I was there too
This was the derelict site of the demolished tax office in Cork, but back in February 2019.
What difference 6 years? Nothing really except they’ve removed the rubble. It’s still an ugly eye sore. They really should have put a park there if they’re not going to do anything with it.
| Aperture | ƒ/8 |
| Camera | ILCE-7M3 |
| Focal length | 16mm |
| ISO | 125 |
| Shutter speed | 1/40s |
Sitting on that bench must be awkward, or you’d have to be very friendly with whoever you’re sitting next to.
| Aperture | ƒ/9 |
| Camera | ILCE-7RM5 |
| Focal length | 26mm |
| ISO | 100 |
| Shutter speed | 1/250s |
In July 2022, I was in Llafranc and wondered if I’d be able to photograph the Milky Way. Dark skies maps of the area showed glowing lights all along the coast, and it seemed unlikely, but I wandered down to the beach one night to try. I was pleased with the result because there was no way I could see anything like this with my bare eyes! There was too much light around.
| Aperture | ƒ/4 |
| Camera | ILCE-7M3 |
| Focal length | 16mm |
| ISO | 6400 |
| Shutter speed | 20s |
I had some fun in Bantry today, experimenting with a new exposure mode I haven’t really used in the past, Spot Highlight. I came across it in this video made by Sean Tucker. In this mode, the camera will expose for the highlights, sacrificing shadow detail to make sure that bright areas contain detail and aren’t over-exposed.
Luckily, the sky was clear, and it was a lovely day in Bantry, so there were plenty of highlights and shadows.
The histograms of such images showed most of the data was in the shadows, for obvious reason. There were usually plenty of dark areas in those images.
I tested the new adaptive profiles in Lightroom Classic on this image too, but it brightened the shadows in a way I didn’t want it to. Luckily, you can reduce the “Amount” slider, so the effect is reduced.
I used Lightroom’s native noise reduction “enhancement” which generated a 64MB DNG from a 69MB RAW file. I was delighted when I converted that to a 3.6MB lossy DNG, and I was still able to use the adaptive colour profile!
This photo was taken inside a lovely shop called Meara & Morley in Bantry. My wife loved it. I think we’ll be returning in the future!
| Aperture | ƒ/4 |
| Camera | ILCE-7RM5 |
| Focal length | 24mm |
| ISO | 100 |
| Shutter speed | 1/1250s |
It’s a commonly held belief that Americans don’t know how to drive around roundabouts, but when I visited that country last year (in the before times), I saw at least 2 roundabouts and local people had no problems traversing them.
Good luck getting around them in a monstrosity like the Cybertruck however.
| Aperture | ƒ/2.4 |
| Camera | SM-G998B |
| Focal length | 9mm |
| ISO | 50 |
| Shutter speed | 1/1400s |
The Silesian Insurgents’ Monument in Katowice, Poland stands next to a roundabout and a large building called KTW and The Spodek. KTW was only completed in 2022, and if you look at the city in Google Maps you’ll see a construction site there.
The monument was erected in 1967.
| Aperture | ƒ/8 |
| Camera | ILCE-7RM5 |
| Focal length | 24mm |
| ISO | 250 |
| Shutter speed | 8s |
I spotted this stunning Siamese Cat in the town of Garachico in Tenerife recently. He was wandering across the street near the Plaza Juan González de la Torre.
Despite my calling him, he just walked on up the street, ignoring me, but he did give one look back as he walked past some rubbish bins, and out of sight.
| Aperture | ƒ/6.3 |
| Camera | ILCE-7RM5 |
| Focal length | 240mm |
| ISO | 1250 |
| Shutter speed | 1/500s |
An anonymous man in a suit at the Dingle Races a few years ago. I’m pretty sure he was sucking a lollipop.
| Aperture | ƒ/1.9 |
| Camera | M2101K6G |
| Focal length | 5.89mm |
| ISO | 56 |
| Shutter speed | 1/500s |
In a field behind Wine Strand on the Dingle Peninsula, I spotted some hay bales. The sun had already set, but the sky wasn’t very interesting. The lay of the land cast an interesting shadow and I like photographing bales whenever I see them.
| Aperture | ƒ/8 |
| Camera | ILCE-7M3 |
| Focal length | 24mm |
| ISO | 100 |
| Shutter speed | 1/250s |
Last Sunday, the first Sunday in February, was a glorious one. The sun shone out of an almost cloudless sky. It was cold, but the sun brought the crowds, and there were cars parked all along the coast road, from the hotel to the nearby car park at the other end of the beach.
| Aperture | ƒ/8 |
| Camera | ILCE-7RM5 |
| Focal length | 62mm |
| ISO | 160 |
| Shutter speed | 1/500s |
Adi Roche, the founder and voluntary CEO of Chernobyl Children International, was a prominent figure in Irish media for many years, tirelessly advocating for children affected by the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Her passionate commitment to this cause left an indelible mark on countless Irish people, including myself when she visited my school in the early 1990s. Her presence was inspiring, leaving us all in awe of her dedication and humanitarian spirit.
In 2004 I photographed her on a float during the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Cork. She may have been the Marshall that year, perhaps?
| Aperture | ƒ/4.5 |
| Camera | CYBERSHOT |
| Focal length | 45.2mm |
| ISO | 100 |
| Shutter speed | 1/500s |
