Tag Archives: Anthony O’Connor

Cork – Resplendent in the Rain

Though buffeted by high winds and rain, Cork City presented with a charm all of its own on Sunday afternoon, 29/12/2013, as hardy shoppers scurried about the streets in the festive atmosphere.

Despite the testing conditions, people were in great humour all around the City lending credence to the City’s ‘friendly’ tag.20131229-DB2_7183ECCG reporters-120131229-DB2_7052

Though hardly ideal weather for photography, two members of ECCG threw caution to the winds and ISO settings to the heavens and headed out into the storm to record activities in the ‘Real Capital’.

ECCG reporters-14ECCG reporters-5 ECCG reporters-8 20131229-DB2_6973Business at The Giant Wheel on Grand Parade was understandably slow but the friendly cashier on duty was undaunted as she sipped her cuppa to keep out the chill.

ECCG reporters-17Given the adverse weather, there was little room in the McDonalds Inn at Daunt Square

20131229-DB2_7228The Echo Boy on St. Patrick’s Street appeared to try to catch everyone’s attention as they passed by but was having little luck.

20131229-DB2_7182Storm? What storm? – Time to relax in Carey’s Lane

Click the thumbnails above for a bigger version.

ECCG reporters-22New and Old: Opera Lane and Queen Anne House, Emmet Place

ECCG reporters-Selfie on The Giant Wheel – ECCG’s intrepid reporters: Denis Barry and Anthony O’Connor high above the Grand Parade.

While willing to risk life and limb to get the shot (well we did have a go on the Giant Wheel!), the gear had to be protected from the elements. The first defence was the incredibly cheap and effective OpTech Rain Sleeve, without which, we would not have been able to get out at all. These kept the bodies and lenses dry and after that it was a constant battle just to keep the front lens elements dry, an impossibility in the circumstances so it was really just a matter of getting on with it and hoping for the best.

ISO crept towards the 2000 mark at times in order to maintain some chance of a hand-hold-able shot. Both Nikon and Canon were represented but with conditions as they were, there was no lens changing. 18-55mm and 18-200mm were the lenses of choice and proved their versatility on the day. Umbrellas and tripods were brought along but were more of a hindrance than a help, such was the high wind and could really have been left in the car.

All in all, a challenging but enjoyable day of photography in our City by the Lee – and a few ‘keepers’ into the bargain.

 

How I Took That Shot – Anthony O’Connor

Anthony O’Connor won our recent ‘Reflections‘ competition with his wonderful night shot of Ballycotton Bay.

reflections-3

Here’s how it came about:

“The image was taken from Silver Strand. I had this image in my mind for a while since I had seen a similar shot on the ECCG website in the 2009 calendar. The conditions were perfect on the night so I hung around for a while and took several shots at different settings”.

Camera:Canon 400D
Lens: 18-55mm Kit lens
Focal Length: 18mm
F5.6, shutter speed 13 secs, ISO 400.
Lens flare: I normally have a UV filter on the lens all the time but I took it off on the night. Also the moon was well up in the sky and well above the frame of the image so flare wasn’t really an issue. The clouds probably helped reduce the brightness of the moon also.

I later adjusted the contrast (-1), saturation (+1) and colour tone (-1).”

See more from Anthony here.

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‘Reflections’ Competition – June 2013

Tuesday 25/6/13 was our last club meeting before the summer break. The judging for our third internal competition for 2013, which was themed ‘Reflections’, was held. A total of 16 high quality entries were received on the night.

The members present viewed the projected images and discussed each image as it appeared on screen before giving it a mark out of ten each on Creativity, Composition and Lighting giving a possible score of thirty marks overall.

Following the judging and while the votes were being tallied by the committee members, chairperson, Tom Tattan went through each of the images on screen again and while each photographer recounted how they came to produce the final images.

First place went to Anthony O’Connor with a night shot of Ballycotton, Co. Cork. Second place went to Fidelma Read who stunned us all with a gorgeous image captured on her iPhone. Third place went to Karen Fleming for her image of a delicately lit flower on a mirror.

Click on images for larger version

Well done to the winners and all entrants. Click here for full post and slideshow of all entries.

Sub-Zero Temperatures no match for ECCG Members

The sub-zero Siberian winds were no match for the dozen or so hardy souls who turned out for the first night shoot of the year in Cork City last night. With windchill dropping the temperatures to -4C, the members were treated to a full moon rising over the City Hall which was awash in a beautiful blue light that rendered the freezing conditions irrelevant.

DavidGeary_Corknight-shoot-2

After a while in the Lapps Quay and Parnell Bridge area it was off to the South Gate bridge where views of St. Finbarre’s Cathedral  reflected in the waters of the South Channel were worth the walk.

More than once, passers-by paused and looked quizzically at the line of tripods and their attentive owners wondering what in the world was going on. Some looked far in the distance to see what could be the object of this group’s attention only to walk away as mystified as they were to begin with. One couple’s curiosity got the better of them causing them to stop and ask what was going on!

The hot refreshments at a local hostelry went down a treat afterwards as all reported a satisfying and good shoot despite the challenging conditions.

Photos by Dave Geary, Anthony O’Connor and Karen Fleming.

How I took that shot – by Anthony O’Connor

Anthony O’Connor’s stunning underwater shot of a diver is certainly one that most photographers won’t ever get a chance to take. Some would say it’s hard enough to take a good shot whilst on terra firma not to mention underwater where staying alive might be the top priority! Anthony tells the story of how it came about:

Ascent

“I took the image in August 2003 on a dive at the Bills Rock. The rock is located approximately 8 miles west of Achill Island and is regarded as one of the best dive sites on the Irish coast. It rises 40 metres above the water and below the water there is a vertical wall down to a depth of 50 metres, which is covered in marine life”.

“The image was taken on the ascent at a depth of about 10 metres in natural light”.

“The original shot was in colour but was very green. This is because colours are lost from the spectrum as you descend in water, i.e. red, orange and yellow all disappear beyond about 10 metres below the surface. Flash isn’t really an option unless the shot is close up or in crystal clear water, as flash light is reflected off suspended particles in the water causing specks in the image, known as backscatter”.

“I converted the image to black & white, adjusted the sharpness and contrast slightly and cropped it so that the anchor line was in the corner of the frame”.

Technical Details:
Camera: Canon Powershot A20 in a waterproof housing
Aperture: 2.8
Shutter Speed: 1/60

See more of Anthony’s images here.