I was looking over old photos and came across this beauty.
It was taken during a dance performance but it’s one of my favourite images. Hard to believe this was taken way back in 2010.
I just love the lighting and the dramatic pose
Author Archives: swingking
About swingking
Dew drop
Surface water after a brief shower
When you look at some on the most amazing images captured, you could be forgiven for thinking that you have to travel to the most amazing places with the best light at the exact time of day. And this could be the case with a lot of good images. However this is not always the case. With the right macro equipment for your camera – macro lens, or macro filters, you can take some amazing shots of flowers in your very own back garden. In fact, most point and shoot cameras come with a macro feature that allows you to really get up close and personal with the natural world. This very shot was taken just after a brief shower using a telephoto lens and a macro lens attachment. Give it a try sometime and you might be pleasantly surprised!
iPhoneography
They say the best camera is the one that you have with you. Well this is certainly the case when you have your phone with you. Nowadays most phones have cameras that produce very good quality prints. With the evolution of Apple’s iPhone and Google’s android platform, developers are able to make apps that do in-camera processing and you can achieve some amazing end results within seconds.
So next time you witness something amazing and wish you had your SLR with you , just remember to reach for your phone. As they say, the best photo is the one taken !
And to prove the usefulness of the mobile phone. This very post is being composed on an iPhone in a cafe
Cupcake making
Last night Carmel, my fiancée was making cupcakes for her friend’s birthday and I decided to use this opportunity to create a photo project showing a step-by-step guide to making the cakes through the use of photos. Carmel actually makes it look so easy but I can assure you it’s not. It took a considerable amount of time to complete the finished project.
This is just the vanilla extract and the food colouring. The main ingredients include the following
Get your cupcake cases ready to start off
So basically you start off with butter and caster sugar
Mix it all around till you get a good consistency
When you add the 2 eggs, you get a smoother texture as you continually mix
At this stage we want to start mixing the two type of flour in the bowl; plain flour and self raising flour
Mix it together really good
Next we add skimmed milk and vanilla extract mixture
add the milk mixture as you are mixing everything together to ensure an even consistency
You are nearly finished the cake mixture. Just stir it around with a spoon to make sure there are no lumps and the consistency is even.
Carmel cleverly came up with the suggestion of spooning out the mixture into the preset cupcake cases using an ice-cream scoop to prevent any mess. Very clever!!
All the cases are not overfilled as the mixture will rise when cooking.
After we’ve added the cake tins to the oven, it’s time to start working on the icing.
Again we start with butter. Add in icing sugar and caster sugar which is carefully sieved.
We need to add more milk and vanilla extract solution
It’s worth it just to check on the cakes baking in the oven
After we get our constancy with the texture in the icing, then add in the food coloring. Notice who a small amount goes a long way
After about 30-35 mins, the cakes should be done
Place the icing mixture into a sandwich bag, or icing bag and carefully ice the mixture onto the cooked cakes, only after they have been left to cool down
Decorate with sprinkles of your choice and serve.
And there you have it. . . Homemade cupcakes
Fota Island Wildlife Park
I was in Fota Island Wildlife park, Cork last the weekend and I was really impressed at the photo opportunities. Mostly using my 55-250mm lens, I was able to zoom right in on the animals and capture the important detail. The place is unlike a zoo as there aren’t as many animals, but they give them a lot more room to roam around.
The lemurs are free to roam around the vicinity
Notice how I am able to get really close up to the mother and child. I’m not really sure what animal this is but, these were literally lying on the path right next to me when I leaned in to take this shot.
Mother comforting her baby
feeding time for the giraffe
I would highly recommend that anyone who comes to Ireland or is in the Cork region take a visit to Fota Island. There is a lot to see and there are great opportunities for photos
Roller-derby – play rough
Last Saturday I went to a roller-derby match in the national basketball arena in Tallaght, Dublin. The event was called “Block Mess Monster” with the Dublin Roller Girls V Maiden Grrders.
Roller-derby is a sport played by women on rollerskates who skate around in an circular track. The teams are made up of blockers, pivots and jammers. The jammers need to overtake the opposing team’s blockers and pivots in order to score points. While this may seem simple, the sport is a contact sport and this leads to
The whole thing is highly entertaining and there is a great atmosphere in the arena. Well done to the Dublin Roller Girls who came back from a 30 points down to win by 6 points.
The jammers travel at very fast speeds
Rollerderby is a full contact sport. These girls don't always play nice
In search of the Dublin Dolphins
On Sunday last, I headed off in the direction of Killiney as I had heard of so many people who had seen dolphins swimming in the Irish sea off the coast of Dublin/Wicklow. I had also heard that the best place to spot them was Killiney beach.
When I got there, I was met with huge disappointment. Not a single Dolphin in sight. I even had the zoom lens on my DSLR camera to see if they could be spotted with something more than the naked eye. Unfortunately, I was out of luck.
The light however made for great shooting conditions. It was that sort of “sun trying to break through the clouds” light that gives very pleasant landscape images. The beach was very busy ; a lot of people were out for a Sunday walk. This first image was a general landscape which captures the lighting. Because the contrast wasn’t too harsh, I was able to capture a good degree of high dynamic range.
Lots of people out for the day in Killiney. No sign of the Dolphins though
Graffiti 'd beach shelter.
I will make the effort to come back to this location for a sunrise shoot which would capture more vibrant colours and I might catch a glimpse of the Dolphins.
Pancake day
Ask anyone what today is and they will straight away tell you that today is pancake tuesday. Half of them don’t really know what it’s all about. They know it’s something to do with religion and the more intelligent bunch will inform you that it’s the day when Jesus went into the desert for 40 days. What they do know is that for their dinner, they will be having pan cooked flour and egg mixture along with lemon, sugar and some other sweet topping such as chocolate or jam.
In fact I saw a very funny tweet by someone. “I wonder what toppings Jesus had on his pancakes, before he went into the desert?” I found it quite humourous to say the least.
Lemon is a spot in the centre of Dublin City Centre which serve nothing but pancakes. Instead of serving on Shrove Tuesday, you will find them open all year round (well maybe not Christmas day). On previous years I have seen large queues forming out the door on this day. They certainly were prepared by opening till 9pm. Pancake Tuesday to them must be how the high-steet stores feel about St. Stephen’s day.
Today however, it seemed surprisingly less busy. I managed to call by on my lunch-break from work and had no problem getting inside. It looked in-fact like any day at lunch.
Pancakes anyone?
I tried to get a good look in the door to see if they were having better luck on the inside and they had the chefs working hard but it wasn’t crazy busy.
Working hard
Maybe this is just a sign of these recessionary times. People can’t afford to spend their hard-earned cash on something that costs a fraction to make at home. It’s literally just eggs, flour and milk.
Home-made pancakes are cheaper
That’s exactly what I decided to do for my pancake fix. I had the batter made from the night before using a simple recipe. Let me know how you eat your pancakes because for me it’s the simple, lemon and sugar
A Dog’s Life
Sometimes after I’ve parked the car and while walking towards the Luas stop to begin my morning commute into town, I come across this fella. I think he is just amazing. He just lies on the pavement and watches the world go by.
I can only imagine what goes through his mind. While the other dogs are out chasing cats or leading their owners along the morning walk, this guy just soaks up the morning sun.
It's a dog's life
Valentine’s Day
Yes, it’s Valentine’s day. The day when loved up couples show their true affection for one another. They exchange flowers and cards.
However I found this day to be a great day to experience great photo opportunities.
I saw this guy buying flowers from a street vendor who, I have no doubt, made a mint yesterday. And sure why wouldn’t they? I was told that they were charging up to 50 euro for a bunch of roses. Crazy money considering the same is probably going to cost half price when it’s not valentine’s day.
Too macho to buy flowers?
I did have some luck yesterday. I found the infamous heart door on South Anne Street that I have heard about. For those who don’t know, there’s a door on number 30 South Anne Street that features a very unusual heart shaped design for the door lock. What a better day to photograph this, than on Valentine’s day.
The infamous door on 30 South Anne Street
An Chead Stad Eile 