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Originally Photographed 5 AUGUST 2026
ONE OF TWO STATUES OF LUKE KELLY
* In The Year 2008 * In The Year 2011 * In The Year 2017 * Henrietta Back In 2010
Luke Kelly (1940–1984) remains one of Ireland's most revered cultural icons. As a founding member of The Dubliners in 1962, his distinctive, thunderous tenor voice and fiery passion redefined Irish folk music. Immortalising tracks such as On Raglan Road, Scorn Not His Simplicity, and The Auld Triangle, Kelly was as deeply committed to working-class politics and social activism as he was to his music. His tragic passing from a brain tumour in 1984 at just 43 years old left a profound mark on Dublin's cultural identity.
The South King Street Statue (Near St Stephen's Green)
The Tale of Two Statues
In a unique homage to a single artist, Dublin unveiled two separate statues of Luke Kelly on the exact same day—30 January 2019—marking the 35th anniversary of his death.
The Origin: Dublin City Council had initially held a competition commissioned for artist Vera Klute to design a modern monument. Simultaneously, private donor Gerry Hunt commissioned John Coll for a traditional bronze piece.
The Double Unveiling: Rather than rejecting one, the city chose to place one statue on each side of the River Liffey. President Michael D. Higgins officially unveiled both monuments hours apart.
The Sheriff Street Bust and Unexpected Vandalism
The second statue, designed by Vera Klute, is a striking two-metre marble portrait head featuring wire-like resin hair, situated on Guild Street near Sheriff Street where Luke Kelly grew up.
Much to the dismay and outrage of the local community, this northern inner-city monument became the target of repeated vandalism, being defaced with spray paint over seven times in its first eighteen months. Because Kelly was a working-class hero who hailed directly from the neighbourhood, the attacks shocked Dubliners. Local residents and conservation specialists repeatedly restored the piece, leading to widespread calls for enhanced security and CCTV to protect the tribute.
Testing the Fujifilm GFX100RF: Firmware, Fill Flash, and the Silent Geotagging Bug
Yesterday, 4 August 2026, the GPS failed so when I returned home I spent hours trying to identify the problem. This morning I walked around the city photographing at random and the 93 images all showed the same location. I returned home and reset the camera back to factory defaults and reinstalled the app on the iPhone a paired the camera with the iPhone. This time when I visited the St Stephen's area of the city the tagging was accurate but I am not confident enough to bring the camera with me to Waterford next week.
I have been testing the Fujifilm GFX100RF since receiving it in May 2025, and it has presented a few technical hurdles. Initial image sharpness fell short of expectations, and the geotagging functionality has proven unreliable—and in practical terms, incorrect mapping is considerably worse than no mapping at all.
Addressing Image Sharpness with Fill Flash
Without In-Body Image Stabilisation (IBIS), a 102-megapixel sensor is exceptionally sensitive to subtle camera shake. Increasing shutter speed eliminates motion blur but reduces ambient exposure, resulting in darker images and in fact many images were unusable.
To solve this, I recently introduced a Godox iT30 Pro F fill flash to the kit. Shooting handheld at higher shutter speeds alongside lightweight TTL flash fill has effectively frozen micro-movements and noticeably improved frame clarity. I should mention that I also got a Godox for my Leica Q3 and my Sony cameras.
The Geotagging Issue & Firmware Version 1.13
Geotagging remains an ongoing issue despite resetting the camera and applying the latest firmware updates:
Version 1.13 (Released 30 June 2026): Addressed an issue where paired devices failed to automatically reconnect to the FUJIFILM XApp after power cycling the camera, whilst improving general Bluetooth/Wi-Fi connection stability.
Version 1.12: Fixed a bug where the electronic viewfinder (EVF) eye sensor failed to activate automatically in preview mode.
The Silent Cache Bug
A major discovery during testing involves how the camera handles connection loss. Previously, a dropped location sync triggered a red or blinking warning icon on the EVF/LCD.
Now, the issue is silent. The camera displays a solid white "connected" icon because the Bluetooth LE handshake remains active, even if the mobile operating system has frozen the XApp's background GPS updates. Consequently, the camera continues to stamp stale, cached coordinates onto new EXIF data without alerting the user.
Field Verification Routine
To ensure accurate GPS coordinates during a session:
Open the FUJIFILM XApp on your mobile device to ensure the map preview reflects your live location. Ensure smartphone settings for location are set to "Always Allow" rather than "While Using App", and turn off background battery optimization for the app. Toggle the phone's Bluetooth off and on to force the camera's geotag icon from white to grey and back, clearing stale cached data.
* Clontarf Railway Station * Docklands Railway Station * Malahide Railway Station
4 August 2026, I decided to devote time to resolving configuration issues with my Fujifilm GFX setup. I purchased a Godox iT30 Pro for Fuji cameras and updated the GFX100RF to its latest firmware. I chose the Bethesda Place complex and the perimeter of the Hugh Lane Gallery as my testing grounds.
As soon as I arrived at Parnell Square, the sky opened up. I quickly learned that using direct fill-flash in heavy rain is problematic: the flash illuminates foreground raindrops into harsh, out-of-focus white specks across the frame. Additionally, the in-camera geotagging logged only my starting location and my exit onto Dorset Street, missing the intermediate laneway points.
Despite being advised against pairing the compact Godox with the larger GFX system, the combo performed remarkably well overall. However, because my dealer noted a lack of suitable dedicated risers, navigating the lens hood geometry required specific workarounds:
Lens Hood Geometry Note: On the GFX100RF, the lens-barrel filter adapter and hood assembly form an integral part of the weather-sealing system over the telescoping front element. Stripping that back just to clear a low-slung mini flash compromises the weather protection.
Handling & Coverage Solutions
Distance Shots (Beyond 1.5 m / 5 ft): The flash trajectory clears the top edge of the hood cleanly, delivering uniform illumination across the frame.
Close-Up / Macro Range (Under 1 m / 3 ft): Because the iT30Pro head sits low relative to the hot shoe, the top lip of the weather-sealed hood casts a slight shadow at the bottom edge of the frame.
Built-in Wide Panel (W Mode): Flipping down the iT30Pro’s built-in wide-angle diffuser spreads the light beam out. At moderate close-up distances, this softens the shadow edge enough to render it invisible in the frame.
Godox TR-F Riser: If shooting close-up subjects or street portraits indoors where direct flash at tight distances is essential, adding a small Godox TR-F TTL hot shoe riser raises the flash head by 30 mm. This completely clears the hood rim at all distances while preserving full TTL and HSS communication.
That dealer advice comes down to a tiny mechanical detail: the GFX100RF hot shoe uses standard Fujifilm TTL contacts, but its top-plate design and fixed-lens body profile can make generic or off-the-shelf hot-shoe extensions sit awkwardly or fail to lock down completely flat.
While third-party risers like the Godox TR series pass through standard Fuji TTL signals, some camera shop staff steer users away from them on compact fixed-lens bodies because a high-profile riser introduces extra leverage onto the hot shoe mount—potentially straining the top plate if bumped during active street shooting.
If you decide to clear that 35mm lens hood rim without adding vertical strain to the camera hot shoe, here are the most effective alternatives:
Fuji Off-Camera TTL Cord (TTL Extension Cable): Using a dedicated TTL cord (or standard Canon OC-E3 compatible cord, which matches the Fuji contact pattern) lets you handhold the flash off-camera or mount it to a tiny side bracket. This completely bypasses the hood shadowing issue without putting leverage on the camera top plate.
Godox Wireless Transmitter (X3 / X2T-F): Mounting a micro wireless trigger on the hot shoe and holding the iT30 Pro off-camera in your off hand gives you complete freedom over light direction, absolute clearance over the fixed-lens hood, and full TTL/HSS support.
Flip-Down Wide Panel (W-Mode): For quick street work in the field, sticking with the built-in wide diffuser remains the cleanest zero-hardware solution to blend out lower-edge lens hood shadows.