It has been five wonderful years

I don’t know where all these years have gone, but they have been wondrous. 233 posts, at least 2000 photographs… Happy Blogoversary to me! 🙂

2014

The beginning was shocking. I got the WAMP and wrote a bunch of articles related to the family photography since this blog was meant to be a portfolio. I launched the blog in February, but to my horror, it got a close attention from various adult websites, and I  had to delete all my articles and children photographs.

My Blogger Friends, I would quit right there if it wasn’t for your support.

I started from scratch in March.

Please, click on the photos and it will open the pages.

I wrote about myself, shared my memories and adventures. I also wrote about my friends. That year I started my annual Saltee Islands series.

 

I went to many street festivals, like the Durrow Scarecrow festival.

I also started Pat Gibbons and his Foxes series.

It was a great year, I blogged twice a week.

2015

I started getting more feedback. It was wonderful. People asked questions, commissioned photographs. That year I wrote about Clonmel photographer William Despard Hemphill, and what a rewarding surprise it was to get this email:

Just a quick Thank you for your excellent blog on Clonmel and William Hemphill. I am his great great grandson and my dad has all his books and helped produce the book about his pics. His mum lived in Oakville, Dr Hemphill’s house in Clonmel and I went there once before it was demolished and the supermarket car park built. When I left school (1976) I cycled round the area taking pictures also based on Dr Hemphills… 

…Thanks again for the blog. I’ll be showing it to my dad (93 on Tuesday) and he will be thrilled. Born in Carick-On-Suir he has incredible recall of the area, and your pics will bring them back again.

R… E…

That year I also wrote about my travels, and as always, about birds and animals.

I didn’t forget to visit Pat and his foxes.

I did some street photography. This is Cian Finn.

He sings about life, and I wholeheartedly agree with him.

I also started Waterford Walls series that summer. In October I went to Donegal to attend Elena Shumilova’s first international workshop, and the trip resulted in four blog posts.

2016

That year I started Anne Valley series and wrote three blog posts. Since then I regularly visit the trail.

I started Clonegam series.

I wrote about myself, and shared my opinions 🙂

 

I met two journeymen, and after a month, got a feedback from a fellow blogger on their further travels in Ireland.

2017

I started Comeragh and Knockmealdown, Greenway, Mount Congreve and Curraghmore House series.

The blog posts about Pat and his foxes were the most popular. Many websites around the world translated the story into different languages, and some of them actually asked permission. There were also some who removed my logo 🙂 It doesn’t matter to me, because the sole purpose of my blog was to spread a word. I was so delighted when my friend told me that Bored Panda website used my pictures along with the story from the Irish Examiner :). Anyway, I am happy that Pat and his foxes are getting so much attention.

I continued with the street festivals-related posts: Waterford Walls, Harvest Festival, St Patrick’s Parade, Spraoi.

2018

I didn’t blog much last year.

I started, and will continue Follow The Vikings series, and Kerry series. 

Puffins and foxes surely took all the limelight, as always 🙂 Amazing Poet Rummager Rose Perez wrote a charming haiku inspired by the tiny puffin

Wings

I have wings to fly

They never are really used

‘Til I see your smile

Another lovely feedback was received last year in response to my post The Last Butler of Curraghmore.

… I am Basil Croeser’s daughter, living in Montreal, Canada. My brother… sent the link to your blog post entitled The Last Butler of Curraghmore and I just wanted to thank you so much for your lovely words and photos.  
…They were really chuffed and surprised and I think it made their week!…
Thanks again and best regards,
K…
What you won’t find in my blog:
– ANY sort of radicalism and also lies, defamation, hate, envy
What I want to ask:
– Please, link your Gravatar picture to your current page so that every blogger could easily visit your blog ♥
– Use Calendar and Archives widgets so that your visitors could access your earlier blog posts. You deserve to be heard.

I don’t know how long I will blog, but I think that all my efforts throughout these five years were worth it 🙂

Thank you so much for all the inspiration and support! ♥

With love

www.inesemjphotography.com

192 comments

  1. Congratulations and thanks, dear Inese. I saw the posts linked to the photos and I was happy to see that they were mostly known to me, so more than history it was the memory of a shared road : ) I will add a calendar widget to my blog.
    With the warmest regards from Peru. ^_^

    1. Thank you so much, Francis! Shared road, so true. Thank you for your support over the years. You might want to add an Archives widget too, so that I could find your old posts 🙂

      1. After reading you I went to add it. I started to wrote as a way to have a diary and suddenly it shaped a blog. If the changes help to be more useful I am happy for your suggestion, dear Inese n_n I try to care the blog, Flickr said that they were to delete photos from free accounts surpassing a limit of 1000 (it was my case) so I came to replace all the Flickr photos with downsized versions, so they would not appear empty. They were a lot of posts! Wishing you a wonderful day when you see this message : )

        1. Francis, I know that Flickr gives more exposure than the blog, but it seems so soulless to me. I tried it but with no interest whatsoever. I am not looking for competition, for impressing anybody. I resize all my pictures for this blog too because I care about those with slow internet connection, and because I don’t think that the big size serves for anything else but desire to impress 🙂 When someone is interested in particular picture, I email the file. You might try another blog, a different one? I know they give you two domain names when you start.
          Wishing you a Happy Easter! 🙂

          1. I used Flickr only as a storage system to reduce the stress in the limit of free storage on WordPress,otherwise I would not have it. The blogging still is not in my future sadly, I have to confess that even the last year everything was taken by the banks to pay the loans and I was having weeks without food or water.
            Oh, happy Easter to you and your family, Inese. It took me by surprise, I have native beliefs so I am always lost in the dates of Christian festivities.

  2. Work is all encompassing. I shall visit when I can. May the sun warm you always. Happiness can be elusive at times, I hear, but she’s often peering in from the outside. You’ll need to open your curtains more often. 🌸

  3. Ah, your talent knows no bound, darling Inese! You capture the spirit of those you photograph…. even a tree poses beautifully for you. Thank you for including me in your five year celebration!❤️

  6. Congratulations, Inese! It’s been a wonderful journey and I remember many of those wonderful posts. To many more years to come!

  8. I really enjoyed this summary of your five years of blogging, Inese, and am happy to say that much of what you summarized I remembered from my frequent visits here. Considering you had that rough beginning, it’s great that you persevered, reached out, and shared so many fascinating stories, attractive venues, and gorgeous photos. I know if I ever get the chance to visit Ireland, I will seek out the Saltee Islands, and that is because of your engaging posts. My warmest thanks for all you have shared over the years. Congratulations!

    1. Thank you for your kind words and your support over the years, Jet. It means so much to me. What a joy it would be to read your Saltee blog post. I so look forward to this. Thank you again for being a wonderful blogger friend! ❤

  10. Congratulations on 5 years blogging – wow!

    Sorry to hear about your first experience, how awful but so glad you decided to carry on and share your great stories and beautiful photos. I love the double-exposure (?old terminology) of inside the female’s head looking through the cave – it’s gorgeous! 🙂

  12. Congratulations, Inese, for your Blog-anniversary! Five years of sharing amazing photos and beautiful stories that go with the photos. Wow! That’s really something!
    Wishing you lots of inspiration for future photos and blog posts and thank you for the beauty that you bring into the blogosphere and into the world.
    Have a beautiful and blessed day!

    1. Thank you Mihaela! Your words mean a lot. I admire your art, and love the videos even that I know I would never create anything that beautiful 🙂 Thank you again for your support! Have a great day you too ❤

      1. Thank you so much, Inese. I admire your art and I surely know I could not tell a story, in an amazing way, through a photo, like you do. Thank you so much for your appreciation! Have a beautiful day!

  14. Congratulations Inese! You have a wonderful blog and I love reading about the places you visit, the animals you encounter, and the brilliant photos you take! xx

  16. Heartfelt congratulations Inese, that’s quite an achievement in the blogosphere. You are immensely popular and so inspiring to us all. I know you have your resentments, but I do hope to see lots more of wonderful work in the future. ❤️

      1. That means a lot. I hope to refresh my feed sometime this year!. In the meantime, I am always delighted to catch up with your awesome posts, my friend. Keep it up. Happy Valentine’s Day 😘♥️

  18. Well done on lasting 5 years! I suspect most who try their hand at blogging don’t last 5 months. I’m looking forward to the next 5 years (assuming I stick around that long 😉 )

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