Post no bills

Post no bills on the wooden boards surrounding the building site on Cornmarket Street. The red brick wall is the front of the old Guy and Company building. It looks like the builders are going to incorporate that into their new building which is great – mixing old with new.

See map for location.

I followed Mike’s advice in his comment and bought a Wacom Graphire4 off Pixmania. Mynn’s post about his Volito2 Graphics Tablet sealed the deal, especially when he said that the “A6 working area is MORE THAN ENOUGH”. Hopefully it’ll be delivered early next week. I’ll ask Jacinta to open the box and verify that it’s in one piece but I’m not going to touch it before Christmas Day!

Aperture ƒ/4
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/60s

Temporary Dwelling Prohibited

A Cork County Council warning sign looms overhead at Garretstown Beach, Co. Cork. Luckily I had left the caravan at home and the rubbish was in the bin!

This photo shows one of the disadvantages of shooting in Jpeg – it can’t cope with the subtle shades of blue in the sky, although the ugly bands of colour are made worse by my vignetting of the image afterwards. Oops.

In other news, I ordered Bibble Labs Pro RAW conversion version using a discount code on The Digital Photography Show. The nice thing is, I can use the Pro edition on Linux and the Mac, which will be useful. It’s also a great piece of software and will encourage me to shoot more RAW images.

I also ordered the Canon 50mm f1.8 lens from warehouseexpress.com (via) who were reasonably priced. Hopefully I’ll get that in the next few days and in time to shoot the IT@Cork conference in a week’s time. Eddie Hobbs and various people from the online world will be speaking there and I hope to get some goot shots.

Aperture ƒ/11
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 100
Shutter speed 1/320s

No walking stick

It’s a good thing nobody in this picture needs help walking or getting about! Is that sign really saying walking sticks aren’t allowed?
It could be one of the following too, what do you think?

  • No backpackers
  • No mountaineers or hikers
  • No round headed people
  • Or possibly even “people with bags on their back are not allowed to climb over this barrier.” Better leave the bags in town guys!

Picture taken on Alcatraz Island, San Francisco.

Aperture ƒ/16
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 400
Shutter speed 1/500s

A table at Memphis Minnies

There wasn’t much left after we ate a hearty lunch in Memphis Minnies. Plates, cutlery, cups and sauces.. all eaten! Great place to eat.

On the way out I made a shot of their “low fat=low flavor” advert and I just realised I spelt the name of the establishment incorrectly in my first post! Doh!

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

The pizzeria and the sign

“Skateboard and bicycle riding prohibited on sidewalk”

We went for pizza one night in this pizzeria with the rest of Automattic. It’s possibly on California but I can’t be sure because I was hungry and it was dark, and did I say I was hungry?

Oh, great pizza too!

Aperture ƒ/4
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 400
Shutter speed 1/13s

The Stephen Pierce Gallery Cafe is open

A large sign outside the gallery and workshop of Stephen Pearce Pottery in Co. Cork proclaims that their cafe is open for business. I didn’t go into the cafe because I was walking around with Oscar while Jacinta was inside looking around. It was a beautiful day so I didn’t mind.

Stephen Pearce is very popular and most recently did a deal with a local supermarket chain, SuperValu, offering his products at a discount with stamps. I don’t care for his work much but a lot of people like it and he’s doing well!

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

S.S. Jeremiah O’Brien

The Liberty Ship S.S. Jeremiah O’Brien lies anchored at Pier 45, Fisherman’s Wharf, San Francisco. It’s visible to all the tourists boarding the ferry to Alcatraz and is open to the public.

I didn’t get a chance to look inside, but ssjeremiahobrien.org makes me wish I did. She was one of the ships used in D-Day 1944 and made eleven crossings of the English Channel.

The small writing on the forward gun reads, “Miss Jerry O’Brien”. That looks like a shamrock behind the young lady accompanying the signature. Is there an Irish connection?

In June 1943 the Liberty Ship S.S. Jeremiah O’Brien slid down the ways at the New England Shipbuilding Corporation in South Portland, Maine. Shortly thereafter she entered service, operated by Grace Line for the War Shipping Administration. Named for the first American to capture a British naval vessel during the Revolutionary War, the O’Brien made seven World War II voyages, ranging from England and Northern Ireland to South America, to India, to Australia. She also made eleven crossings of the English Channel carrying personnel and supplies to the Normandy beaches in support of the D-Day invasion. After the war, she was “mothballed” and laid up in the Reserve Fleet at Suisun Bay, north of San Francisco.

Aperture ƒ/9
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 200mm
ISO 100
Shutter speed 1/400s

Pog Mo Thoin san Daingean

“Kiss my ass!” That’s what “póg mo thóin” means. This is from a shop display in Dingle, Co. Kerry. The town, also known by it’s Irish name, An Daingean, is in an Irish speaking part of the country collectively known as An Gaeltacht.

If you’re interested, you’d probably pronounce “póg mo thóin” in English as “pogue mahone”.

Interesting trivia – The Pogues got their name from this short phrase.

Both Ryan and Daragh got their free mini cards from moo.com but I’m still waiting on mine. They have been shipped so they’ll arrive soon I hope. Check out Daragh’s shot of his cards for an imaginative way of photographing them!

Aperture ƒ/4
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/60s

Points to relief

A sign points the way to the public toilets, or restroom, at Inch Strand, Co. Kerry.
This sign can be a much sought after sight on a long journey!
“Are we there yet? Are we there yet?”
“Mom! I need to go!”
“I can’t hold it any more!”

Everyone rushes to the public convenience when they hit the beach.

Aperture ƒ/8
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 48mm
ISO 100
Shutter speed 1/125s

The Ryder Cup – Eye on the prize

Golf’s “biggest competition”, The 2006 Ryder Cup will begin this weekend with an influx of thousands of people to the K Club in Straffan, Co. Kildare, Ireland. Games between Team Europe and Team USA begin on September 22 and continue until the 24th.

I have to admit I have next to no interest in golf but the media here have been going crazy over it for the last three weeks. The one report about the Ryder Cup which I do recall is a correspondent from the US reporting that interest over there is non-existent. People will be watching football, baseball or basketball. He continued by saying that the people who might be interested won’t be watching either because they’re not going to spend the weekend stuck indoors watching a golf tournament thousands of miles away when they can go out and play a few holes themselves in the sunshine. I’m sure that won’t stop rich business men and politicians flying in via helicopter and spending lavish amounts of money at the K Club.

For a little light hearted entertainment you should listen to the Gift Grub report (.wma file) from the Ryder Cup. It’ll make you smile.

It’s all a little silly.

Later .. Liam Morrison asks “Who cares about the Ryder cup?” and uses Google Trends to find out just who cares. The results aren’t surprising given what I said above but it’s nice to have some solid proof.

Aperture ƒ/8
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 20mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/60s

Courtmacsherry Dead End

The little town of Courtmacsherry in Co. Cork is a picturesque tourist village with pretty looking multi-coloured houses visible on the way into the town from Timoleague.

This makes the attitude of the people we met there all the more confusing. We parked in the middle of the town, Jacinta wanted to check out a pottery shop, and walked with Oscar down the road. We passed by several people, mostly tourists by their clothes, and unusually, they kept their heads down watching the ground and never said “hello” or even commented on Oscar! We’re used to people stopping us and asking about him so this was disconcerting.

Later on we rested on the wall of the harbour and a few people did greet us thankfully.

The image was processed using two layers. One for the sky and the other for the ground. Sky was burned heavily to bring out the clouds while the ground was dodged and brightened with the Curves tool.

I’ve geotagged this photo on Flickr. Works well enough. It even knew where “courtmacsherry ireland” was!

courtmacsherry map

Aperture ƒ/13
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/320s