Wicklow Coast

Here is your SkyWatch Friday image.

Don't even go there. What can I say I'm hooked on the portrait landscape.

You might have noticed that I changed the name of the last post because I got the name of the location wrong. So I am calling this one Wicklow Coast until I ask my Sherpa Guide ( Gavin help ? ) whats the location for the above image.

The light was very harsh so I waited for the sun to go behind the clouds before I was happy with the light levels and composition. Again we waited for people to disappear from off the sand dunes. You can't see it but I found a football in the long grass just in front of me. So if anybody lost a football it's there.

So this is the second image from the Wicklow trip and we are moving up the coast from the last post and I will continue on the journey up the coast for the next post.

Have a good weekend and see you all next week.

Clones Strand

Well now, I have being mad busy the past couple of weeks. During this time I did manage to get away for a few days shooting down on the Wicklow/Wexford east coast with a friend of mine Gavin Lyons. Gavin, who is Irish now lives in Austria came home and we meat up last Saturday at some crazy early hour in the day/night.

We spent the next couple of days going up and down the coast stopping off every now and then take a photo or two. The image above was taken on the Saturday down on the rocks over looking Castletown Beach. We climbed down the rocks to get our composition right. I'm not going to mention names or anything like that but someones lens ( not me ) decided to make it's own way down the rocks and land safely on the edge undamaged luck would have it.

We waited for the right conditions. The clouds were starting to arrive after a completely blue sky that morning for sunrise. We also had to wait for the right moment were there was no people on the beach and the waves crashed up onto the rocks to add a bit of drama to the image.

I think I got enough images to keep me going for a good few weeks and you will be the first to see them here on my blog as soon as I process and post them. You can look forward to images from Ballymoney, Castletown, Kilmichael Point, Clogga, Brittas Bay, Ardmore Point, Wicklow Head, Lighthouse and Castle.

Giant's Causeway

Well look at this, another portrait orientation landscape.

And yes I did go to the doctor for help. He said stop turning your head sideways.

The Giant's Causeway, Co Antrim, a World Heritage Site is one hell of an interesting place to visit and photograph. For one reason, to get a image with no people in it. A very tricky thing to do. However if you are a "real" photographer you go at some crazy time in the day. The above image was taken at around 5 in the morning me thinks on my trip to the Antrim Coast last November. At this time of the day you can drive your car down if you know your way through the car park maze.

The weather was overcast which made for a not so interesting colour sunrise ( I was with my good friend Peter Cox )but I think this image works very well in good old black and white. The shape and texture in the rock formations and the smooth water with the reflections of the clouds is interesting.

I promise this will be my last one. Well not really. Have a look at the Antrim Gallery on my site and you will see a few more images.

Have a good weekend and talk soon.

Skerries Lighthouse

Please don't adjust your monitors.

The worm have turned.

Yes you are not seeing things.

A portrait Landscape.

If you have being following my blog for a while you will have noticed that I have never posted a portrait style landscape image. The reason for this is well I don't see in portrait. I visualize the final image in me head as a b&w landscape. I know I have missed a good number of images by not taking portrait style but I just can't see them.

The image above of Skerries and the Lighthouse was taken from the same location as the previous post with the G10 on a tripod. However in the Landscape version I have you can see the car park and the children's playground. This did not help in the composition as I wanted the large rock in the foreground to lead you into the image and to the Lighthouse on the horizon. I could not position myself and the elements to suite.

I had to turn the camera & ball head ( even looked up tripod manual to find out how to do this ! ). By doing so the elements and the composition work. Even a bird moved into position in the sky for me. Will it be my last composition this way? Who knows, but I will visit the doctors and see if there are drugs to help me overcome this problem.

Have a good weekend and see you here again next week.

The Monochrome Weekend starts here

Skerries Walk

Question : Do you bring a camera with you when you go out for a walk ?

If the answer to the above question is no then why not?

I bring a camera with me at all times when a I go out for a walk with the family. It may not the the high-end DSLR's I own but the G10 goes with all the time. It depends on the location and what type of walk we go on for choosing what to bring ie the full backpack and tripod or pocket camera. Mind you I will always bring a tripod with me. There is still life yet in my old and battered tripod.

The image above was taken on a Sunday walk around the seaside village of Skerries in north county Dublin. There was a strong clod wind blowing. I know as my newspaper let fly all over the public playground. It was funny to see grown adults running around trying to catch my newspaper. When we arrived there, we got a bit too eat and then went for a walk. The sky was clear and blue (not to my liking) but I could see that the clouds were a coming. While the children played on the swings etc. I slipped away to find a location a take a snap or two. Again the strong winds was blowing and I was blessed in bringing the tripod.

I did manage to get a couple of image from this location. You might be able to see the Mourne Mountains on the horizon. But it's the lovely side lighting and shadows in the foreground that interests me. That S curve in the sand and the shadows leads me nicely into the image. Waiting for the clouds added to the background and finished the image off.

So another Question : Are you going to bring your camera with you next time ?

I hope your answer will be yes as you never know what image you will go home with.