Emily McCall Photography: the Photoblog

Trashing the dress . . . again!

Pardon the interruption, but I must break into the regularly-scheduled program of photos from my trip to Ireland to share a new slideshow with you!  You may remember a "trash the dress" session I did with a gorgeous bride awhile back (who also happened to be my sister-in-law).  I posted some photos shortly afterwards, but since that time I have made a slideshow of all of the images from the shoot.  I wasn't going to post it on the blog, but after a couple of the photos were featured on the official TTD blog tonight, I thought I'd go ahead and share it--I hope you enjoy!  (You can see it slightly larger, and on black, here.)

More Ireland: Waterford

On our first Saturday in Ireland, we drove south of Dublin down to Waterford.  Along the way, we stopped at a pretty little beach we found, called Ennereilly beach.  It was rocky and beautiful!

When we made it to Waterford, we ate lunch, walked around the town, and then got a tour of the Waterford Crystal Factory.  I had actually taken the tour once before, but it was just as entertaining and impressive the second time around!

This is one of the cutters:

Hard at work:

The cutters have to have every Waterford crystal pattern memorized, but if they ever need a refresher, here is their "library":

A box of glasses, with the Waterford signature cut on the bottom:

A set of engravers' wheels:

We got a first hand cutting demonstration:

And here's the finished product--sparkly!

You can see a few more shots from Waterford here.

Ireland: Around Dublin

I spent about a day and half in Dublin during my trip, mostly shopping and seeing the sights.  I will share photos of Dublin Castle and Christ Church later, but this post is for the random things I photographed throughout the busy city. 

Flowers for sale on Grafton Street:

Homes and gardens surrounding St. Stephen's Green:

A pretty red teapot from the delightful Queen of Tarts, where we had tea and scones (and couldn't resist a slice of pie as well):

A sidewalk artist who draws amazing scenes in chalk and washes them away every night, starting fresh each morning:

The train, called DART:

And last, but not least -- by popular demand -- lots and lots of Guinness and pubs!

I didn't want to bore everyone to tears by posting each and every photo I took on my trip, but if you are interested, you can see more images from Dublin and Glendalough here.  And I'm hard at work proofing, so I will have more to share soon!

Ireland: Glendalough

I'm finally ready to start sharing some of my photos from my trip to Ireland!  These are some of the highlights from Day 1 of the vacation, when we went to Glendalough, a 6th century monastery at the base of the Wicklow Mountains in County Wicklow. 

But first, a shot of the journey over the big blue ocean: this is Aer Lingus at 37,000 feet . . .

After a long day's journey, we arrived in Dublin and drove down to Glendalough . . . and what a sight greeted us!

It was surrounded by so much natural beauty.

But of course, the ruins are gorgeous, too!

I have a thing for grass . . .

Pretty little weeds growing on the ruins:

More wildflowers:

Moss on a headstone in the cemetery at the monastery:

The inside of the monastery:

What a view for these souls!

The monastery tower:

I love Celtic crosses:

These pretty rock walls are everywhere:

The sheep are plentiful, too!

Peeking out from the treetops:

The lower lake at Glendalough:

The beaches were all so rocky:

Water lilies!  I love 'em!

After exploring the monastery thoroughly, we hiked up the mountain overlooking Glendalough.  This was Poulanass Falls, which we passed along the way.

Shamrocks!

When we finally made it to the top of the mountain (barely breathing!), the view was sooooo worth it!

A little river waaaaaay down there!

So as you can see, Glendalough was a beautiful introduction to Ireland!  But there's plenty more beauty to come . . . stay tuned!

Puppy redux

Before I get around to posting all of my Ireland photos, I just wanted to share a few more of Ollie.  I took these before I went on vacation, and he's already grown so much since then!

 

Back from the dead

Omigoodness, I have so much blogging to catch up on!  My life has been craaaaaazy the past couple weeks, and I have so much to share.  I mentioned in my last post that we've had a new addition to the family: our puppy, Ollie.  Well, the day after we brought him home to Houston, my husband and I packed up and moved to the Dallas-Forth Worth area!  Then, just three days later, I hopped on a plane to Ireland for a 10-day vacation, from which I just got home last night.  After a good night's sleep, I feel like I'm finally ready to start sharing the millions of photos I've been taking!

Here are a few from our move . . . into our first house!

I left Houston early in the morning before the movers arrived and brought the puppy and cats up to the house, where we hung out alone in an empty house for eight hours!

As you can see, it was pretty much just me, the pets, and some dog toys.

The kitties took it upon themselves to inspect every inch of every room in the house.

The only break in the monotony of the day was when Sears delivered our brand new refrigerator!  I am pretty darn excited about it.  (And yes, being excited about appliances means you are officially old!)

When you open this baby up, the Hallelujah Chorus plays! ;)

Anyway, after several hours of sitting around with no internet connection and nothing to do, I started taking photos of the pets in the kitchen.  It has a huge skylight and the light is gorgeous!

On a side note, the relationship between the puppy and cats has, unfortunately, not improved much.  This photo pretty much tells the whole story:

As you can see, the cats give Ollie a wide berth!  The only good part is that the cats seem to have been united in their hatred of Ollie . . .

I've never seen them so friendly before!

But that was pretty much it for the move.  By now we've gotten all the furniture where it belongs, although there are still lots of finishing touches to get in order.  I'm not starting my new job until October 1, though, so I'll have plenty of time to decorate!  Stay tuned for more photos of the new house, the pets, and--of course--Ireland!