Urban – Page 147 – In Photos dot Org

Lady at the lights

If looks could kill! I don’t know who she was looking at but she doesn’t look happy!

Pictured on the corner of Washington Street and Grand Parade a few days ago while we waited for the traffic lights to change. Finn’s Corner, a sports clothes shop, has been on that corner for years and St. Augustine’s Catholic Church is visible just down the road. I’ve never been in that church despite it’s central location. It’s so well integrated into the street scape that it’s easy to forget it’s there.

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

Is it Bank of Scotland(Ireland) or Halifax?

Is it Bank of Scotland(Ireland) or Halifax?

Bank of Scotland(Ireland) are changing their unwieldy name to the much shorter “Halifax”. The bank is a major player in the UK market, but the name change could yet backfire because Halifax isn’t very well known in Ireland. I presume a slick marketing campaign will take care of that.

The building across the river is the Cork branch of the bank on the Grand Parade. I love how the sun picked out the bright white of it’s walls and the bike in the foreground was in shadow beneath a tree.

Aperture	ƒ/16
Camera	Canon EOS 20D
Focal length	10mm
ISO	200
Shutter speed	1/500s

Pog Mo Thoin san Daingean

Pog Mo Thoin san Daingean

“Kiss my ass!” That’s what “póg mo thóin” means. This is from a shop display in Dingle, Co. Kerry. The town, also known by it’s Irish name, An Daingean, is in an Irish speaking part of the country collectively known as An Gaeltacht.

If you’re interested, you’d probably pronounce “póg mo thóin” in English as “pogue mahone”.

Interesting trivia – The Pogues got their name from this short phrase.

Both Ryan and Daragh got their free mini cards from moo.com but I’m still waiting on mine. They have been shipped so they’ll arrive soon I hope. Check out Daragh’s shot of his cards for an imaginative way of photographing them!

Aperture	ƒ/4
Camera	Canon EOS 20D
Focal length	10mm
ISO	200
Shutter speed	1/60s

Girls Talking

Girls Talking

Girls seated on the side of the pavement and on the road deep in conversation at the Ceili Mor in Cork a few weeks ago. Despite the noise of people dancing, an announcer and music playing I think a meaningful discussion was had!

Looks like I’ve made it. One of my photos was used on the snopes.com messageboard without linking back to me or crediting me. I shouldn’t be surprised I suppose, but I am a little angry at the original poster. Thankfully someone linked to it further down in the conversation. Thanks Kathy B.

Snopes.com have now published the picture and the joke description on a separate page linking to this blog. Thank you!

Read what Chris Weeks writes about copyright. I wonder what he has in mind. On a related note, the Orphan Works Bill is dead! This law in the US would have meant that “images on the web in particular as fair game for unauthorised (and thus unpaid) use, as it requires only rather nominal checks to be made to establish the owndership of copyright before material can be freely used.” I like the way Peter Marshall solved unauthorised commercial usage of his images. He sent an invoice and a polite letter to the offending company!

Aperture	ƒ/6.3
Camera	Canon EOS 20D
Focal length	200mm
ISO	200
Shutter speed	1/250s

Keep a lookout

Keep a lookout

A father and two sons on St. Patrick’s Street, Cork. I presume they’re waiting for someone from what I heard of the dad talking on his phone as I passed.

Blown out details are on purpose to give it a slightly edgier effect. Hope you like it!

Aperture	ƒ/4
Camera	Canon EOS 20D
Focal length	10mm
ISO	100
Shutter speed	1/1000s

A pint of beer and a newspaper

A pint of beer and a newspaper

Sometimes it’s good to chill out, relax and step out of the rat-race, even for a few moments.
This scene was made on St. Patrick’s Street outside Le Chateau, a bar with seating in front of the building as most places do these days because of the smoking ban. Yet another of the advantages of that ban!

On a related topic, how does insurance work when you’re drinking and enjoying the facilities of an establishment outside the physical walls of the bar or restaurant? The bar doesn’t own the pavement. Also, it’s illegal to drink in public areas isn’t it? In front of a pub is a public area surely?

In other news, I’m now a paid up member of Mallow Photography Club! Despite driving from Kerry on Monday, and feeling the worse for wear, I went to the meeting that night. It was a portraiture night using studio lighting. Three local girls, only one of whom had any photoshoot experience were our models and did a great job, even with the gaggle of photographers busily snapping away! I got a couple of good shots of the girls, which may end up on my photoblog next week if they’re happy with them. No promises because it’s the first time I’ve done this sort of shoot and it’s more than a little intimidating for a newbie! I need to read and absorb more of Strobist.

Aperture	ƒ/4
Camera	Canon EOS 20D
Focal length	10mm
ISO	100
Shutter speed	1/1000s

Press the button and walk

Press the button and walk

A pedestrian traffic light on St. Patrick’s Street, Cork. The green man is strutting his stuff and people are walking across.

Does anyone else have a dislike for the design of this button? Sure, there’s a big arrow pointing to a large white dot, but it took several years for people to realise that they press the white button instead of the light at the bottom of the unit. The problem is that people are used to pressing a physical button, something that sticks out and can be pushed in. The white dot is flush with the surface of the unit, and people go to press the only thing that looks vaguelly button-like, the light. I still see people do it, and yes, this is one of my pet peeves, thanks for reading!

Aperture	ƒ/4
Camera	Canon EOS 20D
Focal length	10mm
ISO	100
Shutter speed	1/640s

Different lights

Different lights

Traffic lights and street lighting vie for attention. This is across the road from where Bord Gais used to have their showroom. Bet you never realised the titanic struggle for recognition that was going on?

Aperture	ƒ/13
Camera	Canon EOS 20D
Focal length	10mm
ISO	200
Shutter speed	1/320s

No climbing the poles

No climbing the poles

A sign that points upwards? It either forbids drivers from driving down a road, discourages people from climbing up a light pole or local government don’t want people to look up. Your guess is as good as mine. I’m stumped!

Aperture	ƒ/14
Camera	Canon EOS 20D
Focal length	10mm
ISO	200
Shutter speed	1/400s

Pleased to meet you!

Pleased to meet you!

A child greets one of the onlookers at the Cork Folk Festival after the “Christ Restoration Ministries Gospel Choir” have sung and danced. There were lots of kids about and they were all having a great time!

I love this photo because the parents look so happy, kids are drinking their water and watching, the expressions on people’s faces as they see this small child come up to an adult, and of course the expressions of those who are oblivious to what’s going on. So much happening in one scene.

Aperture	ƒ/8
Camera	Canon EOS 20D
Focal length	144mm
ISO	200
Shutter speed	1/250s

Balloon Boy

Balloon Boy

A boy is dragged by his mother up St. Patrick’s Street at the Ceili Mor. He was playing with a balloon by punching it continually. I saw him approach and as luck would have it, err, I mean, I quickly composed this shot. I love the expression on his face and I’m very happy that I caught this moment!

Aperture	ƒ/6.3
Camera	Canon EOS 20D
Focal length	18mm
ISO	100
Shutter speed	1/100s

R&H Hall Mill on fire

R&H Hall Mill on fire

This morning, the disused R&H Hall mill on Kennedy Quay, Cork City was the scene of a major fire. Smoke was visible from all over the city, wind blew the smoke up towards Mayfield and traffic was very heavy all over, probably because drivers slowed down to watch the plume of smoke.
From several miles away in Sunday’s Well, I saw two jets of water pour into the top of the building, unfortunately I only had my wide angle lens so I didn’t get a shot of it. This photo was taken with my Canon 75-300 zoom from a residential park off Blarney Street half an hour later.

Seven units of Cork fire service have been fighting a blaze at the disused R & H Hall mill and grain store on Kennedy Quay – rte.ie

Des has a great photo taken from much closer showing the fire bursting from the side of the building. Pity I’m on the other side of the city!

In recent times, a long plume of thick black smoke trailed from a fire on the north side of the city, and of course, back in 2003 a huge blaze left the Sunbeam Factory in ruins.

This afternoon I spent a few minutes shooting the R&H Hall building from behind the Garda exclusion tape. Smoke was still visible coming from the white silos at the side of the building and just as I left a crane was going to lift members of the fire service up to examine the damage. I ran out of time and had to leave before that happened but things were definitely winding down thankfully.

I sent the top photo to the Cork Independent who have published it in this week’s edition on page 11. ~~I haven’t seen it yet but hopefully I can get a copy later!~~ Check out the photo I took of the article above! It’s the first time I’ve had a photo published by a newspaper and I’m very happy!

Aperture	ƒ/11
Camera	Canon EOS 20D
Focal length	300mm
ISO	200
Shutter speed	1/1000s