Photography Feeds on WordPress.com

One of the cool things to come out of WordPress.com has been global tags. Everyone who writes articles and posts categorises them in the normal way, but the magic bit is that these posts don’t remain in isolation. They’re added to the tags pool on WordPress.com! Go check out that page now to see what people on the site are talking about.
Even better for us RSS fans, Matt announced this morning that he has created feeds from those tags! I subscribed to the photography and photos feeds immediately, and that’s only the start of it. There are gimp and photoshop tags and a lot more. Just add the keyword to the end of http://wordpress.com/tags/ to sample what people have written. The RSS feed link is at the bottom of the page.
Thanks Matt, now take Sunday off! You deserve a break!

A riot of colour from Peru

One of the more colourful stalls at the open air market during the St Patrick’s Festival in Cork!

Aperture ƒ/3.5
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 18mm
ISO 400
Shutter speed 1/125s

Long Legged Bird

God help anyone who finds this picture through Google. I wonder what they were really looking for!
Matt, any idea what kind of bird this is?
Pictured in the aviary at Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo.

In other news, I received an email from GE Health. My photo of a skateboarder is on their website and will be displayed in Times Square in April!

Aperture ƒ/5
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 155mm
ISO 800
Shutter speed 1/60s

Lion .. King of Lincoln Park Zoo

On the 5th day of our trip to Chicago, Darren took us to Lincoln Park Zoo. I had been there already back in 2003 but this time it was a lot more interesting!
I got some wonderful shots of the animals and birds there, including the human variety who were protesting outside.
Here are two shots of a lion at the zoo. I could describe him as majestic and commanding of presence, but when you see the tiny enclosure they have to live in, it’s hard not to feel pity for them.

Aperture ƒ/5.6
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 240mm
ISO 100
Shutter speed 1/100s

Umm, I won!

Just a few moments ago, I received texts from Darragh, Tom and Ryan to tell me that this blog had won Best Photoblog at the Irish Blog Awards!
It’s a good thing I’m not up there because I don’t know what to say except “thank you” to everyone who voted for me. I honestly didn’t expect to win, not when you see the competition I was up against. Crikey!

Looks like Geared Up is blogging the Awards live, and Irish Blogs is the place to go for more!
Congrats Tom! You won the Best Technology Blogger Award!
I see from Irish Eyes that Roger Galligan won “Best contribution to the Irish Blogosphere” which doesn’t surprise me at all. His Irish Blogs and Cork Blogs sites make all our weblogs much more accessible to new visitors and a central point from which to glean what bloggers in Ireland are talking about!
I voted for ya Roger, congratulations to you and the team! 🙂
More .. pictures on Flickr, and a video of the proceedings too!

Religion isn’t free

A preacher on State Street, just outside Old Navy. I seem to recall he was there way back in 2003 too.
I didn’t listen to anything he said but as I passed he pushed a sheet of paper into my hand. I made to take it but he wanted a quarter for it! In disgust I walked on. I’m not paying for something I won’t read anyway!
Even the guys with megaphones on Patrick Street give their propaganda for free.
A quick search on Google found out more about him: his name is Samuel Chambers, and he is a very youthful looking 66!

Samuel Chambers only wants the best for you.

So, if necessary, he won’t hesitate to tell you that you’re heading straight to hell.

Perhaps he’s told you that very thing as you were heading, instead, straight into the Old Navy store on State and Washington Streets to buy inexpensive summer tank tops. He’s the compact man, about 5 feet 6 inches with a thin moustache, dressed in a double-breasted suit and tie, holding a microphone out front on the sidewalk.

And finally, here’s a man who’ll give him a “big ol’ French kiss” the next time he walks by. “Pucker up” indeed!

Aperture ƒ/5.6
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 55mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/40s

On the beach at Youghal

Last weekend we visited Youghal in Co. Cork. I haven’t been on the beach there for years and I had quite forgotten how big it is! It was nice for a walk, but we were frozen from the cold wind.
I was just in town. Big Brother were supposed to hold auditions from 9am on the Grand Parade but there was no sign of them. Still, I used the opportunity to buy flowers and they went down very well with Jacinta! 🙂

Aperture ƒ/8
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 88mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/200s

People who noticed

Sometimes I do the right thing, take a nice photo, touch it up in a pleasing way, and I present it here and it draws the attention of a few kind souls who comment on it and maybe even talk about it on their own blogs, forums and sites. Sometimes they even say nice things about me! Here’s a few I noticed recently:

And in no particular order, here are the photoblogs I visit each day. This list is getting longer daily but these blogs publish photos that will inspire you! Many of them have appeared in the Photoblogs.org hot list, and that’s a very good starting point for finding good photoblogs. Other blogs belong to people who have left a comment here.
c h r o m a s i a | [daily dose of imagery] | Exuvia.net | DailySnap.com | s i m p l y l o t u s | AnnaWeb PhotoBlog | John Washington | Round Here | Movement4 | MUTE – Photoblog | { just photo } | IPlog | DjMagras Photos | caps:photo | Pulpo | panhandlin’ | captured4life | HeadphoneLand | Gabriela Cravo e Canela | Iced Coffee | Macro Art In Nature | Photogranny | NoWords | chromalark | Gareth Marlow’s Photo Blog | every so often | jxiong | Cozmo Photography Fotoblog | neverhappen.com | A Walk Through Durham Township, Pennsylvania | fotoecco | your waitress photos | Learning to see | joe’s nyc | paxtonprints.com
If your blog isn’t there, and you’ve left a comment here, it’s because you don’t post a new photo every day, you’re in my aggregator, or I just haven’t got around to adding you to my bookmarks!
While I’m here, say hi to the following Cork Photo bloggers:

  • Donal posts photos from gigs he goes to on a regular basis!
  • Robert just recently started blogging.
  • Ryan, like me, has been around as long as the hills! Bloody marvelous photographer too!
  • Corksurf posts photos a semi-regular basis, but I’m hoping he’ll post more regularly because he’s posted some great shots so far!