The Irregular Photographer

Photowalk.ie

2011-03-22T10:20:00.001+00:00

Photowalk.ie is a great website where people get together to organise photowalks (no shit), where a group of people will set off on a loosely determined course with cameras in hand.

Having already been on one photowalk with a few of the heads from the boards.ie photography forum, and due to the fact that they had organised one literally on my doorstep, I packed up my gear including my spanky new tripod, and off I went.

As usual there were folks of all levels there, which is great as a beginner as people are normally more than happy to chat and offer advice where appropriate. I re-took some of the photos that I previously posted using my mini tripod, as I was interested to see what they would turn out like using 1) A full-size tripod and 2) some manual settings.

Bell X-1 @Google

2011-03-22T10:07:00.002+00:00

The thoroughly excellent Bell X-1 (The band, not the first aircraft to break the speed of sound, although I suppose that too was somewhat excellent) dropped into Google a few months back to play a lunchtime set for Musicians@Google.

By now I hope I'm getting an idea for what makes a good photo, or at least what may look interesting, so I perched myself up at the front row for both the sound check and the gig itself and took a few shots.

After each gig, the organisers of Musicians@Google in Dublin arrange for a picture of the artist to be hung outside the venue, along with a guitar that everyone so far has signed. Since getting 3 band members into one shot was next to impossible, I decided to have a go at making a montage photo out of a single shots of all 3. The outcome, for better or for worse, can be seen below!

Aviva Stadium

2010-10-08T10:43:00.001+01:00

The Aviva Stadium is pretty impressive to look at at the best of times, but when there is a game on, it takes on a whole new life. I took a wander down during the most recent Ireland home game to get a few shots and get some more practice using the mini-tripod.

We're All Goin' on a - Summer Holiday

2010-10-08T10:34:00.001+01:00

So far, all of my photo taking opportunities have been within the confines of the Emerald Isle, so it was with great expectation that I packed up my camera and headed off to Portugal. The south coast and Algarve region has some pretty spectacular scenery and great beaches, so I was eager to get some sweeping postcard-style landscape shots while I was there.

Unfortunately, this was not the case, and I soon learned that no matter how spectacular a view is, getting the view that your eye sees into the frame of a camera is no mean feat, and is probably best left to people with a bit more of an idea as to what they are doing.

Ever determined, I still managed to take a few decent shots which are arranged for your viewing pleasure below. Perhaps it's a stage that everyone goes through, but I'm finding a bit of a niche (perhaps thast should be 'rut') in night scenes - lights seem make everything a bit more interesting. They do to me anyway.

The Liffey By Night

2010-08-16T17:33:00.000+01:00

I mentioned a while back that, after having some trouble with low light shots coming out blurred, I had bought a Gorillapod. Well, the day (night) finally came for me to try it out properly and having threatened to take some pictures along the river liffey after dark for a while, I eventually made it down.

I found that shooting at night presents both positives and negatives. The positives are that the actual subject of the shots is usually nicely lit up, in some instances using some pretty funky colours which can look great when shot against a dark sky, and the reflection from the water adds a whole separate feature. Also, it gives an opportunity to get some pictures of places that would normally be packed with people while they are eerily quiet.

Negatively, I found that it can be difficult to find the right settings ('right' may be subjective here) to shoot with - taking two pictures of the same object a few seconds apart with different settings can result in to extremely different pictures, one with a more white-blue light making everything look cold, while the next could have a warmer sepia-like tint to it. I'm not sure which I prefer yet.

I also got to grips with longer-exposure pictures which, when used at a river setting, can give some interesting effects where the flowing water appears motion-blurred, while the subject of the shot remains still.Again, this can go either way depending on the actual subject of the photo but it was interesting to play around with.

Galway Vs Kilkenny - All Ireland SHC Leinster Final

2010-08-04T13:46:00.002+01:00

Just a quick update for this one - tried my hand at some more sports photography by bringing my camera to Croke Park for the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Leinster Final (what a mouthful).

This was the second time I tried to take pics at a hurling game, but unlike rugby or football, the ball (made of cork, wrapped in leather) moves at a ridiculously fast pace (upwards of 150 kmh, according to Wikipedia), meaning getting an action shot takes a fast eye and an even faster lens.

I stuck to the tried and tested method of taking photos of set pieces such as penalties and frees, as well as one or two of the various folks that you come across at this type of game.

Boards.ie Photowalk

2010-08-04T11:49:00.002+01:00

I've always been a bit of a lurker on Boards.ie, an Irish message board site covering pretty much every topic under the sun, but never really interacted with it that much. I decided it was time to get more involved with the photography board, and noticed that they were organising a photowalk based around the area I live.

There were about 7 or 8 people in all, ranging from folks with point and shoot pocket cameras to the more serious intercontinental-lens-wielding semi-pro's. The walk took us from Ballsbridge down along the river Dodder, past the new Aviva Stadium and towards the Grand Canal Dock area. I definitely took the most amount of photos from any one event but, as always, there are only a few keepers or ones that I actually felt were good. I also experimented a bit with the Manual Focus settings on my camera which was surprisingly easy to use.

Josh Ritter @ Google

2010-08-04T11:21:00.002+01:00

Next up in the Musicians@Google series was Idaho's own Josh Ritter. Josh's set was probably the most polished to date, or maybe it's that I was a little bit more familiar with his songs and style. Either way, it was very good indeed.

Having had some practise already with the other musicians@ gigs, I thought this one went quite well. I'm also a bit more familiar with the camera settings and was able to get everything setup as I wanted for the light, etc. I also had my first play around with contrast settings in GIMP for the B&W shot, hopefully it made it look better!

A Brief Hiatus

2010-08-04T11:15:00.000+01:00

And we're back!

I actually haven't even been away, but I have been taking some pics of family events recently, weddings, communions, etc. and decided that I'd prefer not to post pictures of family members or guests on here as some folks may not want their mugs plastered over a blog for all (anyone?) to see!

Steve

Gorillapod

2010-04-12T11:40:00.001+01:00

As I mentioned in some previous posts, blurring in low-light situations is pretty annoying and has ruined a lot of photos that would have otherwise made some pretty good shots. With this in mind, I set about finding a small tripod and after a recommendation by a colleague at Google, bought myself a Gorillapod.

It's a pretty cool device which has the benefits of a tripod, but you can also bend the legs in pretty much any way you like to allow you to steady the camera on surfaces which are less than level.

Some (hopefully) blur-free night shots will follow soon!

Grand Canal Dock & Theatre

2010-04-12T11:28:00.002+01:00

The Grand Canal Dock area is a pretty good-looking place at the moment - most of the building work is finished, the commercial units are occupied and a few weeks ago, the Grand Canal Theatre finally opened. As I passed by a few weeks ago, I noticed some feathered friends making the transition to city living and grabbed a few pics, so while I was there I said I might as well get a few of the theatre, too.

However, since the shots I took at The Brown Bread Mix Tape, I've realised that in a low-light setting, holding the camera in my hands just doesn't cut it - the amount of time the shutter must be open to get a proper shot means that blurred images are unavoidable. Memo to self, purchase a small tripod for low-light situations!

St. Patrick's Day Lunch @ Google

2010-04-12T10:51:00.002+01:00

Google had a St Patrick's Day themed lunch on the 16th March, complete with Irish Dancers and some traditional music. As I've taken to having my camera with me for just such an occasion, here's a few shots!

Big Day Out @ Merrion Square - St. Patricks Day Festival

2010-04-12T10:41:00.002+01:00

Catching up on some uploading this week - The St. Patrick's Day Festival Big Day Out at Merrion Square in Dublin happens over a week, a few days either side of the actual day itself. It's a family affair, as the song goes, and it's a great few days of street performance, music, food and entertainment, with the entire square closed to traffic and one side housing a fun-fair complete with ferris wheel, etc.

I went for a stroll on the Sunday, and was hoping to get some candid shots of people going about their business and enjoying the day. However, I still haven't managed the art of taking a picture of someone or capturing a moment without the people actually noticing you taking a photograph of them!

Either way, I grabbed a few shots of the performers, and a random shot of a kids balloon which I realised a few days later wasn't a million miles away from a shot in the actual TV ad for my camera, the Lumix G1 - guess I'm on the right track!

Photowalk - Dun Laoghaire

2010-03-08T14:57:00.003+00:00

Another sunny weekend recently so I decided to head out to Dun Laoghaire to get some fresh air and see if I could get a few good pics. It was nice and bright out so perfect conditions and I also had a play around with locking the focus on a point then moving the camera so that I could determine what came out sharp without having the camera refocus.

Fionn Regan @ Google

2010-03-05T14:55:00.002+00:00

Fionn Regan dropped into Google today - It was the first time we had a full band in for a gig so was looking forward to getting a good few pics of them doing their thing. Some issues with the light, as Fionn stood just a fraction too far forward for the spotlights to get him which meant his face was in shadow for the entire thing. Adjusting settings to make the most of the low light didn't help that much and I didn't really fancy using the flash at such a close range when he was trying to perform. I got some decent ones of his band though so was happy with that. The performance was really good too!

The Brown Bread Mixtape

2010-03-04T11:08:00.002+00:00

A friend of mine runs a monthly night of themed music, spoken word and performance called the Brown Bread Mixtape. If you have never been, and are of the persuasion that enjoys a FREE night of funnies and sometimes tearys, you should really check it out. After threatening to go to one of the nights for some time, I took the plunge last week for the 'Do you speak my language' night. Much hilarity and entertainment ensued, and I also grabbed a couple of shots.

John Spillane @ Google

2010-03-04T10:50:00.003+00:00

Another @Google session, this time with John Spillane. John was so entertaining I almost forgot to take some pictures, but I grabbed a few toward the end of his set. After the Gemma Hayes and Mick Flannery sessions, I noticed that some other (more experienced) people there came out with much better looking black&white pics.

When I used black&white on my own camera, I ended up with an almost identical shot to when I use standard colour, except the tones were now changed to greyscale. The more experienced guys ended up with shots that seemed to give less shades of grey and a noticable step between light and shadow. I played around with the camera settings for a bit and I think I've managed to get it a bit better.

Sporty Stuff

2010-03-03T17:36:00.003+00:00

Ireland Vs Italy in the first game of the 6 Nations 2010, a perfect opportunity to have a go at some proper action photography. Just one minor glitch - being in the very back row of the upper Cusack stand meant that I'd need to borrow one of those intercontinental lenses from the guys out on the south wall if I wanted to get anything decent. All the same, I was happy enough with the shots.

Catchin' Some Waves

2010-03-03T17:16:00.004+00:00

A relatively clear, fresh Sunday afternoon was the perfect time to go for a walk along the south wall in Dublin. With camera in tow, I reckoned I might get some good shots of the lighthouse, chimneys and maybe some looking back in towards Sandymount. There were loads of folks out and about with their cameras, some of which looked like they were trying to take a picture of someone in the Isle of Man given the size of the lenses they were using. I muscled my way into position with the best of them and here's the results.

Mick Flannery @ Google

2010-03-03T17:05:00.001+00:00

The second installment of the musicians@Google series featured Mick Flannery. Being only a short while after the Gemma Hayes session, I went for pretty similar settings so no surprises for guessing that the results were pretty similar too!

Gemma Hayes @ Google

2010-03-03T16:57:00.001+00:00

Gemma Hayes came into our office today to have a chat and sing a few songs. I work for Google in Dublin, and the @Google team which normally invites guest speakers such as business leaders to come and speak have started inviting musicians in to play at lunchtime which I'm very excited about as it'll give me a chance to snap a few shots while they perform.
I used a mix of standard and black&white shots for this, as I thought the lighting behind the performer showed up well when converted to grayscale.

Castle(y) Stuff

2010-03-03T16:47:00.003+00:00

The second outing was to Duckett's Grove, the ruins of what used to be the home of the Duckett family close to Carlow town, once a 12,000 acre estate. The photo's were taken at dusk, so I was hoping for some nice interaction between the granite walls and the clear blue sky.

Outdoorsy Stuff

2010-03-03T16:36:00.003+00:00

So my first excursion with the camera was to Galway, where I got to grips with the basic shoot and zoom functions with a few back garden shots. I'd like to learn more about focusing on what I'd like to focus on as I think some of these could have been better with objects in the foreground sharp, background blurry and vice versa. Nevertheless, here's some pics.

My Camera(s)

2010-03-03T16:30:00.002+00:00

Since December 2009 I've been the proud owner of a Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1, which I'll mention is my first and only 'proper' camera. Before this I've used an eclectic mix of regular point-and-shoots and camera phones.

The lenses that I'm using are the standard Lumix G Vario 14-45mm/F3.5-5.6 (shown on the picture above) and an additional Lumix G Vario 45-200mm/F4.0-5.6 shown left.

The myriad settings on this type of camera (what I guess you might call a mini-SLR) definitely takes some getting used to, but so far that's been part of the fun. The pictures that I'll be posting to this blog will be coming from the G1 mostly, with perhaps a few from my phone thrown in for good measure.

Welcome One and All

2010-03-03T15:48:00.000+00:00

Hi, and thanks for stopping by.

As a total beginner to all things photography, I've decided to start a little blog to post some ramblings and show off some of my attempts as I make my way from humble beginnings to Pulitzer prize-winning shots.

Tips, feedback and general comments all welcome.

Stephen