• Holy Trinity Church

    Holy Trinity Church on Fr. Mathew Quay, pictured from just outside a side gate on a beautiful Saturday afternoon.

    The church and attached friary are run by the Capuchins who have been in the city since at least 1637. The church above dates from early eighteenth century.

    Aperture ƒ/8
    Camera Canon EOS 20D
    Focal length 10mm
    ISO 200
    Shutter speed 1/500s
  • Middle East War Protest

    On Saturday afternoon, Cork Alliance Against War held a protest against the war in Lebanon.

    After reading this story about the Kudsi family I have a lot more sympathy for them. Their house was bombed early one morning and most of the household was wiped out.
    “In the early hours of the next morning, as Rayan, 30, slept near her daughters Alice, 6, and Celine, 3, an Israeli warplane dropped two one-ton bombs on their house in Hoshe, a village south of Tyre.

    Rayan, her girls and her 78-year-old grandmother Um Zuheir were killed, probably when the first bomb struck the villa’s concrete roof just after 4.30am. The family’s tenants, a United Nations official from Ghana and his wife, also died.”

    Branedy says it better than I could. Israel really has lost the war.

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

    Daisy Daisy,
    Give me your answer do!
    I’m half crazy,
    All for the love of you!
    It won’t be a stylish marriage,
    I can’t afford a carriage,
    But you’ll look sweet on the seat
    Of a bicycle built for two!

    Aperture ƒ/5.6
    Camera DMC-FZ5
    Focal length 6mm
    ISO 80
    Shutter speed 1/400s
  • Ladybird’s spots

    Oh so high! When you’re tiny a few inches off the ground can appear like a huge drop to you.

    The ladybird scurried away after this shot to get some peace and quiet from the camera toting freak in the garden! 🙂

    Aperture ƒ/4.5
    Camera DMC-FZ5
    Focal length 6mm
    ISO 80
    Shutter speed 1/400s
  • Lady in the grass

    A ladybird in the grass of my back garden.

    Taken with my Panasonic FZ5. Almost run out of pre-prepared images. I’ll need to fire up the GIMP this weekend.

    Aperture ƒ/4
    Camera DMC-FZ5
    Focal length 6mm
    ISO 80
    Shutter speed 1/400s
  • High Rise Crane

    A view of the crane helping in the construction of a new office block behind Cork City Hall. This is from the lobby of the carpark next door.

    Other views of the same site: Building a City Sunset, Craning to See the Sky.

    Aperture ƒ/6.3
    Camera Canon EOS 20D
    Focal length 10mm
    ISO 200
    Shutter speed 1/320s
  • Purple Sky

    After shooting the Tenacious I looked behind me and smiled as I saw a great reflection of the beautiful sky on this car.
    Wisps of cloud filtered the sun momentarily as I captured this image and a bit of post-processing helped to make the reflection stand out!

    Aperture ƒ/9
    Camera Canon EOS 20D
    Focal length 10mm
    ISO 200
    Shutter speed 1/160s
  • Tenacious in Cork

    Tenacious in Cork
    Tenacious in Cork

    The sailing vessel, Tenacious, docked in Cork a few weeks back. I spotted the top masts over the buildings of the quayside while we went home so I had to stop!

    She’s a beautiful ship and apparently the largest wooden tall ship built in England in the last 100 years! She also has facilities to allow disabled people access to her, even ascending high up among the sails! She was featured on a tv programme last night with footage taken in Cork.

    Tenacious was built in Southampton and is owned by Jubilee Sailing Trust a, “charity that aims to promote the integration of people of all physical abilities through the challenge and adventure of tall ship sailing.”

    Donal has a great picture of the Tenacious lit by the setting sun.

    Aperture ƒ/6.3
    Camera Canon EOS 20D
    Focal length 16mm
    ISO 200
    Shutter speed 1/800s
  • Non-photography day

    Today was Non Photography Day! The aim of the day is to enjoy the moment instead of trying to record it for posterity. Luckily I wasn’t doing anything wildly interesting visually today!

    Paul Butzi writes that he is half-sympathetic to the cause being championed by Becca Bland. I have to admit she has a point too, but it’s a hobby, and a safe, enjoyable one at that. If I had something interesting to photograph I would have!

    Maybe we should call “enjoying the moment” by another name? Call it “taking a non-photograph” instead. Enjoy the sun, and the peace and quiet or watch the world go by as you sit down with your lunch.
    Did you take a non-photograph today?

  • Queen at the Ballet

    Queen at the Ballet is a ballet accompanied by the music of Queen. It features an on-stage orchestra, and two charismatic vocalists sing and act as ringmasters for the action on stage. It played for the last two weeks in the Point Theatre, Dublin, Ireland, but it’s moving on now. If the show comes to your city make sure you go!

    I’m a big fan of Queen music, so seeing this show was an emotional and amazing experience for me. Jacinta loved it too, soaking up the music and the visuals with me as we were awestruck by the performance! Easily the best show I’ve seen!

    Thanks to the generosity of Ken Guest and Aisling and Proinnsias and Sinead we were able to go see the show. We’re still fairly broke so soon after our wedding and I really must thank them sincerely for making this happen!
    It was remiss of me to forget another three important people who helped us greatly! Donal and Celine took care of Oscar for the weekend. My sister Mairead helped too, bringing him for a walk in the lovely sunshine! Thank you all!

    Photos were taken with my Panasonic FZ5 from about 20m away so please excuse the poor image quality! Besides which, I didn’t feel like using the camera much because I was enjoying the show so much.

    Surprisingly, “God Save The Queen”, was part of the show. A performer appeared on-stage waving two tiny Union Jack flags as the orchestra played the anthem of the United Kingdom.

    He looked sheepishly out at the audience, put the flags back in his pocket and unfurled the Irish tri-colour waving it about to cheers and applause before wrapping it about himself as the lights went down and the music faded.

    Aperture ƒ/3.3
    Camera DMC-FZ5
    Focal length 24.6mm
    ISO 100
    Shutter speed 1/30s
  • Strange on the street

    A woman caught in an awkward step by my camera on Oliver Plunkett Street, Cork.

    Aperture ƒ/6.3
    Camera Canon EOS 20D
    Focal length 10mm
    ISO 200
    Shutter speed 1/200s
  • Surreal in the market

    A woman walking in the English Market is the perfect subject for a bit of surreal experimentation with the GIMP!

    Aperture ƒ/8
    Camera Canon EOS 20D
    Focal length 10mm
    ISO 1600
    Shutter speed 1/125s