Headford News and Community Spotlight-Headfest Slide Show

COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT 

Headfest 2014 is history, but you can live it again though this slide show. Where you there?

Headford News & Community Service-How to Look Good in Photographs

The management at Solas FRC would like to shout out a big THANK YOU to  the local businesses that generously donated to our recent fundraising. Your contribution will be used to ensure services at Solas Family Resource Centre are maintained. To find more information on how donations are helping to make a difference in our community, please visit our 'What Is Solas' and 'Services' pages by clicking those tabs above.

DON'T MISS HEADFEST! It's this weekend, August 22, 23 and 24.

COMMUNITY SERVICE 
HOW TO LOOK GOOD IN PHOTOGRAPHS

Do you feel like you just NEVER look good in photographs, no matter what? Well, read on. We're about to change that.


We've all been there . . . You’re at a special occasion—maybe a wedding, a birthday, a Christmas gathering—and somebody shouts, ‘Smile,’ before snapping a photograph. It's a terrible photo that makes you look ten years older, twenty pounds heavier, and maybe even a little brain damaged. This one hateful photo turns up in a frame in your mother's house. Your best friend has it on their phone and sends it to 80 billion other people. It's enough to make you run from cameras for the rest of your life. Too many of these experiences can leave you dead certain that you just Do Not look good in pictures.

             

But, it doesn’t have to be that way.

Often, when the Solas Community Spotlight goes to interview people, the response we get is, ‘No photographs!’ But then we can’t do the interview. Because, really, what fun are a bunch of words with no pictures? So, if you hate having your photo taken here are:

FIVE EASY TIPS FOR LOOKING GOOD IN PHOTOGRAPHS

1.         Get Real. As an actor for over twenty years, I had to endure a lot of photo shoots and learned that the number one rule for getting a good photo is to be as real as possible. A good photograph shows your honest personality, not that cheesy kind of fake smile that little kids do when they’re showing off. And, as the photographer for the Headford News & Community Spotlight, the people of Headford who have allowed me to photograph them have taught me even more about this concept. If you know you’re about to have your photo taken, think of a child or pet being particularly silly or adorable. Or remember one of Marty Wheelan’s stupid jokes from the radio: ‘What do you get when you’re Dentist of the Year? A little plaque.’ Think of something real that makes you smile, and remember, everyone is beautiful when they are being true to themselves.

2.         Choose colours carefully. Muted colours and neutrals like cream, taupe, grey, and brown are best. Avoid busy prints and extremely bright colours because these either suck colour from your face or intensify the wrong colour. For example, if you suffer from rosacea and you choose to wear florescent pink, it can make you look downright scary. Likewise, dark red lips almost never look good.

3.         Know your best side and angle. It sounds cliché, but never hesitate to offer a photographer your best side. And, no, that’s not the back of your head. We all have asymmetry in our faces: one eye is bigger than the other, one cheekbone higher, etc. Study yourself in the mirror as well as other photos of yourself in order to find out if it’s your right or left. 

            When the photo is being taken, place yourself at a pleasing angle. Never face the camera straight on if you can avoid it. Turn your head just slightly to one side or the other (keeping your best side toward the camera), push your face slightly forward and tip your chin down a bit. It may sound weird, but this creates pleasing angles and less likelihood of a double or triple chin effect.

4.         Cheat a Little to Look Slimmer. There’s an old-school red carpet trick that celebrities do to appear slimmer. Put one hand on your hip, angle your body to the side, and turn your head toward the camera. Works every time.

5.         Embrace what makes you, you. Are you more chubby than fit, with a six-pack of pudding cups? That pretty much describes Jason Segel, and he was voted Hollywood’s Most Huggable star. A little extra flesh can help you seem cheerful and approachable in a photograph. Do your eyes get squinty when you smile? Good. That’s a sign that it’s a genuine smile, not a fake, and that makes people want to get to know you. Are you worried about a gap in your teeth? Lauren Hutton turned the gap between her front teeth in to a fortune. She was on the cover of Vogue a record forty-one times.

Of course it's best if you're not ossified or completely knackered when the photograph is taken. Other things, like lighting (which can make or break a photograph), and timing (having to wait around for equipment, etc.) may be beyond your control, but if you’ve covered the five basics, above, it will improve the quality of the picture immensely.

And remember, the more photos you are in, the better they will get. It’s a proven fact. You can actually get better at having your photograph taken. So, get over your photo-phobia. If you feel the fear and do it anyway, you’ll not only get better looking in photographs, you’ll grow courageous!

Would you like to be featured in the Headford News & Community Spotlight? If so, leave a comment below or just ring Solas and ask for an interview (and photography session). We’d love to hear from you. 

Headford News and Community Spotlight - More Than Just an Irish Pub

Hey – Did you hear about the HEADFEST CHARITY DOG SHOW? You won’t want to miss it.

Saturday August 23 in the square, Headford

Judging starts at 1 pm sharp

Great fun for all the family, including the dog.

Are the kids turning your hair grey? Then you might want to come check out the Family Support Service. North Galway Support Services are hosting a Parent Drop-In. If you’re having challenges with your children, feel free to drop in and have a chat with one of the Child & Family Agency Staff. They’ll be at Solas to help every Thursday from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm, starting 11 September.

COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT 

Meitheal, circa 1920

No One Is Alone. That is the title of one of the most popular songs from the Stephen Sondheim musical Into The Woods. Its popularity might have to do with the message it conveys, which is also one of the main themes of the whole musical: No one is alone. Each individual has a responsibility to the community. It’s the truth behind the lyrics of the song that make it so poignant:

Sometimes people leave you
halfway through the wood.
Others may deceive you.
You decide what's good.
You decide alone.
But . . . no one is alone.

Of course, Sondheim didn’t invent this concept. Community support is something that’s been around since the beginning of time. Here in Ireland, it’s referred to as Meitheal, the ancient tradition of coming together for a common purpose, like harvesting crops or erecting buildings. Working together to ensure that all succeed in achieving their goal. For the Cherokee Indians, the word Gadugi means the same thing. In Finish, it’s Talkoot; in the Andes it’s Mink’a. Different words that mean the same thing. No one is alone.

This is an idea Willie Campbell, proprietor of Campbell’s Tavern in Cloughanover since 1998, feels strongly about. ‘We’re all educated to think of ourselves as individuals,’ Willie says, ‘but we’re not really, not completely.’

As a publican, Willie understands well both the theory and practise of the traditional—or community—pub. Campbell’s Tavern has had a long dynasty of owners whose surnames began with ‘C’: Creaven, Clare, Cunningham, Cunniffe, Coyne. Interesting that, since ‘C’ also stands for Community. Willie took over the tavern from his mom and dad and says that his family were always ‘nomadic pub owners,’ so it’s in the blood.

‘This isn’t a ‘Super Pub’,’ Willie says. By that he means it’s not a commercial pub that specialises in the youth market or sports or some other formulaic stereotype. ‘I have an affinity for the family-owned traditional Irish pub. It covers all the bases and provides an access point for people to meet their neighbours.’

But, Willie says, ‘The advent of technology means you can entertain yourself at home with a screen and a drink. And government policy encourages people to drink at home.’

With hyper-restrictive blood/alcohol limits and pub closing times that are even stricter than the curfews imposed on most 6-year-olds, Ireland has indeed become a ‘drink at home’ country. Consequently, if publicans like Willie want to stay in business, they have to offer a lot more than just a pint of the black stuff.

And that’s exactly what Campbell’s Tavern does, with an eclectic mix of music, including jazz, trad, acoustic, blues, even choirs and theatre. It’s a showplace for local musicians and artists, as well as those from further afield, a place for celebrations, weddings, and will soon be hosting several Headfest events.

‘We’re lucky to be surrounded by excellent musicians in this area,’ Willie says, ‘and we try to have music that meets a standard and covers a lot of genres. I try to run this pub the way I’d like a pub to be if I was gonna visit it.’

And that includes gently polite reminders of closing. ‘In some pubs,’ Willie says, ‘it’s like being herded out of a cattle trailer.’ Understandably, Willie feels strongly about this. ‘The law is very linear and you can’t cross it or you’re done. There’s no discretion in any aspect of law. We’ve become less than human and that’s allowed corruption to happen in the law before.’

The discretion he talks about has a lot to do with public officials or judges allowing personal opinion to enter into the legal decision process. Personal opinion and intuition can frequently lead to decisions that are wiser than those based on textbook formula alone. Of course, it can also tip the scales of justice to an unfair imbalance. Discretion is a complex subject matter, especially when directed at the rights and obligations of individuals. But at the heart of matter is the need to care about more than just ourselves.

‘We [each of us] have a responsibility to the community,’ Willie says. ‘We have to resist separating ourselves.’

Because, after all . . .