explore | Grilled Cheese

@bartb.ie Oct 15, 2026, 12:37 PM

A 'golden hour' commute — an #IrishRail Commuter #train running along a mirror-smooth #RoyalCanal as autumn sun sinks low in the sky near #Leixlip.

A dark green railcar-type train with white doors and a yellow front approaches from left to right on the far bank of a canal as low golden sunlight glints off its nose. The canal is so still it perfectly reflects the train and the clear blue sky above.

@bartb.ie Oct 14, 2026, 5:29 PM

The #iPhone18Pro is a real game-changer for shoots like this one of an #IrishRail #trian Along the #RoyalCanal near #Leixlip — the tone control via the new Natural preset lets you override the phone's tendency to over-lighten the shadows, and the aperture blades give DSLR-style diffraction spikes!

A landscape view down a tree-lined canal as the sun sets behind the trees. A train is seen approaching on the far bank while the sun peeps through the tree branches giving a big six-pointed golden sunburst just ahead of the train. A paved path is visible on the near bank in deep shadow while the sky above is partially clear and partially lightly clouded, starting blue at the top of the frame and becoming ever more orange closer to the horizon.

@bartb.ie Oct 13, 2026, 5:37 PM

Big skies over the #RoyalCanal at the 13th lock near #Leixlip as an #IrishRail InterCity #train from Sligo races past.

A wide landscape view down a rural canal with a paved towpath on the near bank and a silver railcar-type train with a yellow front approaching along the far bank. The sky above is blue striped with thin white fluffy clouds.

@bartb.ie Oct 13, 2026, 12:41 PM

Even though we're well into autumn, the #RoyalCanal Still looks very green, matching the #IrishRail Commuter trains that roll by regularly.

A wide view looking diagonally down a long straight stretch of a tree-lined canal with the vanishing point in the left-background. A paved towpath runs along the canal on the near bank, and a two-track railway line on the far bank. A dark green railcar-type train with a yellow front approaches in the mid-distance.

@bartb.ie Oct 11, 2026, 11:54 AM

Getting ready for the big lift — a massive crane has arrived at the abutments of the new bridge across the #RoyalCanal just east of #Maynooth. I'm guessing some big low loaders with giant concrete beams will start arriving on Monday morning!

A wide landscape view looking down a rural canal with a gravel path on the near bank, and two fresh bridge abutments in the mid/distance. A very big crane with two massive gib arms in an upside-down A shape is in place to the right of the right abutment. The sky above is clear and deep blue, and the sun is bathing the grassy foreground.

@bartb.ie Oct 10, 2026, 12:30 PM

My mind continues to be blown by the level of control the Natural photographic style on the #iPhone18Pro gives me over the tone-mapping in my low and mixed light images, really lets you capture dusk as dusk, like this #IrishRail train rounding the turn in the #RoyalCanal at #Leixlip Louisa Bridge.

A wide landscape view of a railcar-type train on the far bank of a canal deep into dusk. The sky is dark overhead, but yellow-orange on the right side of the horizon, showing where the sun set some time ago. The sky above is clear, and the path of the nest bank is just visible in the fading light. A single streetlight is reflected in the rippling canal on the left of the image.

@bartb.ie Oct 7, 2026, 5:32 PM

Until the big update in the #iPhone18Pro Photographic Styles never interested me, but the fine-grained control over the tone mapping the Natural style enables combined with the film simulation really appeal to me. Here's an example of an #IrishRail #train reflected in the #RoyalCanal near #Leixlip

A landscape view of a dark green railcar-type train with white doors and a yellow front approaching from left to right on the far bank of a mirror-smooth canal in the late evening on an overcast day. The canal reflects the train perfectly.

@bartb.ie Oct 5, 2026, 5:52 PM

Starting to experiment with the advanced camera controls in the iPhone 18 Pro Max — direct control over the shutter speed combined with focus tracking enables really nice pan blurs! An #IrishRail Commuter running along the #RoyalCanal #iPhone18Pro

A side-view of a dark green railcar-type train running next to still water with an overcast sky at dusk. The train is reflected in the canal, and it and its reflection are in sharp focus, while the rest of the scene is horizontally blurred by panning the camera with the train.

@bartb.ie Oct 3, 2026, 5:57 PM

A beautiful still #autumn evening on the #RoyalCanal at the sharp turn between #Leixlip Confey and Louisa Bridge. #fall #reflection

A portrait-oriented telephoto view down a tree-lined mirror-smooth canal in late evening light. The canal curves to the right, and the last of the warm low sunlight is catching yellow and orange leaves in the distance, contrasting with the rest of the scene which is in deep shadow. The splash of autumn colour is reflected in the water, doubling its impact.

@bartb.ie Sep 28, 2026, 5:27 PM

Evening express — an #IrishRail InterCity from Sligo to Dublin rounding the sharp corner between the 13th lock and Matt Goff Bridge along the banks of the #RoyalCanal near #Leixlip.

A landscape view of a back-lit railcar train on the far bank of a curving reed-lined canal with a very low sun just ahead of the train’s nose and a little above it. The low sun is a mostly clear mostly blue sky with a scattering of small white fluffy clouds. There is a footpath in the foreground running along the near bank, and large trees next to that path frame the right-top of the scene.

@bartb.ie Sep 14, 2026, 5:04 PM

Tiny little Fairy Foxgloves clinging to the edge of the #RoyalCanal quay side at Pike Bridge east of #Maynooth. #Bloomscrolling

A close top-down view of a small plant with two stalks topped with purple flowers looking along a stone wall towards water. The plant has small leaves tucked close to the stonework, and two short flower stalk shoot up from these leaves towards the camera. Small spherical groups of a handful of all-purple flowers, each with five well separated petals with a ridge running down their centers

@bartb.ie Sep 5, 2026, 1:04 PM

Racing the train — I was genuinely curious whether the distant #IrishRail InterCity train or the approaching runner would reach me first along the banks of the #RoyalCanal easy of #Maynooth.

I was hoping the'd get to me at the same time, but alas, the train 'won', so the runner is quite small.

@bartb.ie Sep 3, 2026, 8:33 AM

The wild Dog Rose flowers I enjoyed along the #RoyalCanal this summer are ripening into rose hips!