Corrugated Prison Roof

Visitors to Alcatraz Island walk about on the broad path up to the main prison building.

Some of the buildings on the island are in a bad state of repair, lacking everything but the brick walls that stand like a whitewashed skeletons. This building is about halfway up the hill and in much better condition.

Aperture ƒ/8
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 100
Shutter speed 1/125s

Alcatraz Tower and Prison

The prison tower and buildings of Alcatraz provide a stark welcome for visitors to the former penitentiary.

Despite my close investigation, the tower in this picture was off limits. Pity, because I bet there’d be a great view from up there!

Aperture ƒ/11
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/320s

Alcatraz Cell Painting

Could these be the paint and artwork of Doc, a character in the film Escape from Alcatraz starring Clint Eastwood?

This was only one of a number of cells with personal belongings in them.

Aperture ƒ/4
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/13s

Tourists on the tram

Tourists on a tram in Chinatown, San Francisco. I got lots of smiles and waves from the passengers when they saw my camera pointed at them!

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

The couch on the street

A couch rests against a pole on a street junction in San Francisco. That’s a novel way of getting rid of unwanted furniture but I wonder who’ll pick it up? For all I know, it could still be there with a family of squirrels living in it.

The same happens everywhere. Here in Ireland bed frames, mattresses and other other furniture can sometimes be seen dumped by the side of the road, usually in the country away from the watchful eyes of the authorities.

John Harrington posts about cuts among staff photographers at major US publications. Not a good time to be working in the “old world media” in some places.

Aperture ƒ/8
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 100
Shutter speed 1/200s

Unhappy Child

A small girl walks mournfully into the shopping center on Paul Street clutching her “BT Kids” balloon, probably handed to her by this lady.

Aperture ƒ/5.6
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 162mm
ISO 400
Shutter speed 1/100s

Alone in the park

A dog, a tree and a park bench in the Lee Fields, Cork.

I took Oscar, our shitzu, for a short walk at the Lee Fields a while back and made this image during what was a fairly uneventful walk. Neither of us was in the mood for a walk but we had time to kill.

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

Leading lines and bright lights

Studs on the ground lead down to the traffic lights on the South Mall, Cork.

In this long exposure shot a couple of cars passed by providing a nice light trail in the background. The twinkling of the street lighting is from the narrow aperture. Setting the aperture as small as possible is definitely the best thing you can do when making long exposure shots at night.

This was taken while out with Mallow Camera Club last December. More to come from that night too!

Aperture ƒ/16
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 100
Shutter speed 10s

The witch and the balloons

A witch hands out balloons to young kids outside Brown Thomas on a late October Saturday.

Just out of frame of this shot is a woman who has asked for a balloon. The witch explains that the balloons are just for the kids.. I wonder why? More on this later.

Aperture ƒ/5
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 48mm
ISO 400
Shutter speed 1/250s

King of my world

A child is carried atop his parent’s shoulders on St. Patrick’s Street, Cork a few weeks ago.

I really like this shot, for what reason, I’m not sure. Maybe it’s the brightness and flowery design of the clothing worn by parent and child compared to the passers by. I’m sure both parent and child are in a happy place wandering around town.

“Here’s Health” and a sign advertising the Mutton Lane Inn can be seen in the background.

Aperture ƒ/4
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 400
Shutter speed 1/400s

Friends together

Friends talk and laugh on the street while busy shoppers pass on either side.

Pictured on St. Patrick Street, Cork last October in front of Penneys. I love my wide angle lens!

Aperture ƒ/4
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 800
Shutter speed 1/1000s

Stepping out of the crowd

A girl steps away from the maddening crowd on a busy street.

This was a bit of an experiment for me. I blurred the background by making a duplicate layer, blurring, adding a layer mask and then revealing the girl through the layer mask. It’s not perfect, and in fact, the closer I look the more imperfections I see. Unfortunately I never saved a .xcf file preserving the layers so this is the final product.

I like it. The blur successfully separates the girl from the backgrond and even the zone of sharpness takes in some of the ground around her which exaggerates the effect!

Taken on St. Patrick Street, Cork last October.

Aperture ƒ/4
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 800
Shutter speed 1/800s