I was there too
This is the Grand Parade in Cork, from across the River Lee on Sullivan’s Quay. It was the graffiti on the river wall, “Tek”, that prompted me to shoot this image and I like how it came out.
It does lose something in this resized version because of the distant detail but it’s going to be a while before everyone has 20″ monitors and even longer before I put full size images on display for public consumption.
| Aperture | ƒ/13 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 20D |
| Focal length | 20mm |
| ISO | 200 |
| Shutter speed | 1/160s |
A sign in Fermoy, Co. Cork warns motorists to watch out for kids playing on the road.
I’ve seen so many people speed through built up areas these signs mean absolutely nothing to them.
Technique:
1. Original image was flat and plain. Background sky was monotonous so I ran it through auto-levels which brought out the colours.
2. Then I duplicated that layer and blurred it using Gaussian Blur with a radius of 25px (original image is 3504px wide). By adding a layer mask I was able to rub out some of the blurred layer to expose the sharp original below. Opacity was set to 41% to reduce the blur effect.
3. Finally an overlay layer was added and circular gradients drawn on with a low opacity. This darkens the sky and sign slightly in patches.
All manipulation done in the GIMP but will work just as well in Photoshop or other application.
Was that useful? Want more?
| Aperture | ƒ/11 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 20D |
| Focal length | 10mm |
| ISO | 200 |
| Shutter speed | 1/250s |
Another shot from our few hours at Inch Strand in Co. Kerry last September. This is G-BKSP waiting on the beach to fly. Unlike the glider I posted earlier I saw this plane fly. Unfortunately conditions weren’t suitable for flying the gliders before we had to head home to Cork.
| Aperture | ƒ/8 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 20D |
| Focal length | 10mm |
| ISO | 100 |
| Shutter speed | 1/800s |
Clouds floated by on a glorious September afternoon in Dingle, Co. Kerry. Tourists relaxed on seating on the waterfront.
I just love clouds and wide angle shots!
| Aperture | ƒ/11 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 20D |
| Focal length | 10mm |
| ISO | 100 |
| Shutter speed | 1/250s |
While wandering about on St. Patrick’s Day this year I spotted this adorable little dog. I got a few snaps and his owner didn’t seem to mind. The doggy was more than happy at the attention and sniffed eagerly at my lens!
| Aperture | ƒ/6.3 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 20D |
| Focal length | 10mm |
| ISO | 100 |
| Shutter speed | 1/100s |
I almost made an ass of myself and forget to post a picture today! You’d be saying to yourselves, “He haw-lways posts a picture every day, where is today’s one?”
Never fear, here it is and I’ve run out of donkey jokes so it’s back to normal. Feel free to contribute in the comments however!
This donkey was snapped down in Kerry last September. We were driving back from Baile Na nGall (Bally David) when I spotted this donkey and a few horses in adjoining fields. I pulled over and ran across the busy bothaireen. Well, a Hi-ace and a tractor passed by..
More of the donkey to come!
| Aperture | ƒ/9 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 20D |
| Focal length | 10mm |
| ISO | 100 |
| Shutter speed | 1/160s |
A lifebelt lay in the grass at a beach on the Dingle Peninsula, Co. Kerry last September. It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining, beautiful clouds contrasted with the deep blue of the sky and a light breeze blew off the sea.
We were just going back to the car after a nice stroll on the beach. I had just taken footprints in the sand down on the beach when I looked back one more time and saw this striking scene in front of me.
The clouds were perfect, the sun was shining on the beach, the far away hills were in shadow and light. Perfect moment!
| Aperture | ƒ/13 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 20D |
| Focal length | 10mm |
| ISO | 200 |
| Shutter speed | 1/400s |
Ah graffiti! That most visible of teenage expression on our streets and walls.
Anyway, I can’t remember where I took this. It could be one of the side streets off St. Patrick’s Street, but that’s about as vague as “somewhere in Cork” to be honest.
Typical Heineken banner flying in the background so there’s a pub around there.
| Aperture | ƒ/4 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 20D |
| Focal length | 10mm |
| ISO | 100 |
| Shutter speed | 1/400s |
Crossing the street on St. Patrick’s Quay, Cork.
| Aperture | ƒ/4 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 20D |
| Focal length | 10mm |
| ISO | 200 |
| Shutter speed | 1/500s |
Feeding a horse in a field near Dingle in Co. Kerry.
It was a gorgeous beautiful day last September. The sky was blue and dotted with clouds and the sun shone brightly.
| Aperture | ƒ/11 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 20D |
| Focal length | 20mm |
| ISO | 100 |
| Shutter speed | 1/125s |
If you visit the Dingle Peninsula you must visit the Gallarus Oratory. It’s an early Christian church, possibly built in the 6th century. There is a visitor centre but don’t be fooled into paying the entrance fee. The building is a national monument and the public have a right to see it. Your entrance fee does pay for a crummy video in a dark and musty room but to be honest it’s not worth it! Continue up the road and you’ll find a path leading directly to the church.
Your taxes pay for the upkeep of the building so why pay another charge to see it?
| Aperture | ƒ/10 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 20D |
| Focal length | 10mm |
| ISO | 200 |
| Shutter speed | 1/200s |
Here’s another shot of EI-128. Following my last shot I moved to the other side of the glider to capture some of the beach and hills behind.
This was originally shot at an angle to get as much vertical space in but I rotated the image and filled in the sand and background as well as I was able. Sand is usually quite easy to fill in because it’s so uniform but there was a gradient of shade according to how damp it was that made things harder.
| Aperture | ƒ/8 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 20D |
| Focal length | 10mm |
| ISO | 100 |
| Shutter speed | 1/400s |
