Tag Archives: flag

Heroes of the Sea

The RNLI flag flies in Ballycotton Harbour.

The RNLI operates one of Ireland’s busiest lifeboat stations at Ballycotton, which launched 57 times in 2023 alone, rescuing 49 people and assisting 67 others. The station operates an all-weather lifeboat capable of handling the most challenging sea conditions off the Cork coast. Ballycotton RNLI has a proud history dating back to 1858, and the station’s crews have been awarded numerous medals for gallantry, including gold medals for particularly heroic rescues. The RNLI is a charity that relies entirely on voluntary donations and is crewed by unpaid volunteers who undergo extensive training to perform rescues in some of the most dangerous maritime conditions around the British and Irish coasts.


Apertureƒ/8
CameraILCE-7RM5
Focal length110mm
ISO125
Shutter speed1/250s

Standing for Palestine in Cork

A man carrying a Palestinian flag after the protest rally last weekend. I met him on Nano Nagle Bridge, and he said he comes in whenever he can, to join the weekly rally against the ongoing genocide in Gaza.


Apertureƒ/2.8
CameraILCE-7RM5
Focal length24mm
ISO100
Shutter speed1/3200s

Under a Turkish Sky

We visited the Çamlıca Tepesi yl (Çamlıca Hill) in Istanbul last week. It’s a hill on the eastern side of the city. There is a huge Turkish flag flying from a massively tall flagpole, and you can see out over the Asian side of the city from the nearby park. The city just seems to go on and on.

Thanks, Peter, for showing me the yellow lines on the ground make for good leading lines. I’d originally shot this much closer to the taxi.

See where I took this photo on Google Maps here.


Apertureƒ/2.2
CameraGalaxy S23 Ultra
Focal length2.2mm
ISO50
Shutter speed1/2900s

A little Polish Flag

As we were waiting for a train to take us to the old town of Warsaw, another train pulled up with a little Polish flag stuck in the bumper. It was August 1st, so no wonder. A pretty important day in that city because of the uprising 80 years ago.


Apertureƒ/3.5
CameraILCE-7RM5
Focal length24mm
ISO100
Shutter speed1/1000s

The Cork Pride Flag

One of the (many) highlights of the Cork Pride parade is the massive rainbow flag that accompanies the marchers through the city. It was unfurled on Grand Parade where a jubilant crowd carried it and waved it in preparation for the trip around the city. I noticed a bump in the middle, and saw the reason underneath. 🙂


Apertureƒ/8
CameraILCE-7RM5
Focal length24mm
ISO500
Shutter speed1/6400s

Chicago Board of Trade

The Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) is the world’s oldest futures and options exchange. It was established in 1848 and since 1930 has operated out of this building on 141 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago according to this Wikipedia page.

Possible Batman “The Dark Knight” spoilers ahead. Don’t read on if you’re going to watch the movie!
Continue reading “Chicago Board of Trade”

Aperture ƒ/13
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 41mm
ISO 800
Shutter speed 1/250s

The rebel flag in Ballycotton

The Cork County colours fly on the quay at Ballycotton Harbour in Co. Cork in 2006. I’ve been looking at this image for so long I’m almost certain I must have uploaded it but it’s been sitting in my output folder for all this time!

Aperture ƒ/14
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 100
Shutter speed 1/400s

St. Patrick’s Day is for the kids


St. Patrick’s Day is for the kids

A young girls waves her Irish flag in the air after spotting part of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Cork approaching.

I shot several decent shots but it’s late and I’m tired. I was quite disappointed with the parade and left after half an hour. Like previous years there were huge gaps between some of the groups partaking in the parade.

It was strange to see the Special Olympics group striding up Patrick’s Street all alone with no other group in sight. They proudly showed off their medals and the crowd cheered and clapped for them. I’ll have a photo of them up here later in the week.

Aperture ƒ/10
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 125mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/320s

Horgans of Blarney


Horgans of Blarney

The Irish flag flies outside Horgans of Blarney, a souvenir shop in the village.

Despite the fact that it’s between the butcher’s and a pub, I’ve never been in there. I doubt most locals have been.

Still, nice to see the flags waving!

Aperture ƒ/7.1
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 18mm
ISO 100
Shutter speed 1/125s