The broom at 187 Walking through the urban environment the seemingly normal assortment of rubbish or objects can make an image that bit more interesting. This was taken in August, but guess who forgot to bring in the Christmas lights? Oh yes, a small tip if you’re adding noise to an image. You’ll need to…

The red and white man A street entertainer on stilts entertained the crowd at the Midleton Food and Drink Festival last September. I took photos of him in Cork too and I think he recognised me and my wife as he made a beeline for us and stopped to chat. This was shot from below…

San Francisco DPT on the job The San Francisco Department of Parking and Traffic (DPT) have painted the kerb of the sidewalk in the city to designate different parking areas in the city. Wandering around the city I was struck by the startling paint job on the ground, especially the “warning” colours used. It didn’t…

Alcatraz Staircase A lonely staircase on Alcatraz is off-limtis to tourists but not to the eye of my camera.

Sailing In San Francisco A yacht sails past the waterfront in San Francisco Bay. There was plenty of activity on the waters with ferries, yachts, kite surfers and even helicopters fly overhead.

Corrugated Prison Roof Visitors to Alcatraz Island walk about on the broad path up to the main prison building. Some of the buildings on the island are in a bad state of repair, lacking everything but the brick walls that stand like a whitewashed skeletons. This building is about halfway up the hill and in…

Alcatraz Tower and Prison The prison tower and buildings of Alcatraz provide a stark welcome for visitors to the former penitentiary. Despite my close investigation, the tower in this picture was off limits. Pity, because I bet there’d be a great view from up there!

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,…

The lonely swan A solitary swan swims on the calm waters of The Lough as the sun disappears at the end of the day. Believe it or not, this is a 10 second exposure that turned out much better than I could have hoped! I balanced my camera on the edge of the Lough, set…

Where’s the water? The water is just underneath the pavement in this image made in Blarney last month. What do the initials SV stand for? I don’t know, it’s too early on a Monday morning to figure that one out.

Doneraile Park Stream Water flows through Doneraile Park on a cold November afternoon. Despite the late season, leaves still cling to the branches of nearby trees although they’ve turned golden-orange and make a beautiful covering on the ground. I was quite surprised that the Wikipedia page for Doneraile didn’t mention Elizabeth Aldworth, one of only…

The gull and the flag Two teenagers watch a seagull on the way back from Alcatraz Island in San Francisco. The US flag flutters in the same breeze that keeps the gull aloft, who no doubt is hoping for food from the boat full of tourists. I’m going to be shooting at a fund raising…