Lmst

Fishes Shoal, Garonne River, Bordeaux, France. May 2005. Ref-596
https://www.denisolivier.com/photography/fishes-shoal-garonne-river-bordeaux-france/en/596
#dslr #denisolivierphotography #denisolivier #river #blackwhite #garonne #canoneos #blackandwhite #bordeaux #denisolivierphotographer #canon20d #photography #denisolivierphoto #fishes #fish

Ghost Opera, Etude 9, The Swan Lake, Berlin. April 1998. Ref-859
https://www.denisolivier.com/photography/ghost-opera-etude-9-the-swan-lake-berlin/en/859
#canoneos #denisolivierphoto #denisolivierphotographer #ghost #music #ballerina #dslr #phantom #denisolivierphotography #dance #opera #classical #denisolivier #dancer #canon20d

The Open Space I, Meunet-sur-Vatan, France. July 2005. Ref-726
https://www.denisolivier.com/photography/the-open-space-i-meunet-sur-vatan-france/en/726
#time #infrared #clouds #denisolivier #canon20d #countryside #speed #field #rain #air #space #sky #landscape #nature #wind

Beyond The Horizon, Brittany, France. August 2005. Ref-1127
https://www.denisolivier.com/photography/beyond-the-horizon-brittany-france/en/1127
#dslr #denisolivier #denisolivierphotography #ocean #canon20d #water #signs #sea #blackandwhite #denisolivierphoto #denisolivierphotographer #distance #pipe #canoneos #horizon

Benion makes a save

It was October 2007, and I was in Cobh to photograph the game between Cobh Ramblers and Dundalk FC. The visitors were beaten 1-0 but Chris Bennion stopped this attempt on goal.

I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve photographed a football game, but this was the first one, a long time ago!

Apertureƒ/5.6CameraCanon EOS 20DFocal length300mmISO200Shutter speed1/500s

#2007 #amateurFootball #canon20d #cobh #cobhRamblers #communityFootball #cork #football #footballAction #footballCulture #goalkeeper #irishFootball #irishSoccer #irishSport #localFootball #localSportIreland #photo #photography #sportsMoment #sportsPhotography #youthFootball

Pier, Audierne, France. August 2005. Ref-747
https://www.denisolivier.com/photography/pier-audierne-france/en/747
#denisolivier #beach #sand #ocean #canon20d #audierne #denisolivierphotography #jetty #harbour #atlantic #lighthouse #pier #denisolivierphoto #concrete #denisolivierphotographer

Celtic Tiger Cranes and the Elysian Rising

Cork City during the height of the Celtic Tiger era, captured in 2007 when Ireland’s construction boom was at its peak and the city skyline was dominated by cranes building new office blocks and apartments, including the Elysian Tower.

It would all come crashing down financially within a year. Some apartments in the Elysian were vacant for years.

Apertureƒ/6.3CameraCanon EOS 20DFocal length75mmISO100Shutter speed1/640s

#2007 #canon20d #celticTiger #celticTigerEra #constructionCranes #cork #corkArchitecture #corkCity #corkLandmarks #corkRooftops #corkSkyline #elysianTower #irishConstructionBoom #irishEconomy #irishHistory #urbanDevelopment #urbanPhotography

Urban skyline view of Cork city rooftops in 2007 showing four tall construction cranes dominating cloudy grey sky, with the Elysian tower under construction on right side, period buildings with satellite dishes and air conditioning units visible in foreground, capturing Cork during its Celtic Tiger era building boom.

In my own world

Sometimes I feel bad that I have no idea that Ireland are playing a match, or when I see all the threads on the Ireland Reddit and it’s the first I even hear we were playing Portugal.

But then I remember I have my own hobbies and obsessions they won’t know a thing about.

My wife was told by a friend that she’d never meet a man who wasn’t interested in sport. I guess she did.

#2007 #canon20d #football #ireland #photos #sport

Dramatic action shot of goalkeeper in blue jersey diving horizontally through air with arms outstretched attempting to save shot during local football match, with player number 8 in white and black visible in foreground and crowd of spectators including children in red and white jerseys watching from behind goal net at community football pitch with yellow corrugated wall and wheelchair sign visible in background.

Signs Are Everywhere, Wharf, Salie South Beach, France. July 2005. Ref-1126
https://www.denisolivier.com/photography/signs-are-everywhere-wharf-salie-south-beach-france/en/1126
#ocean #pipe #beach #denisolivierphotography #denisolivierphotographer #water #aquitaine #blackandwhite #denisolivier #canoneos #denisolivierphoto #industrial #wharf #canon20d #dslr

Smurfit Factory, Etude 7, Facture, Biganos, France. June 2005. Ref-682
https://www.denisolivier.com/photography/smurfit-factory-etude-7-facture-biganos-france/en/682
#denisolivier #pine #wood #smoke #cellulose #night #chimney #chemical #biganos #industrial #denisolivierphoto #canon20d #facture #smurfit #factory

Cliff, Talmont, France. March 2005. Ref-11538
https://www.denisolivier.com/photography/cliff-talmont-france/en/11538
#coast #canon20d #canoneos #wall #limestone #denisolivierphoto #denisolivierphotography #coastal #talmont #sea #denisolivier #geology #cliff #denisolivierphotographer #gironde

Cork Before The Elysian

⚬

Remember Cork before The Elysian was built? It’s almost 20 years old now, so there are many people around who never saw Cork City Hall like this, without the tower block behind it.

Cork City Hall, completed in 1936, was built to replace the previous City Hall that was destroyed during the Burning of Cork by British forces in 1920. The building’s limestone facade and copper dome make it one of Cork’s most recognisable landmarks. This 2005 photograph predates the construction of The Elysian apartment tower, which began in 2006 and became Ireland’s tallest residential building when completed in 2008. The development of The Elysian and surrounding high-rise buildings fundamentally altered the skyline visible from this vantage point, making this image a valuable historical record of Cork’s urban landscape before its dramatic transformation during the Celtic Tiger era.

Apertureƒ/3.5CameraCanon EOS 20DFocal length18mmISO200Shutter speed1/320s

#2005 #Canon20D #Cork #Cork2005 #CorkCityHall #Elysian #Ireland #Photo #Photography #RiverLee #SouthMall

2005 photograph of Cork City Hall with its distinctive green dome reflected in the River Lee, showing construction cranes and the area before The Elysian development and modernisation, with swans visible on the calm water

Smurfit Factory, Etude 8, Facture, Biganos, France. June 2005. Ref-684
https://www.denisolivier.com/photography/smurfit-factory-etude-8-facture-biganos-france/en/684
#industry #canon20d #denisolivierphoto #smoke #night #industrialist #denisolivier #facture #landes #smurfit #biganos #chimney #denisolivierphotography #industrial #factory

Smurfit Factory, Etude 9, Facture, France. April 2005. Ref-11540
https://www.denisolivier.com/photography/smurfit-factory-etude-9-facture-france/en/11540
#denisolivier #biganos #denisolivierphoto #smurfit #canon20d #landes #industrial #factory #denisolivierphotography #facture #night #chimney #industrialist #industry #denisolivierphotographer

Pines In Fog, Monstequieu, Martillac, France. March 2005. Ref-598
https://www.denisolivier.com/photography/pines-in-fog-monstequieu-martillac-france/en/598
#tree #denisolivierphoto #landscape #canon20d #denisolivierphotographer #denisolivier #canoneos #sun #denisolivierphotography #forest #fog #dslr #morning #wood #pine

The Open Space II, Meunet-sur-Vatan, France. July 2005. Ref-727
https://www.denisolivier.com/photography/the-open-space-ii-meunet-sur-vatan-france/en/727
#countryside #air #house #rainy #wind #tree #field #cloud #canon20d #breeze #infrared #space #sky #windy #storm

Four Olive Tree Leaves, Bordeaux, France. April 2005. Ref-632
https://www.denisolivier.com/photography/four-olive-tree-leaves-bordeaux-france/en/632
#tree #dslr #minimalist #olivetree #leave #zen #denisolivierphotography #canoneos #four #denisolivierphoto #denisolivier #minimalism #denisolivierphotographer #blackandwhite #canon20d

Twenty Years at Automattic

When I started working at Automattic, it was just me and Matt, and two servers. A web server and a MySQL server. I knew the root password to WordPress.com. I needed it as I spent a lot of time tuning the MySQL server in those days, but I was thrilled when we got some real systems people on board like Barry. I have to admit to a certain sadness when I ran sudo and the password didn’t work, however.

Automattic in 2006, when my luggage was delayed and I was wearing a British Airways tshirt.

When I started working at Automattic, many of my colleagues I work with now, were still in school. There was a time at the start of this year that my team had the first employee and the latest employee on it. I didn’t have any grey hair then, and well, I have some now, and I make jokes about the “old days” but there are quite a few of us boldermatticians.

I spent most of my time working in Vim, in an SSH session, but that’s changed to VS Code and Cursor in recent years. I tried the Vim extensions for those, but they never felt as good as the original.

Now, it’s the upstart AIs that are disrupting everything related to my job, but while it certainly feels like it’s making me a lot more productive, apparently it’s making me dumb too. Time will tell. Andrej Karpathy uses a number of analogies in this video at Y Combinator, but one thing that resonated with me was his comparing the state of AI to computing in the 60s. There were massive mainframes that people used thin clients (or punch cards!) to interact with them. In 2025, the AI is this brain in the cloud we talk to and ask questions of in a chat window. What’s it going to be like in another twenty years?

Anyway, I’m looking forward to seeing what happens in the next twenty years at Automattic!

#2006 #a8cTravel #Automattic #Canon20D #WordPress