2016

Posted on 24/07/2016 by admin

Aslan at Ardmore DB-23

Ardmore's 10th Pattern Festival was brought to a close on Sunday 24/07/2016 with a concert by veteran Dublin rock band, Aslan. With the stage located on the carpark overlooking the strand, the concert kicked off at 5pm on a beautiful summer's evening, a just reward for the obvious hard work and detailed organisation that went into bringing this well established event to fruition.

Christy Dignam and the band were in fine form, belting out their many hits from their 30+ years on the road. Clearly glad to be back in Ardmore, the large crowd were glad to have them back too as young and not-so-young sang and swayed to the music on the beach in front of the stage.

Altogether a fantastic atmosphere in Ardmore and by all accounts, a fantastic festival week in the west Waterford village too. Well done all.

Click here to see a gallery of images from the shoot. Enjoy!

Imokilly Mini Stages Rally – 17/07/2016

Posted on 23/07/2016 by admin

It is not often that a Road Rally comes around and when the Imokilly Motor Club announced the date of their Mini Stages 2016 for Sunday, 17th July the members of East Cork Camera Group began to gear themselves up for the action. The main sponsor for the Rally was O'Briens garages Midleton and Mallow while the Culann Wants to Walk fund was the Motor Club's charity of choice.

The Rally itself was made up of 2 stages done 3 times with service after Stages 2 and 4 and finish back at the Midleton Park Hotel. Stages 1, 3 and 5 were held in the Cloyne area and Stages 2, 4 and 6 were held in Ballintotis. The 1st Stage was very technical and 2nd Stage was a more flowing open stage. The Clerk of the Course reported that it covered 80 km to " test man and machine to the limit".

Some of our members managed to get to Spectator viewing points along the route while others were locked in (due to road closures) bringing the Rally to them.

As the time for the start of the Rally neared there was an element of excitement and anticipation in the air and when the Safety Car passed we all knew that the race was about to get underway. Within minutes the sound of an engine could be heard approaching and the noise of stones being scattered through the air as the first car took corners at high speed. Then in the blink of an eye the first car had passed by and the next car was following within seconds in it's tracks. The driver may have had his foot on the accelerator but the members of ECCG had their fingers on the shutter button ready to capture the action!

96 cars started the Rally but sadly all did not finish as they encountered problems along the route. The Midleton Park Hotel was the Rally HQ and the Scrutiny, Parc Ferme and Service were at Market Green. Those that finished returned to a heroes' welcome at Market Green and our members were there too to capture the excitement.

Imokilly Rally 2016 FR-14

1st Jonathan Pringle/James Fulton Ford Escort Car No. 102 43m 52s
2nd Declan Gallagher/Shane O'Mahony Toyota Starlet RWD Car no. 008 44m.23s
3rd Enda O'Brien/John Butler For Escort RS Mk2 Car No. 002 44m 25s

Well done to Imokilly Motor Club for organising such an exciting and challenging event.

Click here to see a gallery of images from this shoot. Enjoy!

- Eileen Upton

Youghal Fireworks – 09/07/2016

Posted on 22/07/2016 by admin

Firstly, thanks to Noelle for sending out a group text to the club members telling us about the fireworks.

Having never tried to take photos of fireworks before, I did a quiet Google for some tips. As with most things on the internet there are loads of different and sometimes conflicting opinions!

These are what I took from them and it worked for me.

Tripod
Wide Angle Zoom Lens (I used a 17-55mm APS-C)
Shot in Bulb mode
Aperture f/8
ISO 400 (I also tried ISO100 for longer exposures)

I picked the end of Ferry point to try and get Youghal town in the background, to add some depth to the photo and add some local interest. It also offered a wide view of the river as the fireworks were launched from a boat that was moving with the tide.

Shooting a moving target in the dark can be tricky but I’d prefocused the camera manually and because it was ~100m away at f/8 it would stay in focus. Good old Hyperfocal distance.

So with my tripod setup, camera ready and test shot taken, I waited for the fireworks to start…

… 45 mins later than planned, the ABBA tribute band (who sounded very good, even across the water) finally finished with Dancing Queen and we were off.

The extra 45 mins was a blessing as the sky went from twilight to night giving much more contrast to the fireworks.

The bulb mode worked well with the remote cable as I could watch the fireworks directly and just press and release as needed. I found multiple fireworks were too bright because the latter ones would illuminate the smoke from the first ones.

After checking the first few shots, I found 2 - 3 seconds would catch the launch and explosion without being too bright or losing detail.
This is where the remote cable is great. After the first few you get an idea of when to press it and then release, each firework is different.

The main trick is to keep shooting, you’ve no idea will the next firework be a huge dramatic explosion or several launched at once.

It was a very enjoyable spectacle, and thanks to the organisers of The Queen of the Sea festival for putting it on.

Click here to see a gallery of images from the shoot. Enjoy!

- Zane Llewellyn

Courtmacsherry Strand Races – 10/07/2016

Posted on 16/07/2016 by admin

The poor weather was a disappointment for everyone concerned but couldn't dampen the excitement at Courtmacsherry Strand Races held in the west Cork town on Sunday 10th July 2016.

The oval track is on a sandbank that can only be used at low tide and is accessible only via a temporary bridge by pedestrians. On our arrival, groups of stewards in hi-vis vests were busy putting the final touches to the track, installing the marker posts, winning post, starting rope and the all important last-lap bell. Being at the mercy of the tide, racing had to get underway so at a little after 3pm the runners and riders in the first race came onto the track having splashed their way through the low water. The young jockeys, in their colourful silks and tinted goggles, looked totally enthused and up for the contest as they loosened out their horses with a few short strides on the sandbank prior to lining up at the start.

Then, with encouragement being roared from the spectators on the road, they were off on several circuits of the course, sand flying in all directions as they galloped at full tilt around the track. The final lap bell signalled the last chance for the jockeys to squeeze the last bit out of their mounts and was also a signal for us that we had just one more time to get a decent photo of this race.

Then, to the sound of applause from across the water, the muddy-faced horses and jockeys crossed the finish line and while the winner headed for the parade ring to accept the prize, the others stabled their horses and prepared for the next race. This was repeated several times over and was a fantastic event despite the poor weather. Definitely one for the calendar next year.

Well done all in Courtmacsherry.

Click here to see a gallery of images from this shoot.

Exhibition Official Opening – 02/07/2016

Posted on 03/07/2016 by admin

The ECCG committee with Minister of State, Mr. David Stanton TD: Kevin Day, Denis Barry, Noelle Lowney, Minister Stanton, Anthony O'Connor and James Brady.

On Saturday 2/7/16, Minister of State at the Dept. of Justice and Equality, Mr. David Stanton TD, performed the official opening of our Cruise Liner / Lusitania Exhibition at the Cobh Maritime Building at Cobh Rail Station.

The exhibition is the culmination of a project to photograph all the cruise liner visits to Cork harbour during the 2015 season which amounted to 33 ships and 57 visits. Added to this was a number of images from the Lusitania Centenary Events that were held in May of the same year.

A gallery of images from each visit was posted to the project webpage which by the end of the project contained over 1,000 images. Ideas for an exhibition soon began to emerge and when the idea was initially suggested, the Port of Cork's Mr. Michael McCarthy responded positively and made the Cobh Maritime Building available to us for the month of July 2016.

The Exhibition Book on display at the Cobh Maritime Building

Planning soon got under way resulting in 46 frames containing over 100 images which were expertly printed, mounted and framed by Don Magee and his staff at Art and Frame, Model Farm Road, Cork. Added to this was a companion exhibition book available in print and as an e-book along with a free Exhibition App for mobile devices - all available from the club website.

In keeping with the maritime theme of this exhibition, we are delighted to make the Royal National Lifeboat Institution a beneficiary of the event and encourage all people visiting this free exhibition to make a donation in the RNLI collection box provided.

Liner Exhibition Opening-2

The exhibition exists because of a lot of good will, a lot of hours spent on it and a big commitment from a lot of people. Thanks to the ECCG committee as well as the members who contributed to the projects from the submission of images and dealing with the logistics of actually putting an exhibition like this together. Particular thanks is due to Finbarr O'Shea and Eileen Upton who actually put the exhibition in place.

Thanks to Mr. Michael McCarthy of Port of Cork, Cork County Council’s Cobh and East Cork Municipal Districts, Ben and the staff at the Maritime Building and all our sponsors (see the exhibition webpage for a full list), without whom, the exhibition could not have happened.

Finally, thanks tro our caterers, Days of Whitegate and our pianist, Ursula O'Tuama, who added a real sense of occasion to the opening.

Click here to see a gallery of images from the event. Enjoy!