In Photos dot org

Boats at the quay

Small boats or dingies tied up at the pier in Ballycotton, Co. Cork.

I was looking straight down when I shot this and had to crop out a tiny bit off the bottom where the pier was. The tide was way out, I expect the owners of these small boats weren’t in a hurry to get out on the water.

Owen Higgins wasn’t very happy that he wasn’t nominated for the Irish Blog Awards. Treasa blogged about his rant, quoting bits that he has since removed. He later commented on Treasa’s post that he didn’t understand how the nomination process worked. Go show him some love by visiting his site. Some of his photos are quite good!

Many faces in the crowd

A crowd of Alcatraz sightseers prepares to disembark from the ferry back at San Francisco. From the expressions on a few faces I think they were wondering what that guy was doing with his camera held in the air!

I love the patterns in the roof and the contrast with the metal grill, you can’t take me anywhere that I won’t take a photo!

Water Drops in Cobh

Water drops from a railing in Cobh after a particularly heavy rain early in the day. That day’s shooting in Cobh was quite successful and by the evening there was a beautiful glow from the setting sun.

I took these firework photos from a spot on the right of this image.

PS. Happy Australia Day!

Golden Gate Bridge in Fog

Tourists on a ferry pass by the fog shrouded Golden Gate Bridge
in San Francisco Bay.

The day was beautiful out near Alcatraz but fog covered the upper reaches of the bridge and I thought would make a pleasing shot.

PS. I’m not finished with photos from 2006 by a long shot!

Brooding sky at sunset

A brooding, dark sky threatens to swallow the setting sun over Drake’s Pool near Crosshaven in Co. Cork.

New Johnny T

The boat New Johnny T passed by a pier in San Francisco on the same afternoon this shot was taken.

I wonder what happened to Old Johnny T?

Welcome Darragh White to the world and congrats to your parents!

S.S. Jeremiah O’Brien

The Liberty Ship S.S. Jeremiah O’Brien lies anchored at Pier 45, Fisherman’s Wharf, San Francisco. It’s visible to all the tourists boarding the ferry to Alcatraz and is open to the public.

I didn’t get a chance to look inside, but ssjeremiahobrien.org makes me wish I did. She was one of the ships used in D-Day 1944 and made eleven crossings of the English Channel.

The small writing on the forward gun reads, “Miss Jerry O’Brien”. That looks like a shamrock behind the young lady accompanying the signature. Is there an Irish connection?

In June 1943 the Liberty Ship S.S. Jeremiah O’Brien slid down the ways at the New England Shipbuilding Corporation in South Portland, Maine. Shortly thereafter she entered service, operated by Grace Line for the War Shipping Administration. Named for the first American to capture a British naval vessel during the Revolutionary War, the O’Brien made seven World War II voyages, ranging from England and Northern Ireland to South America, to India, to Australia. She also made eleven crossings of the English Channel carrying personnel and supplies to the Normandy beaches in support of the D-Day invasion. After the war, she was “mothballed” and laid up in the Reserve Fleet at Suisun Bay, north of San Francisco.

Fountainstown Sunset

The sun sets over a small inlet in Fountainstown. The tide is out and boats are stranded in the mud.

One thing that bothers me about this photo is the large black bit on the left. I think I overdid the lomo a little although I’m quite happy with the burned in clouds. What do you think?

I’ve ordered another 200 moo mini cards. 100 images duplicated. Should do me for several months I think!

The black and white boat

A small boat lies upside down on the grass. Isn’t black and white great?

O’Connell and Quane

Daniel O’Connell and Michael Quane on the beach at Fountainstown. They’d been out on the kayaks for several hours but were kind enough to chat to us and allow me to take their photo.
Michael Quane is a celebrated artist who has exhibited internationally and has many public works to his name including the statue, “Horses and Riders” , on the roundabout in Mallow! You can find out more about his work by searching Google.
Daniel O’Connell of course shares his name with a famous character from Irish history.

I forgot to mention. the photo of the kayaks had to be rotated about 1.35 degrees right to get a horizontal horizon. I filled in the white spaces left behind with a liberal use of the clone tool. Thankfully a sandy beach is easy to clone! To get an even exposure I copied the image into a new layer where I brightened it up. The sky was over-exposed but by using a layer mask and a gradient I hid that sky and was left with a nice bright area right at the sea shore.

I like this: What the soldiers see

I have been deployed all over the world from Bosnia to Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq for the first part of the wars with the 101st Airborne Infantry. Currently I am back in Iraq in OIF 3 attached to a Signal unit to help them out, I have been here since May 2005, I have just volunteered to stay till Jan 2007 well I hope you enjoy these pics I will have more of the day by day

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