Queen at the Ballet

Queen at the Ballet is a ballet accompanied by the music of Queen. It features an on-stage orchestra, and two charismatic vocalists sing and act as ringmasters for the action on stage. It played for the last two weeks in the Point Theatre, Dublin, Ireland, but it’s moving on now. If the show comes to your city make sure you go!

I’m a big fan of Queen music, so seeing this show was an emotional and amazing experience for me. Jacinta loved it too, soaking up the music and the visuals with me as we were awestruck by the performance! Easily the best show I’ve seen!

Thanks to the generosity of Ken Guest and Aisling and Proinnsias and Sinead we were able to go see the show. We’re still fairly broke so soon after our wedding and I really must thank them sincerely for making this happen!
It was remiss of me to forget another three important people who helped us greatly! Donal and Celine took care of Oscar for the weekend. My sister Mairead helped too, bringing him for a walk in the lovely sunshine! Thank you all!

Photos were taken with my Panasonic FZ5 from about 20m away so please excuse the poor image quality! Besides which, I didn’t feel like using the camera much because I was enjoying the show so much.

Surprisingly, “God Save The Queen”, was part of the show. A performer appeared on-stage waving two tiny Union Jack flags as the orchestra played the anthem of the United Kingdom.

He looked sheepishly out at the audience, put the flags back in his pocket and unfurled the Irish tri-colour waving it about to cheers and applause before wrapping it about himself as the lights went down and the music faded.

Aperture ƒ/3.3
Camera DMC-FZ5
Focal length 24.6mm
ISO 100
Shutter speed 1/30s

Strange on the street

A woman caught in an awkward step by my camera on Oliver Plunkett Street, Cork.

Aperture ƒ/6.3
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/200s

Surreal in the market

A woman walking in the English Market is the perfect subject for a bit of surreal experimentation with the GIMP!

Aperture ƒ/8
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 1600
Shutter speed 1/125s

Running Child

Shortly after my previous shot a little girl ran past me. She had a lovely smile and was obviously enjoying the sun! Her mother brought up the rear at a more sedate pace.

Aperture ƒ/11
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/250s

Begging

Children pass a Romanian woman begging in Cork. She is part of a growing group of gypsies who have come to Ireland as refugees. Unfortunately many of them have realised that Ireland is a land of rich pickings while their application for asylum is processed.

New laws have changed matters but Ireland is still an attractive destination. Statistics available from the Irish Refugee Council show a marked decline since 2002 however.

Ireland is or has been described as the, “land of a thousand welcomes” but you won’t be quite so welcome if you don’t have money to spend. Racism is as rife and widespread as elsewhere.

Aperture ƒ/9
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/160s

Run for the bus!

A bit of an experiment this one. As I walked along Merchant’s Quay this woman and her husband barrelled past. The picture of her husband is simply a blur but I like what I got of her.
The streaky lines are caused by an excessive dodge/burn tool but I like the effect so I left it in. What d’you think?

Photos of the day: Annaweb, NoWords

Aperture ƒ/8
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/125s

Skibbereen or Hospital

A sign in the foreground of the main square in Bantry, Co. Cork. We went to Ahakista eventually!

This is made from one exposure but I had this great looking sky and underexposed buildings and ground detail. To get an even exposure I split the photo using two layers and adjusted the exposure in each accordingly. I’m very happy with my work on this one!

Aperture ƒ/14
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/400s

Moynihan’s Poultry

A long exposure shot in the English Market in the vicinity of one of the many chicken meat shops.

The camera was set to f/8.0 and placed on top of a wall. In this semi-dark passage the exposure was 1/4 second blurring the passing people nicely but capturing the relatively motionless shop keepers.

Aperture ƒ/8
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 100
Shutter speed 1/5s

Kay O’Connell

Kay O’Connell’s is probably the biggest of the fishmongers in the English Market, Cork.

Aperture ƒ/7.1
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 100
Shutter speed 1/2.5s

Handing it over

I expect there are three generations of one family here: grandmother, mother and child. A moment in time captured on Paul Street, Cork.

Aperture ƒ/10
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/250s

Yeah! I’m in town!

A girl on the phone in Dawnt Square Cork, dressed in the height of youth fashion: the obligatory tracksuit!

Aperture ƒ/7.1
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/100s

Mick Flannery at the Spiegeltent

Mick Flannery played to a sold out audience in the Spiegeltent last night. He has an amazing voice, he’s a great song writer and the audience were up in arms crying and shouting for encores at the end of the gig.

The Lynch Mob joined Mick Flannery on stage to the delight of the audience.

Aperture ƒ/5.6
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 106mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/80s