Robert’s Ramblings

This was my first whiskey sour in a Dublin bar and wow that ice cube had my attention from the moment my drink was served.

I don’t normally post images of my food and drink when out and about but this creation was so simple and so beautiful I had to make an exception.


#whiskeysour #drinks #bars #cocktails #ice #ice-cube #mixers

While this image may have its technical flaws, I’m not that concerned as it is my first foray back into technical imaging after many years.

Recently, a club presentation on night photography, hyper-focal distance, and focus stacking sparked my curiosity. I set out to find a solution, whether hardware, software, or app, that could simplify the focus stacking process beyond manual refocusing and shooting.

The market offered plenty of options involving hardware solutions or USB-to-PC connections. However, I specifically wanted wireless control, which eliminated USB options. While many apps seemed promising, they required Bluetooth connectivity, which wasn’t compatible with my WiFi-only camera.

After brainstorming with OpenAI’s ChatGPT, it suggested RupiApps might have a solution that could communicate with my camera over WiFi. Though ChatGPT couldn’t confirm if it would meet all my needs, I decided to give it a try.

Enter Camera Pro Control, and what a discovery it was! After installation and configuration, I found exactly what I’d been looking for. The app’s interface made it effortless to set up the camera, define focal limits, specify the number of spanning frames, and sequence the capture. This particular image comprises 20 frames, starting from the engraved case-back and working down to the screws beneath the escapement.

And for those wondering what makes the Airman tick? At its heart beats a Selita SW330-1 movement.


#macro #watches #mechanical #glycine #airman #rupiapps #cameraprocontrol #focusstacking

If you have ever grown carrots in your backyard garden, not pulled them from the ground but watched them flower and grow to seed you might noticed the resemblance.

This is not a carrot flower but a close relative, Ammi majus, the Bishop’s Flower.

Well before Christianity and it’s current day namesake, this plant was used as a remedy for skin disorders such as psoriasis, eczema, and vitiligo (their modern names). My late mum suffered from vitiligo. Perhaps Bishop’s Flower may have helped.

Once a symbol of light and healing, a useful medicinal herb and because of its effect on skin pigmentation when exposed to sunlight, Bishop’s Flower became associated with light, transformation, and divine intervention.

While it is admired for its beauty, its rich history in medicine and folklore are left quietly in the past.


#botanical #herbal #medicine #bishopsflower #nature #flowers #macro #medicine #ammimajus

For a technical, pixel-peeping photographer, (like someone I know), there’s a wonderful freedom in simply turning the focus ring until it just feels right.

I’d been carrying my camera unused for most of my walk. The light was fading, the last rays of sunlight filtering through the trees. What the heck, just take a photo, I told myself.

The golden light was beautiful, but through the viewfinder, the scene felt uninspiring. Then, for a brief moment, I lost focus, literally. The auto-focus hunted way off, and suddenly, something in that blurry image caught my eye. Wow, that’s interesting.

Inspired by this serendipity, I switched to manual focus. Slowly, I turned the focus ring, watching the image change, until it just felt right. Click.

This image was that moment.


#bokeh #abstract #f/6.3 #sunset #goldenhour #blurry #focus #focusblur

The chaos which began last Sunday, resulted in thousands of people in Ireland without water, electricity or any means of transport from where they had been snowbound. Some even slept in their cars on the Dublin to Cork motorway until they could be rescued.

We were snowbound too but lucky enough to have all we needed to be comfortable at home.
By Tuesday the snow had begun to recede but the temperature drop which followed turned the thawing roads into un-navigable glaciers of sheet ice. By Friday the temperature rose, the ice thawed and normality returned.

Despite the chaos, and putting aside the personal hardship borne by many, it was beautiful time all the same.


#Ireland #mallow, #now #winter #thaw #tinyplanet #aerial #ice #evening

Just before that wintry blast from the North that covered half of Ireland in snow, bringing many counties to a standstill, we had an amazing clear night and starlit night.

The following morning every kind of frost imaginable adorned leaves, grass, and ground cover. Even old flowers holding on from Autumn were transformed by amazing jewels of ice, refracting light into all of the colours of the rainbow.

The grass was just amazing too; just not the part lying down to capture it.


#Macro #frost #grass #bokeh #refraction #winter #abstract

Such a sight to see that silver sliver emerging from the new moon. Almost always near the horizon, that silver is deceptively hard to capture.

With my eyes I could clearly see the full circle of that dark orb. A trick of our brain making us think we can see the dark and light of the moon at the same time.

With the right setup of bracketed images maybe I could reconstruct that image of my minds eye. But again it would be same trick our brains already do so well.

So to keep it simple with a single image, this silver silver is all the camera could perceive.


#crescent #moon #toenailmoon #astrophotography #waxing

Even in the depths of winter Ireland’s coastline is beautiful. Despite the rain and the icy wind, Inchydoney Beach beckons and a few fortified souls are happy to be in the midst of it.

I’ve been told there’s no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing. Still, you had to be prepared and so today we were content to play cat and mouse with the rain and just enjoy the day and the beach as we found them.

Still, I think I’ll end up preferring these Inchydoney tides without the hordes that will descend on this beach come the next summer holidays.


#clonakilty #cork #inchydoney #landscape #seascape #beach #ireland #aerial

With the last light of the year’s penultimate afternoon nearly gone we headed west out of Baltimore following a simple little signpost labelled ‘Beacon’.

We were hoping for a sunset, or maybe a quiet vantage out over the wild Atlantic. No sooner had we reached the Beacon than it seemed half of Baltimore and their dogs chose to join us.

They did not stay long. Maybe it was the biting wind, or the sun lost in cloud, the fading light or maybe it was the lure of a warm pub back in town.

I took a moment to capture this Beacon of the Wild Atlantic Way with the twinkling lights of Baltimore in the distance and then we joined them.


#baltimore #westcork #cork #ireland #wildatlanticway #beacon #thebeacon #seascape #landscape #aerial #coastline

Lying on the floor and looking straight up is the beautiful vaulted ceiling of Dublin City Hall.

Beneath me, Dublin’s Coat of Arms reminds all who can read Latin, that “the obedience of the citizens produces a happy city”.

The irony was not lost on me in that it took just a little bit of civil disobedience to create this image.

… facimus quod faciendum est.


#Architecture #dublin #cityhall #dublincityhall #ceiling #windows #mandala &abstract; ireland