The Stars and Stripes on Alcatraz The flag of the United States flies over Alcatraz Island on a windy August day. This was originally a portrait shot but I squared it off to emphasize the vertical and horizontal leading lines. The hydrant is much more prominent in the foreground too. The red rusty texture beloved…

Up up and away Yesterday the Elysian’s tower reached the 18th floor, 72m above sea level and one of the tallest buildings in the country. Apparently St Finbarre’s Cathedral is 75m to it’s central spire but there won’t be a 2400sq ft penthouse at the top of that! While we Irish congratulate ourselves on building…

Buildings in the sky I live in a city where the tallest building is one that will be 17 floors high so when I travel to far off lands it’s always great to see tall skyscrapers looming over the streets. This might bear a striking resemblance to a previous image but it is a different…

Bike Lane Riding a bike anywhere on today’s streets is almost a suicidal pursuit but bike lanes help. Here a bus drove past as I took this shot in an urban tunnel in downtown San Francisco.

Ready to go! You better be good at hill starts if you live in San Francisco! I presume it’s slightly easier with an automatic transmission rather than manual? Highly processed image via multiple tools in the GIMP until I came up with an effect I liked – multiple layers, b/w, gaussian blur, layer modes and…

Alcatraz Flowers The entrance to Alcatraz Prison is up a series of steps near these flowers. I love how they catch the light while the background is in the shade of the prison. After yesterday’s flood of posts it’s nice to get back to the one-a-day habit although I wonder why Technorati hasn’t picked up…

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…

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…

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…

The gulls of Alcatraz Yet another curious seagull on the island of Alcatraz in San Francisco. I think he has a stern, angry look on his face, probably because I disturbed him by waving a camera in his face!

Checking the prisoner “I’m so tired. They’ve had me locked up here for years. I’m in solitary confinement for my sins. I was set up I tell you! It wasn’t me!” A tourist looks in on a cell in Alcatraz in the solitary confinement wing. Luckily I was able to walk out immediately. Not a…