People 6.

One of the things that keep fascinating me is reflections. Sunglasses make for interesting reflections in combination with portrait shots of the person behind them. I showed one in the first people post. Here are three more. The first one was taken in Florence, the second one in Pompeii and the third one in Barcelona (from the bottom up)

The 4th photo is of a street entertainer taking a break and was taken in Lisbon.
The 5th photo was also taken in Lisbon.  Both photographs were done up a bit in Photoshop.
The 6th and 7th photos were taken in Naples. I liked the way the smoke becomes part of the photo.

Nature, macro photography.

Besides having the right equipment for the job, macro photography takes a lot of patience and determination. The nice thing about it is that you don't have to travel far. These shots were taken in our garden.

People 5 (events, local, St. Patrick's day parade)

This year was the first time I was able to attend the parade in Limerick. Normally I'm in the Netherlands for Paddy's Day.
Most of these photos were taken at the assembly point just before the start of the parade.
The traditional music group and the fire eater were fringe activities on the day.

People 4 (events, local, Rocky Horror)

The city of Limerick is quite a happening place. One venue that has a lot to offer is the Belltable theatre/cinema and art centre: http://www.belltable.ie/ These photographs were taken before the screening of the Rocky Horror picture show on 04-02-2007.

People 3 (abstracted)

These candid photos are more or less abstracted.

The first three were taken in Ballybunion, County Kerry. The first two are surfers and I had to get my feet wet to get them.
In the third shot you can see people with hurleys. Hurling is an Irish sport.

The fourth and fifth shot were taken during a Life guard training competition. The organisers weren't too happy with me taking shots so I only post a few that I think they wouldn't have any problems with. In these two shots you see people diving for sticks in a sprint competition. I wanted to get the speed and the determination of the contestants.

People 2.

Continuing with the candid shots. The first post is at the bottom again.

The first two shots were taken in Florence, Italy. I like to do some work in Photoshop sometimes to give the shots that little bit extra or to put more emphasis on parts of the photograph.

The third shots was taken in Portugal. Turned it to black and white and then gave it a slightly warm tone.

Photo number 4 was taken in Florence, Italy. It has the obvious title: "pasta".

Photo number 5 was taken in Florence, Italy.
My partner and I were out and about at night when we spotted this girl with her parents and sister I think.
For this photo I used the flash as it was too dark to get a decent shot otherwise. Afterwards we had a bit of a chat. She turned out to be American and she gave me her verbal permission to use this photo.
What I really like about this shot is her pose and the neon in the background.

People

One of the most interesting subjects in photography is people. I take a lot of candid shots of people in the streets, at festivals or other occasions. Taking candid shots is a great way of meeting people and making friends. Reactions are mostly positive and subjects often ask me for copies. I have had very nice social encounters with people from all over the world through my photography. I've only had a few negative experiences where I could sense that people didn't like me taking shots. Sometimes people turn away. When I sense that they're not happy about it, I normally delete the shots. Only once it happened that I was actually asked to delete shots while I was monitored deleting them. My photos are always respectful and will never show any subjects in any compromising way. Legally you're allowed to take photos of people in public areas and show them without their permission, as long as the photos are not compromising in any way of course. For commercial use you have to get a signed permission form.

Some of my candid work I will show here. The first photo is at the bottom working up to the top.

The first photograph was taken in Prague. I think it is interesting because of the pose and the hair. You don't always need a face to make a shot interesting.

The second photo was taken in Florence, Italy. I was standing downhill from these people who were admiring the sights. I love the dynamics in this photo.
Together with a few other photographs, this one was part of a group exhibition in Friar's Gate Arts Centre, Kilmallock, County Limerick, Ireland.

Photo number three was taken in Barcelona at the Sagrada Familia. I just happened to be at the right place at the right time. I spotted the strange combination of dress and shoes and took a few shots. She saw me and lifted the dress a bit more so the shoes were showing even more. Adorable girl. Lucky man who's married her.

The 4th photo was taken in Florence, Italy. It is often easier to take photos of women than it is of men. My partner Orla, thinks that is because women are more used to being admired. Anyway, this gentleman was standing beside me and I noticed the reflection in his sunglasses. I took a few shots and of course he noticed me. He asked me why I had taken his photo. I explained myself and showed him this shot. He was really enthusiastic about it and we had a nice chat.

Photo 5: I'm a little reluctant of posting photos of children on a blog but this is such a brilliant shot, it had to be included. The angle and the crop make it a dynamic shot. My partner, who is a painter, loves this shot. I'm heavily influenced by her way of painting people and she tells me that she is influenced by my work. She also uses photographs I take for her paintings. Who knows; we might have a joined exhibition some day. As soon as she has some shots of paintings on the www again, I will post the link.