Through the Never

Garret Fitzgerald

2011-05-22T13:30:00.000-07:00

Some pictures from the funeral of Garret Fitzgerald, former Taoiseach of Ireland.

Central Park, New York

2011-03-24T10:20:00.000-07:00

So I still hadn't uploaded any of my New York pictures from when I visited the other week. So I put together this panorama of Central Park I took on my way to the subway whilst heading back to Philadelphia. I've never done a panorama before and it was hand held so I'm fairly happy with how it came out. I also used an orange filter on it.

Eastern State Penitentiary

2011-03-02T12:46:00.000-08:00

Took a trip to Eastern State Penitentiary the other week, for one of their winter tours. Great place, somewhere you could lose hours in (the winter tours are guided unfortunately, outside of them you can wander with an audio tour by Steve Buschemi which I think I'll go back for).

Home to people such as Al Capone it is also considered to be extremely haunted (though I didn't see any ghosts unfortunately).

Still working on the photos but here are a couple.

Eastern State is definitely a must see.

15th St

2011-01-25T17:05:00.000-08:00

15th St in the heart of Philadelphia. In the background the statue of William Penn, founder of the city overlooks everyone from atop City Hall.

At 37 feet tall it is the tallest statue to stand atop any building in the world apparently. And up until the 1980's there was 'gentlemen's' agreement that no building would be constructed in the city that was higher then William Penn.

There is also the Curse of William Penn, with the city sports teams suffering a string of losses since the construction of One Liberty Place in the 80's, a building higher then William Penn.

Arriving

2011-01-18T11:11:00.000-08:00

A shot I found that I took when I first arrived, leaving the airport. PP'ed it like crazy but I like it. Bit too grainy but oh well.

Headshots

2011-01-17T19:43:00.000-08:00

Been looking to get into doing more headshots so, if you're in the Philly area and looking for some shots, let me know!

ryan@rcnphotos.com

One More

2011-01-03T08:32:00.000-08:00

Just another shot from the other day really. Happy New Years people!

Harder Then It Looks

2010-12-30T15:28:00.000-08:00

Needed to get my photo mojo back so went into Center City today for a street photography wander. I set myself one rule, only being allowed shoot from the hip. At no time could I put the camera to my eye. Ended up being harder then I thought, trying to slow and stop while taking sneaky pics of people, trying to judge the angle, distance etc while not looking at people.

But I'm going to keep at it. I need to try and just stop for a second, fire a shot then keep walking like I never stopped without thinking it over too much.

Sixers!

2010-12-29T11:43:00.001-08:00

Been a while since I've posted anything so here we go! Some shots from a Sixers game we went to a few weeks back. Never really liked basketball but after actually being there and watching it I have to say it was pretty good. Not as good as baseball though! And football is still rubbish haha.

Mary and David's Wedding

2010-10-02T16:23:00.000-07:00

So Mary and David Cost were nice enough to ask me to photograph their wedding after seeing an ad I put on craigslist. Just want to say thanks to them for taking a chance on me and calling me after they got the pictures to say how happy they were with them. Was very much appreciated.

Face of a Legend

2010-09-21T18:22:00.001-07:00

Went to an irish pub here in Philadelphia, called Slainte. I was going down to meet a Belfast boxing team who are over here for the Irish weekend in Wildwood in NJ. I was told about this by a photographer over here, Tom Keenan, who also teaches photography here. Lovely, lovely guy.

Got there, was chatting to some of the guys when all of a sudden I heard "Joe is here".

Turns out it was JOE FRAZIER.

He was great, posing for pictures for everyone and shouting "Who let the dogs out!" and barking during every one of them. Was great to see such a legend not taking himself too seriously. Even got punched in the stomach by him when I got my picture with him.

Great evening.

P.S: I went a bit overboard on the post work on this shot but...it's Joe Frazier, a legend. I might put up a less processed version soon. Wish it was a little sharper as well.

The Waterfront

2010-09-21T11:13:00.000-07:00

Went down to the waterfront last week for a tour around a new casino that's opening in Philadelphia. Table games are only just recently been legalised here in Philadelphia so casino's could be the new leaders for employment perhaps. The one I went to, Sugar House, will employ over 800 people when it opens it's doors on thursday I believe it is.

Around the back though I saw all these birds relaxing and although it's kind of hard to see, I really liked the rays of sunlight coming through the clouds overhead.

The Jack Dillman Band

2010-09-02T11:10:00.000-07:00

First time shooting a band since I got over and it was the really very good Jack Dillman Band. Shot them out in Lancaster, which I was happy to see was amish country. Who doesn't love the amish. But no, Harrison Ford was not hanging around.

Cajun Baby

2010-09-02T11:00:00.000-07:00

Had a chance the other week to visit a new Cajun place in Queen Village. Catahoula Bar and Restaurant was my first taste of cajun food and it was realllll good. Especially the duck which was ridiculously good.

Walt Whitman Bridge

2010-09-02T10:35:00.000-07:00

Coming back to Philly from Jersey over the Walt Whitman Bridge one evening.

Is it a bird.......

2010-08-05T10:43:00.000-07:00

Just going through some shots from the other day and noticed this fella.

More from Philly

2010-08-04T08:51:00.000-07:00

One thing I've noticed about photographing Philadelphia is the light. The light here is beautiful. A lot of the shots I'm taking look really post processed when in fact it's just a little bit of contrast. I'm not normally one for taking shots of buildings and architecture but when the buildings are as big as they are here, and look as they do, how can you not?

Tony Jones

2010-08-03T19:41:00.000-07:00

Tony Jones. I met him over a pint of Guinness in a bar called McGuillicuddys. An extraordinarily nice guy, and well travelled all over europe, playing jazz. Fascinating man.

Everything is bigger....

2010-07-29T13:13:00.000-07:00

Everything here in the States is bigger. Whether it's the buildings, cars, portions or the smallest size cap they had, that I bought, which is too big for even my giant head. Everything here is bigger.

Wandering

2010-07-28T11:55:00.000-07:00

After feeling awful with a lovely case of jet lag (my first time ever too), I decided to get out and explore Philly. I walked, a lot. It was a trip to try and get my bearings really and get an idea of the size of the city and figure out how the streets work here etc.

Met some cool people, like the artist (who's name I forget) who let me take his portrait after a few beers in Tattooed Mom's. I definitely think I'm going to enjoy Philly. A lot.

First shot from Philadelphia

2010-07-23T14:17:00.000-07:00

Right so. I am now officially in Philadelphia and it is hot! Like really freakin hot. And the airline decided it was a great idea to put my bag on a later plane. Geniuses. But now I have my stuff and so here is the very first pic from Philly. Taken on the drive from the airport. Shot at 800 iso so it's fairly grainy but there ya go.

Aslan

2010-07-02T10:50:00.001-07:00

Went up to Leopardstown last night for the Bulmers Fest concerts they put on every year. This week it was Aslan playing. I've shot quite a few of their shows so it was good to be able to get one last one in before I head to Philadelphia (three weeks and counting). Just a small bunch of the pics, I might put more up again later.

Powerscourt

2010-06-30T11:36:00.000-07:00

Been a while since I posted anything. But today went up to Powerscourt and took some shots around the waterfall. I'm heading to America in three weeks for a year (hopefully more, but that'll depend on visa's etc etc) so I'll be shooting like crazy over there. Can't wait. But for now, a shot from today.

500 Photographers

2010-05-10T17:02:00.000-07:00

Just thought I'd put this up as it's a great idea. Run by a photographer named Pieter Weisse, 500 Photographers is a blog wherein Peter will be posting 5 photographers, a brief description of their work and they themselves and a sample of their work per week. Also included is usually a video on the photographer or specific work and a link to their site. Check it out.

500 Photographers

Portrait Photography

2010-05-05T05:36:00.000-07:00

Two portraits. The first was shot in studio and then post processed to give a look similar to Dragan's work. His work is post processed quite heavily but I've always liked it, having an almost film still quality to it.

The second is a portrait taken of english model Kitty, in Cork. I always loved the lines of her arms and legs, the positioning of her hands and feet. The quality isn't great as I've had to rob the image from my Flickr due to losing all the original images. Lesson being back up, back up, back up everything. But you live and learn...

2010-05-04T06:54:00.000-07:00

Some images from a past project, taken in Bridgestone Muay Thai Club in Stoney Batter, Dublin. They were black and white before but have been re-done using Nik Silverefex Pro.

Music

2010-04-29T13:48:00.001-07:00

One of the first areas of photography I got into after leaving school was music photography. My first ever gig being a disaster (shot on film whilst not knowing that there were different film speeds etc on an old family camera) didn't deter me and I kept at it moving to little digital cameras. After blagging my first photo pass for A Blind Guardian gig in Dublin I took out a student loan and got my Canon 20D and 50mm f/1.8, which I still use today.

Since then I've taken shots of bands such as Chris Cornell, Aslan, The Blizzards, Republic of Loose, Rise Against Juliette and the Licks, Vader, Deicide, Opeth and many others.

Just thought I'd put up a couple of my music shots, including one of Ozzy Osbourne, though unfortunately not in concert. The other three are of Rise Against, Boss Volenti and Republic of Loose.

Current Project Update

2010-04-20T15:42:00.000-07:00

Went out this evening and got two more portraits for my project (which is detailed in a previous post just below). Decided to put them up now as I'm really happy with them. Along with a house that is right near myself. A nice little house except that all the windows and doors are bricked up.

How To Make It In America

2010-04-20T09:43:00.000-07:00

How to make it in America is a fairly new HBO show (just finished it's first season I think) about two friends trying to start a clothing line in New York. Great music, great acting but most importantly for me, great photography. From the intro to the images that are scattered throughout each episode the work, for me anyway, is just incredibly strong. I've always been a big fan of street photography so it most certainly appeals to me.

I found out one of the photographers who's work is shown is named Boogie. I would highly recommend checking out his site by just clicking his name above. Born and raised in Belgrade, Serbia, it seems he is no stranger to conflict and in particular his work on drugs and gangs stands out for me.

If you can check out How To Make It In America, it's well worth it.

Current Project

2010-04-20T01:59:00.001-07:00

A current project I'm working on is a series of portraits and landscapes taken in and around the area where I live. My focus is on young men in the 20 to 30 year age range. With the current economic problems in Ireland, and NAMA especially, this generation will surely be paying for others mistakes for years to come. I will be presenting this as my final project for college and will be printing the full series on Harman Matt FB Mp Warmtone paper at the recommendation of fine art printer David Monahan

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Jane McGrath

2010-04-18T16:19:00.000-07:00

My first proper post with some pics of super talented irish actress Jane McGrath. Taken today in Dun Laoghaire, I've decided taking pictures of actors is great because they don't seem to need any direction, they just do it. Great fun. Just a quick addition, these were shot with both a 70-200mm Canon L Series and a Canon 50mm f/1.8.

Normally I use the 50mm for music, live music and never for portraits really because it can be quite hard getting eyes sharp at f/1.8 and such but from now on I'll defo be using it more for this type of work.

Myself

2010-04-18T16:12:00.000-07:00

My name is Ryan Cronin-Neilan and I am a Dublin based photography student. This is a new blog set up for me to record bits and bobs and show some of my work. In the summer I'm hoping to move to Philadelphia for a year. So hopefully I'll have lots of pictures from my american adventures to put here. Thanks for visiting! And please comment, good or bad.