Day 212

Celebrate! This party's over! I'm going home......................

Day 211

Back to work, early on a Sunday morning, and the sun was belting down Baggot Street when I got there.

Day 210

Last morning of the holidays: I'm back to work tomorrow. A night in the Mustard Seed in Limerick was an ideal way to finish my time off, and this morning the sun was streaming through the sash windows.

Day 209

It's not hard to articulate exactly how I feel about this house. It's an empty manor in Curraghchase National Park, and I fell in love with it when I first saw it a few years back. I feel that in many ways it's my ideal house, right down to its "needs some work" nature.

Day 208

Time for an after Christmas trip, and tonight we're in Adare Manor. This ruin of a cottage is on the grounds; it may have been a gatehouse, but the consensus is that it's too far from the gate. Either way, I love it, especially the windows and door.

Day 207

Off to the sea for today's photo: Furbo beach to be exact. The light was a bit funny today and the wind was wild, and within minutes of taking this picture the deluge was upon me and I was soaked to the skin. Christmas in Galway indeed!

Day 206

Christmas Day, and with my new Canon I can finally take a photo of the moon. It's not the greatest shot, but as first shots go I'm very pleased with it.

Day 205

Sunny but wet today, and a lot of the countryside looked grim as a result. A couple of shots that I wasn't too happy with, then on the way home the evening sun was shining through the trees, and the Christmas Eve photo was decided.

Day 204

Just arrived in Galway, and what a beautiful and cold night it is. Sadly the moon is too high to feature in my shot, but there's still plenty of light from it.

Day 203

A day spent shopping, snoozing on the couch, and then in the cinema for The Hobbit. Dundrum shopping centre is all done up Christmassy, which given the season, is nice!

Day 202

Last day at work today: Christmas holidays start here!

Day 201

Although I love my Leica, I've been frustrated by its low light level performance, and its maximum exposure time of 30 seconds. My new Canon has a bulb setting, so I can now work with longer exposures. Tonight I was shooting the M50 motorway at exposures of ninety seconds and very narrow apertures.

Day 200

Two hundred days in, and tonight I took my new 7D out for a test run. A flying visit to Dun Laoghaire allowed me the opportunity to shoot a long exposure of the marina. Funnily enough, so used am I to the fixed lens on my X1 that I forgot I could reframe using the zoom lens.

Day 199

First day with my new Canon 7D and macro lens, and already it's paying dividends. Although there's still a few niggles to work out, this big close up of my Christmas tree ornaments is a step in the right direction.

Day 198

Sitting eating breakfast this morning I noticed that the sky had gone crazy. Quickly I grabbed my camera, took three shots, and then the  moment was gone and the heavy grey clouds had blotted out all the colour again.

Day 197

First proper day off in a long time, and there was even some winter sun, albeit for quite a short time.

Day 196

I had a photo from the Aviva stadium for today's blog, but after Leinster losing to Clermont it didn't feel right. So, instead, I decided to post a pic of our newly decorated Christmas tree: an altogether more cheerful sight.

Day 195

We've quite a nice office at the moment: a first floor room in a Georgian terrace on Baggot Street. The only real drawback is that we've the world's coldest kitchen. Today it was actually colder than outside, which really contravenes at least one law of physics. The only redeeming quality is this rather quaint iron window frame; having said that, it may also be a contributing factor to its incredible cold.

Day 194

Today was bitterly cold, and I didn't manage to get out of the office in daylight to take today's photo, so I took a slightly different route home along the canal. I took this on a thirty second exposure at a narrow aperture, and then corrected the orange cast in post.

Day 193

It's work work work these days. Monday morning I had four projects on the go: mercifully that's down to two today. Still, that's a lot of work!

Day 192

What a beautiful morning: cold, crisp and frosty. The Dodder park was still covered in frost when I passed on the way to work, and the colours in the trees were incredible. A wonderful way to resurface after the madness of the last fortnight.

Day 191

To be honest, I'm still not back to normal after Other Voices. I'm not sure what day it is, and I'm still due a long lie in. The only thing I'm certain about is that I'm back in Dublin, and that it is cold and clear by the canal.

Day 190

A few hours working in Dun Laoghaire this morning, so I took the opportunity to walk down as far as the sea wall. A lot of boats out sailing today, despite the cold winter conditions.

Day 189

Sitting down at home, watching the rugby, about to have dinner, and drinking a beer. Bliss!

Day 188

Today was a good day, but it was a very long day. It started with delivering one project to be mixed and played out, it continued with another project that's nearing completion, and it ended with talk of exciting new projects that are in the early stages if development. Still, I'm so glad to see the Luas that'll bring me home.

Day 187

It seems like there's been protests in Dublin every day for the last six months, and I've missed them all. Today I saw this placard discarded by Clare St: seems like the capitalists are finally making themselves heard.

Day 186

I had hoped to have left Dingle about four hours ago, but the graphics card had other ideas. So here I am, last man standing, watching the sun set, and hoping to be gone by dark.

Day 185

Today has been the closest I've come to not posting. Crippled I am with the tiredness, but the job is done for now, and I've got pizza and Sly Stone is on the stereo and life could be a lot worse.

Day 184

After a very long weekend Other Voices is over. as least as far as the church is concerned.

Day 183

Today has been all about the Other Voices live broadcast on RTE. That, and the rain!

Day 182

Another very very long day in Dingle, and the usual seat at the gig for me: behind the lighting desk.

Day 181

A cold night last night coming over the Connor Pass last night, all the more so as I spent ten minutes waiting for midnight to pass so that I could legitimately say that I took this today. A long exposure by moonlight, and a wide aperture, and amazingly the sky turned out blue.