Blarney Post Office through the windscreen of my car. More rain.
Author Archives: Donncha
Raindrops keep falling
Rain falls on one of the tables in the grounds of The Anglers Rest, Co Cork. After the roasting sun of a week or so ago the country has been deluged with sudden and heavy showers, thunder and lightning and in some areas flooding.
A few weeks ago we couldn’t go out because it was too hot, now the weather has done an about-turn and it’s unpredictable!
Martin O’Brien of The Old Grainstore
Martin O’Brien who runs The Old Grainstore at St. Mullin’s, Co Carlow posed for a photo after we chatted with him outside his café. It was a glorious day and the place was busy with people eating lunch, swimming and walking about. It’s a beautiful location I want to return to again.
Public Display of Affection
St Patrick’s Street, Cork during the Street Performance World Championships yesterday. Does anyone know who this performer is?
I can’t really comment on any of the performers unfortunately as I was only there for an hour with a bored six year old who had a fixation on buying an Angry Birds hat and balloon animals. There were huge crowds too which meant kids had to at the performance before it started to get a place in front.
I’m glad I caught this moment.
Crosshaven Evening
Yesterday evening in Crosshaven, Co Cork. It was a beautiful end of the day. Not quite as hot as other days which I was thankful for but many people out and a good atmosphere in the town.
Edit: here’s the original photo!
Buena Vista Social Club Trio
From left to right: Barbarito Torres, Omara Portuondo and Papi Oviedo.
On Monday night I went to see Buena Vista Social Club in Cork Opera House with my wife Jacinta. We had a blast there and the crowd loved them, even if they did drag out the musician solos a bit too much. There’s only so many minutes you can hear the same set of notes repeating before it gets monotonous.
Regardless, there were lots of fans in the audience. The band barely spoke a word of English throughout which certainly helped the atmosphere. I unfortunately have barely a word of Spanish so I would look blankly at my wife!
When Omara Portuondo came on stage the audience erupted. Even at the age of 82 she moved about the stage and sang many songs, extolling the audience to stand up from their seats. Soon everyone was dancing or at the very least rocking from foot to foot in the stalls!
More to come..
Shaky Bridge on the Lee
The Shaky Bridge, Or Daly’s Bridge, spans the River Lee near Fitzgerald Park in Cork City.
Family Fun Day in Blarney
Today was Family Fun Day in Blarney oraganised by Gaelscoil Mhuscrai. It threatened to rain several times but besides a few drops it stayed dry and everyone had fun!
Bread Delivery
Fresh Bread delivered to the Castle Hotel, Blarney this morning.
Hands full with the kids
A trip into town is always complicated when you have kids with you. Shot on Emmett Place, Cork last weekend.
Together Forever
Graffiti on a St Patrick Street, Cork. A couple embraces and kisses forever lost in each other.
First time shooting on the street with the Canon 6D. I set up C1, one of the custom settings with the following:
1. Enable auto ISO and limit it to 100-128000.
2. Set the minimum shutter speed to 1/125.
3. Use medium RAW.
This should help me get sharp images, at the expense of more noise. It helped sometimes but at other times shooting from the hip was too much and the swing of my arm didn’t help matters. I culled about half of the images I took and I’ll probably delete more as I go over them again tomorrow.
Blarney House
Blarney House, an impressive building on the grounds of Blarney Castle in Co. Cork, Ireland. It’s a private residence but during the summer there are guided tours every half hour.