The Great Suitcase Lineup

A retail display showing colorful hard-shell suitcases in pink, yellow, navy blue, and hot pink arranged in a row, with fur-trimmed winter hats displayed on stands above them. On the left side, there is a glass display case containing jewelry and necklaces, while decorative patterned fabrics or textiles in turquoise, orange, and green hang on the wall in the background.

In a city of tourists, you can’t have enough suitcases, and that’s true of Istanbul. Tourists everywhere in the old city, and numerous places to buy clothes, goods, trinkets and souvenirs. You’ll be needing another suitcase to bring it all home with you!

I don’t share links very often, but here are a few you’ll appreciate if you edit in Adobe Lightroom (Classic or app):

  • A video about the Learn section of adobe.com, a great resource to learn editing techniques.
  • How James Popsys edits his photos, mainly using the global tools.
  • Using masks to reveal the photo. The opposite of the video above.

Apertureƒ/2.8
CameraILCE-7RM5
Focal length24mm
ISO125
Shutter speed1/500s

Follow the Fluffy Leader

A lady bringing her two dogs for a walk had to deal with one being more enthusiastic than the other. I don’t remember if I had Diego with me this day when I photographed them, but that lead dog certainly didn’t want to dilly-dally. He had places to go! Important things to do! 🙂


Apertureƒ/2.8
CameraILCE-7M3
Focal length24mm
ISO160
Shutter speed1/500s

A Splash of Colour

This is the sort of contrasts you’ll see in Cork City during the Jazz weekend. Loads of people dressed to go out for the night, surrounded by shoppers and families dressed for a late October day.

The music on the street was great!


Apertureƒ/2.8
CameraILCE-7RM5
Focal length24mm
ISO160
Shutter speed1/500s

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


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CameraILCE-7RM5
Focal length24mm
ISO640
Shutter speed60s

A dog walk in Lisbon

A woman walks her dog in Lisbon. She stopped outside Centro Social Laura Alves.

Laura Alves was a Portuguese actress who was born in Lisbon in 1921. She passed away in 1986. Read more about her on Wikipedia.


Apertureƒ/2.8
CameraILCE-7M3
Focal length24mm
ISO1000
Shutter speed1/500s