§ December 1st, 2008
The outside of the glass roof at the botanic gardens in Glasgow city. First time there, but I already know I'll be going back. Fantastic place, great food (although I'm not too sure about the haggis), great people (and their great accents) and some amazing architecture. Spent a quite chilly weekend there only to come back to quite a chilly Ireland. Suppose it's the season for it. Great way to ring in the changes that are going to be coming up in the next few weeks. Now if only those few weeks would pass a bit quicker. Hmm..
§ December 1st, 2008
this time the fire as seen from the back, from Grattan Street.
§ December 1st, 2008
A stall devoted entirely to mulled wine at the Continental Market.
§ December 1st, 2008
West Cork is a truly amazing place for getting up close and personal with some of the largest and most spectacular creatures on the planet. Every winter large baleen whales congregate off the South West coast – with a lot of activity focussed off the headlands of West Cork.
On Friday I was lucky enough to head out on a Whale Watching Trip with Colin Barnes out of Union Hall. We saw a total of five cetacean species on the trip: Fin Whales (Balaenoptera physalus), Minke Whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata), Humpback Whales (Megaptera novaeangliae), Harbour Porpoise (Phocoena phocoena and more than a hundred Common Dolphins (Delphinus delphis).
A fin whale (Balaenoptera physilus) surfaces not far from the boat
A common dolphin ( appears, riding the bow-wave created by the large whale
… and behaves exactly as it would when bow-riding a boat, demonstrating, perhaps, the origins of this curious habit.
We had an amazing trip – the second best I’ve ever been on (my best whale watching trip ever was one four years ago, also with Colin Barnes off the West Cork coast). We saw literally dozens of fin whales blowing all around us, about half a dozen minke whales, four humpbacks, the occasional porpoise and a hundred or more common dolphins. One of the highlights was seeing three different species of whale swimming together – two fin whales, a humpback, and two minke whales in one place. Amazing!
A humpback whale and fin whale surface together just off Galley Head, West Cork
This is the best time of the year to see large baleen whales off the Irish coast… November, December and January are when you get peak whale activity. So if you want one of the most spectacular wildlife experiences on the planet, get in touch with Colin (who incidentally also does gift vouchers, if you’re looking for an unusual Christmas present).
Ireland really is a hotbed of cetacean activity at this time of year – but enough of my wittering, here are some more photos. Judge for yourself:
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§ December 1st, 2008
The Evening Echo seller on Patrick’s Street, Cork, has been selling the evening paper for longer than I care to remember. I took a shot of him back in 2005 and he’s still there, braving wet and cold and every other sort of weather.
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§ December 1st, 2008
Canon 5d, 17mm, f11, 1/400, ISO 200
It’s been a busy few months for me - in case you hadn’t noticed by the serious lack of blogging I’ve been doing! Well, I took on an animation project back in May and it turned out to be a lot more time-consuming than I thought it was going to be. Waaaay more in fact so when I finally emerged from my office a few weeks ago having finished it, everything else that I had pushed to the side was waiting for me to get sorted. I’ve also been very busy with photography work; I’ve been shooting weddings, family portraits, business headshots and babys and I have to say, I’m loving every minute. It’s been a bit of a juggle though and I’m learning a lot about business and balance, not to mention pushing my comfort zones in photography.
So, I’ll post a few photographs over the next little while to try and catch up starting with the lovely ladies in this photo. Back in September a group of women from rollercoaster.ie decided to get together to promote the benefits of breastfeeding and to celebrate the launch of a new website - thebreastway.ie. Nothing militant or finger-wagging, just something to show that it’s normal, natural and all kinds of women do it. Unfortunately Ireland can be a little bit squeemish about breastfeeding and there are a lot of misconceptions out there about it being difficult or embarrassing.
For such a good cause I was happy to join them with the idea of capturing this positive image of breastfeeding and the women who do it. We had the most amazing day for it and about 50 women from all over the country made their way to Cabinteely park in Dublin for the shoot.
