Valencia – Spain

Valencia – Spain

The City of Arts and Sciences is a cultural and architectural complex in the city of Valencia, Spain. The architect was Santiago Calatrava.

Lisbon LX Factory

Lisbon LX Factory

Photos from LX Factory in Lisbon. Lots of street art and murals which I’ve concentrated on here.

Located under the 25 de Abril Bridge, it’s set in and around a number of disused industrial buildings. These were formerly a textile and print works. It consists of shops, markets (especially on Sunday), studios, offices, bars and restaurants. It’s a great location to just wander around – and I was particularly impressed by the bookshop – complete with flying bicycle !

Overall, well worth a visit when you’re in Lisbon.

Flavours of New Zealand – Wine Fair

Flavours of New Zealand – Wine Fair

I recently photographed the “Flavours of New Zealand” wine fair event in the Aviva Stadium. It was held in the Havelock  suite, with a great view out over the pitch.

It was a very interesting day – starting with a masterclass led by Martin Moran. The main display of 35 tables represented a lot more producers, as some of them imported wines from numerous different producers. Anyway, here are a few photos to give you a taste of the day.

Flavours of New Zealand trade wine fair at the Aviva Stadium

Martin Moran leading a masterclass

Martin Moran conducting the masterclass

Wines for the masterclass

Wines for the masterclass

General masterclass views

The fair organisers : Jean Smullen and the people from New Zealand Wine

The organisers of the fair : Jean Smullen and the people from NZ Wine

Glasses & Bottles of Wine

General views of the fair

More Wine Tasting

Sample bottles of New Zealand Wine - various producers

Attendees including some Wine Critics

More Wine Critics and visitors

Wine Tasting photo

 

 

Steel Wool Photos in Dun Laoghaire

Steel Wool Photos in Dun Laoghaire

Some recent photos from Dún Laoghaire – the locations used were around the 40 foot in Sandycove and Coliemore Harbour, on two different nights.
This technique involves using long exposures at twilight (or later) to capture the trails produced by spinning burning steel (wire) wool.
The steel wool is held in a metal container (e.g. a kitchen whisk !) with a rope attached. Once lit, using a battery, it’s spun around to produce these trails.

A bit of trial and error is involved to produce a good result – in terms of location, exposure and the actual spinning itself. However, the results can be spectacular, if everything works out just right.

Last but not least, care needs to be taken that a safe location is chosen. The burning particles are generally small, and burn very briefly – but could still cause problems if they landed in the wrong place.

Long exposure photo of steel wool spinning at the Forty Foot in Dun Laoghaire

Steel Wool spinning photos from Sandycove

Long exposure twilight photo from Sandycove - with Steel Wool spinning

Forty Foot long exposure - wire wool spinning

Sandycove long exposure photo with steel wool

Forty Foot Steel Wool spinning - Dun Laoghaire

Long exposure of Coliemore Harbour and Dalkey Island - with steel wool spinning

Long exposure at Coliemore Harbour - twilight, Steel Wool

Steel Wool spinning - long exposure

Coliemore Harbour, Dun Laoghaire - long exposure, steel wool spinning

Coliemore Harbour, twilight photo with added Steel Wool spinning

Coliemore Harbour long exposure with steel wool spinning. Howth Head in the background.

These photos were taken with a group from my local photography society – Offshoot. If you’re interested in photography, have a look at the website and come along to one of the regular meetings.