Swinford Agricultural Show 2015

Delighted to have won some prizes in the confined section of the Swinford agricultural show 2015 photography competition. The confined section is open to members of camera clubs only. Camera club members are not permitted to enter photos in the open sections of the competition. I entered 3 photos into the “Subject of your own choice” section. I managed to get a 2nd place and a 3rd place this year. 1st place alluded me this year!

2nd Place Winner

“Summer Shower”

Photo: f/4.5, 1/2500 sec, ISO-100, -1 exp, @50mm,

Photo of a rose bush that flowered at the beginning of August 2015. Taken just after a heavy shower as the sun came out. Very shallow depth of field. The petals at the top and right are in focus but the heart is out of focus!

3rd Place Winner

“Swan Lake”

Photo: f/6.3, 1/250 sec, ISO 200, -0.7 exp, @ 50mm.

Photo of a swan and some ducks on the lake shore at Ross Castle in Killarney Co Kerry. We were down in Killarney at the end of January for the league match between Mayo and Kerry. Photo was taken at around 5.30 in the evening as it was getting dark. There were trees overhanging the lake making it darker and the swan and ducks just happened to swim into this clearing where the light was coming through the trees. Although I had the shutter speed fast enough to freeze the slow movement of the swan and ducks, it wasn’t fast enough to freeze the action of the birds in flight. I do quite like the effect though!

Another photo that I entered, but did not get placed.

“Watching the world go by” Times Square May 2014

Photo: f/22, 2 sec, ISO-200, @ 10mm.

Photo I took in Times Square on a Saturday night around 10 pm. We were over in New York for the Connacht Championship match between New York and Mayo May 2014. This is one of thousands of shots that I took there. This one however took some setting up! Times Square never gets dark which makes long exposure shots quite difficult. I had my wide angle lens on for this shot at wide open. Had to step down to f/22 to keep the exposure right. I had no tripod with me, which is essential for long exposures.

So I had to improvise. I used a rubbish bin, or as the yanks say, “Trash Receptical” to set my camera on. I spent about 40 minutes here setting up the shot, getting the settings right. I was then approached by a New York City worker asking me to move on. He told me my camera bag and camera on top of the bin was blocking the signal to the satellite. I kid you not, there was a solar panel on top of the bin that is connected to a data centre someplace!

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Michael Maye

Following Mayo football all around Ireland and halfway around the world. Been known to take the odd match photo sometimes! P.R.O. of Swinford Tidy Towns & committee member since 2004. I also admin on MayoClub51.com. Member of Swinford camera Club since 2009 and current P.R.O.

Swinford Agricultural Show 2015