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Round Cobh Island Windsurfing Race – 1

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Hoping for an action-packed day out in Cobh today, we headed to Great Island for the Round Cobh Island Windsurfing Race. All seemed to be going to plan with a number of competitors limbering up near the start line but then, due to 45kn winds gusting in the harbour, the race was postponed until tomorrow.

With some time on our hands we were content to play the tourist for a few hours at Cobh Heritage Centre mixing with the disembarking passengers from the imposing presence that was the majestic cruise liner, Celebrity Infinity, just recently alongside at Deep Water Quay.

Meanwhile, at the back of the island, some windsurfers were putting in some training (aka having the craic) for tomorrow’s event under the watchful eye of a cool canine sailor.

Mouse over the image below to see and activate the slideshow controls and photographer details. Photography by John Tait and Denis Barry. Enjoy.

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Here’s hoping for better luck tomorrow.

Check out the post and images from Day 2 here.

 

Free Top-of-the-Range Software

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Until Monday, May 12th, you can get a fully licensed version of the all-new Perfect Effects 8 Premium Edition (Reg $99.95), and it’s yours to keep forever! Perfect Effects is just 1 of 8 powerful apps included in Perfect Photo Suite 8 (sold separately). As well as being a stand alone application, it integrates with Lightroom, Aperture, Photoshop, and Photoshop Elements. With hundreds of powerful, one-click, fully customisable effects, Perfect Effects 8 makes it easy to bring out the best in your photos.

Note that the program requires a system with 8GB of RAM and a 64-bit version of Mac OS X 10.7 / Windows 7 or higher.

Click here for more

 

Group Meeting 6/5/14

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Ann Marie Collins speaks to the Group by Denis Barry

We were delighted to welcome Ann-Marie Collins L.I.P.F. as our guest speaker at The Midleton Park Hotel on Tuesday 6/5/14. A former member of ECCG, Ann-Marie has recently turned professional specialising in Custom Newborn Photography. As a mother of two herself, she appreciates how fast baby’s first few weeks go by and decided that she would capture those precious memories in her East Cork studio for parents to treasure for a lifetime. Her passion for this genre of photography is evident even in how she speaks about the subject not to mind the exquisite photography she produces.

Ann Marie presented a slide show of some of her work which you can see on her website here. The variety of poses and props were amazing while all her subjects seemed quite at home posing for the camera! It was a revelation to hear that sessions can take several hours to complete but considering her passion to get it just right, it was not surprising. She also showed some wall hangings in canvas and other materials as well as albums and prints which really show off her subjects well.

Newborn photography is a particularly sought after service so if you want Ann-Marie to perform her magic on your newborn, don’t wait until baby arrives as you will be too late. Contact her studio some months ahead of time to ensure your booking.

See Ann-Marie’s website here. Find her on Facebook here. You can contact Ann-Maire here.

Our next speaker was Mervyn Daly who demonstrated the art of mounting photographs for framing or exhibition/competition. A delicate operation in its own right, Mervyn covered the subject in detail showing all the tricks involved to get a perfectly mounted image.

The Group were delighted to welcome three new members at the meeting and look forward to working with them and seeing their work in the months ahead.

 

Ballyannan Wood Shoot – 4/5/14

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ECCG Group at Ballyannan Wood

A damp morning greeted the members when we met at the Midleton Park Hotel this morning. Keeping an eye on the weather over the weekend to see if the shoot could go on, we decided in the end to ‘go for it’ as we had been rained off so many times already this year. We were glad we did.

The wood, just on the edge of Midleton town, was a treasure trove of plants, trees and graphic shapes and the bluebell crop was in full bloom adding a vivid vitality to the scene. The damp weather had lent its own unique spice to the landscape leaving delicate drops of moisture on the flowers and leaves. Along with the woodland, the estuary shore added another dimension with old boathouses, graffiti and beached timber among the photographic subjects.

Have a look at some of the images captured below. Mouse over the image to see and activate the slide controls and to see details of the photographer. Photography by Joe Keniry, Trevor O’Connell, Jim Curtin, Finbarr O’Shea, Anthony O’Connor, Bill Sisk and Denis Barry

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Long Exposures

Finbarr O'Shea

Finbarr O’Shea

Slowing down the shutter speed in bright light in order to get effects similar to those in Finbarr O’Shea’s image above is often an aspiration of many photographers. The use of neutral density filters is a must to really pull it off but is it as simple as just putting a filter in front of the lens?

Find out the secrets here …