On the beach at Youghal

Last weekend we visited Youghal in Co. Cork. I haven’t been on the beach there for years and I had quite forgotten how big it is! It was nice for a walk, but we were frozen from the cold wind.
I was just in town. Big Brother were supposed to hold auditions from 9am on the Grand Parade but there was no sign of them. Still, I used the opportunity to buy flowers and they went down very well with Jacinta! 🙂

Aperture ƒ/8
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 88mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/200s

A Virgin in Cork

Taken outside the Virgin Megastore on the Grand Parade Cork.
People use this area to meet all the time so there’s always a good crowd. The building behind me was the location of the Queen’s Old Castle shopping center which was named for Queen Victoria.

Aperture ƒ/16
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 18mm
ISO 800
Shutter speed 1/80s

Stop! The Birds!

Street lighting and STOP sign pictured on the quays just up from here last Saturday.
I wanted to make the stop sign jump out a bit more but didn’t want to force it too much. I do like the leading lines the guide the eye to the top of the pole!
And in other news, voting for the Irish Blog Awards has commenced! I’ve been nominated in 3 categories including “Best Photo Blog” for this blog!

Aperture ƒ/3.5
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 18mm
ISO 400
Shutter speed 1/800s

Glendalough Lower Lake

Glendalough derives it’s name from the Irish name for the area, “Gleann Da Loch” which roughly translates as “glen of the two lakes”. It was a cold enough day so we only got a good look at the lower lake, but I’m looking forward to visiting again!

Aperture ƒ/6.3
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 18mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/125s

Glendalough Round Tower

A Christian graveyard lies at the base of the round tower at Glendalough. Here’s a detail of a gravestone with the tower in the background.
Looking around, we saw graves from the 19th century, but I’m positive there are older graves.
Way back in 2004, I took some shots of the round tower at Ardmore and that town too. I was slightly nervous at Glendalough because I stumbled over a grave at Ardmore, hitting my Sony 717 off something and it died on me shortly afterwards. Thankfully the same didn’t happen in Wicklow!

Aperture ƒ/5
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 18mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/60s

Welcome to 2006!

It’s 2006 here in Ireland, and we’re celebrating in style! I can’t eat any more after dinner out in Aroma, a visit to a pub, an hour or two spent at a friend’s party and a visit to my brother Donal and Celine!
Fireworks marking the end of the year in which Cork was European Capital of Culture lit up the sky over the city! I wasn’t there to record it because the driving rain and cold wind made it very inhospitable outside. Donal should have a few pictures online in the next few days!
Pictured is the Jeanie Johnston in Waterford last July. She took part in the Tall Ship’s Race from there on the weekend of July 9th.

Off The Wall

Pictured at the Blarney Woollen Mills a week ago.

Links of the Day

Don’t go to bed reading a photographic book, you’ll get up again to “try out” the new techniques you read about.