Curiosity in the Old Town

We were wandering up the Royal Mile in Edinburgh when I spotted these two women looking up. At what, I’m not sure, there wasn’t anything special in the building they were looking at. Is there such a thing as “Edinburgh Neck”?


Apertureƒ/4
CameraILCE-7RM5
Focal length24mm
ISO100
Shutter speed1/640s

Cork 2005

Older visitors will recognise this poster if they were around Cork in 2005 when the city was “European Capital of Culture”.

This poster was draped over the city library, and I was very lucky to capture a tour bus as it drove past on a fine June day, exactly 17 years ago today.


Apertureƒ/7.1
CameraCanon EOS 20D
Focal length55mm
ISO100
Shutter speed1/100s

Hotel Los Fariones

Snow? Ice? Cold rain and biting wind? What are you talking about? Look at the sunshine streaming down through the palm trees! The swimming pool is nice and refreshing.

I can dream can’t I? This is the view from our room in Hotel Los Fariones in Puerto Del Carmen. Lovely hotel, and while we were there in May 2006 it was nice and quiet. Breakfast is great, although their sausages tasted strange and I still remember that almost 3 years later. Beds were *very* hard. My wife and I had to get a massage by the end of our stay to get rid of the aches and pains from lying on them.

By the last weekend it was busier and I swear, I know it’s an urban myth, but I heard German tourists rushing out to put their towels on the pool loungers first thing in the morning. Looks like I’m not the only one to experience this early morning rush:

  1. Sun lounger towel annexation declared illegal
  2. German sun lounger issue settled
  3. Sun lounger law rules towels illegal
  4. If I actually used the loungers much (I prefered to use them in the late afternoon when it was cooler) I should have followed the advice in the comments here.

    The trick to beating this tactic and not having to deal with the angry sunbather when they return is to leave the towel on the ground and move the entire chair somewhere else.

Camera dDP series

San Francisco Tourists

Tourists stopped on the sidewalk off Union Square in San Francisco last summer. Despite the city’s reputation for fog the day was sunny and clear.

I had a great time doing some street photography of course!

Aperture ƒ/10
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/200s

Alcatraz Control Center

The Control Center in Alcatraz. This room is visible to all visitors to the prison and is beautifully preserved.

I couldn’t find anything specific about this room but Alcatraz History has a very good site with lots of information about the prison on Alcatraz Island.

Aperture ƒ/4
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/2.5s

A view on an Alcatraz Street

Looking through a doorway onto one of the streets of Alcatraz Prison in San Francisco. Tourists congregate while listening to the electronic tour guide.

I think I should have all my photos of Alcatraz and San Francisco posted before my next trip there in July.

Aperture ƒ/4
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/30s