All posts tagged as portrait

22 Jun

Galway Man

In a. Galway,d. People & Animals by admin / June 22, 2014 / 0 Comments

I walked past this man sitting on a wall in Galway. I had my camera with me, turned around to talk to him and ask if he minded if I took his photo. He said he it was okay; most people tend to once you ask them.

Galway Man

13 Sep

Cork hurlilng fan at GAA hurling final (Old Hat)

In d. People & Animals by admin / September 13, 2013 / 0 Comments

I saw this man on the way to Croke Park last Sunday and stopped to speak to him for a minute & ask if I could take his photo. He told me that his hat was almost 60 years old and that he wears it to all Cork games.

All Ireland Final 2013 (1)

Old Hat is a song title by Ben Kweller

06 Aug

Galway Races (Look away, look away, look away)

In a. Galway,d. People & Animals by admin / August 6, 2013 / 2 Comments

One of the things I love about the Galway Races is the mixed crowds; loads of country farmers and thousands upon thousands of young people dressed up to the nines. I like the old gentleman looking away as the two women walk past.

After I posted this someone said it’d look good in black and white so I’ve added it after the colour.
Which do you prefer?

Galway Races

Black and White

Galway Races Best Dressed

Look away, look away, look away are lyrics taken from the song ‘Look Away’ by Big Country.

23 May

Connacht Rugby Players (Men At Work)

In a. Galway,d. People & Animals,h. Sport by admin / May 23, 2013 / 0 Comments

A big thanks to Connacht Rugby Club who gave me a Press Pass for the last Rabo Direct Pro 12 league of the season. Connacht lost to Glasgow Warrior 20-3 on a wet night at The Sportsground in Galway.

Players in the photograph are (left to right) Eoin McKeon, Ronan Loughney, Brett Wilkinson, Kieran Marmion and Michael Swift

Connacht Rugby Players

Men At Work is the title of an Australian band, who had ‘that’ hit song ‘Down Under. They are the only Australian artist to have a simultaneous No. 1 album and No. 1 single in the United States

20 Apr

Sleeping at Brussels Airport (Starting and then stopping, Taking off and landing, The emptiest of feelings)

In d. People & Animals by admin / April 20, 2013 / 0 Comments

While at Brussels airport waiting for my flight back to Ireland I noticed a lot of people sleeping on benches. So, of course, I thought they’d make interesting photographs.

Brussels airport sleeping

Brussels airport lounge

Brussels airport

Brussels airport sleep

Starting and then stopping, Taking off and landing, The emptiest of feelings are lyrics from the song ‘Let Down’ by the great, great Radiohead

29 Mar

View from The Kop at Anfield (Liverpool, Liverpool, Liverpool)

In d. People & Animals by admin / March 29, 2013 / 0 Comments

Liverpool F.C. mightn’t be the giants of English football that they once were but they’re still a giant club fan-wise. Here’s a few more photos from my trip to Liverpool in Janurary.

liverpool fc flags

the kop anfield

liverpool fc hat

Liverpool, Liverpool, Liverpool are lyrics from a chant the fans sing

25 Mar

I Am Your Child, Wherever you go you take me too

In d. People & Animals,i. Black&White by admin / March 25, 2013 / 0 Comments

I am your child

I Am Your Child is a song by Barry Manilow

19 Jun

Smile Like You Mean It

In d. People & Animals by admin / June 19, 2012 / 0 Comments

A portrait of an extremely happy looking man. he was working on the Baltimore (County Cork) to Cape Clear Ferry.

Post title is a song title from The Killers, taken from their 2004 smash hit album ‘Hot Fuss’.

17 May

Tell Me Now What’s A V.I.P. ( Enda Kenny )

In d. People & Animals by admin / May 17, 2012 / 0 Comments

The taoiseach of Ireland, Enda Kenny was in Galway to announce 200 new jobs for Merit Medical Systems.

I took some photographs of the new Merit Medical Systems building last year as it was being built, they can be found here and here.

I managed to get some photographs of him leaving the Merit Medical Systems building and entering his car. I only had a few seconds so shot in continuous drive. I didn’t get any proper portrait so decided to play around with what I had and came up with this collage.

Post title is taken from the song V.I.P, from the very enjoyable new album How About I Be Me (And You Be You).

14 Apr

I can tell that we are gonna be friends

In d. People & Animals by admin / April 14, 2012 / 0 Comments

Post title is taken from the song “We’re gonna be friends” by The White Stripes.

08 Dec

Galway Chirstmas Market (It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year)

In a. Galway,d. People & Animals by admin / December 8, 2011 / 0 Comments

Galway Christmas Market 2011

2010 was the first year that The Galway Christmas Market were hosted and were a roaring success for Galway. Trade increased, it added an festive event to Galway’s event calendar. These photos show some of the workers who brace the cold every night for a month.

Galway Chirstmas Market saucy

Galway Christmas market bell and light

Galway Christmas Market Beer Waitress

Gawlay Christmas Market trader

Post title is the title of the famous Christmas song by Andy Williams

27 Nov

Lost In Music

In d. People & Animals by admin / November 27, 2011 / 0 Comments

Just in case you haven’t noticed or guessed every post here has a musical title that’s related to the photo(s). Sister Sledge have a song called Lost In Music and it fits this man browsing in HMV, Limerick perfectly. It vaguely reminds me of DJ Shadow’s Endtroducing album cover (vaguely I said)

We’re lost in music
Caught in a trap
No turnin’ back
We’re lost in music

26 Oct

Old And Wise (Michael D Higgins- next Irish president?)

In a. Galway,d. People & Animals by admin / October 26, 2011 / 0 Comments

An old post but seeing as tomorrow is voting day I’m going to re-post it.
Michael D Higgins, Galway West TD, who is running for the Irish Presidency. He very kindly launched my companies photo exhibition in Ballybane (Galway) library. He seems like a very down to earth person who takes time to get involved with the local community. After Séan (Sean) Gallagher being caught lying (allegedly) the race has been blown wide open (well open).

Michael D Higgins

17 Oct

Keep The Car Running

In d. People & Animals,g.Colourful by admin / October 17, 2011 / 0 Comments

I was 1/2 thinking of selling my Sigma 30mm f1.4 lens to finance a very wide angle lens (8-16 or 10-20mm). I have a Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 lens which sits on my Pentax K-7 body most of the time so the 30mm doesn’t get used a whole lot. So I decided to play a bit with it at home to see would I miss it. Any time I use it I realise that I like the lens a lot; it’s small, great for low light/very fast and creates great bokeh, even if I have to be close to my subject to get it. So, for the moment I think I won’t be selling it.

At the moment I think I’d like to add a wide angle and a macro lens to my collection and that I’d be happy with ‘my lot’ then. Although there’s always one more lens you want…

Anyway here’s Conor, he’s 1 1/2 now and loves cars, trucks, lorries and makes ‘lorry noises’ and gets excited anytime he sees one. He even doesn’t want to have his pjs taken off if they have a picture of a fire truck on them.

06 Oct

Hello, Hello, we are the Geordie boys

In d. People & Animals by admin / October 6, 2011 / 3 Comments

I was in Newcastle recently for a stag and we went to see (the high flying) Newcastle United in action. The Geordies are warm and friendly; here’s some photos of some supporters.

We had a good chat with this couple in The Strawberry, a pub opposite Saint James Park. They live in Stockport but have season tickets for Newcastle and travel six hour round trip for every Newcastle United home game! The man knew his football and had been to over eight Irish football stadiums in his time.

A couple eating the famous Geordie Pies before kickoff

I was going to leave out this photo (as it’s blurry) but I love the guys big head of hair so I’m including it…

29 Sep

It’s Grim Up North?

In d. People & Animals,i. Black&White by admin / September 29, 2011 / 0 Comments

The KLF sang that it’s grim up north but for Newcastle United it’s certainly not grim at the moment. They’re standing tall, 4th in the league and unbeaten in over 8 games. I was at their home game at Saint James Park where they beat Blackbun 3-0, with Ba scoring a hat-trick.

16 Sep

Smokers Delight

In a. Galway,d. People & Animals by admin / September 16, 2011 / 4 Comments

Smokers Delight

This is my favourite photo from my recent street photography adventure in Galway City. I asked him could I take his photo and he didn’t mind at all. He seemed very content; sitting outside a pub on Quay Street with a pint and a fag just watching the world go by. The album title Smokers Delight jumped into my head.

I posted two photos; one showing his pint and cigarette smoke, the other one cropped tighter. I prefer the un-cropped one. How about you, which do you prefer?
I think I like this street photography lark; it’s different than ‘normal’ photography. You don’t get time to compose, take multiple photos, check settings etc. It’s more off the cuff and it’s exciting to look through the photos at home with anticipation to see if I got any good photos. (Sad, aren’t I?)

Smokers Delight is a deliciously relaxed album from 1995 by Nightmares On Wax (a.k.a. George Evelyn or DJ EASE)

13 Sep

Your Face (Galway Street Photography)

In a. Galway,d. People & Animals by admin / September 13, 2011 / 0 Comments

Some more photos from my recent street walking adventures around Galway City. I found that sometimes if people notice me with my camera they keep looking at me, others ignore me and some walk away. This lot ignored me (thankfully).

11 Sep

I’ve Seen A Face, A Face In The Crowd

In a. Galway,d. People & Animals by admin / September 11, 2011 / 0 Comments

Browsing through my photographs recently I realised how few photos of Galway City I have despite the fact that I live in Galway. So I’m going to make a concerted effort to publish more photos of Galway; Galway City sights, Galway life and Galway people.

I’ve been reading and looking at Street Photography recently (Wikipedia:Street photography is a type of documentary photography that features subjects in candid situations within public places such as streets, parks, beaches) and like Eric Kim (http://erickimphotography.com/blog). So these some of my attempts of the people of Galway. The woman in the first photo is a known character around Galway, she ‘chased’/followed me after I took her photo and rambled/threatened me. It’s a bit blurry but still a ‘keeper’.

I suppose any photo with a person in it (especially when they’re not posing) is like a snapshot from a story and the viewer gets a first impression of the person and even make assumptions as to what they’re like and up to.

You can read more about the characters around Galway onEoin Molloy’s website

12 Aug

And You Were Just A Face In The Crowd

In a. Galway,d. People & Animals by admin / August 12, 2011 / 0 Comments

My last set of photographs from The Galway Races Summer Festival 2011, some more portraits again.
Included is a funny one; a man with a kilt sitting down with his legs wide open giving a give under the kilt.

Chris Weld, son of Dermot Weld, Winner of the Chanelle Leading Trainer Award on Sunday at the Galway Races.

It’s all over for another year…

04 Aug

We Love All The People (Galway Races)

In a. Galway,d. People & Animals by admin / August 4, 2011 / 1 Comment

The title taken from They Might Be Giants song. In case you haven’t noticed all photos have a musical related title.
In between races at The Galway Races I took some photos of the people attending. The fact that I had a 70-200mm f2.8 lens helped me get close up shots without annoying people. Sunday at the Galway Races Summer Festival is the last day of the races and a lot of locals go, most of the tourists are heading home.

The guy on the left in the last shots looks like Victor Meldrew from the tv show One Foot in the Grave. He’s even got a sad/angry face on him.

17 Jul

Oh, I Believe in Yesterday

In d. People & Animals by admin / July 17, 2011 / 2 Comments

13 Jul

Babyface

In d. People & Animals by admin / July 13, 2011 / 0 Comments

02 Jul

The Birthday Party

In d. People & Animals by admin / July 2, 2011 / 0 Comments

It was Conor’s first birthday recently. As he’s only a toddler Emma and her cousin Grainne got to blow out the candles on his behalf. My wife made the lovely cake.

08 May

I wanna be in your gang, your gang, your gang.

In d. People & Animals by admin / May 8, 2011 / 0 Comments

I saw these bikers in a petrol station and wasn’t going to approach at first. After about ten minutes of will-I, won’t I I finally asked them if I could take some photos and they didn’t mind at all.They were very friendly, even thought they were on their way to a funeral.

Biker 4

14 Mar

P.E.O.P.L.E.C.I.T.Y (Limerick Photowalk)

In d. People & Animals by admin / March 14, 2011 / 0 Comments

Last Saturday I went on a Photowalk (and organised it) in Limerick City. 14 people turned up and despite the weather being dull, cloud and raining sporadically everyone seemed to enjoy it.

Thanks to everyone for turning up, to Patrick for planning the route and to Stephen from Photowalk.ie for helping promote it.

The highlight for me was the Milk Market, where I could have spent an hour or longer photographing. The place is bursting with life, characters and colour (and food, food, glorious food). Unfortunately we only had 20 mintues there but I still got some photos I was happy with there.

These are some faces from the walk, some of them were ‘photowalkers’ (is that a proper word?) , others locals.

I’ll be uploading more photos over the course of this week.

Beauty and the Beast:

A lovely seller with a lovely smile at her stall at The Milk Market

Taken from our trip to the “cute graveyard” (not my words):

Keeping his distan

Did I knock it over?

The girls-

The butcher of the Milk Market:

Butcher

And the butcher’s lunch:

Lunch

18 Jan

Backstreet Boys

In d. People & Animals by admin / January 18, 2011 / 1 Comment

Backstreet Boys having a break in Barcelona

The staff of a Barcelona restaurant having a quick smoke break. I passed the side street and doubled back to ask them could I take a photo of them. I could have sat there for 10 minutes composing and taking many pictures but I haven’t approached people much asking to take their portraits. And the guy second from right was either pretending to appear pensive or wasn’t very comfortable (working illegally per chance?)

27 Nov

Frosty the snowman was a jolly happy soul

In d. People & Animals by admin / November 27, 2010 / 0 Comments

It's the first time Emma (3 and 1/2) has seen snow. She was delighted
to build her first snowman

a snowman built in Galway by my daughter

29 Oct

Kid A (Mini me)

In d. People & Animals by admin / October 29, 2010 / 1 Comment

Baby Conor, 6 months old.

Mini me

29 Sep

Old. Red

In d. People & Animals,g.Colourful by admin / September 29, 2010 / 2 Comments
13 Sep

Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)

In d. People & Animals,i. Black&White by admin / September 13, 2010 / 2 Comments
Beautiful Baby (Darling Boy)
Close your eyes, Have no fear, The monsters gone,
He’s on the run and your daddy’s here,
Beautiful, Beautiful, beautiful, Beautiful Boy,
Before you go to sleep, Say a little prayer,
Every day in every way, It’s getting better and better,
Beautiful, Beautiful, beautiful, Beautiful Boy,
Out on the ocean sailing away, I can hardly wait, To see you to come of age,
But I guess we’ll both, Just have to be patient,
Yes it’s a long way to go, But in the meantime,
Before you cross the street, Take my hand, Life is just what happens to you,
While your busy making other plans,
Beautiful, Beautiful, beautiful, Beautiful Boy,
Darling, Darling, Darling Conor.
30 Jul

Paint A Vulgar Picture* (Portrait by the Artist of a Young Girl)

In d. People & Animals by admin / July 30, 2010 / 0 Comments

The street artist

* I have to explain that the picture title is the title from a song by The Smiths and that I’m not insulting the girl.

05 Jul

Protect Me You

In d. People & Animals by admin / July 5, 2010 / 0 Comments

Baby Conor, 13 weeks young
you talking to me?

Post title is taken from the song title Protect Me You by Sonic Youth.

04 Mar

Thank You For The Good Times (In memory of John, my dad)

In d. People & Animals by admin / March 4, 2010 / 1 Comment

John, my dad (I always called my parents by their names) passed away 10 years ago today.
This is a photo taken on his honeymoon with my mum, Ute in Egypt. I’ve always liked photogrpahy, must have gotten the bug from my dad. I remember one birthday many moons ago he gave me an slr as a present but all I saw was a big, clunky camera. So I was disappointed and would have preferred an easy-to-use compact. Looking back now I realise that he had my best interests at heart and probably wanted to teach photography to me instead of me just snapping away with a compact. I wish I could thank him now but can’t so instead I think fondly of him when I’m taking pictures.

13 Oct

It’s Such A Perfect Day

In d. People & Animals by admin / October 13, 2009 / 1 Comment
Taking a break at Fota Wildlife Park

Taking a break at Fota Wildlife Park

17 Sep

The Bad Photographer?*

In d. People & Animals by admin / September 17, 2009 / 0 Comments

A compact for a compact

This photo title is the title from a song and doesn’t imply that I think my daughter is a bad photographer.

19 Mar

Smokin’ and Drinkin’

In a. Galway,d. People & Animals by admin / March 19, 2009 / 0 Comments

Murphys pub in Galway

24 Feb

Oh, here they come, The beautiful ones

In d. People & Animals by admin / February 24, 2009 / 1 Comment

My wife, Debbie on 'our big day'