Due to other commitments I’m falling behind in my posts but here is one to keep things going. Autumn leaves in Dublin’s St Stephens Green.
Where am I?
I realize that I’ve gone quiet on the site lately. Don’t worry I’m still here, well that’s to say I’m still around. Work is taking me away from photography for a while. I’ve been traveling on business lots and unfortunately I don’t have the time to take new photos. But there is light at the end of the tunnel we just need a new office in Dublin and I hope to get back to my camera some weekend soon.
Blog V Website
I’ve decided to redirect my url www.declanflynn.ie to this blog and leave the old website behind. I was not updating the website and I preferred the look and content of the WordPress blog. If you want to access the old site you can still use the url http://www.declanflynn.ie/Welcome.html
Arthur Guinness Day
Yesterday was Arthurs Day in Dublin. A celebration (maunfactured) to mark the 250th anniversary of the signing of the lease for the Guinness Brewery. A 9000 year lease at £45 a year, a pretty good deal. I decided to wander down to the Guinness Brewery to see what going on, very little really. Most of the events were ticket only but I did get into one pub in time for 17:59 when the people around the world toasted Arthur.
Fusilier’s Arch
The underside of the Fusiliers Arch which is the main entrance to St Stephens Green. Built to commemorate the 212 soldiers from the Royal Dublin Fusiliers who died in the Boer War. I’ve walked under the arch hundreds of times but am afraid that I have only looked up at the names a handful of times.
I’ve been playing with Lightroom presets again. There are hundreds of free ones available on line and they produce a variety of effects. Some awful some brilliant. At the very least they serve as a starting point. Download a preset see what it does, figure out how it does it and how to do something similar but better suited to your own photographs.
Spyder 3 Pro
I bought a Spyder 3 Pro today to calibrate my laptop screen and my God the difference is incredible. Previously I had just used the calibrate by eye functions built into Mac OS-X and the results varied so much from one calibration to another that I felt I couldn’t depend on the results.
The Spyder was easy to set up. The only problem I had was installing the software which started with a Chinese or Japanese screen but when I clicked on the right hand button (which I guessed was cancel or continue) the installer continued and the rest of the panels were in English. I cleaned the screen with the included sample of cleaning tissues. Finally I ran the application and followed the instructions on screen. The calibrator did fall off during the first run so I just cancelled the task and stuck it back on the screen with no problems. The first complete calibration took around five minutes. An hour later I ran it again and the next time it only took a minute or two.
I feel might be a little warm compared to what I am used to but when I compare it to my old settings now I realize they look very blue and cold. I’ve looked at other peoples photos on sites like flickr and they look pretty good so I’m really happy. Now the next thing is to start working on some photos and see what they come out like.