Christmas Sunrise

Nikon D70s, f4.5, 1/30 sec, ISO 220, 105mm equivalent (click to enlarge)

It was icy. Very icy. So I left with plenty of time to travel from the Rectory to Kilmalooda church for the 9.00 am service on Christmas morning - in second gear. When I got there it was still fairly dark. I parked the car without managing to slide into the wall and got out (without managing to slip on a frozen puddle). It's a quiet area at any time, but there was a very special hush this Christmas morning. I appreciated the moment of stillness to gather my thoughts about the busyness of the day ahead. Then I noticed a special steak of light in the East as the sun gingerly poked its head above the horizon. The day had begun.

Back in the land of the living...

Panasonic LX1, 1/320 sec, f4, ISO 80, 52mm equivalent, (Click to Enlarge)

Did I miss something?! Two days before Christmas Day was a terrible time to be flattened by the 'flu! Somehow I got through all the services standing upright - though I doubt anyone noticed any difference ;-)

The above photo was taken three days ago from Great Island looking across to Passage West...

A very HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all.

Daniel.

Christmas Juxtaposition

Panasonic FZ50, 1/6sec, f2.8, ISO 200, 0EV, 35mm (35mm equivalent), (Click to Enlarge)

Here we have the tension of Christmas: The Virgin and Child in the foreground and the Virgin Megastore in the background. Two competing voices: one is the timeless truth of the awesome humility of the incarnation, the other is the brash, hollow and fleeting thing that persistently tries to rob us of what Christmas is about...

I took this picture in 1996, the Virgin Megastore has been re-branded since.