My wife and I had the pleasure of visiting friends in Holland this past weekend. I shot this on the one good day of weather we had. However this wasn’t a tourist trip, we had a birthday to celebrate, and that we did in fine Dutch style
Nikon D800
Nikon 24-70 f/2.8
Meet Nikolai. He has been the piper of the Caledonian society of Norway for some time now and blows up a storm at the start of most of our meetings. I took this casual portrait at our last meeting just two days ago. A really fun guy to be around and, a great piper.
Nikon D800
Nikon 24-70 f/2.8
PP. Silver efex pro II
This could be a photograph I’d taken of my Grandmothers dressing table. It isn’t. This is part of Dublins newest museum (It had only been open a few days before I visited it in October last year). To me this was a highlight and stands in stark contrast from the Disneyland that is the Guinness Storehouse.
In 1911 there was over 100 people living in this house and 850 in the one street. This shot is just a tiny part of a recreation of a small flat where a family lived until the early seventies (Thats 1979 not 1879). It’s humbling and thought provoking. If you are ever in Dublin visit 14 Henrietta Street.
Nikon D800
Nikon 14-24 F/2.8 AFS
PP. Silver Efex Pro II
…anyone that has known me for a while knows how much I love books and reading. This library is the one at Farmleigh House in Dublin. It would be a dream for me, still I have a few IKEA shelves groaning under the weight of my collection so that will have to do me until I win the lottery. The house was once the home of the Guinness family(Yes that Guinness family). It was purchased by the Irish government in 1999 for the sum of €52.2 million Euro (Including extensive restoration costs) It’s now open to the public.
…luckily I know them well. Shot in Phoenix Park in Dublin one Sunday morning in October.
Nikon D800
Nikon 24-70 f/2.8
PP. Silver Efex Pro II
I cropped this shot quite high to remove the crowds. It was a very wet Saturday and the place was packed to the gills. I really wanted to go to the pub. I was three hours into a 4,5 hour guided tour and was wet through, cold and a little cheesed-off. Still I got off a few shots of which this is one. It makes my eyes go funny if I look at it too long…it looks like a big funnel.
Nikon D800
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8 AFS
ISO 6400 (It was dark in there)
I shamelessly stole the title from the Rubberbandits (Look them up on YouTube. Not for the faint of heart). There really was a “horse outside” of the Guinness storehouse. Ready and willing to take well-healed and well lubricated tourists back into the city centre…
…We took a more traditional Taxi.
Nikon D800
Nikon 14-24 f/2.8G IF-ED AF-S
PP Silver Efex Pro II
Well, ok lets get it out in the open. I blew a good part of my Christmas bonus on a new lens.
The lens in question is the Nikon 300mm f/4.0 PF ED. I’ve never owned a lens for 35mm format longer than 100mm before. Now I have 3 times as much. I took this shot down by our local river. The lens is surprisingly very light compared with my 24-70 and wasn’t much hassle to carry around.
The shot above was taken hand-held in minus 5 degrees C. The VR really helped. I must say I’m very pleased with the results so far. I love that water droplet. I’m no wildlife photographer but who knows.
Nikon D800
Nikon 300mm f/4.0 PF ED VR
PP: Silver Efex pro II and LR.
This is an on the ground wide angle shot of the dog in the Famine statue group in Dublin.
he really needs a good feed-up.
Nikon D800
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8 AFS ED
I had the pleasure of visiting Castle Schwerin this past summer. The castle and the grounds were well worth the effort.
Nikon D800
Nikon 14-14mm f/2.8
