Turning Circle of the QE2

The Queen Elizabeth 2 took several minutes to turn in the harbour outside Cobh in Co Cork. Plenty of spectators watching from boats as the sun started to sink behind the horizon.

Aperture ƒ/7.1
Camera Canon EOS 40D
Focal length 40mm
ISO 100
Shutter speed 1/80s

Push the Car!

A modified car is pushed down Pana by the driver’s friends and a helpful passerby. When the engine finally coughed into life the oversize exhaust pipe emitted a very loud roar and his friends jumped in and sped off.

My wife Jacinta passed her driving test today. She drove us to the test center in Wilton, and even though I did my test years ago I couldn’t help but feel nervous. I think everyone who steps inside that single story building probably feels the same.

Remember your driving test? I remember a bus broke down right in front of me that I had to overtake. When I was asked to reverse around a corner a learner driver appeared and proceeded to reverse around the same corner. Twice!
After the second go, my tester urged me, “Quick, get around the corner before he comes back!”

Luckily I passed.

PS. Will Knott is spending a Sunday in St. James Cancer Unit in Dublin. They’re going to hold a fundraiser. They’re still looking for volunteers to photograph the event so please get in touch if you can spare a few hours on a Sunday afternoon.

Aperture ƒ/3.5
Camera Canon EOS 40D
Focal length 18mm
ISO 400
Shutter speed 1/200s

Thumbs up on Pana!

If you see a photographer on the street be sure to give him a big thumbs up, he’ll take a photo of you and publish it on the Internet!

Aperture ƒ/3.5
Camera Canon EOS 40D
Focal length 18mm
ISO 400
Shutter speed 1/320s

Last of the Construction Workers

Recession, recession, re… The R Word. Construction workers on the site of the new shopping center in Cork City on Patrick’s Street. I walked past this entrance a few times and the guy in the blue jumper was standing in the same place, watching me each time. Scary.

Aperture ƒ/3.5
Camera Canon EOS 40D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 400
Shutter speed 1/500s

Innards of the Building

The old Dunnes Stores building on Patrick’s Street in Cork is keeping it’s old style and attractive front facade. Phew. I still think it’s odd how a building site juts out behind it though.

PS. The nominations form for the Irish Blog Awards is now open. If you feel it deserves it, I’d be very grateful if you would nominate this blog in the “Best Photoblog” section. Like last year, I’m not going to stick a huge “vote for me” link on the blog and this is the only mention of the awards I’ll make.

Aperture ƒ/3.5
Camera Canon EOS 40D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 400
Shutter speed 1/500s

Smiles all around

The smiling attractive face of a model appeared on the hoarding surrounding the building site that is Dunnes Stores in Cork several months ago. It hasn’t had much of an effect on all however.

Aperture ƒ/5
Camera Canon EOS 40D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 100
Shutter speed 1/60s

Gavin

Dunnes Stores in the centre of Cork City is being rebuilt as part of a major development. This is the first in a series of photos I’ll publish over the next few days.

This was taken very close to this photo shot about 10 months before!

Aperture ƒ/8
Camera Canon EOS 40D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 400
Shutter speed 1/160s

Singing

One of the carol singers featured a few days ago singing her heart out on Patrick’s Street, Cork.

Aperture ƒ/5.6
Camera Canon EOS 40D
Focal length 162mm
ISO 800
Shutter speed 1/125s

Pentax

Camera straps say so much about you. Mine says “Canon”. What does your strap say? Nikon? Sony?

My dad used to shoot with a Pentax SLR for years so I have fond memories of the brand. I’m curious about their DSLRs. Anyone have one?

Aperture ƒ/4
Camera Canon EOS 40D
Focal length 21mm
ISO 1600
Shutter speed 1/800s

Carol Singers

Carol singers on Patrick’s Street yesterday. It’s nice to see carollers again. It seems they haven’t been out much in previous years but this year I spotted 3 groups dotted around the city streets singing their hearts out.

So, yesterday I said that Pat Phelan’s generosity giving away a phone, a 20″ LCD screen and a broadband dongle had inspired me to do something similar.
I can’t afford to be as generous, but I can perhaps offer a nice personal new year’s gift for 2 lucky visitors to my blog. As you may know I’m a member of RedBubble and I have a small portfolio on that site. I’ve only sold 5 prints off there making for a grand profit of 33 Euro so it’s a good thing I have a day job to fall back on.

What I would like to do is offer 2 people who comment on this post a print of (almost) any image(*) on this blog! On Tuesday afternoon I’ll pick two winners. The first winner will get a mounted print (example) worth $84.38, and the second will get a laminated print (example) worth $40.38. All prices are in US Dollars, and I’ll pay for post and packing too. Each print is up to 12″x18″ in size.

So, leave a comment on this post with your name and email address to be in with a chance to win. There’s no need to mention what print you want in the comment. All I ask of the winners is that they email me a photo of the image hanging on their wall. I’d love to see that!

* Some images are too cropped and small to print to a reasonable size.

Aperture ƒ/3.5
Camera Canon EOS 40D
Focal length 18mm
ISO 400
Shutter speed 1/250s