The Lady Smiles

On her lunch break she smiles instead of smoking, at least for a moment.

This is the second and final image of the Lady on her break series. If you look very carefully at the window you’ll see my face, my hand, and the back of Jacinta’s head as we walked past. Thanks for the comments yesterday!

Aperture ƒ/5.6
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 18mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/80s

The Lady smokes

On her break, she lights up a cigarette to relax. Who did she see?

The Magnum Blog has been running for a few weeks. I blogged the original opening of the site ages ago, but it wasn’t ready for prime time and it made it’s debut a short while ago. A few days ago, A faked portrait of my generation explored some of the issues surrounding street photography. A legal case in Quebec in effect made street photography illegal in Canada.
Here in Ireland, photographers do have the right to photograph people, but if the subjects have an expectation of privacy then you’re not allowed photograph them. That could include a couple talking on the street. That’s only the opinion of our Minister For Justice but unfortunately many of my street photos could be on shaky ground if that really was what the law said.

Oh, another photo of this girl tomorrow!

Aperture ƒ/5.6
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 18mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/80s

Ireland V England at Croke Park

Ireland played England in rugby at Croke Park yesterday, and Ireland won, 43 points to 13!

This was an historic occasion. Landsowne Road, where rugby and soccer matches are normally played is being renovated. Croke Park is the headquarters of the GAA, the native Irish sports of football and hurling. Playing “foreign sports” there was like someone desecrating holy ground. Not that that stopped American football being played there a few years ago. I guess some sports are more foreign than others. It literally took years for this to happen. I kid you not. Year after year, the issue of “foreign sports” came up at GAA meetings and it was only recently they allowed them in. Bravo!

Anyway, to pile insult upon injury, the first second rugby game there would be Ireland vs England. Republican supporters were up in arms during the week. “800 years!” “Bloody Sunday!” “1916!” “Black and Tans!” Imagine, “God Save The Queen” would be played in Croke Park? It’s hard to fathom but it’s all over now.

This is the closest I got to the match. We were in town, I wandered around a bit with my camera before heading home and watched a DVD, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. What a wacky film. I loved it! Yes, I don’t have much of an interest in sport.

Aperture ƒ/4.5
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 400
Shutter speed 1/250s

Escalator Moments

A one second exposure captures the movement through time of the escalator in Nikeworld San Francisco last August. This is one of a series of shots, including a few of Mark and Andy although I think this is the most dramatic of them.

I wasn’t going to post this at all except that a few days ago another escalator photo made the front page of Digg somehow. Digg away please 🙂

Aperture ƒ/16
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1.3s

Man and pipe at the FM Store

Outside the FM Store, St. Patrick Street Cork. I was walking past when I spotted this scene unfold. I didn’t even see the pipe in the old man’s hand until later, but I was very happy with what came out. If only that girl had turned around.

The FM Store is that noisy place at the end of the street where Irish traditional or similar music blares out. The ESB Broadband Eircom picture I posted a while back is right behind where that old man is standing.

Thankfully I wasn’t affected by the Flickr outage. I was asleep while it all happened!

Aperture ƒ/4
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/800s

A kiss at Finn’s Corner

A kissing couple outside Finn’s clothing store on the corner of Grand Parade and Washington Street, Cork. This was way back in August last year when temperatures were a little higher than they are now.

Psychedelic colouring comes from the “soft light” plasma layer I plastered on top of the original black and white layer.

Edit: of course this is “Finn’s Corner”. I must have been half-asleep when I wrote the title of this post. Thanks to Mykel C for commenting, and Tony Finn for getting touch and correcting me. It’s much appreciated!

Aperture ƒ/5.6
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/320s

I lost my head

All that remains from a fishing trip to Cobh.

I discovered this fish’s head while walking about on the pier in Cobh during the month of August last year. At that time of year the mackerel
chase the sprat into Cork Harbour and provide a bountiful catch for local fishermen. Many years ago I remember casting into the waters off Church Bay and reeling in at least 4 fish, the feeding frenzy was so great!

PS. the new Digital Journalist is out!

Aperture ƒ/6.3
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 11mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/80s

Boats at the quay

Small boats or dingies tied up at the pier in Ballycotton, Co. Cork.

I was looking straight down when I shot this and had to crop out a tiny bit off the bottom where the pier was. The tide was way out, I expect the owners of these small boats weren’t in a hurry to get out on the water.

Owen Higgins wasn’t very happy that he wasn’t nominated for the Irish Blog Awards. Treasa blogged about his rant, quoting bits that he has since removed. He later commented on Treasa’s post that he didn’t understand how the nomination process worked. Go show him some love by visiting his site. Some of his photos are quite good!

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

Father and son in the water

Father and son wading in the shallow water at Inch Strand, Co. Kerry last September.

I previously posted a picture of the child but this image demanded attention when I was looking for “sea” photos. I love the silhouettes, the colour, the waves and the clouds.

Happy Valentines Day!

Vote in the Irish Blog Awards!

Damien says there’s only three days left to vote in the Irish Blog Awards. 1100 people have voted and apparently we’re in for some shocks if voting patterns remain the way they are. So, thank you all who voted for me already, and if you haven’t voted, please take two minutes to vote for In Photos in the best Photoblog section.

Aperture ƒ/16
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 72mm
ISO 100
Shutter speed 1/640s

Family at the beach

Dad carries the forgotten kite, daughter walks through the water and mom basks in the sun of a glorious September afternoon at Inch Strand, Co. Kerry.

Tonight is theme night at the camera club. My theme is “The sea” so I went through my archives yesterday choosing suitable photos. This will be one, which is possibly stretching the definition a little but it does have breaking waves on a beach.

Vignetting was done using an overlay layer and a separate overlay was used to make the shadows of the clouds deeper. I could have burned them in as well but I like the way it turned out.

Aperture ƒ/10
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 18mm
ISO 100
Shutter speed 1/250s

Cupid’s Arrow and the birds

Cupid’s Arrow in San Francisco provides an interesting silhouette against the evening sky. If you’ve payed close attention to my photos in the past you might think this is a duplicate of another shot but it’s from a slightly different angle and wider, and I feel stronger because of the pattern the birds make in the sky. What do you think?

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

The Cork County Hall and the web

Early one morning I visited the County Hall in Cork and took a few photos. In fact, this one is from the same shoot.

Webs covered a tree behind the building, and the early morning dew sparkled in the sun. I was hoping for an ominous feel to the photo but I failed, and instead I have something that mixes nature with our man made presence on this world.

I quite like the way the strands of the web stand out too!

Aperture ƒ/13
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/400s