Milltown Farmers Market in early August.
| Aperture | ƒ/8 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 6D |
| Focal length | 17mm |
| ISO | 5000 |
| Shutter speed | 1/160s |
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A Walk around Camden Fort Meagher
My son and I went to Camden Fort Meagher last Saturday. Unfortunately we arrived late, at 1615, just in time to get in but with the fort closing at 1700 we had to hurry to see as much of it as we could. We had been there before but the fort is under constant repair and development. Some buildings that had been closed off and falling apart had roofs replaced, walls repaired and painted, doors hung properly, windows fixed and more. There were reenactments last weekend too which I wanted to see but I thought we were probably too late to see them.
Memorial Garden There’s a lovely, simple war memorial garden near the main parade. This is new since the last time I was there.
Tunnel to the Magazine The tunnel to the magazine can be reached by going down a few steps near the on-site cafe. It’s impressively long and moody. While shooting this photo we heard actual shots and shouting outside! Turns out there was a reenactment, and it was taking place just outside the tunnel. Unfortunately the sounds reverberated down the tunnel, scaring my son, and causing our ears to ring!
Shots rang out, an officer fell, the captive followed him, wounded before being dispatched.
The magazine was where the ammunition for the fort was stored. Behind me was a service tunnel of some sort. I could imagine the rows upon rows of shelves holding boxes of ordinance and arms.
Once out of the magazine you proceed around a corner to a spiral staircase. It’s well lit and a favourite of photographers! When I first visited the staircase had just been opened and one of the volunteers at the fort described how it had been dark and damp, and strewn with rubbish when they excavated it.
The Irish National Flag is lowered at the end of the day. Last Saturday, Thomas Francis Meagher, named after a famous man of the same name lowered the flag with his brother Cillian.
The fort commands a great view of Cork Harbour. Guns used to protect the passage way in there, but nowadays you’re more likely to find someone enjoying a cup of tea and some refreshments.
The Bright Tunnel descends 160 feet down the slope. There are 198 steps if memory serves. We didn’t have time to go down but there are the ruins of gun emplacements down below too and a nice walk around and up again.
As well as the fort website, you can find out much more about it on it’s Wikipedia page. I’ve previously posted photos of Camden Fort Meagher too. The fort is well worth a visit!
Aperture ƒ/8 Camera Canon EOS 6D Focal length 24mm ISO 100 Shutter speed 1/1.3s -
How to clean your camera sensor
One of the horrors of owning a DSLR and using multiple lenses is the dread of getting dust on the camera sensor. In small amounts it’s visible whenever you shoot using a small aperture like f/22 but if you leave it go too long you’ll see round smudges show up on your every day snaps at f/8 or f/4 too.
This video describes part of the process I go through when I clean my camera lens. A Nikon body is used in the video but the method is similar for Canon and other manufacturers. I only have a blower and soft brush but they have served me well over the course of the last decade.
Cleaning the sensor is risky. It’s a sensitive piece of electronics but there’s an infrared filter in front of it and that’s what you’re really cleaning. It’s sturdy and tough but if you pushed too hard on it you will scratch it. I’ve never scratched the sensors of any of my cameras though so I don’t worry too much about it as long as I’m careful.
After blowing and wiping the dust away you should do the same with the inside glass of your lens. It’s likely that’s where the dust came from in the first place.
Once I’ve rebooted my camera I’ll test the sensor by doing the following:
- Grab a sheet of clean white paper.
- Set the lens to manual focus, the camera to shoot RAW, and change it to aV (or A) mode to change the aperture to f/22. If you use any exotic shooting styles reset them to standard.
- Prop the paper on a shelf in clear light.
- Shoot the paper. You don’t have to worry about it being a long exposure and camera shake. The dust on the camera sensor won’t move!
- Examine the picture on the camera LCD, zoom in and you’ll see any remaining dust particles as black dots. They’ll look like the images below.
- Repeat the “mirror lockup, clean, check” cycle until you’re happy with how much dust is left.
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Inch Beach at Night
Aperture ƒ/8 Camera Canon EOS 6D Focal length 105mm ISO 1600 Shutter speed 1/125s -
H.A.R.T. Fundraiser at Maxi Zoo
H.A.R.T. is an animal rescue organisation operating in the north Cork area who do great work rehoming all sorts of animals. They held a fund raising event in the Maxi Zoo in Douglas Shopping Centre yesterday and we went along to show our support. Here are a few photos!
Aperture ƒ/8 Camera Canon EOS 6D Focal length 45mm ISO 2500 Shutter speed 1/160s -
Sheep’s Head Tractor
Aperture ƒ/10 Camera Canon EOS 6D Focal length 23mm ISO 250 Shutter speed 1/160s -
Myrtleville Seascape
Got my new tripod today! It’s a generic Q666 tripod I bought on ebay. Here’s an Amazon link to it. I’ve only unpacked it, and played around with it briefly but I’m very happy with it.
It does have an odd oil smell to it but I presume that will disappear with time, or I’ll try wiping it down.
Aperture ƒ/16 Camera Canon EOS 6D Focal length 26mm ISO 50 Shutter speed 30s
Helping Hand (2006)
The Color Kids (2007)
Cobh boats and cathedral (2008)
Clancy’s Youghal (2009)
Mylo (2012)
A Gaggle of Photographers (2014)
Folsom Street Fair Eleven (2015)
From the Cork-Dublin Train (2016)
Temple Hall at Sunset (2017)
A flash of red (2018)
Walking The Dog (2021)
Lanzarote Santa in April (2022)
A walk by the office (2024)