A Monkey Attraction

A man walks through Jemaa el-Fnaa in Marrakesh with a monkey on a chain, looking for tourists who will have their photo taken with his companion.

We humans don’t treat animals well.


Apertureƒ/5.6
CameraCanon EOS 40D
Focal length179mm
ISO500
Shutter speed1/200s

Storm Clouds over West Cork

We went for a walk with my aunt one cold December evening in West Cork, doing a loop around the local area with our dog. The sun had dipped below the clouds, but it was still showing a bit of colour in the distance. A very lonely, quiet area, apart from our busy family walking back home, looking forward to a cup of tea and some brown bread.


Apertureƒ/7.1
CameraCanon EOS 40D
Focal length18mm
ISO800
Shutter speed1/25s

Albert Quay in ye olde times

Before the glossy, glass faced building of One Albert Quay, a warehouse and other old, industrial buildings occupied that site. This is what it looked like in 2009. I would guess they were originally part of the train station that sat at that location. The “FREE FIT EXHAUST CENTRE” would have been a familiar sign to anyone who lived in the south side of the city and passed by that area.

The Elysian can be seen in the background, but it was a brand-new building then, having only been completed early in 2008, the previous year!


Apertureƒ/6.3
CameraCanon EOS 40D
Focal length18mm
ISO100
Shutter speed1/100s

The Building of Opera Lane and Boots

A street-level view showing pedestrians walking past Le Chateau Bar, with its distinctive yellow wall mural and outdoor seating area. Behind the bar, the ongoing construction of the steel-framed building is visible, with construction cranes in the background against a blue sky.
A construction site on a rainy day in an urban setting, showing a steel frame structure being built behind blue construction barriers marked "BOWEN." In the foreground is a wet cobblestone street with green bollards, and to the left is a red-painted building with "Murphy's" signage.

You have to go all the way back to 2008 to see the building of Opera Lane., in Cork. Google Maps only goes back to 2009 on Patrick’s Street, where you can see some construction work, but Emmett Place isn’t covered until 2010 when construction had completed.

Turn around and there’s the modern site of Boots on the corner of Paul Street and Half Moon Street.


Apertureƒ/3.5
CameraCanon EOS 40D
Focal length10mm
ISO400
Shutter speed1/1000s

An empty street in Seaside

This is something you won’t see often in The Truman Show, it’s an empty street.

It’s not the same road as the one with the traffic jam in the movie, but it’s similar. It’s surreal walking around the town of Seaside in Florida after seeing The Truman Show.


Apertureƒ/13
CameraCanon EOS 40D
Focal length106mm
ISO400
Shutter speed1/640s

The Blue Lagoon in Iceland

The blue waters of the Blue Lagoon in Iceland. People are swimming in it, while the surrounding landscape is covered in snow. The Svartsengi Geothermal Power Plant can be seen in the background.

In March 2012, I visited Iceland with my team from work and for our activity day we went to the Blue Lagoon for a swim. It was March and, as illustrated by the photos above, snow blanketed the ground, and it was freezing! The water was lovely and warm, and you’d be fine as long as you kept as much of your body in the water as possible!

I’m revisiting this trip today because of the concerning news from Iceland. There have been numerous earthquakes, and magma is building up, only 800m underground and very close to the Blue Lagoon and the Svartsengi Geothermal Power Plant. The ground has risen by 8cm because the magma is pushing it up. The nearby town of Grindavik has been evacuated as a fissure runs through it. Earthquakes have already caused serious structural damage to buildings there.

Data shows the “magma tunnel is significant, and it is approaching the surface” according to this video. The tunnel is about 15km long. It seems likely there will be an eruption very soon.

Edit on December 19th: it finally erupted. You can see it on this live cam. This video shows the vantage point from a helicopter. The erupting fissure is 3.5km long!

Flames erupting from a volcanic eruption in Iceland.
An erupting volcanic fissure with lava spewing out of it.
A map showing the eruption area

Apertureƒ/9
CameraCanon EOS 40D
Focal length18mm
ISO100
Shutter speed1/200s

A Florida Dragonfly

Behind the town of Seaside in Florida lies a lake which no doubt contributes to the humidity during the day there.

Early one morning I photographed this dragonfly resting on the fence on a small pier on the lake. The air was still cool, so the dragonfly was probably still sluggish until the day warmed up.


Apertureƒ/6.3
CameraCanon EOS 40D
Focal length200mm
ISO400
Shutter speed1/400s

Capturing Seaside’s Sunrise Splendor

In Seaside, Florida, a photowalk in September is best enjoyed in the early morning to avoid the oppressive humidity and heat that sets in later in the day. But the silver lining is that this early start allows us to witness the breathtaking sunrise over the Gulf of Mexico, casting a golden glow on the pristine white sandy beach nearby.


Apertureƒ/8
CameraCanon EOS 40D
Focal length48mm
ISO100
Shutter speed1/125s

The Truman House

A sign outside a home in Seaside, Florida, tells the curious passer-by, “The Truman House”. It was used as the home where Truman Burbank lived in the film, The Truman Show.

The house itself sits at 31 Natchez Street in Seaside. I didn’t see anyone about, but then again I walked past at around 8am in the morning before the oppressive heat of the day got too bad.


Apertureƒ/7.1
CameraCanon EOS 40D
Focal length28mm
ISO100
Shutter speed1/80s