread before I'm leaving anyway.

Borderfox

They feed the Sea-Lions at 2:15pm then Penguins at 2:30pm it's pretty entertaining.

Steffano2002

Borderfox wrote:

They feed the Sea-Lions at 2:15pm then Penguins at 2:30pm it's pretty entertaining.

That's good to know Borderfox! Feeding time should make for interesting pictures (hopefully)!
@ Dimy: sounds good to me. I'll be outside the zoo at 11:00 (depending on weather of course).

Borderfox

Bring your mono-pod with you too, you can beat the kids away with it

Steffano2002

All I have is a heavy tripod... Don't intend on bringing it. And I'd probably end up killing a child if I do!

Borderfox

I found a mono-pod very handy today especially at 300mm. Some of the animals were staying in the one place so I was able to get good clear pictures.

Steffano2002

Yeah, a monopod is on my list of "things to buy to at least look like a photographer" but I don't have one as yet

Hope I still manage to take some nice pics though!

Borderfox

Good luck, hope the weather is as nice as this morning.

Dimy

I'll bring my tripod, it's not too heavy. Not sure if I need it, but I better bring and not use it than regret bringing it afterwards

EireRoadUser

It's absolutely bucketing down :mad:
I just woke up ,can't believe how wet it is :eek:

Dimy

Yeah...it's not raining anymore but the sky is looking very unpromising... :mad:
it's not looking good for today