Christmas Lights and Light Trails

A scooter swerved in front of my camera just as I took a photo of Oliver Plunkett Street tonight. I wonder if it was the rider’s intention to ruin the photo, but they made it much better. 🙂

Thanks Henry for organising the night out!


Apertureƒ/14
CameraILCE-7RM5
Focal length61mm
ISO100
Shutter speed3.2s

It snowed this morning

It snowed for the first time this winter in Blarney. It was raining so, at least around here, the snow didn’t settle on the roads. All the snow is gone by this stage, but it’s cold out. Hopefully, the wet ground doesn’t freeze.

Raw and Edit

Apertureƒ/1.8
CameraILCE-7RM5
Focal length75mm
ISO2500
Shutter speed1/15s

The October ’24 Aurora

Yesterday, I noticed that Henry was warning us (in Blarney Photography Club) that there was likely going to be a great display of aurora borealis that night. I’m recovering from a cold, so I was just going to stay in and watch TV, which I did. Nothing was going to get me out into the cold night.

I woke up this morning around 2am and saw a message from my sister where she sent on a fabulous photo of the aurora in the sky over her home. Already feeling FOMO, that was the last straw and I got out of bed and drove down to the River Martin walk to photograph the sky silhouetted by the hills on either side. I hoped there would be some sort of reflection in the water of the pool, but it wasn’t strong enough.

I should have gone home then, but I’m glad I drove up to Waterloo Church and you can see some of the photos I took there too.

The temperature had dropped from 2.5C to 0.5C in the time I was out and my camera battery had gone from 57% to 0%, and a torch battery had succumbed to the cold too.

To my eyes, I could see a green glow, but the pink and purple were only really visible in the photos. I could make out the red in the sky behind the church, though. A remarkable display.

There’s a good chance of more aurora tonight. I need to lie down now for a nap. zzzz


Apertureƒ/2.8
CameraILCE-7RM5
Focal length24mm
ISO640
Shutter speed60s