Donncha

The darkness of sunset

Sunset in Valencia and the street is dark, but the sky is lit up by the setting sun.

Aperture	ƒ/9
Camera	ILCE-7M3
Focal length	16mm
ISO	320
Shutter speed	1/60s

From Evening to Night in Cork

The north side of Cork City, with the North Cathedral and Shandon Bells visible. The Church of the Ascension is barely visible on the horizon, with the restored glowing cross bright in the night sky.

This is a time blend photo. Two images, shot at different times of the day, combined into one. The sky was photographed at sunset, when the sky was still bright, while the urban streets and buildings were captured much later after sunset. A first attempt, on an evening of rain and cold when we didn’t expect much of a sunset at all.

Here’s a video that explains how to do it:

Here’s another, slightly different edit of the photo that will make it more obvious what’s going on.

A time blend of the north side of Cork City with The North Cathedral and the steeple of St. Anne's Church, or Shandon Bells visible.

Aperture	ƒ/8
Camera	ILCE-7M3
Focal length	54mm
ISO	100
Shutter speed	1/60s

Sunset over Valencia

The sun lit up the clouds over Valencia in Spain one evening as rush hour continued.

Aperture	ƒ/14
Camera	ILCE-7M3
Focal length	35mm
ISO	100
Shutter speed	1s

Motionless in Transit

Caught motionless in time, a young man is forever riding his motorbike on a city street at night.

Aperture	ƒ/1.8
Camera	ILCE-7M3
Focal length	75mm
ISO	8000
Shutter speed	1/500s

Wait For Green

A person in white pants and runners walks across a street at a pedestrian lights. The white painted bars on the street are visible along with the words "Espere Verde". Another person has already crossed the street and their legs are seen departing the scene

ESPERE VERDE! Wait green! On a street in Valencia I saw the white bars of the pedestrian crossing, a “safe zone” to cross the road for pedestrians. Then I noticed the person crossing the road, their clothes neatly matched the bars of paint.

Aperture	ƒ/2.8
Camera	ILCE-7M3
Focal length	24mm
ISO	100
Shutter speed	1/1000s

Yet another shopper

A woman silhouetted by the lights of nearby shops.

A woman is silhouetted by the lights of nearby shops.

Aperture	ƒ/1.8
Camera	ILCE-7M3
Focal length	75mm
ISO	1000
Shutter speed	1/500s

Frozen in motion

I was out walking in Valencia and spotted a cyclist headed in my direction at speed. That’s not so uncommon, but he was cycling really fast through the area.

He caught my attention, I photographed him. High ISO FTW!

Aperture	ƒ/2.8
Camera	ILCE-7M3
Focal length	24mm
ISO	12800
Shutter speed	1/320s

Fishing at sunset

A man fishing off a quay in Puerto del Carmen, Lanzarote. His wife stands next to him and the sun sets over the water he's fishing from.

On a lovely evening in Puerto del Carmen, a man fishes in the waters of the Atlantic. The sun is setting, but the evening is still warm, even in January!

Aperture	ƒ/8
Camera	ILCE-7M3
Focal length	16mm
ISO	50
Shutter speed	1/30s

The Blue Lagoon in Iceland

In March 2012, I visited Iceland with my team from work and for our activity day we went to the Blue Lagoon for a swim. It was March and, as illustrated by the photos above, snow blanketed the ground, and it was freezing! The water was lovely and warm, and you’d be fine as long as you kept as much of your body in the water as possible!

I’m revisiting this trip today because of the concerning news from Iceland. There have been numerous earthquakes, and magma is building up, only 800m underground and very close to the Blue Lagoon and the Svartsengi Geothermal Power Plant. The ground has risen by 8cm because the magma is pushing it up. The nearby town of Grindavik has been evacuated as a fissure runs through it. Earthquakes have already caused serious structural damage to buildings there.

Data shows the “magma tunnel is significant, and it is approaching the surface” according to this video. The tunnel is about 15km long. It seems likely there will be an eruption very soon.

Edit on December 19th: it finally erupted. You can see it on this live cam. This video shows the vantage point from a helicopter. The erupting fissure is 3.5km long!

Flames erupting from a volcanic eruption in Iceland.

An erupting volcanic fissure with lava spewing out of it.

Aperture	ƒ/9
Camera	Canon EOS 40D
Focal length	18mm
ISO	100
Shutter speed	1/200s

The Gorilla in Valencia

A Western lowland gorilla from the Republic of the Congo sits on the ground outside a viewing area where humans gaze at him.

He lives in the Bioparc in Valencia, Spain, and I think his name is Mambie. He was born in 1991 and is a beautiful animal, but when we were there, he charged and rammed into the glass windows twice. The Wikipedia page for these gorillas describes that behaviour as stereotypic behaviour, or abnormal or compulsive behaviour. It’s easy to imagine that he’s not happy there, but he is hand reared, as he was born in a zoo. This life is all he knows. These animals are endangered, and there’s a population of 500 living in zoos worldwide.

I was sad to see him in captivity. Valencia Bioparc is small, compared to wildlife parks like Fota in Co Cork, but the larger animals had room to roam about. At least, as much room as a 10 hectare site will allow.

It is definitely worth going to visit if you’re in the city. Just don’t eat in the overpriced restaurant.

Aperture	ƒ/3.5
Camera	ILCE-7M3
Focal length	24mm
ISO	1000
Shutter speed	1/60s

A stag and his grass

A stag digging into grass to decorate his antlers

A stag with grass on his antlers, thought to make him more attractive to the female of the species.

A stag buries his head in grass, to decorate his antlers and make himself more attractive to female deer.

Killarney National Park, October 2023.

Aperture	ƒ/6.3
Camera	ILCE-7M3
Focal length	514.7mm
ISO	1250
Shutter speed	1/500s

The Caminito del Rey Bridge

A bridge over the Caminito del Rey in Spain.

If you do the Caminito del Rey hike, you’ll come across this bridge at the end of your journey. The old bridge isn’t used any more as a modern suspension bridge has been built right next to it.

It’s still quite a sight as you walk over it and definitely not somewhere to go if you have a fear of heights.

Aperture	ƒ/7.1
Camera	ILCE-7M3
Focal length	23mm
ISO	125
Shutter speed	1/160s