Atmospheric and serene, the images from GreenGooseGallery are balanced and beautiful. Stripped of extraneous noise, these quiet pictures allow the space to dream and meditate on gentle beauty – colour is kept to a minimum, but is used as a vital detail when required. Scenes from the edge of the sea predominate, but there is also majestic architecture and evocative images of Venice.

 

greengoosegallery - Dunany

greengoosegallery – Dunany

 

Margaret feels herself privileged to live near the sea in the city of Dublin, and welcomes its soothing calmness. GreenGooseGallery is her daydream. When deciding on a name for her online photography shop, she said she “wanted something that sounded like a physical place as I would love to have a physical gallery some day. The ‘green’ part is a nod to my Irishness! And the goose part happened by accident after a friend’s child called me a silly goose while I was pretending to be Minnie Mouse to keep him entertained.”

 

greengoosegallery - jetty and tree at dawn

greengoosegallery – jetty and tree at dawn

 

Photography was not really on the agenda for Margaret when she was small. “When I was a child, photographs were meted out like rations – the camera was only taken out for special occasions as it cost a lot to get film developed. I was allowed to put one roll of film through a camera when I was about 8 years of age. When my parents saw the results (blurry pictures of dolls and kittens) it was very understandable that they were not too eager to let me try again.”

Her photographic skills have progressed, and her approach now is quite methodical. “I usually find that my first visit to any location is more about fact finding and figuring out if it’s best photographed at sunrise or sunset, or with a high/low tide etc. You can do a certain amount of research online, but for me there is no substitute for visiting the location. Quality of light is so important in photography so dawn and dusk are really the best times to get this.”

“I love the whole process of taking photographs as much as the end result. I enjoy arriving at a location and nosing around while getting a feel for the place, getting lost in framing things in my head and figuring out how best to photograph something. I have always found photography to be a very calming and soothing activity.

“My favourite time of day to photograph landscapes is dawn, not just because of the light, but also the calm quietness at that time of the day. Even some of the busiest places can be calm and peaceful at 5am.”

 

“I have a fondness for simple compositions with clean elegant lines and very few elements, so I am often looking at a scene from the point of view of trying to simplifying it. Sometimes weather conditions such as fog or snow will lend a helping hand in terms of simplifying a scene. For some of the seascapes, I often use long exposure techniques which smooths out the movement in the clouds and the waves to give a simpler calmer image.

 

greengoosegallery - fisherman at sunrise

greengoosegallery – fisherman at sunrise

 

“My favourite photograph is of a fisherman standing at the end of a Jetty fishing. I was with others that particular morning and we arrived just before dawn. My fellow photographers were disappointed that the jetty was already occupied by the fisherman but it suited me perfectly for the image I had in mind.

“I also began to appreciate the appeal of fishing a little bit more after studying him for a while. I suspect some of the appeal must be related to the calm soothing locations. Even just being in the fresh morning air with the mist rising all around seems a wonderful way to ease into the day, no matter if you are fishing, walking, or taking photographs.”

 

greengoosegallery - pastel posts

greengoosegallery – pastel posts

 

greengoosegallery - blue seascape

greengoosegallery – blue seascape

 

I asked her how she started getting interested in photography. “My love affair with all things photography began not that long ago in 2007 when I bought my first digital camera. I used to paint, and I bought the camera to take photographs of scenes I wanted to paint. It didn’t take long for the photography to take over – actually it was pretty instant. With a technical background, I think maybe photography hit a nice mix of technical and creative for me.”

A scary moment came early on in her photography, when she nearly lost all of her image files through a hard drive failure.  She was lucky enough to be able to get them restored, but she learnt a big lesson – now she keeps three back-ups, including one off-site.

Before photography, Margaret worked for 10 years in IT, and she explained that it was only after her job in IT finished that she decided to take the plunge to try and make a living from something she loved.

“I have photography to thank for showing me how beautiful the world is at dawn. I am not by nature a morning person and before taking up photography, I would rarely witness dawn, especially from a beautiful natural setting. it still hurts to get up at 4am the morning. But it’s always always worth the initial pain of leaving a warm cozy bed.

“There is a special feeling in the air at dawn. Even places that are notoriously busy and crowd thronged are usually quite and peaceful at that hour. It can feel like you have the world to yourself. Simply being in beautiful places when the day starts afresh is the icing on the cake for me. Even if I don’t get a photograph I like that morning, I’ll have enjoyed the experience.”

 

greengoosegallery - howth beacon

greengoosegallery – howth beacon

 

For her the creative energy is something that ebbs and flows. Sometimes she has phases where she doesn’t like the photos she’s taking and feels like she’ll never take another good photo again. “When this happens I try to keep taking photos anyway and just enjoy the process without caring about the outcome, and trust that it will turn around – which it always does.”

It corresponds  exactly with her best piece of advice. “If at first you don’t succeed, try again! I’m a big believer in a good balance of hard work, optimism and perseverence.”

*

You can find more of Margaret’s gentle and beautiful work in her Etsy shop, GreenGooseGallery.