Trust Tommy

Today I got to enjoy the luxury of a half day, as teachers in my school er, enjoyed an inservice. The sun was streaming down and we decided to go for a drive out to Killaloe. Some pictures:

The road out to Killaloe.

Entering the town.

Jug and glass at the restaurant we ate in.

Gastronomical perfection. Cajun chicken sandwich.

Killaloe lookout. Phenomenal views

Happy March!

A couple of my friends have been doing this ‘Photo 365′ idea, which is simple enough – one photo per day over 365 days, plus a short caption.

I decided not to do it on the main blog here, instead opting to have it on a side blog – TrustTommy.Posterous.com. If you’re hip to RSS, here’s the RSS link to subscribe in a feed reader.

I’m doing this because I’ve always had an appreciation for great photography (some great examples include Phil, Séamus, Áine and my Mum) and I know from experience that the more you do something, the better you get at it, and I’d like to get better at photography.

That’s the plan anyway.

As to the question of the style of the photos, I’ll quote Áine here:

In keeping with that mantra, the first picture is of the book I’m currently reading :)

If you don’t want to follow the Posterous, they’ll also be in a set on my Flickr. See ‘em here. Otherwise, TrustTommy.Posterous.com is the link.

No, I’m not getting Google Ads put in — they’re awful.

Advertising has always interested me. While I never considered a career in advertising to be the one that I’d choose, I still love it and think it’s a very cool area to be in.

The picture is of an ad for the iPod Mini, scanned from my English book for demonstration purposes.

Firstly, the copy reads:

Little. The next big thing.

Meet iPod Mini. It’s the world’s smallest 1,000 song player,
comes in 5 colors and works with Mac or Windows. Just $249.

Let’s look at the overall picture first. The iPod doesn’t take up a large area of room to underline how small it is, the background color is neutral so as not to distract from the main feature. Despite coming in 5 colors, this iPod is silver so as not to alienate potential buyers (old versus young, males versus females).

The copy is concise (only 26 words) and laid out in 3 sizes. The biggest text is the one that’ll be read furthest away and it’ll be read more than the copyright notices at the bottom.

The copy also uses many subtle devices to help us familiarize ourselves with this product. “Meet iPod Mini” portrays the product as if it were a person. “Just $249″ is portraying this as a small price.

The ad also informs us that the product will work with both Mac and Windows, thereby refuting any worries potential consumers may have referring to compatibility.

Despite being short, the copy has given us a wealth of information including comparative size, song memory size, colors available, compatibility and price

**

As you can see, a lot can be taken out of this ad and I think Apple are geniuses when it comes to marketing and packaging.

Have you any other examples of effective ads or has anyone had any experience working in advertising?

As you do, right?

Taken in France in 2009.

If you’re wondering what I’m staring so intently at.. I can only equate the light show to…

I tried to catch up with the blue box but it got away :(

Yesterday, myself and Dad went boating with friends of ours. Here’s some photos from that escapade:

By order of Orla, this photo was to go first.

This was a shot of some birds by the water. With 12x zoom, the old stereotype of nature photographers having to be this close to animals to get photos of them are gone — I was 50 paces away taking this.

Bridge/boat shot.

The bad weather and cold did little to dampen the spirits of the five of us. Just as well — it was very cold.

A view from the very front of the boat.

Lough Derg gives lovely views of the surrounding country-side. To do: boat my way down the Shannon. I’d say that during the summer it’s a grand old journey.

Christmas tree before:

and after:

So that’s Christmas officially over. Roll on the Young Scientist next week!

Sorry if that mega large photo upsets anyone’s computer. It doesn’t make sense to have it tiny, though. This is a poster I got at the Discovery 2009 Exhibition when I was in Cork. Beside it is a poster with penguins on it and one Doctor Who one :)

…something beginning with E

if you said ‘entire city’, you were right! :) Well, entire cities perhaps. Buda and Pest are separated by the river, which you can make out in the photograph.

This was taken on top of a large-hill-slash-small-mountain yesterday. Weather was clear and sunny. You could see everything, from the lego brick apartment blocks to the industrial funnel of the big plant.

Why yes, I do need a proper camera. If you know of one under 100€ which can record movies and works over USB, let me know.

From a friend:

The recession graphed using pasta.

However, he informs me that he has the photo upside down, and that the pasta’s economy is on the up.

Sorry if people saw the title of this post and thought this’d be a well-thought-out and witty look at the recession… all one of you :)

Ok.. time to come clean. My name isn’t actually Tommy.

Trust Poser doesn’t have a nice ring to it though..

Taken by the ever-awesome Ben, last Saturday at Les Web Awards.