A simple sunrise this morning. Two birds sitting on an ariel high up over the house had a great vantage point of the lovely colours in the sky.
| Aperture | ƒ/1.9 |
| Camera | M2101K6G |
| Focal length | 5.89mm |
| ISO | 96 |
| Shutter speed | 1/100s |
Crisp, golden and orange leaves on an Autumn morning are coated in frost.
| Aperture | ƒ/5 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 6D |
| Focal length | 20mm |
| ISO | 100 |
| Shutter speed | 1/60s |
Some photos are special, not because they’re wonderful photos, composed well, with striking colours or lovely contrast. The best photos are the ones that make your heart sing.
The cat on the left who is looking at me is Mommy Cat, the matriarch of all the cats we’ve adopted in this home of ours. The one annoying her is her son, Patches. There’s a whole series of photos here with Mommy Cat looking at me while her tail swishes up and way from Patches’ paws.
The photos were taken in 2009. They’re not great. They are a bit blurry because the exposure wasn’t fast enough for a long lens. Thanks to the modern AI tech in Topaz Photo AI I was able to sharpen it a little and present it here.
Mommy Cat is still with us. She’s an elderly cat now. Her fur was very matted on her back but in the past 2 years she has started sleeping in the kitchen. We managed to get her to the vet on Thursday, her first visit since being neutered, and they shaved her, and removed two bad molars. Only her head, her paws, and the end of her tail have any fur. But, SHE IS STRONG. She has a massive appetite. She’s on pain relief and antibiotics. She is a lot more agile than before, as the matted fur isn’t pulling at her. She is curled up on a couch now, where she couldn’t jump before, with one of the dog’s blankets on her.
So, I wanted to share a photo of Mommy Cat today, #Caturday. She is amazing.
| Aperture | ƒ/5.6 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 40D |
| Focal length | 300mm |
| ISO | 100 |
| Shutter speed | 1/125s |
A little robin looks off to the left in the grounds of Blarney Castle last November. They’re a friendly bird.
If you want more, take a look at the fabulous robin photos that BathNature is posting and follow them!
I think my Blarney Castle membership expires today. I’m uncertain if I’ll renew it as it’s expensive, and I barely used it at all in the past 12 months.
| Aperture | ƒ/6.3 |
| Camera | ILCE-7M3 |
| Focal length | 240mm |
| ISO | 10000 |
| Shutter speed | 1/250s |
An old photo of Diego from a few years back when he was dressed up as Santa. He’s used to wearing coats and I think he looks adorable in this one!
| Aperture | ƒ/1.8 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 6D |
| Focal length | 50mm |
| ISO | 1600 |
| Shutter speed | 1/50s |
Twelve years ago today, it had snowed heavily in Blarney. I took Oscar out for a walk that morning and brought my camera along because of the snow!
I don’t think he really minded the cold, but he was always happy to get home, snow or not!
| Aperture | ƒ/10 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 40D |
| Focal length | 10mm |
| ISO | 100 |
| Shutter speed | 1/125s |
First up is Hoppy. She’s around 13 and only has three legs but she’s a fast mover. In the past she didn’t mind the cold but now she likes to avoid it.
Here’s Mommy Cat. She’s Hoppy’s mom.
She’s around 16 as best we can guess, as she was around for a few years before she brought her kittens in to us.
For years, she would never come into the house, but now she spends 99% of the day inside, asleep. She doesn’t go any further than the garden now.
We can’t touch her as she’ll take a swipe at us if we do, but we still love her.
Then there’s Diego, our chihuahua. He was 8 this year. A middle aged dog with a special diet and who absolutely loves cuddles.
The cats and him sort of ignore each other, but if the cats get a treat, Diego makes sure that we know he wants one too.
It’s so very cold outside but Hoppy, Mommy Cat and Diego are inside in the warmth and putting up with me taking photos of them.
| Aperture | ƒ/2.8 |
| Camera | ILCE-7M3 |
| Focal length | 24mm |
| ISO | 20000 |
| Shutter speed | 1/60s |
Spider webs covered in a thick frost this morning in my back garden. It is cold outside!
| Aperture | ƒ/2.4 |
| Camera | SM-G998B |
| Focal length | 9mm |
| ISO | 800 |
| Shutter speed | 1/35s |
Hoppy, one of our cats, loves the luxury of having multiple beds she can lie in around the house.
Actually, all our animals can do that. Diego, our chihuahua, certainly takes advantage of that, laying himself down near whomever he wants to be with at any one time.
Animals in this house are spoiled? Whatever made you think that?
| Aperture | ƒ/2.4 |
| Camera | SM-G998B |
| Focal length | 9mm |
| ISO | 640 |
| Shutter speed | 1/35s |
A few weeks ago, I visited Blarney Castle to take some photos of the Autumn colours. Unfortunately the light was dull, and the ground was wet, but I had my tripod with me, so I set it up for some long exposure shots.
After a few minutes of that, I noticed a flicker out of the corner of my eye. I spotted a robin almost right in front of me! He was literally standing on the large log next to the mushrooms I was photographing. And of course, my camera settings were completely wrong to photograph him. In the 10 seconds it took me to swivel the camera around, fiddle with the settings and look up again, he was flying off to a nearby tree. This time I got a couple of shots of him, and then his friend approached and landed on the ground right by my feet! This time I was ready!
Why do settings change so much? In low light, you have to amplify the light hitting the camera sensor. Sort of like turning up the volume. You know how if you turn the volume up really high you’ll get distortion and crackling (and a headache and sore ears), the same thing happens with cameras. The best quality photo comes when the volume (called ISO for cameras) is turned down to a “normal value” but then it takes longer for the camera to “hear” an image. Damn, I’m straining an analogy here. For most cameras, that’s 100. This photo was taken at ISO 12800 and the only reason you don’t see lots of crackling (noise) is because of the magic of software called Topaz Photo AI. A previous ISO 100 image took a whole 1 second to make a photo. This robin photo was 1/160 of a second. He wasn’t going to hang around long!
| Aperture | ƒ/11 |
| Camera | ILCE-7M3 |
| Focal length | 240mm |
| ISO | 65535 |
| Shutter speed | 1/160s |
Who rules this house? The animals do! Diego, our tiny chihuahua, sits in a bed sometimes claimed by one of our cats, Hoppy. She was very unhappy that Diego was in there. He’s the king of all he sees.
Isn’t he handsome in his new jacket? It’s lovely and warm and made with love by Jo!
| Aperture | ƒ/2.4 |
| Camera | SM-G998B |
| Focal length | 9mm |
| ISO | 640 |
| Shutter speed | 1/35s |
Blarney Castle, as seen through the rock they set up in the grounds below the Castle. Not a great shot, but one to mark off the list.
| Aperture | ƒ/16 |
| Camera | ILCE-7M3 |
| Focal length | 32mm |
| ISO | 100 |
| Shutter speed | 1/200s |