The candle seller’s red hat

This man was selling scented candles on a small table in front of the Crawford Art Gallery. The sense of smell is one of our most primitive and releases memories and stirs emotions. He was doing a brisk trade.
When I saw his woolly red hat I had to make a portrait of him!
Pictured during the St Patrick’s Festival Cork.

Aperture ƒ/6.3
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 72mm
ISO 400
Shutter speed 1/125s

Cork St Patrick’s Festival Market

One side of Academy Street was taken up by a long line of stalls populated by an international host of sellers! There were biscuits and cakes from Brittany, soaps and wooden toys from France, clothes and trinkets from Peru and lots more.

I took a few shots of this scene but I like this one because the famous tower of St. Anne’s Church, or Shandon Bells as it’s more commonly known is visible in the top right. Nobody could mistake it for anywhere but Cork. That Barry’s Tea sign is a pretty big give away too of course!

Aperture ƒ/6.3
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 106mm
ISO 400
Shutter speed 1/160s

Such is the wonder of childhood

A young child watches a street performer go through his act on Patrick’s Street, Cork last Saturday as part of the St. Patrick’s Festival 2006.

Aperture ƒ/6.3
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 200mm
ISO 400
Shutter speed 1/125s

Mr Crow performs for St Patrick’s Festival 2005 in Cork

“On the count of three you pull!”

Mr Crow is crazy, there’s no question of that. First of all he introduced his ex-girlfriend’s head, which he swung around his own head while juggling 3 doll heads! He “helped” a girl from the audience juggle, and finally he climbed up onto an unstable platform and asked two men to pull supports from under him.
Then he juggled knifes. *gulp*
Pictured in Daunt Square, Cork at the St. Patrick’s Festival.

Aperture ƒ/7.1
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 40mm
ISO 400
Shutter speed 1/125s

Protests at Lincoln Park Zoo

Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago seems to be the centre of protests by animal welfare activists on an on-going basis.
Conditions for the animals in the zoo must be exceptionally bad as animal deaths are reported regularly. It’s a shame, because zoos play an important role in helping endangered animals alive. There must be something wrong at a zoo where 3 monkeys die in one week.

I much prefer Fota Wild Life Park here in Cork as the animals have so much more room to roam.

Since October, the zoo’s two other elephants, two gorillas, a camel and three langur monkeys have died. The monkeys died this week after being transferred to another exhibit.

Aperture ƒ/5.6
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 220mm
ISO 100
Shutter speed 1/125s

Arrival of the L

I love capturing motion and stillness in one frame and shooting underground in a subway station is perfect because: low light, fast moving train with bright internal lights, waiting passengers.
I think I took this in one of the stations under State Street, Chicago.

Have a great time at the blog awards in Dublin tonight!

Aperture ƒ/3.5
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 18mm
ISO 100
Shutter speed 1/8s

Fixing up the Apple Store

Workers pictured in the Apple Store Magnificent Mile, Chicago.
The top of the image is the front and side of the store. This is the store in which I was asked not take photos in 2003!

Small Figures

Small figures run for cover to get out of the downpour.
You’ll be glad to hear that this is the last of my shots from this square for the time being!

Aperture ƒ/4
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 18mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/40s

Not happy in the rain

Moments after my previous shot another group ran for cover from the downpour!
Definitely not “singing in the rain” this morning!

Aperture ƒ/4
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 18mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/40s

Grab your bag and run!

I’m not sure where this is. We sheltered from a very heavy rain storm and watched while people ran for cover from all over.
Thankfully the storm didn’t last too long and I wandered to Millennium Park!

Aperture ƒ/5.6
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 55mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/6s

Old Navy’s Fred

If you wander into the Old Navy Store on State Street in Chicago you may bump into Fred. He has worked there for years, he’s very patient, nice and accommodating and did his level best to help us get the best bargains while shopping!
This isn’t a great photo, it was a candid photo taken in bad light and the focus settled on the background but I had to include him as a nice memory of our trip.

Aperture ƒ/3.5
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 18mm
ISO 100
Shutter speed 1/15s