dramatic sky – In Photos dot Org

Another One Bites the Crust

Meet London’s most successful entrepreneur. This seagull has cornered the market on prime real estate with a view. Perched on the Millennium Bridge like it owns the place, this feathered opportunist represents everything brilliant about urban wildlife adaptation. While Freddie Mercury sang about another one biting the dust, this gull’s motto is clearly “another one bites the crust”, and judging by its confident posture, business is booming.

From this vantage point, our avian overlord can survey the entire pedestrian buffet streaming across the bridge below. Dropped sandwiches, abandoned chips, and tourist snacks are all fair game in the urban food chain. Those gleaming towers in the background might house London’s financial elite, but this bird has figured out a more direct route to success: position yourself where the food comes to you.

Aperture	ƒ/9
Camera	ILCE-7RM5
Focal length	122mm
ISO	160
Shutter speed	1/500s

Ghosts on the Millennium Bridge

The Millennium Bridge has always been a bit of a drama queen – first it wobbled so much they had to shut it down, and now it’s serving up some of the most atmospheric shots in London.

This long exposure captures something almost supernatural about the daily pilgrimage across the Thames, with ghostly figures drifting like spirits between the sleek modernity of Norman Foster’s steel and glass creation and the timeless majesty of Wren’s baroque masterpiece. The blurred pedestrians become streams of human consciousness, each person’s journey reduced to ethereal wisps against the solid certainty of St. Paul’s dome.

The Millennium Bridge earned the nickname “Wobbly Bridge” because it swayed so dramatically when it first opened in 2000 that it had to be closed after just three days. The problem was “synchronous lateral excitation” – when large crowds walked in step, their footfalls created a resonance that made the bridge sway side to side by up to 7 centimetres, causing people to walk in sync to compensate, which only made the wobbling worse.

Photography videos I’ve watched recently:

Aperture	ƒ/8
Camera	ILCE-7RM5
Focal length	41mm
ISO	100
Shutter speed	5s

A Storm Gathering Over Kerry’s Fear Marbh

Storm clouds gathered on an August evening on the Dingle Peninsula. I was hoping for a nice sunset, and the sun briefly appeared, but this was a few minutes later. Strong winds started to blow and I had to hold on to my tripod to stop the camera from shaking and potentially falling over!

Aperture	ƒ/8
Camera	ILCE-7RM5
Focal length	112mm
ISO	100
Shutter speed	1/1.3s

Driftwood at Owenahincha

Last night Blarney Photography Club travelled to Owenahincha Beach to do some seascapes. We hoped to do some Milky Way photography later in the evening too but cloud cover got thicker and after some socialising in the nearby Celtic Ross Hotel we went home.

Aperture	ƒ/8
Camera	ILCE-7RM5
Focal length	24mm
ISO	100
Shutter speed	2s

An Fear Marbh at Sunset

It looked like there wouldn’t be any sunset, but I was down at the bottom of Dunquin Pier when I saw an orange glow coming from behind the large rock blocking my view of the sun that had just set.

If you know how steep that path down to the pier is, I hope you’ll have some sympathy for me as I raced up again to capture what turned out to be a momentary break in the thick clouds. I was surprised I saw any colour in the sky!

Aperture	ƒ/8
Camera	ILCE-7RM5
Focal length	42mm
ISO	100
Shutter speed	1/8s

Sunset Fishing at Ballycotton Pier

Four fishermen silhouetted against golden sunset sky while angling from Ballycotton pier with layered clouds and reflected light on water, County Cork

A series of photos showing men fishing off the pier at Ballycotton, Co Cork a couple of weeks ago. It was a beautiful evening. Lovely time to be there.

Evening fishing scene showing silhouetted anglers on Ballycotton pier with dramatic storm clouds gathering overhead and village buildings visible in background, County Cork

Sunset fishing at Ballycotton pier with harbour crane silhouetted against dramatic sky, anglers casting lines as sun sets over the water, County Cork

Aperture	ƒ/8
Camera	ILCE-7RM5
Focal length	24mm
ISO	100
Shutter speed	1/320s

Anglers Under Ballycotton’s Big Sky

There were 6 or 7 people fishing in Ballycotton. Most were standing on the pier, but these two had climbed up on the pier wall. Judging by the bag of fish they had, it was a good choice of location.

Aperture	ƒ/8
Camera	ILCE-7RM5
Focal length	24mm
ISO	100
Shutter speed	1/160s

Ballycotton’s Spectacular Sky

The golden hour at sunset is spectacular but I love the amazing colours you might be lucky to see after the sun has set. Such happened on Thursday night in Ballycotton. This is a panoramic photo of several photos stitched together to make one larger one. The dark, dramatic cloud was too wide for my lens, but even though it was dark, handheld panoramas are possible these days if you’re careful.

The phenomenon captured in this photograph occurs when the sun has set below the observer’s horizon but continues to illuminate high-altitude clouds from below, creating dramatic lighting effects known as “alpenglow” or “afterglow.” This effect is particularly pronounced in coastal areas like Ballycotton, where the unobstructed western horizon allows for clear sunset views, while high clouds moving in from the Atlantic provide the perfect canvas for these spectacular post-sunset displays. The pink and purple colours result from the way the atmosphere scatters different wavelengths of light, with longer wavelengths (reds and pinks) penetrating further through the atmosphere to reach the high clouds even after the sun has disappeared from view.

Aperture	ƒ/8
Camera	ILCE-7RM5
Focal length	24mm
ISO	100
Shutter speed	1/13s

Purple Skies Over Ballycotton

I was in Ballycotton last night on an outing with Blarney Photography Club. Our summer outings are a highlight of the year and always a nice social event for all involved.

When we got there, it was a nice evening, and I hoped there would be a nice sunset, and there was, but after the sun set, the sky lit up in a spectacular way. Fishermen were nearby, providing a nice silhouette for my photo.

We had hoped to photograph the Moon as it rose beyond the lighthouse there, but a thick band of cloud prevented us from seeing it until it was far off to the side. Maybe another day.

Aperture	ƒ/8
Camera	ILCE-7RM5
Focal length	27mm
ISO	100
Shutter speed	1/10s

A Storm Brewing

Cows waiting to be milked in a field near the Coachford Greenway. It’s a lovely walk along the River Lee, opposite Farran Woods.

I had an umbrella, and it was a good thing too, as it started raining about ten minutes later.

Aperture	ƒ/8
Camera	ILCE-7RM5
Focal length	240mm
ISO	250
Shutter speed	1/500s