blackest Loc: Ireland

Buttevant (Irish: Cill na Mullach, meaning "Church of the Summits" is a medieval market town, incorporated by charter of Edward III, situated in North County Cork, Ireland. For St Patricks day Even the Parish church turns green.

St Marys by Maloneys

(Download)

waegwan Loc: Mae Won Li

Cool shot, it is interesting to see the bar next to the church in this shot; people are pretty much the same everywhere.

blackest Loc: Ireland

It's very Irish isn't it, maybe the two strongest influences on Irish culture side by side you might say. I took a few shots last night but this one I liked best with the old boy who was stood in the pub doorway probably having a smoke, (there is an indoor smoking ban in workplaces, it is now even illegal to smoke in your own car if there are kids under 16 inside).

I've done a few shots where i've tried not to make people readily identifiable and anonymous. I don't know if that detracts from the image or adds to it. thank you very much for your comment.

RichardQ Loc: Colorado

Some photographers, particularly Nature , Architecture, Real Estate, Landscape, and Product photographers, prefer to avoid having people in their pictures because they believe they distract from the main subject. On the other hand, some photographers -- including me -- believe that people in the background introduce humanity into otherwise sterile street scenes and provide scale.

Ansel Adams and Ezra Stoller rarely, if ever, included people in their Landscape and Architecture studies. OK, but an empty street without people looks eerily deserted, so that can be a distraction. A couple of walkers introduces reality. That doesn't mean that people should dominate the image instead of the subject. I would not have minded seeing a couple entering the bar, as well as the smoker outside, if your intent was to hint at the irony of a bar being more popular than the church. :thumbup: :thumbup:

RichardTaylor Loc: Sydney, Australia

I also like to have peoiple in a lot of my 'scapes. The people at the pub are a nice touch.

blackest Loc: Ireland

Both tend to be elements of Irish life that tend to go together, confirmations, communions, weddings of course, and the 'removal' (when people go pay their last respects when someone they knew has died prior to the actual funeral) are all important events. St Patrick's Day is a national holiday named for the patron saint of Ireland of course and celebrated in both the pub and church. Prior to 1960 the Pubs would have been shut on St Patrick's day, they will be next friday, with it being Good Friday.

"Good Friday is a day of abstinence and fasting in the Catholic religion. Catholics are supposed to stay away from alcohol and meat for the day in preparation for Easter. The current law is 89 years old, having been introduced in 1927. The Intoxicating Liquor Act states that alcoholic drinks cannot be sold on Christmas Day, Good Friday and St Patrick’s Day. The St Patrick’s Day clause was repealed in 1960 to accommodate visitors coming from overseas to celebrate the national holiday."

Irish pubs all seem to sell both coffee and alcohol so just because you are in a pub it doesn't necessarily follow that your drinking.

RichardQ Loc: Colorado

My sincere thanks for that interesting information, Blackest. Many American Protestant Churches are adamently opposed to alcoholic beverages. They campaigned vigorously for the Prohibition Amendment to the Constitution almost 100 years ago. The result was the Roaring Twenties, "speakeasies," and the rise of organized crime gangs. The Amendment was repealed in 1933, to great acclaim, but there are still islands of Prohibition, some cities and counties, known as "dry."

blackest Loc: Ireland

The Catholic Church seems a little more relaxed in some ways. It surprised me to see a priest smoking but some do.

Dave Chinn

Thanks for this info. I did not know all of this. To me, it is very interesting.
As with your photo, I like it very much. The church and pub together with the streaks of car lights all make this image interesting. I'm assuming you shot this at a very slow shutter speed?
Dave

blackest Loc: Ireland

Yes a 30 second exposure at base iso i think f16

Uuglypher Loc: South Dakota (East River)

great image, blackest!
You nailed the exposure. Over here we dye the beer green, but a woke church!?
I particularly like the gent leaving Moloney's....reminded me of the quip:
"An Irishman walked out of a pub....well, it COULD happen...."

Sorry...couldn't help it.

Best regards,
Dave

blackest Loc: Ireland

I took a few this one is a little more dramatic but I liked the fella at the pub :) in the first shot.

Another Shot

(Download)