2016

Posted on 13/06/2016 by admin

Innishannon NLowney-22

The annual Innishannon steam and vintage rally took place on the June Bank holiday weekend at the 38 acre venue outside Innishannon village. This annual event has been built up over the last 45 years. The rally has been running successfully since 1998 with all proceeds from the event going to the Irish Cancer Society. The rally was originally created to promote heritage machinery of all classes at work and to provide a suitable venue for vintage enthusiasts to display their machines as well as allowing the general public to view. The exhibits included huge tractors, threshers, unique cars, oil and steam engines.

Innishannon EUpton-7 The event commenced with a parade of various vintage steam engines and old harvest machinery. At the end of the parade, 6 of the engines who participated in the event 46 years ago lined up for the public and photographers to take shots of these masterful machines from yesteryear. In addition to the various vintage club displays, there was also a slow Steam engine and slow tractor race as well as a motor cycle display.

With the weather staying dry and sunny, this was a fun event for collectors, enthusiasts, visitors and of course ECCG to view and photograph rare agricultural and mechanical treasures from the past.

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

- Noelle Lowney

ECCG ‘Winter’ Competition – 19/01/2016

Posted on 20/01/2016 by admin

'Winter' was the theme of the first internal competition of 2016 held at the Midleton Park Hotel on Tuesday 19/01/16. Following two viewings of the eighteen entries, marks were awarded which yielded the following results:

Results

: 2nd Grade A – Denis Barry

: 3rd Grade A – Anthony O’Connor

Fidelma Read took first place in Grade A with an outstanding portrait while Denis Barry was second and Anthony O'Connor, third, beating Finbarr O'Shea to the spot on the very last vote.

: 1st Grade B – RJ Mani

: 2nd Grade B – Joe Keniry

: 3rd Grade B – Noelle Lowney

RJ Mani continued his winning streak by coming first in Grade B beating Joe Keniry and Noelle Lowney who came second and third respectively.

: 1st Grade C – Keith Johnson

: 2nd Grade C – Magda Mani

: 3rd Grade C – Jim Curtin

Keith Johnson came first in Grade C with a fine winter landscape from Killarney while Magda Mani and Jim Curtin took the second and third spots.

In the overall high scores across all three Grades, the Grade A results were replicated with Fidelma Read, Denis Barry and Anthony O'Connor taking the honours.

Well done to all entrants, especially those new members entering for the first time, and congratulations to those who gained valuable points towards this year's Photographer of the Year competition.

The image below is the winning entry in Grade A by Fidelma Read. Click the image to see all the entries. Enjoy!

ECCG ‘Summer Fun’ Competition – 15/09/2015

Posted on 18/09/2015 by admin

'Summer Fun' was the theme of the fifth internal competition of 2015 held at the Midleton Park Hotel on Tuesday 15/09/15. Following two viewings of the nineteen entries, marks were awarded which yielded the following results:

results

: Winner Grade A – Anthony OConnor

: Second Grade A – Finbarr OShea

In a reversal of places from our last competition, Anthony O'Connor took first place and Finbarr O'Shea took second. Third place went to Fidelma Read.

: Winner Grade B – Kevin Barry

: Third Grade B – Joe Keniry

Kevin Day took a break from the winners spot this time around and came second to Kevin Barry while Joe Keniry took the third.

: Winner Grace C – Noelle Lowney

: Second Grade C – Eileen Upton

: Third Grade C – RJ Mani

Noelle Lowney had her second consecutive first place in Grade C while newcomer, Eileen Upton took a well deserved second with RJ Mani coming in third.

In the overall high scores across all three Grades, the Grade A results were replicated with Anthony O'Connor, Finbarr O'Shea and Fidelma Read taking the honours.

Well done to all entrants, especially those new members entering for the first time, and congratulations to those who occupied the first, second and third spots in each Grade who will get 12, 10 and 8 points respectively towards this year's Photographer of the Year competition.

The image below is the second place entry in Grade A by Finbarr O'Shea. Click the image to see all the entries. Enjoy!

See also:
How I took that Shot - Finbarr O'Shea
How I took that Shot - Kevin Barry (not posted yet)
How I took that Shot - Noelle Lowney
Competition Gallery
Competition Results and 2015 League Table

How I Took That Shot – Noelle Lowney

Posted on 13/06/2015 by admin

Noelle Lowney took first place in Grade C in our fourth internal competition of the year recently. The theme was 'Vintage' and this is how she made the image:

19_Noelle Lowneey

My initial thoughts for a vintage themed image for the competition ranged from shooting a classic car, an antique camera, 1915 binoculars and even a 1902 spinning wheel! I wanted to shoot an image that would denote the past and be representative of the years gone by.

Between the jigs and the reels taking several shots of vintage cars, steam trains and other antiquities I finally decided on an image of a lady dressed in clothing which provided a glimpse of what the fashion was like from the early part of the 1900’s. This image was taken in Cobh last month during a poignant re-enactment of the Lusitania funeral procession of those victims who perished in the 1915 tragedy. The subject of this image was part of the funeral cortege and I took the shot of this lady while her eyes were not focussed on or looking directly at the camera.

I initially shot the image in Monochrome (Black and White) and then imported to Lightroom where I adjusted the saturation, contrast and sharpness of the image. I then wanted to give the image a historic ‘oldie worldly’ feel and chose Sepia/Antique toning to give the photo this effect.

Shot in RAW with a Canon EOS 1200d camera with a 55mm to 250mm lens, F/6.3, 1/260sec, ISO 400, Focal Length 215mm.

Well done Noelle

How I Took That Shot – Kevin Day

Posted on 11/06/2015 by admin

For the third time this year, Kevin Day took first place in Grade B in our internal competitions. This time around, in our fourth internal competition of the year, the theme was 'Vintage' and this is how he made the image:

I was walking past a small second hand shop in Cork the previous week and I just spotted an old camera in the window. With 'Vintage' in mind, I bought the old ‘bellows Kodak autographic' for €40.

A neighbour of mine was willing to pose and dress accordingly and, to complete the scene, what better than a vintage bottle of ‘Midleton Very Rare’?

I used a couple of lights – no flash.

50 mm prime F 2.8 1/15 ISO 2000

Well done Kevin