Storm Emma, or delightfully called “Beast of the East” makes life tough for everyone here in Ireland at the moment. Snow as high as a full metre – those who braved the storm had a price to pay: the white powder in the face, numb fingers and every little step one that had to be fought for.
Incredible to think that this is still Ireland. Incredible even more so to think it’s the second of March. Spring around the corner…. Really?
A couple of surreal days – snow in Ireland…. a lot of snow, in fact! So much so that the population is ordered to stay indoors. The snow storm is battering my home for a solid two days now – getting to a level where I wonder: should I be worried?
Well, today, I ignored the warnings and went out for a walk with the cam in the hand exploring my local area…. running right into the midst of the storm! There were moments where you couldn’t see what was in front of view.
The white powder battering anything that’s in the way, be it houses, trees or human faces!
The Grand canal is frozen. The poor swan, lonely and waiting for better times, can only sit patiently on the ice in the hope of someone throwing him some bread. Hopefully – so the meteorologists say – the worst is over after the weekend.
The last time – also the first time – I found my way to San Francisco, pretty much three years ago exactly this day – it was hell on earth. Torrential rain. Non-stop.
Swore to myself to come back one day and shoot the city in better light. So, here I am, right now for roughly three days.
Jet-lagged, waking up early in the morning, I wanted to make best use of this. So I went out to a local park – Corona Hights – where, so I heard, the view of the city was supposed to be spectacular.
No disappointment upon arrival. Right in the time for sunrise, I got the shot envisaged for quite some time. The sun rising quickly over the mountain range in the back, a perfect orange hue illuminating the sky – simply perfect.
An imposing individual – 2017 Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Sizing John, today at Punchestown Racecourse (Ireland) after a winning seasonal reappearance in the Grade 1 John Durkan Chase.
A freezing afternoon on Saturday at Taylors Avenue in Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland. Carrick Rangers played Warrenpoint FC in a clash of two teams at the wrong end of the table.
As limited as facilities were at the ground that’s officially called the Belfast Loughshore Hotel Arena, credit has to be given: the Curry Chips, albeit not cheap at GBP 3.50, were quite good actually and the toilets, albeit hidden in a green construction container, offered warm water and a hand dryer!
Handy, if you wanted to get some feeling back into your hands at half-time. Overall a nice, cozy place and worth to bring the camera to as the main stand is quite an old, shabby yet a romantic thing of beauty.
Would you believe it? Six years and counting…. that’s how long I reside in Ireland now. Mostly in Dublin, of course. And as you would have noticed following this blog: I do love sport. Seen pretty much all you can see here. The obvious and the obscure ones. But motor sport? I didn’t have a clue!
I mean, I had no idea it even remotely exists in this country the way it actually does. There is, however, just outside of the capital, this massive race track, the Mondello Park – it’s of course the green island’s only international circuit.
Well, for a couple months now I live in Naas, county Kildare, outside of the stinky capital. And as it happens Mondello Park is a leisurely 20min car ride off the home door.
Last Sunday was the right time to visit the place. The Irish Rallycross Championship took place this day. Cars in all shapes and forms thundered down the track in countless small lap races. Close to the action with fantastic viewing of the track I had to get out the cam and shoot the exciting scenes unfloding right in front of my eyes:
All photos taken with the Nikon D7100 and the G2 Tamron 70-200mm.
Been a tremendous day out there at Mondello Park. Viewing is great from across the track. You get as close to the action as safety regulations can allow. Can highly recommend a visit. I for one will be back, that is for sure.
The stunning panorama of Fuerteventura as seen from the Mirador Morro Velosa – six vertical frames each at 70mm taken and stitched together in post to create this kilometer long view across several barranco’s.
It’s actually not that long ago, that I owned a computer with a hard drive of the size of the original file of this image. It brought the old laptop I had with me on the trip to Fuerteventura down to its knees processing it.
On top of the world…. or at least Fuerteventura. A few steps more and from there it’s pretty much 807 meters straight down! It was the rewarding end of a 30 kilometer hike starting at sea level in Morro Jable under the grueling midday heat.
From there it went along the beautiful Jandia beach all the way up to the summit of the highest mountain of Fuerteventura – the Pico de la Zarza, offering the most stunning panoramic view over the beach of Cofete.
8mm, ISO 100, f/8, 1/100s – Nikon D7100, Sigma 8-16mm
It looked simple enough on the map. The reality was steep. And windy. At least not rainy. That was for later. Hiking up to the Djouce Mountain in the Wicklow’s isn’t a big deal, though the last bit is steep enough for untrained legs.
Add some high winds and it makes for a stern test on a weekend’s afternoon. It was too windy up there and the looming rain clouds made sure I only stayed for a brief period until making my way down again.
Light was sparse, though the shapes of the different mountains, hills, the wide panoramic view of the Irish coastline makes for an image where you can’t do much wrong.
The wonderful 8-16mm from Sigma in the back delivered once more. I wanted to capture the atmosphere felt on the mountain in a wide panorama to show the contrasts of the scene. It’s not the most special image I’ve ever taken. Still, It was worth to get out there and take it.
Old Man of Storr, Isle of Skye, Scotland –
116mm, ISO 100, f/7.1, 1/60sec; Nikon D7100, Tamron 70-200mm G2
Shoot It Now 