Large Format fun with the LomoGraflok back for Fujifilm Instax Wide on 4x5 cameras Getting into 4x5 large format film photography can be daunting. And while it is rewarding to work with analogue materials, there is some anxiety around wasting film as you learn the ropes. This is where the LomoGraflok is great - it puts the fun into 4x5. Let me tell you how it works and give you some tips to get right into it... To my eye, Fujifilm Instax Wide is the best version of this instant film – not just because the prints are a good size, but they also appear to be of better quality than the ..read more

Kodachrome and the rural post office. This feature first appeared in Grain magazine, January 2022.  'They give us those nice bright colours They give us the greens of summers It makes you think all the world's a sunny day… So mama, don't take my Kodachrome away.' Paul Simon, lyrics 'Kodachrome.' It was an event for the Sri Lankan village post office staff. A red-headed and bearded Irishman presenting a large envelope of films destined for Europe was worthy of all of the postal hierarchy's attention. Each person, in turn, examined the package, feeling for the declared film cassettes and ..read more

..read more

'Last Orders' explores the social isolation and melancholy embodied in the extended closing of the Irish pub. Presented as a photobook in 'zine' format, it is a collection of 40 photographs made over the winter and spring months of 2021. Launching @kinsaleartsweekend and now on presale €15   View gallery here ..read more

Lisbon, Portugal – two days with an Olympus OM1 and black & white film.   Back when international travel was easy, we took so much for granted. How adding a couple of days to an itinerary could allow checking out a new city on the way to or from someplace else. On my return journey from a dive trip to Cabo Verde (which I will write about in another post), I added an extra night in Lisbon on the inbound leg. A colleague gave me a 'heads-up' to stay and wander the narrow streets of the old part of the city, called Alfama. Here, trams rumble the cobbled streets, which exude character ..read more

Olympus OM-D E-M1ii, Nauticam underwater housing, Olympus M.Zuiko 8mm F1.8 lens, Zen Underwater 170mm dome, Retra flash. Author, John Collins pictured with the Nauticam NA-EM1ii housing for the Olympus OM-D E-M1 mark II, with Olympus 8mmF1.8 lens and Zen 170mm dome. Photo: Graham Ferguson Moving to Micro Four Thirds Non-diving and photography friends are great to keep you grounded. 'How many mega-piglets are in that camera now, John?', my dear friend Tony asked me one time. He was eyeing up my recently changed but strangely smaller camera than before. 'It's not so much the number of piglets, T ..read more

Series V – limited edition five-panel wall art. Series V.1 'Atlantis Nativus' I've been working on a series of five-panel wall display pieces over recent months and am really pleased with the finished work. Now on display at The Boathouse Gallery, Kinsale – each piece has an overall dimension of 145 x 95cm, so needs generous wall space. The work is printed on archival canvas bonded on a solid block and is batten-hung, slightly off the wall to give added depth.  Each work is in a limited edition of five (+ two artist proofs). For more, see here. Contact me or the gallery directly for furth ..read more

Wild Atlantic Blue ­­­− Diving Macaronesia. South of Ireland's shores, as the water warms, there are many great diving islands in the eastern Atlantic, known collectively as Macaronesia. These include the Canary Islands, Madeira, the Azores and Cape Verde Islands, as we near the equator.   Irish divers have long been familiar with the much-lauded 'wild Atlantic way' of our western seaboard. At these temperate latitudes, we enjoy great seasonal diving, but we often look south to warmer waters during our late autumn, winter and early spring months. As low-cost and charter airline ..read more

'How far from home are you?' Kinsale, Cork, IE. March-May 2020 ..read more

Great White shark, Dyer Island, South Africa If a picture paints a thousand words, as the saying goes, then this one is definitely up there. However, there is more to the story than what appears to be a lunging Great White Shark and nearby humans. The hand belongs to Marine Scientist, Michael Scholl and the photograph was made in August 2000 at Dyer Island, Gansbaai - about 175km south of Cape Town, South Africa. It was shot on 35mm film, just before digital cameras started to become 'serious'.  Here's an excerpt from my book, 'Cool Waters | Emerald Seas' (Atrium, 2006) 'The Gre ..read more