Short Circuit

Electricity everywhere and so evident at night in street lighting. I took this shot after meeting Mark for coffee 2 weeks ago. It’s this building site right in the middle of Cork City. More conventional shots will follow over the next few days.

Aperture ƒ/11
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 100
Shutter speed 8s

Which way from Castletownbere?

There are so many places to visit in West Cork. Here’s a few of them. We didn’t visit Dursey Island but the beach at Allihies is lovely!

Aperture ƒ/10
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 100
Shutter speed 1/250s

Cheap Sunday Excursions

A replica poster in Cobh Heritage Center advertises Cheap Sunday Excursions to Youghal on Sundays from 4th June 1933. Great Southern Railways are long gone now.

The Heritage Center is a nice place to stop and grab a bite to eat. Can’t remember prices but there’s plenty of room for a buggy so I was more than happy.
Plenty of “ye aulde” stuff to photograph too!

PS. If you’re in Dublin this weekend, make sure you bring your camera and join the other photographers who are meeting for a photowalk! More details on Red Mum’s post and Claire linked to some of the photobloggers going. Should be fun!

I’m hoping to organise a photowalk in Doneraile Park next month. Any weekends in particular suit? The Park is a lovely scenic area. It may be busy in the summer but if you don’t like shooting scenery and nature this photowalk probably won’t be for you.

Aperture ƒ/4
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 100
Shutter speed 1/50s

The stag in the English Market

I remember seeing a shot Alkos took of this stag or deer on a wall near the English Market in Cork. I must dig up a link to it. Anyway, that shot was on my mind when I took this photo and I really like how it turned out!

Aperture ƒ/4
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 1600
Shutter speed 1/50s

Exit

This way to the EXIT. This is a sign in Biosphere 2 in Arizona. Can you imagine how enticing it would be to get out of a building after spending a year inside there?

Declan from O’Learys rang this morning. Good news. He got on to the boss at the Sigma repair company who told him my lens had been fixed all along and it was going to be dispatched today. Sounds like a load of bullshit to me, and
they were fobbing off anyone who rang from O’Learys making inquiries. There was €40 still left on the bill, but O’Learys have waived that in view of the length of time it took. I’m still very annoyed at their antics with my photos though.

Aperture ƒ/5
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 100
Shutter speed 1/60s

The legacy of Bertie Ahern

Bertie Ahern, who recently announced his resignation as Taoiseach or Prime Minister of Ireland was well known for opening all sorts of events and buildings.

Plaques with his name dot the country.

PS. This image is now hosted on my own server where I have some referrer checks. If you don’t see it in your feed reader please leave a comment!

Aperture ƒ/5
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 100
Shutter speed 1/60s

How to send flowers to ladies

Obviously the gentlemen of Bantry are a polite and courteous bunch.

While their women folk are in the public loo an enterprising soul will sell them flowers for their better half!

Aperture ƒ/4.5
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 100
Shutter speed 1/60s

La le Phadraig ar Sraid Phadraig

Children look out of an upstairs window in Merchants Quay shopping centre. When I took this shot I didn’t even see them!
I was concentrating on the kids in the foreground with their flags. I think they frame the street sign rather nicely and ties in with the name of the day too.

Check out some great photos of Inchigeela from the 1960’s on textlad’s set. Thanks Katie, they’re wonderful!

This reminds me of someone at Mallow Camera Club who showed a number of slides he had bought or got off a priest who had served on a mission in South America. The images were from decades ago and the priest was dead and buried by now. Pictures were still as good as ever, but they’re languishing in a slide box now. I’d love to see them uploaded to Flickr and made public.

Aperture ƒ/8
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 106mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/250s

O’Keeffe Lounge and Bar

I happened upon the O’Keeffe Lounge and Bar while wandering around Bantry last Sunday morning. Given the name of the establishment I just had to take a shot didn’t I?

Note the “Welcome to the pint depot” quotation?

Congratulations to Gingerpixel who won Best Photoblog at last night’s Irish Blog Awards. Ryan so deserves a special mention for doing the photography on the night, yet again! And of course, a big thank you to Damien for getting the ball rolling and organising the whole thing.

Aperture ƒ/5.6
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 100
Shutter speed 1/80s

Musical Posters

Wouldn’t it be great if posters sang to you? Christy Moore would sang a ballad about Guinness and a surf board while Lovely Girls would scream and shout.
Meanwhile Shayne Ward would sing something or other. Not sure who he is. He won one of those x-factor things didn’t he?

I like my peace and quiet.

Aperture ƒ/3.5
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/100s

The MAC Counter at Brown Thomas

Hands up now lads. How many of you have waited around while your significant other picked out makeup or browsed the aisles in a department store?

Yeah, me too.

This young fella was collecting the rubbish from the drawers and in contrast to the immaculately done up girls dressed in black he wore torn jeans and a cheap sweater.

PS. Lunar eclipse in 2 hours time. I think I’ll be asleep!

Aperture ƒ/4
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/50s

No more cheques please

It’s high tech in the retail industry! No more cheques in Marks & Spencer stores from March 1st! I find it hard to imagine anyone paying for goods by cheque these days.

Business dealings seem to be different though. One of these days we’ll figure out a safe way of handing over our bank details to business partners without getting signed up for a monthly subscription to some charity like a certain Jeremy did a few weeks ago ..

Oh yeah, cheque is a check. I can never get my head around that. “Check” is a verb, not a noun!

Aperture ƒ/3.5
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 400
Shutter speed 1/80s