bahern7

Call it luck. Call it pure fluke. Call it what you will. There I was strolling across Grattan Bridge (aka Capel Street Bridge) in the heart of the Hibernian metropolis on Midsummer's Day last, when the sound of several speedboat engines came within earshot. Momentarily startled, I quickly regained my composure and whipped out my trusty camera. By this stage acting purely on instinct, I pointed the lense downriver towards the Millenium Bridge, specifically in the direction of two boats which had just sped past going like the clappers. Without further ado and knowing that time was of the utmost essence, I took my photograph. The result is what you see posted here. Showing it to a friend afterwards, the Big Mon remarked that as a picture it displayed "perspective, balance and drama.". I have to say, I'm inclined to agree with him. Your humble shutterbug, Brian:-)

I've blogged about them before and no doubt will blog about them into the future, however today is worth mentioning as a special day for the great folks over at Ether Books. The latest Ether App (Version 1.4) has been released. It's a snazzy update with new features including the option to share details of your favourite Ether stories with friends and followers on Facebook, Twitter and via email. Also included is a new design, colour scheme and enhanced formatting. With this release, other bugs have been tweaked into the bargain making for an entirely pleasurable reading experience. One salient point worth mentioning (at least I think so) is the fact that the author surname order is now arranged alphabetically (happily, I'm now visible in fourth place in front of an Adams, an Adnan and an Agualusa). I've had five short stories published by Ether to date and hope to have more released this year and into 2012. It's a nice thrill to be involved with a company in the v...

Another lucky shot on my part, if I may say so. This one was taken all of one year ago, June 2010, on the southeastern part of Howth Head, Dublin, close to the Baily Lighthouse. I was strolling there with my beautiful wife on a sunny, summer's afternoon. Dublin Bay appeared before us in all its majesty. I whipped out my modest Fuji digital camera and - as the saying goes - captured the moment. To the centre of the shot in the distance can be seen the chimney stacks of the Pigeon House power plant in Ringsend. Sometimes referred to colloquially as Dublin 11, they are one of the city's most recognisable landmarks. When we got home and I uploaded the picture from my camera to my computer, I realised I'd got a rather tasty shot. Yours, in humility, Brian:-)

Well, I couldn't let the evening pass without posting something to mark Bloomsday. So much has been written already about the immortal day, 16th June 1904, that one struggles to say anything of any import whatsoever. Perhaps I won't even try, save to say that I took this photograph on O'Connell Street, Dublin in June 2011 (in 1904 the street was called Sackville Street). Joyce looks down benignly - twice - from the lamppost. Were he alive today, I've no doubt that he would rejoice (egregious pun, that!) over the commotion that surrounds his terrific novel Ulysses every June in Dublin and beyond. Happy Bloomsday! Brian

I took this photograph on a March morning in 2010 near the little village of Kilgobnet in Co Kerry, Ireland. The mountain range to be seen in the shot is called the MacGillycuddy's Reeks. I was lucky with the picture in that I managed to capture the huge sunbeam just as it broke through the cloud. A childish part of me imagines an old man sits behind these clouds wearing a flowing white beard and holding an interminable scroll in his hands. But the grown-up part of me knows that God is far more indescribable than that. I do believe, however, that He made the mountain range and the trees as well as the grass, the sky and the clouds:-) Brian

At the risk of sounding incredibly prententious, I call this picture 'Cork Hill in the Sunny Noon'. I know, I know, that makes it sound like something from the National Gallery but there you go. I snapped it whilst standing outside the gates of Dublin Castle one sunny noon in May, 2010. Although town was busy at the time, this photo - like all photographs - seems to capture a moment. In this case (if one ignores the hurtling omnibus), we steal some precious seconds of stillness from the frenetic pace of city life. As I said, at the risk of sounding incredibly prententious...