The half finished Opera Lane

The new Opera Lane in Cork City separates the gleaming buildings of the new development that was built right in the heart of the city and completed this year. Back in July it was a rugged dirty construction site, and this photo is a fitting end to 2009, and the Noughties. Not much construction work going on anywhere in Ireland now. Just lots of debt.

I’ll post a photo tomorrow, but I’ll be posting every 3 days after that to give myself a little more free time. This blog gets a third of the traffic of Holy Shmoly! yet takes far more time to update. Traffic isn’t the reason why you should blog, but a photoblog is a very public display of creative work by it’s owner. Without feedback from new visitors it’s hard to maintain an enthusiasm for it. The unfortunate thing is that it’s very difficult to attract visitors to a site like this because of the minimal amount of text for search engines to index.
I know myself it’s easy to scan photoblogs in a feedreader. One quick look, and on to the next one. I’m guilty of that myself!

To end on a high note, I’ll have more time to prepare posts, and polish the photos I upload so I hope both are even better next year!

Happy New Year!

Aperture ƒ/4
Camera Canon EOS 40D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 100
Shutter speed 1/500s

Elysian Under Cover

The Elysian, as it was in March 2008, still under construction while the Irish Economy economy fell apart around it.

Aperture ƒ/9
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 100
Shutter speed 1/200s

Academy Street Under Rubble

Academy Street, as it was back in August this year. Construction work has finished since. I wonder if it’ll ever start up again?

Aperture ƒ/4
Camera Canon EOS 40D
Focal length 21mm
ISO 100
Shutter speed 1/1250s

I’m Still Standing

It’s wonderful how some of the old buildings in Cork are preserved while all around them their neighbours are demolished and shiny new edifices rise. This one is of course on Emmett Place.

Aperture ƒ/5.6
Camera Canon EOS 40D
Focal length 18mm
ISO 100
Shutter speed 1/80s

H&M Cork

H&M, one of the larger tenants in the new shopping center being built here on Academy Street.

Aperture ƒ/3.5
Camera Canon EOS 40D
Focal length 18mm
ISO 100
Shutter speed 1/1600s

Dunnes Stores in Ruins

The skeleton of the Dunnes Stores building on Patrick’s Street lies in ruins as building work continued to refurbish it.

Taken in September 2007, Brian took a shot of the building a few days ago in much better state!

Places are still available for the Cork City Photowalk on July 18th! Please leave comments on yesterday’s photowalk post if you have any questions!

Aperture ƒ/4
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/800s

Vehicles Max Height 2.2m

The construction site that was Douglas Shopping Centre’s car park in December 2008. If you go there now you’ll drive up a slope where that digger is and a wall separates where I was standing with the roadway!

Aperture ƒ/4
Camera Canon EOS 40D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 400
Shutter speed 1/20s

Old Couches and Mattresses

Old couches and mattresses lie in the building site that used to be Philip’s building on Cornmarket Street. Remember that big Philip’s sign on the roof of that building? I wonder if I have photos of that sign ..

Aperture ƒ/13
Camera Canon EOS 40D
Focal length 18mm
ISO 400
Shutter speed 1/400s

Penneys from Drawbridge Street

Look carefully. The grey building in the background is Pennys on Patrick Street. This was taken on Drawbridge Street near Aroma. Once construction work commences in this view will be obscured forever.

This is the same site as yesterday’s shot of Dunnes Stores and the JCB, from a different angle.

Aperture ƒ/5
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 48mm
ISO 400
Shutter speed 1/320s

A JCB in Dunnes Stores

Dunnes Stores on Patrick Street, Cork is no more. This is the back of the front of that building which has featured a number of times on my blog.

The whole block is now gone!

Aperture ƒ/5.6
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 88mm
ISO 400
Shutter speed 1/500s

Towering over the Elysian building site

It’s amazing how much this building site has changed in the last few years. This was taken last May. Now if you took this picture much of the sky would be blocked out by the 3 or 4 storey building work on this side of the site.

Aperture ƒ/6.3
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 100
Shutter speed 1/100s

Caroline Street ESB Station

This used to be an electricity switching station for the trams that traveled around Cork city and suburbs many years ago.

This building was the location for Stanley Super 800’s Gatecrashing video many month’s ago. I still have some super shots of the interior to post. I’ll eventually get around to it.. Some time!

Aperture ƒ/6.3
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/320s