I was there too
Lifeboats are dotted around the The Queen Elizabeth 2. They’re high up above some of the lower decks as far as I can remember and there are plenty of them. Hopefully won’t ever be needed.
| Aperture | ƒ/10 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 40D |
| Focal length | 200mm |
| ISO | 400 |
| Shutter speed | 1/500s |
The remains of a boat lie in the water by Dunboy Castle in Co Cork, Ireland. We were there last March, only days before 3 young men were killed when their car went into the water.
As you may know, I’m in Colorado along with most of Automattic. You can check out photos taken by me and my colleagues. It’s a beautiful area, but the thin air at such a high altitude is playing havoc with my body: breathlessness, a racing heart while lying down, sinuses out of whack, the after effects of 3 drinks feels like a heavy night of boozing.
Budget Day today in Ireland. If I don’t catch the RTE coverage of it live I’ll watch Twitter and check the headlines after.
| Aperture | ƒ/5 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 20D |
| Focal length | 22mm |
| ISO | 100 |
| Shutter speed | 1/50s |
Chains on a quayside in Schull, near where yesterday’s shot was taken, I think.
I’m in Colorado, at 9,00ft. The air is noticeably thinner here. Won’t be any running about or physical exercise for a few days!
| Aperture | ƒ/5.6 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 20D |
| Focal length | 10mm |
| ISO | 100 |
| Shutter speed | 1/80s |
Fishing tackle in Co Cork somewhere. Can’t remember where now! Love the texture of this sort of equipment, especially in black and white.
| Aperture | ƒ/5 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 20D |
| Focal length | 10mm |
| ISO | 100 |
| Shutter speed | 1/60s |
On Friday morning around 5am the Gardai on duty at Blarney Garda Station were called away on what turned out to be a hoax. Unfortunately while they were out the Garda station was attacked, the front door kicked down and firebombs thrown into the rooms downstairs. The building itself is quite old and burned quickly. Luckily the blaze was seen by a security guard from a nearby hotel or much more damage could have been done.
The building is unusable now of course. A Garda has been posted outside since, and this afternoon forensics were examining the site.
More coverage: Irish Times, Tribune, Herald.
| Aperture | ƒ/6.3 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 40D |
| Focal length | 72mm |
| ISO | 1000 |
| Shutter speed | 1/100s |
The funnel of the Queen Elizabeth 2 looms over Cobh as seen from near the Commodore Hotel.
| Aperture | ƒ/14 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 40D |
| Focal length | 88mm |
| ISO | 400 |
| Shutter speed | 1/500s |
Luxury cruise ship Queen Elizabeth 2 tied up at the quayside in Cobh, Co Cork last Thursday. This was moments before she cast off. You can see a tug in the background of this image.
It was bitterly cold down on the quay, but we were lucky that the evening sun cast a lovely golden glow over everything.
PS. some photography links: The Right Frame of Mind, Design Star, Join a stock photog on a photoshoot.
PPS. Just back from the camera club. This image came second overall in the digital section of tonight’s open photo competition. It drew with another image, on equal points. Chuffed!
| Aperture | ƒ/8 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 40D |
| Focal length | 200mm |
| ISO | 100 |
| Shutter speed | 1/250s |
The Queen Elizabeth 2 is a British ship, and it’s likely that many of the passengers were British too. I spotted one large Union Jack flag draped over a railing and people on the ship waved mini Union Jack flags too. That sort of gets under the skin of many Irish people.
A huge crowd had gathered on the quayside at Cobh. A band was playing and people cheered and waved as the ship departed. The atmosphere was great but when the Irish Tricolour appeared on the roof of the ship, being waved by a young man, the crowd let out a huge cheer, and whistled and clapped in appreciation.
They were still waving the Irish flag as the ship left the harbour. I spotted them after she turned!
| Aperture | ƒ/6.3 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 40D |
| Focal length | 88mm |
| ISO | 100 |
| Shutter speed | 1/100s |
The Queen Elizabeth 2, or QE2, flagship of the Cunard Line, docked for the last time in Cobh yesterday and left this evening just after 6pm. Here she is after turning in Cork Harbour and seconds before she increased speed and left the harbour for good.
In 2009, she will become a floating hotel in Dubai. A fitting ending for a luxury ship that has plied the waters of the world for the last 39 years.
I took over 300 shots of the Queen Elizabeth 2 today and filled almost 4GB of space with RAW images. In hindsight, many of the images would have been fine as Jpeg files but I had the space, so I used it. I hope to upload a gallery of my favourite images tomorrow.
| Aperture | ƒ/5.6 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 40D |
| Focal length | 18mm |
| ISO | 100 |
| Shutter speed | 1/80s |
Two tiny cottages sit on the quayside in Cape Clear’s North Harbour. You might have missed them when you arrived because they’re off in the opposite direction most people take.
I was quite taken with the contrast between both cottages. While both are obviously old and have seen better days, the left one has a new roof and a PVC door and window. I wonder if anyone lives there?
| Aperture | ƒ/8 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 40D |
| Focal length | 88mm |
| ISO | 100 |
| Shutter speed | 1/200s |
Cape Clear Island, or Oilean Chleire, is only 3 miles long and 1 mile wide, but it’s only 40 minutes by ferry to the mainland so it’s fairly easy to bring out vehicles. In fact, I saw many more cars on the island than I did on my last trip.
As you may have guessed by the photo above, once the cars get here, they really don’t go anywhere else, and many of them are in a bad state of repair. On a previous trip, my father and I were driven up a very steep hill above the harbour in a multicoloured VW Beetle that was literally falling apart with rust. I’ll post a photo of the hill in a few days.
There also isn’t a police force on the island. I don’t think cars here are insured or taxed and you can forget the NCT ..
Apart from the two taxi vans sitting on the quay when we arrived, the newest car was a 1999 model. The oldest was a 1986 Renault. The taxis were had 2004 reg plates and in good condition.
I’d love to how or why the van in the far background got to the Island. It looks abandoned now.
| Aperture | ƒ/7.1 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 40D |
| Focal length | 18mm |
| ISO | 100 |
| Shutter speed | 1/125s |
The north harbour in Cape Clear is the main harbour on the island. There’s a south harbour as well but there’s only a small beach there, and a long quayside where the occasional small boat ties up.
To the left you can see the Club which is a small shop/cafe on the ground floor, while around the corner and upstairs is a pub. Last time I was in the pub was many years ago when I was at a book launch with my father. Up the hill is Cotter’s Bar. Never been in there, despite the fact we holidayed on the island so many times.
Finally, a new bungalow sits on a patch of land bordering the road. This wasn’t there the last time I stayed on the island for any length of time, about 15 years ago.
| Aperture | ƒ/9 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 40D |
| Focal length | 48mm |
| ISO | 100 |
| Shutter speed | 1/160s |
