I was there too
A hand raised in greeting, with a smiling face, or is it a hand raised in anger?
Luckily, it was the former, with the smiling face of a friendly man just out of the shot greeting his friend in the plaid hat.
| Aperture | ƒ/1.7 |
| Camera | Galaxy S23 Ultra |
| Focal length | 6.3mm |
| ISO | 100 |
| Shutter speed | 1/1500s |
A man with his pint of Beamish seated at The Roundy a few years ago.
| Aperture | ƒ/4 |
| Camera | ILCE-7M3 |
| Focal length | 24mm |
| ISO | 800 |
| Shutter speed | 1/500s |
If you don’t like crowds, you should avoid Valencia during the Fallas festival. I rarely saw any trouble. The crowds were almost always in good mood or, at the very least, resigned to not moving very fast. It appears that moving fast can be accomplished if you hire someone in a high-vis vest who will barge through the crowd, dragging a well-dressed family behind them to the front of the crowd. I saw that once as I waited for the Mascletà one bright sunny day last week.
| Aperture | ƒ/1.7 |
| Camera | Galaxy S23 Ultra |
| Focal length | 6.3mm |
| ISO | 10 |
| Shutter speed | 1/230s |
If you visit Valencia during the first 19 days of the month of March you’ll be bombarded by the loud bangs of bangers going off, and fireworks every day. You’ll also come across elaborate Falla, or statues, dotted around the city.
In the past, they were built of papier mache, but these days the main construction material is styrofoam. On the 20th of the March, all the Fallas in the city are burnt to the ground, with only one item from each saved.
The best Falla in 2025 was the one built at Jerusalem Convent-Matemático Marzal, and luckily, I was staying about 100m away. In reality, that didn’t help much because the crowds visiting there during the day meant it was almost impossible to walk past it quickly. The only time the streets were nearly empty was at 5am one morning when I was going to take sunrise photos.
Here’s only a small selection of photos from that area. There’s more to come, mostly of crowded streets, but the Falla will feature again, probably.
| Aperture | ƒ/2.4 |
| Camera | Galaxy S23 Ultra |
| Focal length | 7.9mm |
| ISO | 50 |
| Shutter speed | 1/125s |
A little dog enjoys the sun streaming into a shop in Malaga a few years ago.
| Aperture | ƒ/8 |
| Camera | ILCE-7M3 |
| Focal length | 28mm |
| ISO | 640 |
| Shutter speed | 1/500s |
It’s so unusual to see a dog in Cork City, but then I saw this beautiful Border Collie. His attention on something off-camera.
| Aperture | ƒ/1.9 |
| Camera | M2101K6G |
| Focal length | 5.89mm |
| ISO | 197 |
| Shutter speed | 1/500s |
The wide pavement of McCurtain Street is where I spotted a young woman putting the lead on her patient Golden Retriever. He sat there patiently as she fixed the lead in place and continued on their way down the street.
| Aperture | ƒ/2.8 |
| Camera | ILCE-7M3 |
| Focal length | 24mm |
| ISO | 100 |
| Shutter speed | 1/1000s |
I think there might have been something special in that paper bag and that husky wanted it. 🙂
| Aperture | ƒ/4 |
| Camera | ILCE-7RM5 |
| Focal length | 24mm |
| ISO | 125 |
| Shutter speed | 1/500s |
This cute little terrier saw Diego, my chihuahua, and of course needed to make friends with him. 🙂
Dogs are the best!
PS. inb4 complaints. Nobody noticed this was Paul Street!
| Aperture | ƒ/8 |
| Camera | ILCE-7M3 |
| Focal length | 17mm |
| ISO | 3200 |
| Shutter speed | 1/500s |
I spotted this little character on the streets of Malaga, pulling its owner along with an enthusiasm that only a dog can muster. There were another 2 dogs nearby, so I think that’s what was distracting him. 🙂
| Aperture | ƒ/3.5 |
| Camera | ILCE-7M3 |
| Focal length | 28mm |
| ISO | 500 |
| Shutter speed | 1/500s |
Bishop Lucey Park in Cork is surrounded by hoarding with text describing the history of the area. But you don’t want to read about that, do you? That cute little doggy is all any of us wants to see. 🙂
| Aperture | ƒ/2.8 |
| Camera | ILCE-7RM5 |
| Focal length | 24mm |
| ISO | 125 |
| Shutter speed | 1/500s |
A customer in the food market in Malaga talks to a vendor before filling his order for olives.
| Aperture | ƒ/8 |
| Camera | ILCE-7M3 |
| Focal length | 31mm |
| ISO | 5000 |
| Shutter speed | 1/500s |
