Four Points Cadiz

Cadiz is a city and port in the Iberian Peninsula in Spain. The centre of the city is filled with old alleys and narrow streets. Here’s I shot straight upwards at the junction of 4 such alleys, I think it was here near the local cathedral.

Many years ago I took a similar photo of buildings in San Francisco.

Aperture ƒ/11
Camera Canon EOS 40D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 400
Shutter speed 1/250s

Sólfar, The Sun Voyager

This is a metal statue in Reykjavík of what looks like a Viking longboat but according to the Wikipedia page is in fact a “dreamboat”.

It is a common misunderstanding that Sun Voyager is a Viking ship. It is quite understandable that many tourists think like this when travelling in Iceland, the land of the sagas. Nonetheless, it should be stressed that this was not the original intention.

Jón Gunnar was himself very ill with leukaemia at the time that the full-scale Sun Voyager came to be constructed, and he died in April 1989, a year before it was placed in its present location. Some people have thus suggested that Jón Gunnar conceived the work during this period, at a time when he might have been preoccupied with death, and argued that Sun Voyager should be seen as a vessel that transports souls to the realm of death. While this is a nice idea and might be imagined to have some validity, it actually has little truth (at least from the point of view of the artist). As noted above, Sun Voyager was essentially envisaged as being a dreamboat, an ode to the sun symbolizing light and hope.

Aperture ƒ/5.6
Camera Canon EOS 40D
Focal length 18mm
ISO 400
Shutter speed 1/2500s

Is that an axe?

A statue of Leif Ericsson stands in front of the Church of Hallgrimur, Reykjavik, Iceland.

Aperture ƒ/5.6
Camera Canon EOS 40D
Focal length 18mm
ISO 100
Shutter speed 1/1000s

Derelict Reykjavik Highrises

What I’ve seen of Reykjavik so far has been really nice. Buildings are colourful, the streets are for the most part well maintained and the city centre has cobbled streets so it’s pleasant to walk around.

While on our photowalk today we passed these buildings on the sea front. I thought they were just another apartment building until I noticed that the balconies were fenced in by planks of wood held together loosely!

Aperture ƒ/10
Camera Canon EOS 40D
Focal length 18mm
ISO 400
Shutter speed 1/250s

Clonakilty Skyline

Clonakilty in County Cork as shot from the multi storey car park adjoining Supervalu.

Aperture ƒ/8
Camera Canon EOS 40D
Focal length 18mm
ISO 100
Shutter speed 1/160s

Sunset Chimneys

Chimney stacks loom over the town of Clonakilty in County Cork in November last year.

PS. happy new year!

Aperture ƒ/5.6
Camera Canon EOS 40D
Focal length 88mm
ISO 400
Shutter speed 1/1000s

A Cup among the the rocks

The smooth uniform texture of a cup contrasted with the rough and weathered stones of a wall on Cape Clear Island. Somewhere near where I took the previous shot I saw this cup at the side of the road and was struck by the oddness of it’s placement.

Aperture ƒ/8
Camera Canon EOS 40D
Focal length 28mm
ISO 100
Shutter speed 1/100s

Weird World

Sometimes your world is just a little off kilter and not completely level.
Photo of St. Patrick’s Street, Cork taken back in January this year.

You know that a photo is of an often photographed subject when WordPress has all the tags required for it in the “most used tags” section of the Write screen…

Aperture ƒ/9
Camera Canon EOS 40D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 400
Shutter speed 1/125s

Boats in Drake’s Pool

There are always boats moored in the section of the Owenabue River called “Drake’s Pool”. This was a shot I took last weekend while out walking with my family there. Quite frosty but many people out walking the light from the setting sun was amazing.

Yes, this location is associated with Sir Francis Drake:

The name reveals the linkage to Sir Frances Drake who in 1743 took refuge in these waters from the Napoleonic forces as they patrolled around Cork Harbour. His hiding place worked and he lived to fight another day. (source)

PS. The name Owenabue River fascinates me. I wonder if Owenabue is the English phonetic spelling of “Abhainn Bui”? That would be “Yellow River” in Irish. Where did that name come from?

Aperture ƒ/5
Camera Canon EOS 40D
Focal length 40mm
ISO 400
Shutter speed 1/250s

Saint Finbarre’s Sunset

St Finbarre’s Cathedral silhouetted against the sunset in Cork yesterday. It was freezing cold but the skies were mostly clear and snow hasn’t fallen in the City or here in Blarney either yet.

The country is going through a recession but you wouldn’t know it. After driving around Parnell Place twice I parked in Merchant’s Quay but had to park on the roof because the place was full. Many of the shops were very busy, and the streets were crowded with shoppers.

So cold though.

PS. the version of gthumb in Ubuntu 10.10 sucks. Missing now is the “Duplicate” menu item, and I can’t drag photos from one folder to another. Grrr. It is faster however.

Aperture ƒ/9
Camera Canon EOS 40D
Focal length 200mm
ISO 100
Shutter speed 1/400s