I was there too
The Big Wheel or Ferris wheel, is back in the Grand Parade in Cork, but these photos are from December 2017! You’d hardly know, except for the posters on the buildings behind. This was before Ukraine was attacked by Russia and there is now a flag of Ukraine with the text, “We’re with you Ukraine” on one of the buildings to the left of this photo.
| Aperture | ƒ/13 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 6D |
| Focal length | 24mm |
| ISO | 50 |
| Shutter speed | 5s |
You’re not waiting for a bus and suddenly four busses come along! We had fun with some long exposure photography on. Thursday night.
| Aperture | ƒ/6.3 |
| Camera | ILCE-7RM5 |
| Focal length | 24mm |
| ISO | 100 |
| Shutter speed | 4s |
I would like to say I knew the sign in the background said, “How are you?” but it’s more likely I did not. I’m glad it worked out, and it just proves that you have to be ready to take the photograph when you’re doing street photography or you’ll miss the moment.
In 2004, Ireland was in the midst of a mobile phone boom. The average Irish person was sending lots of text messages per month. The phones of the era were mostly Nokia models and early flip phones. The iPhone wouldn’t arrive for another three years. Making an actual voice call, as this woman is doing, was still the primary use of a mobile phone, rather than the app-launching, social-media-scrolling pocket computers we carry today.
| Aperture | ƒ/2.4 |
| Camera | CYBERSHOT |
| Focal length | 28.5mm |
| ISO | 100 |
| Shutter speed | 1/1000s |
Portrait of a man outside a coffee shop on Daunt Square, Cork, in 2004.
| Aperture | ƒ/4 |
| Camera | CYBERSHOT |
| Focal length | 48.5mm |
| ISO | 100 |
| Shutter speed | 1/250s |
A huge crowd gathered around a man on stilts holding 3 flaming torches on St. Patrick Street, Cork in 2006. See how homogeneous the crowd is? A similar photo today would show a much more diverse set of people in modern Ireland.
| Aperture | ƒ/11 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 20D |
| Focal length | 10mm |
| ISO | 200 |
| Shutter speed | 1/250s |
This was twenty years ago on St. Patrick Street, Cork. Not in December obviously, but in May when children all over the country were celebrating their first communion.
| Aperture | ƒ/13 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 20D |
| Focal length | 55mm |
| ISO | 400 |
| Shutter speed | 1/320s |
Protesting the housing crisis in Cork in 2019. We still have a housing crisis.
| Aperture | ƒ/8 |
| Camera | ILCE-7M3 |
| Focal length | 35mm |
| ISO | 1000 |
| Shutter speed | 1/500s |
Surfers on the Isar or Eisbach canal in Munich, Germany. It was bizarre seeing people surfing in the middle of a city but the river was perfect for it. Unfortunately, the wave seems to have disappeared recently and they don’t know why.
| Aperture | ƒ/8 |
| Camera | ILCE-7M3 |
| Focal length | 25mm |
| ISO | 12800 |
| Shutter speed | 1/250s |
In the middle of July when Ireland was moderately warm and the sea was, if not warm, ok to swim in for a few minutes at a time. A bunch of lads were jumping off the pier at Ardmore Boat Cove, but when we walked by, they were playing football and I think one team had scored a goal a moment before. 🙂
| Aperture | ƒ/4.9 |
| Camera | Galaxy S23 Ultra |
| Focal length | 27.2mm |
| ISO | 100 |
| Shutter speed | 1/100s |
If you’ve ever wandered down to the Claddagh in Galway, you’ll know the swans are less “graceful wild creatures” and more “assertive locals who know exactly when the bread’s coming out.”
That’s what happened on this day in 2005 when we visited and saw a young woman feeding those swans. Other birds wanted crumbs of bread too! Now we know that bread is not an ideal food for birds. Green vegetables are better for them.
| Aperture | ƒ/3.5 |
| Camera | CYBERSHOT |
| Focal length | 17.2mm |
| ISO | 100 |
| Shutter speed | 1/125s |
I haven’t been back to Canada in many years but 2009 was my first visit there and we stayed near Quebec and took a tour of the city on a wet and cloudy autumn day.
| Aperture | ƒ/7.1 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 40D |
| Focal length | 20mm |
| ISO | 400 |
| Shutter speed | 1/50s |
When the rare Irish sun decides to grace Graiguenamanagh with its presence, the locals know exactly what to do: head straight for the old stone bridge over the River Barrow.
At least it was in the summer of 2013. I doubt they’re doing it today, in the middle of December.
| Aperture | ƒ/7.1 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 6D |
| Focal length | 105mm |
| ISO | 100 |
| Shutter speed | 1/320s |
