university campus

THE GRANGEGORMAN CLOCK TOWER

May 25, 2023 by Infomatique

PHOTOGRAPHED USING A SIGMA DP3 QUATTRO

Originally opened in 1816 as the Richmond Penitentiary, this iconic tower is one of the most well-known of the 11 protected structures on the Grangegorman site. Built to the designs of Francis Johnston, also known for the Lower House on site and for the GPO on O’Connell St, the Richmond Penitentiary was the first of the penitentiary style in Britain and Ireland. The front facade, which overlooks Grangegorman Lower and the western side of the site, is all that remains of the original structure. The Grangegorman Masterplan shows the building’s final use as academic space for the College of Engineering & Built Environment.

Today I obtained an unused Sigma Quattro DP3 camera and, believe me, it is more than difficult to use for multiple reasons. The first problem that I had was that the internal battery was exhausted and I could not change any settings, I could not even set the date and time. The second problem was that AF would not work so I had to focus manually which was difficult without a viewfinder.

The biggest problem is that LightRoom does not recognise the RAW files and there is no point in using the JPG files and to complicate life one needs not to use any setting above ISO 100. Alto the battery life is the worse that I have encountered.

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UNUSED CHURCH OF IRELAND CHURCH ON THE NEW TU GRANGEGORMAN CAMPUS

April 25, 2023 by Infomatique

TODAY I DECIDED TO USE AN OLD SIGMA CAMERA

The Church of Ireland was built in 1860, just south of its Roman Catholic counterpart – St. Laurence’s Church. It was designed by George Wilkinson. As of yet, it has not been refurbished but TU Dublin has plans to recover the building in the future and hopes to put it into use as a student event space. The Church presides over its own significant open space with an existing grove of trees and the plans for this protected site are for it to be refurbished for a variety of cultural uses.

A few years ago i was offered a Sigma DP1 Quattro at a very good price and while I had a bad experience with all my previous Sigma cameras I decided to accept the offer especially as the camera could produce .dng images but, as you may have guessed, there were many problems that can be really annoying. The DP1 Quattro is a fixed lens camera aimed at enthusiasts who demand the best image quality in a reasonably portable form factor. Announced in September 2014, it’s a unique camera in many respects, employing an unusually-shaped body, a fixed focal length lens and a sensor unlike any outside of Sigma’s range. It also eschews modern features we take for granted on other new cameras such as Wifi or even a movie mode. The DP1 Quattro is all about still photo quality.

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN TREES THEN ST PATRICK’S COLLEGE CAMPUS IS THE PLACE TO VISIT

April 11, 2023 by Infomatique

PHOTOGRAPHED EASTER WEEKEND APRIL 2023

Ireland’s oldest native tree, the Silken Thomas Yew, is 700-800 years old and it is located on the St Patrick College Campus in Maynooth.

“According to Aubrey Fennell, the man with the responsibility for measuring and recording every one of Ireland’s heritage trees for the Tree Council of Ireland, Ireland’s oldest native tree is the Silken Thomas Yew tree (Taxus baccata) growing in the grounds of St Patrick’s College in Maynooth. When last measured, it had a girth (the tree version of a waist measurement) of 14 metres and is estimated to be in the region of 700-800 years old. As for Ireland’s tallest native tree, the record is held by a 40-metres high ash tree ( Fraxinus excelsior ) growing in the grounds of Marlfield House, Clonmel, Co Tipperary.”

Thomas FitzGerald, 10th Earl of Kildare (1513 – 3 February 1537), also known as Silken Thomas (Irish: Tomás an tSíoda), was a leading figure in 16th-century Irish history.

I LIKE TO PHOTOGRAPH THIS GRAVEYARD IN MAYNOOTH

April 8, 2023 by Infomatique

IT IS UNUSUAL AS IT IS WITHIN A UNIVERSITY CAMPUS

Today I brought my Sony A7RIV which I have not used for more than a year, maybe much more more. The camera is a very high resolution device as I was trying to capture the feel of the place rather than absolute detail I decided to use a Zeiss Batis 25mm lens.

If you get a guided tour on St Patrick’s College and the graveyard you may be informed that there are two unusual burials in the cemetery these being the graves of former Maynooth students who died under strange circumstances. In 1841, a student by the name of Sean O’Grady died after falling from his window in a building called Rhetoric House on the Maynooth Campus. Twenty years later, another student by the name of Thomas McGinn was housed in this same room. While in this room, McGinn cut himself with a razor, and jumped out of the same window. Before he died of his injuries it is claimed that he said that demonic occurrences in the room convinced him to end his life. Over the years I have heard many variations of the story but I have not located the graves.