1,000 Posts

No trumpets or fanfares but I did think it was worth a post of its own. This is the 1,000th post on Digitology. Yay! :)

Helena Christensen’s Top 5 Photographic Tips

At the beginning of November I posted about Baileys ‘Let’s Do This Again’ Facebook photo competition to give one fan a chance to attend a VIP party in NYC. Helena Christensen, an accomplished photographer, is the personality of the competition and photographed a day in her life as part of the campaign for Baileys. Today, I'm delighted to post Helena’s top photography tips for the competition.

Helena’s top five photographic tips are as follows:

1. Shooting family and friends is all about capturing the natural moment, pieces of action as they happen. Staged photos and orchestrated set-ups really make people feel unsettled.
2. Always carry a camera / camera phone etc with you - don't be scared of shooting snap shots - these are the best, in all lights and at all occasions.
3. Don't be scared of dark lighting conditions, I love photographing people and places in dim light - just capturing the image without being too obvious, shooting in the overhead light of midday is far too harsh and you get very varied results.
4. Mixed weather is also very cool to shoot in - the rain against the window or a dark stormy sky, you'll look back on the severe weather conditions and remember the moment instantly, it’s like listening to an evocative piece of music.
5. Just be brave, with digital there is no pressure not to shoot - with film we always had to think about the number of shots we were going to be able to take, but don't let digital make you lazy or think less about what you are going to shoot, just because you can shoot hundreds of shots it doesn't mean you should or you need to, use your gut instinct, once you feel you have the shot, move on.

According to Helena; “Capturing these special moments on camera is very important to me, because those are the ones that stay with you forever, so to be able to look back at them for the rest of ones life is something to be grateful for and look forward to.”

The competition will give one lucky person in the Republic of Ireland the chance to attend an exclusive party in NYC co-hosted by Baileys and Helena. Facebook fans can simply upload a picture of themselves and their friends sharing special moments with Baileys onto the Baileys Facebook page before the 16th December to be in with the chance to win.

10 Years of the Guinness Storehouse

10 years ago on 2nd December 2000 Guinness Storehouse first opened its doors to the public. Those humble beginnings weren’t all that humble either, with former US president, Bill Clinton being the first in a long line of famous faces to pay a visit. Today the Storehouse is recognised as Ireland’s No.1 visitor attraction and has received over 8 million visitors.

Managing Director, Paul Carty, speaking about the auspicious milestone, said “We are delighted to mark 10 years since we first opened our doors back in December 2000. We have welcomed millions of people from countries all over the world, and this year we were particularly delighted to see a 25% increase in Irish people coming to visit Guinness Storehouse, to learn more about their own genealogy and an important slice of Irish culture.”

Paul continued “2011 promises to be another exciting year for Guinness Storehouse as we will be undertaking a €2 million investment in a new restaurant and catering facilities on our fifth floor. We’re obviously hoping that plenty of Irish visitors also take the opportunity to come and enjoy a great meal here, accompanied by the fantastic views we have out over Dublin.” Further details of these exciting plans will be made available in the New Year.

Beyond Mr. Clinton, some of the other famous faces to make up the 8 million happy patrons that the Guinness Storehouse has enjoyed over the past decade are Chris Rock, Will Ferrell, Susan Sarandon, Dermot O’Leary, Adam Sandler, Beyonce Knowles, Pink and Sean Penn. Each of whom had the pleasure ofa complimentary pint of Guinness the Gravity Bar, the highest viewpoint of Dublin City.

Interestingly, it is estimated that in total over 7,086,142 pints of Guinness have been served up in the Gravity Bar over the ten year period.

If you’re somehow unaware, the Guinness Storehouse is a seven storey treasure trove of everything Guinness –allowing visitors to gain an understanding of why Guinness has become one of the world’s most iconic and best loved brands. For further details on Guinness Storehouse visit www.guinness-storehouse.com.

Guinness Storehouse Over the past 10 years

• Has welcomed approximately 8,336,638 visitors
• Over 1.6 million visitors have tasted Guinness for their first time
• Over 400,000 visitors have learned how to pour a pint of Guinness
• The Guinness Archive has collected over 7,500 linear meters of paper records
• Has provided nearly a quarter of a million servings of Beef & Guinness stew

General Guinness Storehouse Facts

• General building was erected between 1902 and 1904 for use in the fermentation process
• The building is 125 feet high, 170 feet long and 151 feet wide.
• It would take 14.3 million pints of Guinness to fill the giant glass atrium in centre of the GUINNESS STOREHOUSE building
• Gravity Bar is the highest bar in Dublin located 46 metres off the ground
• The interactive genealogy pods contain the records of nearly 20,000 former Guinness Brewery employees dating back to the 1880’s.

Absolut's Drinkspiration Home Edition

About a year ago I wrote about Absolut's iPhone 'Drinkspiration' app. There was a huge amount of interest and I thought that you’d be interested to know that there is now a 'Drinkspiration Home Edition' app available exclusively for the iPad.

Where the mobile Drinkspiration was the perfect going-out bar companion, the iPad Drinkspiration app is the ideal at-home entertaining tool. With more than 3,000 drink recipes and images, six pre-installed drink collections, drink suggestions based on ingredients, a shopping list creator, social media sharing, and even 'how to' videos the home edition app is a totally inspirational resource for all party hosts and bartenders.

Fredrick Tallroth, Senior Manager Interactive Marketing, at The Absolut Company, said: "At ABSOLUT, we continuously want to make the most out of new technology, and learning to mix drinks has never been this fun. With its large high-resolution display, and multi-touch functionality, the iPad is the perfect platform for making drink mixing a social happening at the party."

Check out the app's promo video below and go here to download the app.

Smirnoff 'Be There' - Nightlife Exchange Project

So last night..... WOW! I couldn't even begin to tell you how brilliant last night was. I was surprised last week by being invited to host a Smirnoff warm-up party. As is tradition in Argentina before a big night out, people through warm up parties for all their friends to get together and plan out what's happening, listen to a few tunes and enjoy a drink or two. Well I was lucky enough to be one of 3 people invited by Smirnoff to host such a party.

So last night basically kicked off in my apartment with 12 close friends and I. We enjoyed a few, extremely tasty Smirnoff Mules (Argentina style - see below) expertly mixed and served by a Smirnoff barperson and listening to a little mix that I put together. From here we all boarded taxis and set off for The Wright Venue in Swords.

To say that The Wright Venue was spectacular would be a grievous understatement. Upon arrival we were greeted by pyrotechnics, a mechanical horse and a venue that begged to be entered and explored. We were welcomed inside by our Smirnoff hosts and shown to a private suite overlooking the dancefloor. The thing is, as difficult as this may sound, the rest of the night just got better and better.

As well as having our own room and bar to chill out in between nightclub expeditions, we also got to sample the best of Argentinian nightlife as selected by the people of Argentina and curated by DJ Ale Lacroix. From cocktail glasses of fresh fruit to Argentinian BBQ delights to free-styling football skills, we spent the rest of the evening having a thoroughly wonderful time. For me personally, a huge part of this was the opportunity to meet the folk from Smirnoff and really get an understanding of why all this was done, what the inspirations were and how they themselves were enjoying the event.


As an extra bonus I also got the chance to catch up with the Irish curator, Siobhan O'Dowd. While I'm sure Siobhan would have loved to join her crate in Argentina, she was definitely as excited as all of my guests and I to experience an amazing Argentinian night out.

And with all of that said, I for one am very, very happy to be able to say that I was there. And there, was very, very fun and exciting. I'm not sure what Smirnoff will do next, and I'm not even sure I can imagine what will top this, but I said that before about the their Wedding Night and the Masquerade Ball. So basically, I don't know what is next but you can be certain I will be waiting in eager anticipation.

Serious hat tips to all involved. You've got a fan for life :)

Smirnoff Mule Argentina
Ingredients:
35.5ml Smirnoff Vodka,
20ml Pomelo juice,
2 fresh wedges of lime
and topped with ginger ale.
Fill your glass with cubed ice before pouring all the liquid ingredients. Squeeze your fresh lime on top and stir well to mix all the ingredients together and enjoy!