Older Blog Posts
Samson has fallen on Hard Times
The Samson Crane The Samson Crane was a floating crane-ship which was under tow from Liverpool, UK to Valetta, Malta. On 11th December just off the Welsh coast, the towline snapped in a force 7 south easterly gale. The crane ship floated for many miles and...
Waterford Spraoi – Photos from Waterford Spraoi 2016
Waterford Spraoi 2016 - Photos The Spraoi festival takes place every year during the August Bank Holiday Weekend in Waterford, Ireland. It is a festival of street performance, music and theatre plus some spectaculars which...
Sneem & Parknasilla, Co. Kerry, Ireland
Photography Visit to Sneem & Parknasilla, Co. Kerry, Ireland Just after Christmas and on the day of the arrival of Storm Frank, I visited Co. Kerry and the picturesque area around Sneem. Staying at the Parknasilla hotel there were many walks near by...
Photo Review of 2015
My Photo Review of 2015 2015 is over and 2016 is barely a few days old. I decided to look back at a few of the my photos from 2015 in this Photo Review of 2015. I didn't really update the site much in 2015 but I'm hoping to remedy that in 2016 with some...
Tramore Photo Shortlisted on Morris Oil Calendar 2016
One of my Photos Shortlisted on Morris Oil Calendar 2016 I am delighted that one of my recent Tramore photo was shortlisted for the Morris Oil Calendar 2016. The photo of Tramore and the Metal Man has been selected under the theme "Friendly, Reliable,...
Irish Balloon Championships 2015
The Irish Balloon Championships visited Waterford once again and this year I was hoping to get a few more shots than last year. The event approached with the sad news that there was a possibility that the Discover Waterford hot air balloon flown with pride...
Tramore and the Metal Man – Photograph of Tramore, Waterford
There is a brand new looped walk behind the old Tramore racecourse near the back strand. It was from here on a sunny April day I decided to use a Zoom lens to compress the scene and focus on the metal man with some passers by also in shot. I really like...
Hong Kong by Night from the Peak
This photo was taken from the summit of The Peak in Hong Kong. This area is certainly worth the admission fee, with an incredible view. However, due to the cityscape, it is certainly a popular area. If you are intending taking a few shots from...
The Dunbrody, New Ross, Co. Wexford
Last Saturday I noticed that the sky was lining up to create a nice sunset. I jumped in the car and decided to look for a new spot to take some blue hour photos. I hadn't been to New Ross on a photo shoot and opted to go there. On arrival in New Ross it...
Moon Rise over Tramore, Co. Waterford
I remember when I was young seeing the moon rise between two houses and it seemed to be massive. It turns out that the closer the moon is to the horizon it can see bigger than it was. Combine that with using a telephoto lens which compresses the scene and you can give...
Waterford by Night from The Ardree Hotel – Blast from the Past
I was recently going through some photos and I found a photo taken from The Ardree Hotel in 2005, Waterford by Night. It was my first long exposure and without a tripod I managed to take this 4 second exposure with a Fuji S7000. Waterford by Night from the...
Nightglow Waterford : September 26th 2014
Hot Air Balloon Nightglow Waterford : September 26th 2014 As part of the Irish Hot Air Ballooning Championships 2014, several hot air balloons set up on the banks of the River Suir, on the North Wharf, Waterford on 26th September 2014. Originally planned...
iPhoneography Vs DSLR Photography
The iPhone over the past few years has revolutionised the ability to shoot, edit and share your photographs by just using one device. Personally I prefer using a DSLR but with the iPhone you get to experiment with panoramic styles, filters, but for me its...
The view from Mount Maunganaui
In the previous post, with the cloud shaped like a fish, I mentioned Mount Maunganaui. In this post I show you what it looked like from the top of this mountain. It is only just over 760ft high but it looks impressive. The walk up to the top of...
When you see it … Whale Shaped Cloud
In an area of New Zealand called the Bay of Plenty, near Tauranga there is a town called Mount Maunganui. Mount Maunganui is also the name of the huge extinct volcanic cone, 761 ft in height, that somewhat dominates the town and is locally known simply...
Kingfisher type bird in New Zealand – New Zealand Kingfisher ?
On my recent trip to New Zealand we were in a town called Whakatane on the North Island. It is here that I think I saw what I think is a New Zealand Kingfisher. There is a very enjoyable river walk which brings you from the town, along the river, and back....
By the Waters Edge, New Zealand Nelson Lakes
Continuing from my previous post from New Zealand Nelson Lakes, this shot is from the first of the lakes which we visited. The area has a wonderful variety of light and shade and in the evening sun I took this shot while a girl walked out onto the pier. Adding people...
New Zealand – Land of Reflections – New Zealand Reflections
New Zealand is a beautiful country and this year was my 3rd visit in 4 years. One of the features of New Zealand, especially the south island, is the number of reflective lakes which can be found. Reflective Lakes in New Zealand can be found at places like...
Supermoon August 10th
I didn't get out with the camera in time to see the Supermoon rise on August 10th (once source quoted 10:48 as being the moon rise time) . By the time I released it was earlier I decided to wait until the moon was thigh enough in the sky to get a clear shot at it. I...
SuperMoon Shot with New 70-300 Lens
My Canon 70-300 lens got a battering over the past few years (I had it over 6 years) so I invested in a brand new 70-300. The latest version of this zoom lens has IS and 2 auto-focus modes. The zoom is incredible and I have taken some great shots of aircraft at...
Woodland Evening Light
I always like unusual lighting conditions and on a recent woodland walk I noticed a tree which was being lit in spots thanks to the overhead canopy and surrounding trees filtering the light. This resulted in only a section of the tree being lit and thus created an...
St. Mary’s Cathedral Kilkenny
On a recent walk in Kilkenny as the evening was closing in, the rays of the sun and the silhouette of St. Mary's Cathedral in Kilkenny drew my attention. Using spot metering I was able to place the cathedral so that it was darker than the background and thus also...
Robin on Tree Stump
I was testing my new Canon 70-300 lens and spotted this Robin Red Breast standing in a patch of sunlight on a tree stump. I took 2 shots, in the first you couldn't see his head but this was the second. I was very happy with the Robin Red Breast Photo as...
Beauty of Swans
During a recent visit to Naas I went for a walk around the lakes near the hospital, and although I lived in Naas for some time, this is an area I had never visited. The swans had their young nearby, still fluffy and probably only a few weeks old. There was...
Spring Bee Photoshoot
With Spring eventually arriving I was taking some photos of Spring flowers and noticed a bee full of pollen and tried to get some snaps with the 24-105mm lens. Not a Macro lens but by getting in close and cropping later you can make the photo...
Hook Head, Co .Wexford
On a brief trip to Hook Head, the oldest intact operational light house in the world, I decided to try out some ND grad filters. It was a sunny day so the ND grad filters would have controlled the light in areas of the photo which are too...
Waterford N25 Bridge at Night
The last time I visited the River Suir for a view of the Waterford N25 Bridge, also known as the Cat Flap to locals, I had a different camera and a different lens. Now armed with a Canon 7D and a 24-105 L Lens I was attempting a re-shoot the Waterford N25...
Ladybird out for a Walk
This photo of a ladybird (or ladybug in the USA) I just liked because of the simplicity - one small ladybird in an vast green area. I also liked the texture of the grass stem which the lady bird is walking over. I deliberately used a low aperture so as to blur the...
Parisenne Archways
On a visit to Paris you can be guaranteed of having amazing subjects to photograph. The people, the architecture, the landmarks, night photography and much more. On one such visit, in the courtyard behind the Louvre Museum, I spotted an archway leading to...
Ardmore Round Tower and Cliff Walk
I visited Ardmore in late January in the middle of 2 forecast storms, on the one day I took the camera out, luckily I had a perfect day for taking photos. Ardmore Co. Waterford is a great location for a photo walk, combining beaches, cliff walks and inland...
Revisiting old photos
I noticed that I had a lot of photos from 2010/2011 which I had backed up but very few were every touched up or had much editing done on them. There were 2 reasons for this; firstly I didn't have very good editing software back then and secondly when tools...
10 Tips to Improve your Photography
As a photographer do you ever find yourself getting stuck in a rut? Have you fallen into the HDR hole, are you always shooting in Auto mode or are you always shooting the same subjects at the same time of day? I have outlined my 10 Tips to Improve...
How to Create a Custom Bokeh
The first thing you may be asking is what the hell does Bokeh mean? The word 'Bokeh' comes from the Japanese word Bokashi which means 'to blur'. The use of the word Bokeh in photography terms can mean areas of a photo which are not in focus due to being beyond the...
2013 – My Year in Photo Blogging
Wordpress via the Jetpack plugin publish reports on your blogs which are very interesting. If you have a WordPress blog and you have not yet installed Jetpack then you really should as there are some great features including the 'Publicize' feature where you can...
First Astrophotography Timelapse
Astrophotography Timelapse I had seen timelapse videos showing the stars in the night sky moving, showing the rotation of the earth, sometimes even showing the milky way as it traverses the night sky. Having done some research I found out that you need a digital...
Swans on the Lake Revisited – Morris Oil Calendar Final 12
Morris Oil Calendar Entry Back in March I posted a photo called "Swans on the Lake". I recently submitted this to the Morris Oil calendar competition and it has been now shortlisted in the final 12. I am now hoping that you have a few minutes to vote for this picture...
Flightfest Air Show, Dublin 2013
Flightfest, Dublin Air Show 2013 On Sunday 15th September Flightfest in Dublin drew crowds of up to 150,000 who lined the streets from Capel Street bridge to the Point Depot to watch a once-in- a-lifetime, international fly past with over 30 aircraft...
How to ensure a well exposed photo using the exposure triangle
Photo Tip: Ensuring a well exposed photo using the exposure triangle It's often a problem when using a zoom lens, you zoom in and take the shot and you end up with a shot that's not 100% sharp. This is because you were so far zoomed in that the camera was...
Tramore Dog Surfing – Yes, Dog Surfing!
On Sunday September 1st, Tramore saw a spectacle which I had not seen in Ireland before, Dog Surfing.... Yes, surfing for Dogs. Some of the dogs didn't seem to like the idea and once on the surf boards decided to abandon ship and swim to shore, while...
Tramore Amusements Monster Firework Display 2013
Tramore Amusements Monster Firework Display 2013 On Sunday 25th August there was a Monster Fireworks display in Tramore, Co. Waterford. I decided to try and get a few shots having not brought the camera to the Spraoi fireworks display. In this post I...
Summer Flower and Bees – An Exercise in Patience
Flower and Bees - Patience in Photography Summer is a great time to take photographs of flowers, wildlife, butterflies and other insects (if that's something which interests you) and I noticed that there was a lot of activity among a set of red flowers. I decided to...
Photographing the Perseids meteor shower – My First Attempt
Photographing the PerseidsThis is my first attempt at Photographing the Perseids Meteor Shower. The Perseids is a prolific meteor shower associated with the fragments from comet Swift-Tuttle and are called "The Perseids" because the point from which they...
More Food Photography this time with Off Camera Flash
I had the opportunity to do some more food photography at Mount Juliet with the amazing chefs at the 3AA Rosette Lady Helen restaurant. The last time I did food photography I didn't have the facility to take my flash off-camera; however since then, I have purchased a...
Morning Photography – Swans on the Lake
Morning can be a particularly good time to take great photos. More and more I am refraining from taking photos between 11am and 4pm as the colours are just washed out by the strong overhead sun (unless of course the sun is not an issue and you have some interesting...
10 things to Remember before or during your Photography shoot
This is my 6th year using a DSLR and my 12th year of using a digital camera and over this time I have learned a few photography lessons ... some, the hard way!! This post has 10 things to remember before you start taking photos, either on a photo shoot or before you...
Experimenting with ND Filters and Long Exposures
Having recently purchased some ND filters I had being longing to try them out for quite some time. I decided to try the seascape at sunset style with the waves crashing across the rocks. The waves become misty and it looks quite nice but I had never tried...
3 Photography Myths Discussed
With the reduction in price of DSLR cameras, may people have DSLR cameras, have the interest in photography but have ideas or "a little knowledge" and as a result photography myths are created. This blog post discusses 3 of these photography myths. 1) My Camera is the...
2012 Photography Year in Review
With 2012 now over, I am having a look back at the photoblog, my photos during 2012, the blog traffic and what 2012 photography blog posts were the most popular. I got the WordPress email which had some very interesting stats. I have combined this report...
Montreal, Evening Street Scene
Montreal, Evening Street Scene I thought I had finished posting photos of Canada when I found this one. I thought that the photo had potential so after a bit of editing I ended up with a version I was happy with. The shot itself was one which I took while...
Winter Scenes and Frosty Mornings
Winter Scenes and Frosty Morning Photography Frosty mornings bring with it some lovely scenes which are great to photograph. Normally you will get crisp mornings, sometimes fog and you might also get an impressive sunrise, made even more impressive if there are some...
View of Vieux-Québec (Old Quebec)
Old Quebec is a very picturesque area with much to see and on a good day, has plenty to keep a photographer busy. I liked the sky in this, early in the day, before 10am so the sun wasn't too high. The original is a lot wider than this but I heavily cropped the image...
Quebec Boardwalk by Night
One of the main features of Old Quebec is The Château Frontenac and the vast boardwalk which sits in front of it. The boardwalk is a very busy thoroughfare during the day and especially at night. The dominant Château Frontenac is a now a luxury hotel in...
Chinese Gardens in Montreal Botanical Gardens
The Chinese Gardens in Montreal are truly wonderful. If you are in Montreal you must visit the Montreal Botanical Gardens. Highlight of which is amazing gardens was the Chinese gardens and buildings. The vivid colours were striking with Greens and the reds...
Place d’Armes Maisonneuve Monument,Montreal
This shot is an evening shot of The Maisonneuve Monument in Old Montreal which, built in 1895 at Place d'Armes Montreal in memory of Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve, founder of Montreal. The Maisonneuve Monument is in a busy square and with many people about...
Marché Bonsecours Montreal – A Second Version
I added a photo of Marché Bonsecours Montreal as part of my Project52 earlier this week but I have found an alternate version which might be of interest. I was taken earlier in the evening and from a slightly different angle. The sky is less red and it is easier to...
Marché Bonsecours Montreal Sunset – 33/Project52
Of all the photos of Montreal I think this turned out the best. It is a photo of Marché Bonsecours Montreal at Sunset. Near sunset I could see that the sky would be quite interesting. I also had an ND9 and a ND Grad filter in my camera bag and decided to...
Montreal Street View – 32/Project52
Montreal Street Photography Street Photography is something I have being trying to do some more of recently and this next shot is a photo from Montreal which I really like because of the lighting and the way the sun hits the buildings. The sun was setting and the sky...
Montreal Harbour – 31/Project 52
Montreal Harbour The next few project 52 photos will be of Canada. This weeks one was taken on a river cruise in Montreal Harbour. On a river cruise the sky was quite nice and gave the opportunity to capture Montreal cityscape from the river cruise launch. The boats...
Niagara Falls at Night – 30/Project52
Working without a tripod is always recommended, working without a tripod in low light is vital ... how about doing a long exposure without a tripod? The following image was taken at Niagara Falls about 30 minutes after sunset and it was a 20 second long...
Timelapse of Ottawa, Canada
Ottawa Timelapse Just another time-lapse experiment taken in Ottawa. The footage was taken on the iPhone from the Fairmont Château Laurier looking down towards Parliament hill. The footage compresses about 1 hour 10 minutes into the under 60 second clip. I was hoping...
Photos from Toronto, Canada
I have being working through some photos from Canada and I'm still on the Toronto area as I work through over 1,000 photos which I took while there. Toronto is a very nice city with lots to do in and around the city.I have put together some photos from the...
Niagara Falls Timelapse
This is just a short Niagara Falls Timelapse taken from the Sheraton on the Falls. This Niagara Falls Timelapse was looking towards the American Falls as evening set in. I like the way the lights behind Niagara Falls turns on later in the video. Its only...
Niagara Falls : 29/Project 52
I haven't updated the Project 52 in a while and will have a few catch-up posts this week in relation to it. This weeks project 52 post is of Niagara Falls, A Panoramic View with the Maid of the Mist. Luckily it was a good day with good sunshine which...
Making the most of The Blue Hour in Waterford
Tonight I decided to put the camera in the car and drive around and see what presented itself. Around 9pm the darkness was starting to become apparent, it was The Blue Hour. I knew that the International Space Station would be heading over Waterford....
Tall Ship Stavros S Niarchos passing Hook Head
This post and this photo could not have happened without the power of Twitter. Sunday evening I was browsing the Twitter feed on my @shanesphoto feed and I noticed a few tweets about the Stavros S Niarchos ship which was berthed in Waterford over the...
Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Canada – 28/Project 52
I haven't been updating the project52 recently as I was away in Canada and during the trip took a few snaps which will appear here on the blog and also on the Flickr Stream. Delighted to have some good weather to take photos, the typical Irish man in me...
Kilkenny Castle Evening Shot – 27/Project 52
I didn't take many photos in recent weeks, again the weather wasn't great, and I just didn't get time to take the camera out with me as much as I would have liked ... seems to be a common complaint but something I hope to work on in the coming weeks as I...
Chicks and their Mom – Seagull Chicks in Dunmore East : 26/Project 52
Halfway through the Project 52 challenge and it has been very hard these past few weeks to get any decent shoots in the evenings - the weather this year has been deplorable and this week was no exception. I nearly didn't bring the camera on this day but I...
Moon through the Bridge Wires – 25/Project 52
On the way home from Kilkenny one evening I spotted the full moon high in the sky, and as I approached the new N25 toll bridge at Waterford I wondered if the 2 would be in the same shot. I decided to go down as far as the old Waterford - Carrick road, now...
London Dove In Your Face – 24/Project52
I went for a walk in St. James park near Buckingham Palace in London and found that the Doves and pigeons were very tame, in fact, when I held my had out, 2 of them landed on my arm. While I was doing this I thought I could capture some of the avian...
Sunset in Waterford : 23/Project52
Having got some ND filters, I had being playing around with evening light and captured this shot looking towards the new N25 toll bridge in Waterford as the sunset. I had used an ND4 and a ND grad filter. The lighting was probably a bit too harsh to do a...
The Vicar of Dibley : 22/Project 52
The Vicar of Dibley - Location This weeks post has 3 photos you might recognise - it's the location used in the filming of the hit BBC show, "The Vicar of Dibley". The location is in the middle of nowhere, only for SatNav we would never had...
Food Photography : 21/Project 52
Almost half way through the project 52 and this post is all about food and fine dining. I recently did some food photography for the Lady Helen Restaurant at Mount Juliet Country Estate. Often photography is a challenge because the subject may be not that...
iPhoto7 – iPhone Photography Challenge : 20/Project52
I played around with the idea of using the camera which is with me 100% of the time, my trusty iPhone4S which has a great 8Mb pixel camera. One photo per day for 5 to 7 days seemed like an easy challenge but I was trying to create quality...
Woodstown Beach, Co. Waterford – Sunset : 19/Project52
Eventually got the camera out and with some nice weather over the weekend I saw this during a walk on Woodstown beach as the sun was setting. I liked the reflection of the sun on the wet sand. The tide had made the sand quite reflective and I just liked...
Pet Photography : 18/Project52
Pet Photography This week I tried my hand at Pet Photography with a new puppy, Pippa, a willing and participant miniature yorkie was a great subject and reacted very well whenever the motor in the auto-focus was whirring. The light was fairly low and as soon as the AF...
Donkey having a Scratch – 17/Project52
I decided to have some fun with this weeks Project 52 photo (by the time I'm uploading it, it's actually the one for last week). Having visited the donkey sanctuary in Cork, I had a few ass photos 🙂 ; This particular donkey decided to lie down and was...
Kilfarrasy Beach – As the Tide Rushes In – 16/Project52
I have been trying to get out to the beach late in the evening for a long time and eventually last night I did, however I didn't have my full compliment of filters so I made the job a bit tougher than normal. I had been scouting Hook Head, Kilfarrasy and...
Waterford Photo on 3e Weather Forecast
Waterford Photo on 3e Weather One of my photos, "Sunrise over Waterford City" will be shown on the 3e weather forecast on Friday 20th April at 6:28pm. The photo which I took from the bridge in Waterford is shown below. It is part of the LoveWaterford week on the 3e...
Last of the Spring Flowers : 15/Project 52
Spring Flowers PhotoAll this week I had made multiple attempts at taking a nice shot of a field of rapeseed against quite a vivid skyline, but every time I tried something in the shot just wasn't working. In the end I decided to try something on a smaller...
Kinsale, Co. Cork – 14/Project 52
As it happened I ended up back in Cork for the second week running, having been in Cobh last week, this week I was near Cork Airport. So I decided to scout around for some locations, and thanks to a tip off from Twitter via my @shanesphoto...
Cobh, Co. Cork : 13/Project 52
With the 100 Anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic approaching in April 2012, I decided to post this photo which I took this week during an all too brief visit to Cobh, Co. Cork ... (I may also put some more photos of Cobh online either on...
Compare My Meerkat – 12/Project 52
Compare My Meerkat Are you looking for cheap car inshooooraance? If so, don't ask this little furry guy as he has no idea what 3rd party fire and theft is. This is one of the Meerkat's in Fota Wildlife Park near Cobh, in Co. Cork. The new compound for the Meerkats is...
Grey Heron at Cahir, Co. Tipperary : 11/Project 52
Grey Heron at Cahir Castle I came across this grey heron totally by accident in Cahir, Co. Tipperary ; it was standing in the weir just opposite Cahir Castle. Over a period of about 5 minutes this heron did not move, apart from tipping the flowing water with its'...
Nibbling Squirrel – 10/Project 52
The Nibbling Squirrel This photo for last weeks Project 52 entry, a bit late posting it but better late than never. This weeks photo is yet another squirrel (a different one note) but this time its nibbling on some leaves and it was quite an interesting shoot. I saw...
Travel Photography : Some Photos from New Zealand
I have been going through some of my photos from New Zealand and doing a bit of cleaning up and Photoshop tweaking and I have uploaded some shots from New Zealand plus one from Singapore which I always liked but did a bit of fixing up of the image. I have...
Moonshot – 9/Project 52
Moonshot Photo Once again this past week the weather didn't cooperate with my plans. ISS was in our skies last week and Monday and Tuesday it was too cloudy, Wednesday I didn't have access to my camera, and Thursday - Sunday was not good for taking photos, with wind...
Crows in the Tree Tops at Sunset – 8/Project 52
Last Week I was out and about at or near sunset and I spotted a large number of crows in the trees. When I took the photo they were moving so fast, that even at 1/100 the birds were still showing up as moving blurred images. I like this shot because of the color in...
Grey Squirrel with a Red Head – 7/Project 52
In the grounds of Kilkenny Castle there are many areas where you can catch a glimpse of some amazing wildlife, from ducks, geese, swans, and many other types of small woodland birds to squirrels and even on a rare occasion badgers (according to the signs in the...
Train Hangs from Red Iron Bridge, Waterford – 6/Project52
Today I took the camera down to Red Iron Bridge and as I did I was amazed to see a train move slowly down towards the gap in the Red Iron Bridge, I was sure it would stop well before the gap but it kept on coming, until .... Well, that would be an amazing news story...
Some Project 52 Themes for 2012…
I decided to set some photography themes for the Project 52 which I am doing this year on shanemcdonald.me. I have not set dates against these as I want to be able to use them when ever I find a suitable subject or opportunity. There are 26 photography themes which...
Landscape Photography Competition with £1,000 in prizes
For all those who take landscape photography, you may be interested in this excellent Landscape Photography Contest which is being run by Lavenderworld.co.uk 1st prize is £500 (roughly €600) of photographic equipment with £300 for 2nd and £200 for 3rd place. The theme...
Waterford City in the Early Morning – 5/Project 52
This weeks Project 52 photo was quite easy, as it just happened that I had the camera & tripod with me (fairly common these days) and that I was near the bridge in Waterford as the sun was coming up. Waterford City in the Early Morning is beautiful....
Crescent Moon over the River Suir – 4/Project 52
This week I decided to take advantage of the recent crescent moon in our skies since Monday. Using the 75-300 Canon lens, tripod & cable release I got a few good photos of the waxing crescent moon (at about 19%) and did some work with it from there. The photo...
Hook Head, Co. Wexford, Sun Beams – 3/Project 52
A few days ago I took a photo at Hook Head which I liked. I hadn't planned on using it for this weeks Project 52 photo, but having gone out tonight to take some night shots, I found that the clear skies had clouded over !! The weather for photography at the moment is...
Sunrise over River Nore – 2/Project52
Second week of my Project52 was a bit more difficult with the weather not cooperating. Dull overcast days are tricky to shoot as the colours are not as vibrant as when the sun is peeking through the clouds. The photo below was taken about 20 minutes after sunrise last...
Cliff Walk Ardmore, Co. Waterford – 1/Project52
The first entry on my 2012 Project 52 is a shot which was taken this weekend in Ardmore, Co. Waterford from the Cliff Walk. Set off at the Cliff House Hotel and the journey takes about 60-90 minutes depending on your pace, and you end up back at the round tower in...
2011 – My Photography Year in Review
My 2011 Photography Year in Review With 2011 drawing to a close I have being trying to set aside some time to review some shots which I have being meaning to edit & improve in post-production etc. That plan didn't work out but I'm going to try and take some time...
iPhone as a Camera – 7 Days of iPhone Photos
Using an iPhone as a Camera I decided to try push the iPhone 4S and its new camera to see what types of photo results I would or could get from the New iPhone Camera. The iPhone Camera on the 4S is miles ahead of the iPhone 3GS which I had upgraded from. Clearer...
iPhone Photography – 7 Day iPhone Photo Challenge
iPhone Photo Challenge I recently upgraded to the iPhone 4S from the iPhone 3GS. The most obvious improvement for me, as somebody who has an interest in photography, was the improved camera and screen. The iPhone 4S camera has 8 megapixels which is 60% more pixels...
Photo of the Week – Fog in Kilkenny
Kilkenny Fog Photo November is always a good time for getting photos with early morning mist and fog. This can create some lovely effects when the sun is rising as the light breaks through the fog and starts adding color to the landscape. I went out and about this...
Playing with Fire – Photo of the Week
Fire Spinning Recently we had a Carrick Camera Club shoot on Annestown Beach, and one of the shots involved lighting steel wool. It is called Fire Spinning and involves and doing some fast revolutions of the item while at the same time having the camera setup on long...
Photo Theme – Blue
Blue Photo Theme A recent club competition was a photo theme "BLUE' - therefore any photo which could fall under the style or theme of blue. I had a selection problem on my hands as I had 2 main contenders. Photo selection is critical when submitting your work to a...
Pictures of London – Fantastic Photo Location
Photos of London London is a great place for any photographer with fantastic architecture, a river which enhances anything on the river bank, many weekly events to capture on film and the occasional unusual element or artistic installation. I have put a few photos...
My First Fox Photo – Photo of the Week
My First Fox Photo I have always been fascinated by how covert foxes can be, I once came across one in Manor Street in Waterford at 2am one night on the way home from a night out (no camera of course), but had not seen one up close since then. Having picked up a loan...
Fantasy Waterfall Scene – Photo of the Week
Fantasy WaterfallI did a bit of digital editing of the St. Patricks Well photo from last week and thought it might be interesting to zoom in and use the small cascade as a huge fantasy waterfall effect. I added a tall-ship, some birds and vignetted the...
St. Patricks Well, Co. Tipperary – Photo of the Week
St. Patricks Well, Co. Tipperary This photo is one I took a few weeks ago but only got round to working on now. It is St. Patrick's Well near Clonmel in Co. Tipperary. An area which I never knew about, but one which is very beautiful and a must see if you are into...
Photo of the Week – Mount Juliet House, Co. Kilkenny, Ireland
Mount Juliet House, Co. Kilkenny, Ireland I was testing out a nice Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L USM Lens and with the weather being so nice I decided to try a shot I had taken many times before - Mount Juliet House, Co. Kilkenny. The day was bright, horses out in the...
International Space Station Photo over new Waterford Bridge
International Space Station Photo over N25 Waterford Bridge I was hoping the International Space Station would track directly over the new Waterford Bridge and had set up my camera at around 10pm with the ISS pass scheduled for 10:05pm over Waterford. I could see the...
Photo of the Week – Firebreather
Firebreather Photo I took this photo of a firebreather at an event in Mount Juliet, Co. Kilkenny. It was my first time using the Canon L Series of Lens (the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L USM Lens to be exact) and I was blown away by the results from that lens. The other...
How to blur backgrounds using the aperture
Over the past few months there have been many daily searches to this site about depth of field and how to blur backgrounds. Professional photographers use this technique and this post will address some of these actual searches to this site, such as "how to...
Waterford Spraoi Parade – Photo of the Week, from the Spraoi Parade
This weeks Photo of the Week is from the Waterford Spraoi parade which took place on Sunday 31st July 2011. The theme of this years Spraoi Parade is "An Bosca Beo" - the “Box of Life”. The Spraoi Parade, “An Bosca Beo”, was designed by Spraoi Productions to be "a...
The Lonely Bike – Photo of the Week
I was out and about this evening in Waterford and took a few shots - this one I thought was nice. Seems like this bike just had enough, sleeping on the sidewalk, I think this photo just suits Black and White. I wanted to do more Black and White shots and I like this...
Moon and Weather Vane in Dunmore East – Photo of the Week
I took this photo on Tuesday night in Dunmore East as the almost full moon was crossing behind the weather vane on top of the Dunmore East Lighthouse. I though it was an interesting composition (as if you didn't know where the moon was) with the arrow slightly out of...
Tall Ships Race Waterford, Photo Updates from Waterford
Tall Ships Race Waterford, Photo Updates During the Waterford Tall Ships Race this page was updated with photos from the Tall Ships events in and around Waterford. There are some images and slideshows of the Tall Ships Race on this page. I went out on on the Tuesday...
Fox Glacier – Reflective Lakes, Lake Matheson – Photo Update
Having done some work on the Lake Matheson at Fox Glacier photo (see older post here) , I have finally retrieved the type of shot I was hoping for. The photo was taken in the late evening when there was a lot of shadow cast in the extreme right of the shot - so the...
Glencomeragh – Carrick Camera Club Shoot
Glencomeragh On Tuesday 14th June, Carrick Camera Club held an evening shoot at Glencomeragh, 10 minutes from Carrick On Suir, Co. Tipperary. I have posted some of my shots from this shoot below... taken before the weather and heavy mist moved in. In the limited time,...
Tramore and Crashing Waves Evening Photo – Photo of the Week
I was out in Tramore last week. It was around 8pm and the sun was beginning to set. Waves were crashing in and there was some nice rays of sun here and there. I took the following photo of Tramore church in the background as the waves roll in...
Fox Glacier Reflective Lakes – Photo of the Week
Fox Glacier Reflective Lakes Photo This Vertical Landscape shot was taken near the village of Fox Glacier in New Zealand. This is my Fox Glacier Reflective Lakes Photo. The Reflective lake is Lake Matheson less than 10 minutes west of Fox Glacier. The Lake walk takes...
Milford Sound from the Township – Photo of the Week
Milford Sound or Piopiotahi in Māori is a fjord (not actually a sound), located in the south west of New Zealand's South Island. It is located within the Fiordland National Park and the Te Wahipounamu World Heritage site. Having driven from Te Anau we were greeted by...
Mount Hamilton Panorama – Photo of the Week
Mount Hamilton Panorama This panorama of Mount Hamilton was taken on the way from Dunedin to Te Anau on the South Island of New Zealand. The shot was taken with a wide angle lens and then cropped in a panorama format. Bit of photshop work was requried to bring out...
One Man and his Boat – Photo of the Week
I like this photo for its simplicity. The photo was taken in, Timaru, a small town on the east coast of New Zealand. The Timaru Gardens are on the way out of the town as you head south and make for a very relaxing and enjoyable walk around these botanical gardens. The...
Singapore by Night – Photo of the Week
I took a few night shots in Singapore recently and remembered some tips which Canon Cameras had in one of their presentations regarding the taking of night shots. I came up with the following shot of Singapore by Night. The shot was taken around 10pm from the 22nd...
Springtime – Photos of the Week
Spring is a great time for any photographer. Lots of colour, variety of textures, and nice light in the spring mornings and evenings. Some Spring mornings have a mist of fog which can be nice to take photos during - however I was not lucky enough to be out and about...
Steps to the Castle – Lismore Castle, Photo of the Week
I decided to upload a photo to the blog, and converted a shot which I liked and decided to upload it as Photo of the Week. Its a shot of Lismore Castle and steps leading up to the castle and grounds. I have a few different versions of this, the only thing I didn't...
Reginalds Tower HDR with Star Trails – Photo of the Week
I took this photo as part of an internal Carrick Camera Club competition - The theme was "Motion". I had experimented with a few different concepts but I thought the imposing and impressive Reginalds Tower might be a nice subject. I took 3 Bulb exposures each at about...
Photographing my First Fashion Event – Photo of the Week
My First Fashion Photography Event Hadn't done a Photo of the Week for a while but I decided to upload a few of these. This was my first Fashion Photography experience and one which I had to learn fast. First off, when you get a chance to do something like this, you...
How to change Depth of Field and make blurred backgrounds
Sometimes when taking a photograph you don't want your background to be focus as you might want the foreground. Normally you will want your subject to be in focus and the background to be either slightly out of focus or very out of focus. In order to do this you need...
Coco : Cat Macro – Photo of the Week
I hadn't taken many photos this week but this one of Coco the cat, I really love. Using Macro mode on the Canon 450D, with the flash bounced off the ceiling which allows for a soft tone but enough to give sharpness. I also upped the ISO to 400 as the light was low and...
How using IS on a Tripod can cause blurry images
Did you know that by having your Image Stabilization (IS) or Vibration Reduction(VR) can cause Blurry images? Some people told me this is a myth, I even found some websites saying this wasn't the case. So I tried it out myself. I setup a shot with a 30 second...
Arthurstown to Passage East at Sunset – Photo of the Week
This weeks photo of the week is not a very long exposure. Only 1.6s at F20 (ISO 100) but the colours I really like. I have cropped the photo to make it more landscape - the photo was taken at Arthurstown in County Wexford looking towards Passage East across the river....
HDR, 7 Minute Exposure at Granny Castle – Photo of the Week
I recently got a cable release for the Canon D450 and it has opened a new world of Bulb exposures. Before this my longest exposure (without using stacking software) would have been 30 seconds. Now I am doing 10 minute exposures and thinking nothing of it. This weeks...
Suir Bridge through fog – Photo of the Week
I took a few shots this week - however without a tripod (shame on me) I wasn't overly happy with some of them. I did however, like this photo of the N25 Suir Bridge as the top of it peeks through a heavy freezing fog as well a an early morning shot in Co. Kilkenny. So...
Tramore, Back Strand Reflections – Photo of the Week
This week the Photo of the Week is a bit more local. Only 15 minute drive from Waterford, Tramore's Back Strand is a great place to enjoy a walk and if you have the camera, you can get some good shots too. Photo topics at low tide include...