I was there too
Snow fell last night in Ireland and everything came to a halt as people all over the country gasped in wonder at the strange white stuff on the ground. Thankfully it looks like it won’t last. We’re not equipped to deal with this sort of weather at all!
Blarney Castle opened later than usual but the paths were all cleared so of course I had to go tramping away in the snow covered grass..
| Aperture | ƒ/11 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 6D |
| Focal length | 24mm |
| ISO | 100 |
| Shutter speed | 1/50s |
Crows sitting through the snow falling in Blarney a few minutes ago.
| Aperture | ƒ/8 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 6D |
| Focal length | 105mm |
| ISO | 8000 |
| Shutter speed | 1/160s |
If you go down to Blarney Castle now you’ll see 30,000 daffodils blooming in the beautiful gardens there. In my last post I joked that the daffodils were confused but it’s a plant that flowers early and tolerates the cold so it’s perfect for this time of year.
Be sure to check out Ferbal O’Callaghan’s beautiful photo of the daffodils too and check out the Friends of Blarney Castle Facebook group where there are more pictures and information.
There’s also the SodShow interview with Paul O’Sullivan and Adam Whitbourn of Blarney Gardens here and here if you want to know more about the gardens there.
| Aperture | ƒ/8 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 6D |
| Focal length | 105mm |
| ISO | 160 |
| Shutter speed | 1/160s |
There are some confused daffodils in Blarney Castle this year, out in January! I hope the rest of January is mild enough for them.
I posted a similar photo on Instagram a few hours ago, just in case you’re getting a strange sense of déjà vu.
| Aperture | ƒ/8 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 6D |
| Focal length | 45mm |
| ISO | 320 |
| Shutter speed | 1/125s |
I suspect Hoppy saw Santa last night as she was extra happy this morning!
Leaves fallen on the ground near Blarney Castle, Cork.
| Aperture | ƒ/8 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 6D |
| Focal length | 17mm |
| ISO | 100 |
| Shutter speed | 1/125s |
Poor Santa, he’s a little worse for wear around this time of year. He’s so busy.
| Aperture | ƒ/2.2 |
| Camera | SM-G900F |
| Focal length | 4.8mm |
| ISO | 40 |
| Shutter speed | 1/560s |
A member of An Garda Síochána directed traffic in Blarney last night when Santa visited and the lights were turned on in the village.
This is a long exposure zoomed shot, of about one second duration with the flash firing at the end of the exposure.
To replicate:
If you’ve timed it right the flash will fire when you’re zoomed in right. They’ll be lit by the flash and any background lights will appear as streaks going towards them. It’s hard to get right and not overexpose your subject so keep practising!
| Aperture | ƒ/13 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 6D |
| Focal length | 20mm |
| ISO | 100 |
| Shutter speed | 1s |
I discovered there’s an apple tree on the Waterloo Road near Blarney recently when I spotted apples on the road while out walking.
Originally I thought I’d post this as a bright colourful photo but then I wanted to show off the texture of the fruit against the rough, stony surface of the road. Black and white would be perfect for that. Apologies for the blown out highlights, this was taken with my phone which does a great job but you can only do so much with Jpeg files.
| Aperture | ƒ/2.2 |
| Camera | SM-G900F |
| Focal length | 4.8mm |
| ISO | 40 |
| Shutter speed | 1/190s |
Red fruit from a tree in the grounds of Blarney Castle. I have no idea what tree they come from as the name plate on the trunk is far below the wall where I photographed them.
I’ll update the post when I find out!
I found out that they’re called “Cornus kousa” thanks to Adam Whitburn who works in the gardens.
It’s Cornus kousa. Some people call it the Szechuan strawberry although it certainly doesn’t taste like one!
| Aperture | ƒ/2.2 |
| Camera | SM-G900F |
| Focal length | 4.8mm |
| ISO | 40 |
| Shutter speed | 1/35s |
Suspicious eyes watch us through a fence in the grounds of Blarney Castle about a month ago.
PS. No watermark. Photo is CC anyway.
| Aperture | ƒ/2.2 |
| Camera | SM-G900F |
| Focal length | 4.8mm |
| ISO | 40 |
| Shutter speed | 1/210s |
The red lights of a passing car streak across this photo taken in front of Christy’s in Blarney over the weekend.
The photo was a long exposure of 8 seconds, at f/4, ISO 100. I was shooting in manual mode and made sure the scene was under exposed by at least a stop. As f/4 was my widest aperture the lens captured as much of the red light as it could.
I took numerous shots of this scene and was bent over my camera (with my wallet under the lens to angle it upwards) so long that a woman came over asking if I had lost anything!
| Aperture | ƒ/4 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 6D |
| Focal length | 17mm |
| ISO | 100 |
| Shutter speed | 8s |
