Beware the giant duck!

If you come down to Blarney today you should watch out for the giant ducks, and if you sit on a bench look behind you, there’s a good chance a tree is reading over your shoulder.

Don’t get me started on the dastardly Parking signs!

Yes, walking around Blarney can be quite dangerous especially if you meet some of the little people. The leprechauns are out and about these days. If you go to kiss the Blarney Stone, you’re almost guaranteed to see them in the grounds of the castle. Unfortunately due to the high cost of living and the price of property, their crock of gold has been sadly depleted to the extent that they are forced to entertain tourists. ’tis a sad day!

Just remember, always look out for the giant ducks!

PS. on a more serious note, the August issue of Digital Journalist is out now!

PPS. Alex Shiels, who I work with at Automattic, has a photoblog called Flight Path hosted on WordPress.com. He’s done a nice job of making a photoblog theme out of the Sandbox css theme! He’s already posting photos from San Francisco. His latest shot, street level 2 is a dark foreboding image taken over there. I’ll have to start working on some of mine, but the last few days have been hectic. I don’t know how Alex managed it!

Aperture ƒ/9
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 100
Shutter speed 1/160s

The Elysian will be so wonderful

If you’ve driven around Cork over the past year you can’t fail to miss the huge 17 storey tower going up in the south of the City. It’s called the Elysian and when it’s finished it will I think be the tallest building in the Republic of Ireland.

Now, compare that with the 60 storey skyscraper being built in San Francisco just a few blocks from Matt’s apartment. The top of it seems to be perpetually in fog.

Anyway, the Irish developers of the Elysian have all this positive advertising with people looking to heaven and wondrous slogans to get the positive vibe going about this massive building, when in fact it’s only a middling little building when compared with what the rest of the world has done.

Way back in 2005 this is what the building site looked like, and a year later, check out the huge crane.

I guess I’m glad that we don’t have the population density that makes huge buildings necessary, not yet anyway.

Aperture ƒ/4
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 100
Shutter speed 1/160s

The German Deep Purple

This group of lads wandered into the old switching station on Caroline Street during the filming of Stanley Super 800’s video so I took their photo.

Apparently they are a German Deep Purple cover band but it was hard to figure out what their name was because they hardly spoke a word of English and my German is non-existant! They were playing in the Old Oak that night so chances are they’ll be back!

The guy in the back is in the Stanley Super 800 video. Look out for the bouncers, he’s one of them. I can’t remember his name, but I had a great chat with him during the filming.

Aperture ƒ/5.6
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 14mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/30s

Stanley Super 800 Fans

Some of the crowd who gathered for the filming of the video accompanying "Gate Crashing", Stanley Super 800’s latest single.

You wouldn’t believe how mad this lot were!

You can see the video on my my blog.

Aperture ƒ/5.6
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 20mm
ISO 1600
Shutter speed 1/50s

Cut the chocolate birthday cake

Yum! Yum! Alex cuts the delicious chocolate birthday cake in Herbivore, San Francisco! That crazy Matt Mullenweg fella can’t resist helping him with the cake. Come to think of it, did anyone not eat the cake? It was so nice!

Aperture ƒ/5.6
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 20mm
ISO 100
Shutter speed 1/60s

Why are you photographing that?

It’s a bike on the ground, why are you photographing it? That’s what a group of girls asked me as I crouched down next to this bike. I got the shot though!

Aperture ƒ/7.1
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 100
Shutter speed 1/100s

Finbarr House, Cork

Finbarr House is situated right next to University College Cork (UCC) on the Western Road.

What’s strange is that it is a rundown building in the perfect location for renting to students: right in front of the University. Who knew there was an Irish property owner who didn’t want to make a few Euro on the side?

Aperture ƒ/10
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/200s

The dog and his bone

Oscar, our pet Shih Tzu, pictured with a bone shaped biscuit treat. Actually he doesn’t like them much. He prefers Markies, but they’re bought now so he’ll finish them! 🙂

Aperture ƒ/4
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 100
Shutter speed 1/60s

A rainy day on the street

It’s raining in Cork, possibly. The weather has been all upside down this summer. By the time you see this on my photoblog, I’ll be on my way to San Francisco. Check my Flickr stream for tomorrow’s pic 🙂

I couldn’t run my future posting script because Flickr changed their filename naming scheming to protect original images. Good move, but it’s annoying if you blog the original sized ones!

Aperture ƒ/8
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 400
Shutter speed 1/320s

Kissing on the street

A young couple hug and kiss in front of the Crawford College of Art in Cork. This was shot on St. Patrick’s Day, and the crowd behind are waiting for a face painter!

Aperture ƒ/5.6
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 100
Shutter speed 1/60s

Patrick’s Day on dad’s shoulders

A young spectator gets a bird’s eye view of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Cork.

Aperture ƒ/6.3
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 200mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/200s

The musical triplet

As well as an outdoor market, the good people of Cork were entertained by musicians in Emmett Place on Patrick’s Day.

Aperture ƒ/4
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 100
Shutter speed 1/60s