“We really enjoyed seeing our photos develop”
On Friday morning, 8th of September 2017, everyone was really excited. We were going to take part in a photographic project in Lough Boora Parklands. We set off with high expectations for the day.
When we arrived at the Parklands, we met Aisling who told us our aim was to take 10 photographs that would show what Lough Boora meant to us. We divided into our groups and set off on our mission. We were all really excited and planned to take an impressive variety of pictures from flowers to trains, from swans to fairies.
Having only ten photos per group meant we had to choose wisely. All of the photographs we took meant something special to us. The day was great fun as we got a chance to explore the parklands and climb trees and the pyramid!. We chatted and discussed the best shots to take. Everyone (including the teachers) loved the chance to explore together. It just goes to show what fun Boora is for all.
On returning to the Centre, we got a chance to look with Dave at lots of the little mini beasts that live in the lake. He had a large plastic container of lake water full of little creatures .We examined snails, water boatmen and even leeches.
Later we went with Barry, who gave us nets and showed us how to dip the nets into the lake in search of our own mini-beasts. We were all lucky enough to catch a variety of creatures.
Next it was our turn to make pictures with photo-sensitive paper. We loved this activity as we could use our imaginations to make cool patterns with objects from nature like ferns and flowers. We placed the objects carefully in a nice shape on the photosensitive paper and then covered it in cling film. Then we put our pictures in the sunlight and waited for the page to turn white. When this happened, we returned to Aisling, who then placed it in a basin of water for 2 minutes. After this, we removed the objects and the paper dried in the sun. We had created a lovely picture!
Then Aisling announced it was time to use the instant cameras. Each school had the use of an instant camera to take 10 photos. It was so kind of her to give us this chance and we really enjoyed seeing our instant photos develop.
And so we came to the end of the day. We were disappointed to leave but had really enjoyed our photographic project in Lough Boora Parklands.
Many thanks to Aisling, Barry and Dave for teaching us how to make and do such brilliant things. Thanks to Bord na Móna for providing us with this lovely parkland in our locality. Thanks to mr. Gilligan from Lumcloon for lending us his digital cameras and uploading all our photographs. Thanks to our teacher also for bringing us on this lovely little adventure.