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Dingle
The town of Dingle, or “An Daingean” as it’s officially known as now. The name change has upset many local people who mourn the loss of their identity and fear that the brand recognition of the name Dingle will be lost on (mostly American) tourists who flock here through out the summer.
The 2005 Placenames Order changed the name and it’s an utterly silly law. Yes the town is in an Gaeltacht, the Irish speaking part of the country. Yes, more people (hopefully?) speak Irish in those parts than in others, but a region does not survive on it’s own without interaction with non-Irish speaking people. I’m all in favour of An Gaeilge but this law is wrong.
Luckily, locals have stencilled the word “Dingle” back onto most signage but they missed a few signs here and there.
| Aperture | ƒ/11 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 20D |
| Focal length | 40mm |
| ISO | 100 |
| Shutter speed | 1/320s |
The waves at Couminole
Waves about to crash down on the nearby rocks at Couminole Beach on Slea Head, Co. Kerry.
Originally this was in colour but it lacked punch. Converting it to black and white and slightly overexposing the blue channel created this dramatic scene.
| Aperture | ƒ/5.6 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 20D |
| Focal length | 125mm |
| ISO | 100 |
| Shutter speed | 1/320s |
Shadows of a blue sky
Shadows from unseen clouds leave their mark on the ground telling of their passage through the heavens.
Shot on Wine Strand, Co. Kerry, looking across the bay.
| Aperture | ƒ/11 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 20D |
| Focal length | 88mm |
| ISO | 100 |
| Shutter speed | 1/400s |
Sunlit Grassy Slopes
Tough grass that’s lovely and springy to walk on edge to the horizon where a cloud floats serenely in the blue sky. Life is good!
This is taken close to this photo of the same slope but the mood is completely different.
| Aperture | ƒ/10 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 20D |
| Focal length | 10mm |
| ISO | 100 |
| Shutter speed | 1/200s |
Laneway fence
An old fence follows the road off into the distance at Wine Strand in the Dingle Peninsular, Co. Kerry.
Lines, lines everywhere, I love lines!
| Aperture | ƒ/6.3 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 20D |
| Focal length | 200mm |
| ISO | 100 |
| Shutter speed | 1/400s |
Windswept grass and fence
The tough grass by a beach in Kerry grows thick on this hill, bounded by a wire fence to keep curious people like myself at bay!
This is an experiment for me. I thought the b/w treatment would work well as the image is full of texture, lines and shadow. What do you think? Another similar one to follow tomorrow.
| Aperture | ƒ/6.3 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 20D |
| Focal length | 200mm |
| ISO | 100 |
| Shutter speed | 1/1250s |
Carried away with working on photos
I wanted to take it easy tonight. It’s been a long week but here I am still. 16 photos worked on in the GIMP and ready to upload. You’re in for a treat next week with some of my shots from Kerry, even if I do say so myself!
The Irish Tricolour
The Irish Flag, or Tricolour hangs outside the Muskerry Arms Pub in Blarney. More here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Ireland
The beautiful weather recently provided a perfect opportunity to shoot outside. Yay!
| Aperture | ƒ/8 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 20D |
| Focal length | 40mm |
| ISO | 100 |
| Shutter speed | 1/160s |
Shih Tzu in flight
My Shih Tzu Oscar just after he picked up the ball I threw for him!
Most dogs have a strong fetch instinct but Oscar’s was hidden away until we discovered it earlier this year. Now he loves the phrase "where’s the ball Oscar?"
| Aperture | ƒ/8 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 20D |
| Focal length | 200mm |
| ISO | 100 |
| Shutter speed | 1/320s |
How to build a pop-up flash diffuser
If you use the built-in flash on your camera you’re probably used to the ugly effect direct light has on portraits and scenes: red eye, background shadows and foreground brightness, lost blown out detail. You can avoid all that by buying an external flash and bouncing or you can build a flash diffuser to sit in front of your camera.
Looks like a fun project to try too!
Sitting around at the GPO
Teens sit around on the limestone blocks on Oliver Plunkett Street, Cork. That’s the Post Office in the background and the infamous Hi-B Bar to the left where you can be thrown out or verbally abused if the eccentric owner doesn’t like the look of you!
| Aperture | ƒ/4 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 20D |
| Focal length | 10mm |
| ISO | 100 |
| Shutter speed | 1/500s |