Green Light Go

One more from last week. This time, the long exposure shot is of a bus heading to Parnell Place in Cork. The traffic light had just turned green, so the bus was driving slowly, accelerating as it went. It made a colourful impression on the digital sensor of my camera!


Apertureƒ/8
CameraILCE-7RM5
Focal length24mm
ISO50
Shutter speed4s

Night Shifts and Trailing Lights

Construction signs on Parnell Bridge in front of Cork City Hall were lit up by a passing bus a few nights ago.


Apertureƒ/8
CameraILCE-7RM5
Focal length24mm
ISO50
Shutter speed6s

The Galeón Andalucía in Cork

The Galeón Andalucía, a replica of a 16th-17th century Spanish galleon docked in Cork a few days ago for the European Maritime Days to Play, on yesterday and today.

I wandered down the quays where there were a number of other boats. A nice day out for school kids who got a few hours out of the classroom too!


Apertureƒ/2.2
CameraGalaxy S23 Ultra
Focal length2.2mm
ISO50
Shutter speed1/3800s

Trácht ar Mhalairt Slí

If the road works, why are there signs pointing out where diverted traffic goes?

Did you know that most street signs in Ireland are bilingual? As Gaeilge on top and English below.

Thanks Henry, for the company last night. A good spot to do long exposure photography.

Oh, here’s something interesting about this photo. It’s made of two images I had to merge together in Photoshop because my long exposure shot wasn’t long enough. Two 4 second shots of a slowly moving bus on a corner.

Set the layer type of the top layer to “screen” and the lights in the air come through.

The resulting tiff file was 318.7MB. That’s a monstrosity for a simple image so I converted it to DNG which resulted in a 233.3MB file, and then to lossy DNG. That squeezed it down to 7.5MB! Not bad for a 9417×6278 image.

I couldn’t see any difference in image quality. There were slight differences when I clicked the auto Transform button, but nothing major.

Original & Lossy


Apertureƒ/8
CameraILCE-7RM5
Focal length29mm
ISO50
Shutter speed6s

A Sunlit Stroll in Athens

It was a blisteringly hot day in Athens when we were walking around the ruins of the old city when I saw this woman in a bright yellow jumpsuit approach.

That yellow colour jumped out at me, but it was only later I noticed the man behind her carrying her bag. Is that a charging cable going from her phone to the bag? Nice to have someone else carry your bag on a hot day, with a battery for your phone too! 🙂


Apertureƒ/8
CameraILCE-7M3
Focal length16mm
ISO100
Shutter speed1/500s

Trump Tower Construction by the River

Chicago in 2005 was a city in flux, and nowhere was that more obvious than at the Trump Tower construction site, right on the banks of the Chicago River. I was walking at the edge of the site and took a bunch of photos, some of which I’ve posted over the years.

What you see in front of you appears to be the open area next to the “new” tower. Over to the left is the Wrigley Building and looking at Google Street View gives a good view of what it looks like now, from across the river.

I haven’t been back to Chicago in twenty years. I’d love to see it again.


Apertureƒ/6.3
CameraCanon EOS 20D
Focal length18mm
ISO100
Shutter speed1/100s

Greeting Visitors in the Shadow of the Wrigley Building

I last visited Chicago in 2005, when I took this photo of the Wrigley Building, and this “We’re glad you’re here!” banner.

Did you know the clock faces of the Wrigley Building are each almost 6m in diameter? The two towers of the building were completed just over 100 years ago!


Apertureƒ/9
CameraCanon EOS 20D
Focal length53mm
ISO100
Shutter speed1/160s

Underpass Artists

Two young men decorate the underpass on the Line in Blackrock this evening with spray paint. There are fabulous murals on both walls of the underpass!

Fun fact: spray paint, the tool of choice here, was invented in 1949 by Edward Seymour, on the suggestion of his wife, Bonnie.


Apertureƒ/1.7
CameraGalaxy S23 Ultra
Focal length6.3mm
ISO100
Shutter speed1/60s

Standing for Palestine in Cork

A man carrying a Palestinian flag after the protest rally last weekend. I met him on Nano Nagle Bridge, and he said he comes in whenever he can, to join the weekly rally against the ongoing genocide in Gaza.


Apertureƒ/2.8
CameraILCE-7RM5
Focal length24mm
ISO100
Shutter speed1/3200s

The Duck Who Loved Cash

Twenty years ago today, I was walking up State Street in Chicago when I spotted a duck robbing an unsuspecting woman on the street. I was horrified and, of course, immediately took a photo of such a strange incident.

Turns out, it was some sort of advertising photoshoot for Western Union, but the original photo went viral, even appearing in newspapers.


Apertureƒ/6.3
CameraCanon EOS 20D
Focal length55mm
ISO100
Shutter speed1/100s

Cork City Walks Past Fashion Giants

Advertising goes unnoticed as people hurry past on Opera Lane, Cork.

Did you know the rugby shirt, with its bold stripes, was first popularised in the 19th century?


Apertureƒ/2.8
CameraILCE-7RM5
Focal length24mm
ISO640
Shutter speed1/500s

The Sandal Seller of Athens

Off Monastiraki Square, Athens, along a narrow street filled with small shops, I found a man leaning on the door of his shoe shop.


Apertureƒ/2.8
CameraILCE-7M3
Focal length24mm
ISO800
Shutter speed1/500s