Parking for the Guinness

Look up for unusual perspectives on ordinary scenes. I was quite happy with this image of a lamppost in Parnell Place, Cork when I took it. The signs are clearly visible and the upside-down Guinness logo catches the eye!

You have to wonder, what’s more important, Guinness or parking?

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

Looming over the building site

A tall crane looms over the building site of The Elysian, a new high-rise building that will house offices, apartments, a shopping center and underground parking. The main tower of the new building will be 17 storeys high, taller than anything else in the city.

Over a year ago I took a photo of the building site as it was then for the US Book. As you can see, they’ve dug the foundations and started on the main tower.

This picture was taken from the top of a 4 storey car park which gives you some idea of how tall that crane is!

Aperture ƒ/10
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/250s

Look through the bars at Alcatraz

Looking down a closed off corridor or street in Alcatraz Prison, San Francisco. I watched a few minutes of “Escape From Alcatraz” last night and recognised a few locations – the canteen of course, and the ventilation shafts behind the cells are visible to anyone who looks.

I wonder how many feet plodded down this street and who was incarcerated there.

Thanks for the comments on my posts too, it’s encouragement to keep posting so if you feel like adding your two cents don’t be shy!

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

The real prisoners of Alcatraz

Prisoners of Alcatraz mill about in a daze.

The special headsets they wear are mind controlling devices that cause people to stare listlessly into space. They control the actions of people, causing them to walk around the prison, peering into cells and to gaze at features of the streets.

I’ve felt the power of these devices myself and they’re seductive. A gravelly voice telling me to go to a particular cell, or along a corridor. Thankfully an official collected the device off each person at a certain point and we woke up and walked out into the sunshine with happy smiles on our faces.

Aperture ƒ/4
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/30s

The streets of San Francisco

San Francisco is rightly famous for it’s hills and steep slopes. The city streets go up and down and, and no matter what the gradient, cars will always be parked at the side of the street. Local bylaws state that a parked car on a slope must have the front wheels pointed towards the sidewalk so the car won’t roll if the handbrake fails. As you can see, not everyone obeys that particular piece of legislation!

I can’t remember what building this was, but I was struck by the sheer lines of it, and the grey gloomy and despondent colour. There are no entrances visible and the building seems to grow out of the hillside as if mocking the gradient of the land by standing tall and straight.

PS. Happy Thanksgiving! It’s a normal working day around the rest of the world but the Internet is much quieter now that US visitors are off work, relaxing and enjoying the day!

Aperture ƒ/6.3
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/80s

Wait to cross

Please wait until the green man shows before crossing the street.

I love the shadows on the ground cast by the sun! Shot on St. Patrick’s Bridge, Cork.

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

Cupid’s Arrow in the sunset

The arrow head of Cupid’s Span is caught as a silhouette by the evening sky in San Francisco. The monument sits in Rincon Park and was created by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen to mirror the span of the Bay Bridge nearby.

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

Golden Gate Tower

One of the suspension towers of the Golden Gate Bridge looms over traffic on a beautiful August afternoon.

Driving across the bridge was wonderful because the bridge is such an iconic part of the San Francisco and it’s simply enormous! Maybe next time I’ll walk across it’s 1.7 mile length. If you’re interested in finding out more, the Wikipedia page is a mine of information!

PS. Congrats Mel, Sharon and Alex on the new member of your family!

Aperture ƒ/11
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/250s

Watching from Alcatraz

A small hut on the island of Alcatraz looks out on San Francisco. It looks well preserved and anyone in the hut would have a god view of the city and probably the surrounding coastline up to the Golden Gate Bridge.

Aperture ƒ/10
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 200mm
ISO 100
Shutter speed 1/400s

The Golden Bay Bridge in San Francisco

The Bay Bridge in San Francisco all lit up at night. The lighting on the bridge casts a golden glow over the water that is beautiful to watch and photograph. More on Wikipedia.

Niall Kennedy walked with myself and Bryan Veloso around the Ferry Building on the night before WordCamp and we got some great shots.
You can see the pier to the right of this image here in more detail with a super reflection.

Aperture ƒ/5.6
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 20s

Looking down from on high

Looking down on a street in San Francisco. You wouldn’t want to be afraid of heights walking around on top of a building!

We all want to see what the neighbours are up to and living in a high building is the perfect opportunity of peeping-toms everywhere. You can see all sorts of things – a parasol with lounger across the street, garden furniture, a tree; all invisible from street level.

The postman has been and delivered 100 minicards from moo.com! I ordered 100 duplicates in the order as well so I hope they’re on the way too. I got in touch with their customer service people just in case and am waiting on a reply from them now. Later – I got my reply. The duplicate cards are a separate order and were shipped separately. Should be here in a day or two!

Aperture ƒ/8
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/125s

Steps down to the river

Steps lead down to the River Lee in Cork City. Railing stops people going down them but in times past fishermen and other boat users hauled goods up these steps onto the quays.

This was taken a few yards up the quay from a previous shot.

Technique: To increase the dynamic range of this photo I made copies of the original layer. The bottom of the photo was quite dark and that had to be brightened and the sky was too bright so darkening that helped significantly. I used layer masks to isolate my changes to those areas of the photo that needed it.

The new Digital Journalist is out!

I like this: Ramadan in Beaumont. Love the second image here.

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