On the design front, I completed Irishknittingkits and eireknits. I’ve decided with things as they are that I’m not taking on more design work for the time being. That may change as Luke gets older. Most of the photographs I’ve taken lately have been of the wee man, but I also managed to take a few in Croatia. Check the main site for examples.

Cavtat, Croatia, with Dubrovnik in the distance.
The large yacht at the right is Roman Abramovich's yacht Luna.

I did manage to get a few shots of the stunning autumn foliage, and the Ramelton series is still ongoing. I won’t publish any more of the Ramelton shots here for a while, as they will formally go on exhibition early next year. I’ll add an update with venue and dates once they are finalised.

In the meantime, here’s a few autumnal scenes; yes they are in Ramelton, but they don’t fall into the series I’m making for the exhibition. I was a little worried that I wouldn’t get a chance to capture these, due partially to time I’m spending with Luke but also due to the poor weather conditions of late. I half expected that the leaves would be blown from the trees before they got a chance to colour properly, but thankfully after the storms of the past week, today dawned with a clear blue sky.

26/10/2010

8/11/2010

The first two shots were taken only two weeks apart – you can see how rapidly the colour changed.

from the BBC

Tilt shift lenses allow the lens to be tilted at an angle tho the focal plane – normal lenses are parallel to the focal plane. This creates the unusual effect of an apparent shallow depth of field where there wouldn’t normally be one. In practical terms – tilt shift images look like miniatures or models. This happens because we are conditioned by our familiarity with miniature macro photography and its inherent shallow depth of field.

from thegraphicmac.com

Tilt shift lenses have been around for a while, their popularity being mainly for their shift capabilities, especially for interior and architectual shots. The tilt effects seem to be very fashionable lately – there are photoshop tutorials springing up all over the place showing how to create faux tilt-shift.

They’re rarely as effective as the real thing though.

Grrr!

That oh-so-handy IS switch can also be a liability as I discovered today when I forgot to switch it off when using my tripod. The IS system looks for vibrations when shooting. Unfortunately, on a tripod mounted camera, there are (or shouldn’t be) any vibrations. In cases like this, IS actually causes vibrations in the lens. See the detail below from the same shot.

Note to self: Switch off IS when using a tripod!

I didn’t forget the camera this time.

What a crappy way to decide a victor.

You may have been knocked out Ghana, but you can hold your heads high.

PS: I had no money on Ghana, just an emotional investment.

Google?

[edit] Apparently Graham Linehan agrees.

O2 fail

[edit] Apparently Imageshack is blocked also.

Final word: The Internet is supposed to be the Information Superhighway, indeed, Finland have just passed a law guaranteeing access to broadband as a human right.

We Irish seem to be regressing in this respect.

In 2001 Glenveagh along with The Irish Raptor Study Group and the Curlew Trust instituted a breeding program for Golden Eagles. 42 birds have been released into the wild, and have been sighted in Connemara and as far south as the Gap of Dunloe in Kerry. Read More >>>

The girls were fascinated with the barn owls in particular, as the birds would perch on their (leather clad) little hands. The staff supervised of course, and were friendly and very knowledgeable. Alongside the Barn Owls were Horned Owls and Peregrine falcons (Peregrines are the fastest animal in the world, reaching speeds of 200 mph in a dive).

Star of the show was undoubtedly “Bob”, an as yet immature male Golden Eagle. Even so, he weighs over five kilos and has a wingspan of 2.5 meters.

He also seemed a little frisky to my eyes.

The birds are on display to the public each Sunday during the summer months with a flying display at 2:30pm.

What’choo talkin’ ’bout, Willis? (RIP Gary Coleman)

The fastest thing on two legs. Really.

Bob. He’s just a kid, you know.