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Reflections of the city

Cork City Hall and the urban lighting on both sides of the River Lee are reflected in the water at night.

I took this back in October 2006 when the Elysian hadn’t reached it’s glorious present day height. I venture to say that a photo of this scene now would feature at least a part of the Elysian buildings blocking the sky in the top right of the photo.

Sunshine on the Conor Pass

This will probably be the final photo from that September 2006 visit to the Conor Pass. It’s taken earlier than some of the others but I’m a sucker for leading lines so it had to go in!
I love the reflection in the water on the valley floor, and the shadows of the clouds.

Must make a trip back there this summer!

Stop for four

The light says stop so we stop. A junction in downtown San Francisco as we walked about town. I just realised the vehicle in the picture is parked awfully close to the corner. There isn’t any driver staring madly at the camera. Hope he didn’t get a ticket. That’s Banana Republic across the street and what looks like Rinelli?

Off to the hospital again in a short while. Unlike the beautiful blue sky in this photo it’s overcast outside, but I’ll be in a hospital room for most of the day so it doesn’t matter..

Cobh at sunset

The tide is out in Cobh, Co. Cork while the sun sets in the west casting an orange glow over the water and boats in the harbour.

Method
This required some work to expose properly. The sky is bright while the harbour, houses and landscape are in shadow. Out with the layers, top layer for the sky was darkened and the opposite was done for the ground.
Then it’s the simple task of adding a layer mask to the top layer and rubbing out the dark bits to expose the brightened landscape.
When using a layer mask, never paint with an opacity of 100%, try 30% or even 5%. Don’t be afraid to do a rough job of exposing the bottom layer because with a layer mask you can always reverse the procedure by swapping the colour of your brush with an opposite colour!

Thank you all for the comments on yesterday’s post, The Lonely Swan, it’s great to get feedback and I’m glad when people get something out of my methods when I describe them. See what you’ve done? I did it again!

City Hall at night

Cork City Hall at night as viewed from across the river. It was all lit up for the Modern Homes Exhibition and as it was such a calm night the reflection on the River Lee was beautiful.

If you watch the RTE news at 6pm or 9pm tonight, watch out for the photo on the weather forecast. A friend of mine, Catherine Cotter, sent in a few entries to their photography competition and one of her photos will be shown tonight! I must set up the Sky+ to record it just in case. I might be able to get a screen capture somehow!

Dog on the beach

Oscar ambling along on the beach at Garretstown in Co. Cork. He never liked the beach, there’s just too much dirt and gravel and sand and just plain yuck, but he had a great time that evening. I don’t think Shih-Tzus are the most adventurous of dogs! Compare this picture with an earlier shot before he was groomed. Quite a difference eh?

Under Irish law, dogs should be kept on a lead in public places at all times, and really should not be allowed on a beach but I made sure he did his business before we went anywhere near the sand! He’s so timid he rarely left our side the whole time, and I had the lead in my pocket, just in case.

I spotted a horse in the distance and the hoof marks were visible in the sand, but I was too late to get a shot of the horse and rider this time unfortunately.

This page on Shih Tzus describes Oscar perfectly:

The Shih-Tzu is an alert and spunky little dog. Happy and hardy, endowed with loads of character. They are royally dignified, courageous and sometimes arrogant. This breed does well with polite, careful children. The gentle loyal Shih-Tzu makes friends easily and although obstinate can respond well to consistent patient training. A very alert watch dog, the Shih-Tzu likes to bark, but is usually quiet inside the house. They are stubborn and clever. Shihs can get snappish if they are surprised or peeved. Playful and lively, this affectionate little dog needs to be with people and are generally good with other pets. Some can be difficult to housebreak.

Wet Cobbles

Wet cobblestones leading into the harbour at Cobh.

Red Sky At Night

Red sky after a beautiful sunset in Garrettstown last Sunday.
The original high-res version is even better!