It’s been cloudy in the evenings this week even when it hasn’t been raining. So I never saw the great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn last Monday. Tonight, the weather was very different. A beautiful evening, though cold, and a slightly hazy sunset. The re-appearance of Mars above a waxing moon embroidered the pretty skyscape shortly after the 1610 sunset. I set up the camera and spent almost an hour moving and adjusting my tripod, practicing with numb, gloved fingers in the failing light. I chose to take photographs of some of the many people taking selfies while bathed in the golden sunset.
photography
Morning Glory
Another walk, another couple of photographs of the morning that was yesterday.
Garden And Sky
Last evening, I walked the dog the very short distance to the Obelisk on Killiney Hill. It was close to 4.30 when we set out, the sun having set thirty minutes earlier, and I hoped to see the conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter in the western skies.
Siskin (LV=-4.88) 
Squirrel (LV=-0.45)
Note the low LV luminance values (full sun is 16 on this version of the log scale).
Divers Return
We met some people on the pier this morning and while talking, I noticed a few seabirds had come close enough to be identified. Great northern divers (or common loons) in winter plumage. It had rained so hard over the night that I decided not to bring a camera. I had guessed the light would be dull, that the storm would have caused the sea to raise sand from the sea floor and muddy the waters. And besides, it might have rained again.
Fog Rises
We could see that the weather was the story this morning. One degree C yet bright which in a temperate oceanic climate often creates a steaming sea. So we went for a walk on Dun Laoghaire pier and took several photos of the fog affected views. I’m not a professional photographer but I’m passionate about photography so I was carrying a 600 mm lens just in case.
I particularly liked that the rowers were themselves taking photographs as they rowed through the steaming seas between the pier and The Muglins lighthouse. There was an ageless, painterly appearance with a technological twist. It was almost impossible to keep focus with the huge lens without a tripod so I set the aperture to f/18, the shutter to 1/1250 and let the ISO vary as the lighting changed.
[Read more…] about Fog RisesLondon West End Photo Walk
I was walking around the west end of London this time last year. Freely walking around, no mask, no gloves. It was few weeks before we’d depart for Ireland and I took a few photographs simply to amuse myself. Little could I have imagined how walking around, taking photographs wouldn’t be considered an essential task for much longer.
