Reflections Gougane Barra

Gougane Barra, is located 5km west of Ballingeary on the road to Bantry, Co Cork. On this fine morning on my way home form my good friend and fellow photographer Peter Cox, who lives next door so to speek.  I stopped by Gougane Barra only to be greeted by a wonderful reflection in the still waters of the lake. The sun had risen and burned off the last of the low lying mist. It’s a perfect reflection and have fooled many by turning it upside down.

This was the start of one fantastic days shooting and only stopped by the fact I was running out of power for my camera. Remember to always charge batteries even on the last day before heading home.

The Gap of Dunloe

The Gap of Dunloe, Killarney, Co Kerry is one of the must see location on the tourist trail in Ireland.

If you have ever being up at The Gap you will have gone passed this lake, Coosaun Lough, on your way to the bridge for the “normal” view of The Gap. Not me, I’m not normal !

On this afternoon I was down in Killarney to  meet up with Peter Cox and Roger Overall to talk business about the upcoming new Episode of Circle of Confusion video series. When the elements are right don’t put if off to till tomorrow as I was going to do here. The choice: bit a small bit late for the meeting or miss this photo op. Sorry lads but you lost out and boy I was glad I when up to the Gap. It was magic and spent an hour photographing from this location and another one from the other side of the bridge. More about that image in a later post.

I love the reflections of the mountains and the water lilies in the foreground. The clouds and light were perfect for the composition.

Dinish Island Sunrise

Just as you think your never going to get that image….

On this trip to Kenmare the weather was mixed. Not great for photography as we had too much haze mixed with low clouds all during the day and not much better in the mornings for sunrise either. On the last day of the trip all the elements came together and I got the sunrise I was after.  This image shows Dinish Island, which is in the middle of Kenmare Bay, lit by the early morning rising sun.  I used this wonderful side lighting to bring out the texture of the stone slipway and used the slipway to lead you into the image.

Three days of sitting and waiting for the light was worth it me thinks.

Glenbeg Lough

This is one of my favorite images from the four days down on The Beara Peninsula and it came out of disappointment. Let me explain:

The weeks leading up to the Beara Trip were spent looking over the Discovery Series of Maps from OSi (Ordnance Survey Ireland) to find suitable locations to shoot. One such place was Glenbeg Lough, Ardgroom. We have the lake surrounded by mountains a river flowing into the lake and a bridge over the river. All this looks like an interesting location. Looking at the details on the map and seeing the real life are two different things.

We had finished shooting up on the Healy Pass and Lauragh Forest and started our journey further west for sunset when hunger struck. Stopping at a coffee shop in Ardgroom, Peter noticed a painting on the wall of Glenbeg Lough. Now don't get me wrong but painters have it easy. They start with a blank canvas and add or remove thing at will. Us photographers have a completed canvas and have to use whats in front of the camera lens. What greeted us on the drive up to the lake was nothing like the view in the painting. Missing was the car park, rubbish bins, public signs and the pipes going across the side wall of the bridge. And they say using Photoshop to edit your photos is wrong but.....

What a disappointment. We didn't even get out of the jeep and to top it off low clouds started to roll in and this put a stop to sunset. We did however drive along the shoreline to find a point to turn the jeep around and head home. Oh, but wait. I spotted the view above with the reads in the foreground and Skellig Mt in the background.

Not the images I pictured a week ago looking at the maps but I think a came away with a much better image. Once again a portrait format helps in the composition. The slight blurring or the reads from the strong wind blowing down trough the valley and the dark clouds, helped by the filters, hanging over the tops of the mountains adds the drama of the image.

I have a hard drive full of image to post still from The Beara Peninsula.

Snow Covered Ireland

Ireland and the rest of Europe is going through a snow time for the past couple of weeks. Here in Ireland the fun has worn off everybody, even the children. And now the snow is back again right up until Christmas Eve according to the weather people.

What I though was just a Cold turned into Acute Bronchitis which means I'm stuck indoors for a week or so. I did manage to get out and get a couple of snow scenes on my travels. The above is one such. I'm not sure of the location. All I know it's between Kells and Virginia. I will get the exact location when the Doc gives me the all clear to go.

A simple image taken from the side of the road looking into a field across to a small forest. I love the way the image is layered with different shades of snow covered tress in the foreground to the wonderful cloud formations in the background. Also the image works much better in this portrait format then my 'normal' landscape as you are brought up through the layers in the image.

Funny thing happened to me while taking this image. Having to park the car on the side of the main road but not to close to the side due to the heavy snow on the roads. I forgot that cars would have to go around the car and off the clear road surface. In my case a 40ft truck came along at speed and traveled along the central part of the road which was still covered with heavy snow. The truck catapulted snow across the road in the direction of me and the camera. A quick jump was needed to cover the camera. I got covered in snow and slush. This resulted in my getting a cold and now Bronchitis. I should have left the camera and took cover myself. I think the image was worth all the medical bills ???

Donabate Walk

Well now, it's being a long time since my last blogpost. A couple of reasons really but mainly working on other parts of the business and not enough time out in the field taking new images.

Another reason is lack of inspiration or rather too much inspiration.

"Even the most enthusiastic of photographers get the blues. And there's nothing more depressing than jealousy and a lack of motivation caused by overexposure to the work of others."

Well my friends that's me at the moment. But, there is hope. I have discovered a great cure for this particular form of photographic depression. Grab your camera and get out of the house and spend more time developing your style and vision rather than indulging in everyone else's.

So I did just that last week and went back to where I lived a few years ago. Donabate is a small village on the East coast of Ireland. Jump over to the website here to have a look at more images from Donabate.

It was great to get out on my own with the cameras and just walk around to try a get a composition that works. The image above shows the cliff path form Donabate to Portrane. It had being a clear blue sky all morning and then the clouds started to roll in which is more to my style. While waiting for the right light and composition you have plenty of time to think. And a lot of thinking was done this morning on the cliff path of Donabate.

I'm Back

Full of my own style, vision and Inspiraton.

Dinosaur Shadow in Wicklow

Last week I went down to Glendalough, Co Wicklow for a walk with the family. Leaving the house early to avoid the crowds of people who visit Glendalough in the Wicklow Mountains. It is a wonderful place to visit during the week as there is less people to avoid in your images.

After walking passed the Upper Lake (more on this in another post) and along the trail down towards the Mining Village. We had some wonderful weather, clouds and sun on the walk. And I was glad I took the complete Mononeil Camera equipment backpack with me this time and not just the compact.

I was able to capture a shadow of a dinosaur (hehehe) coming out from behind Lugduff Mountain on the left. The image also shows Camaderry Mountain on the right and Glenealo River which flows into the Upper Lake. Just below the shadows you can make out what is left of the building of The Mining Village. Mining for lead, zinc and silver took place for over 150 years and at the peek of production 2,000 miners were employed. Mining continued up until 1957.

The contrast difference between the sky and foreground was controlled by using 2 Lee ND Grad filters. This low-res jpeg might not show you but there is still detail in the shadows area of the mountain of the left.

I was able to come away with a hand full of images from this trip to Glendalough. One of the main reasons was to capture the Upper Lake. I have a couple of images but still not happy. I was enjoying my time down at the Mining Village that by the time I got back to the Upper lake the blanket clouds had rolled in and that was the end of my shooting. I will just have to come back again another time. The story of us Landscape Photographers.

More SkyWatch Friday can be found here

Droma Valley

The Irish Weather is a funny old thing. Here in this image we have snow on the mountain tops with sun, wind and rain down in the valley. Only in Ireland can you have all this in the space of a day.

Droma Valley can be found on the Dingle Peninsula. Taken with my G10 as had packed all the main camera equip away. Stopped here too see what it looked like as it looked interesting on the map. A mental note to come back here and do a bit more exploring around.

Not many posts of late due too many things going on and not time to get out, take a snap or two and then process them on the computer. I'm still going through the image from my last trip up in Donegal. Also I did manage to grad an hour or two to get out one evening to the River Boyne and captured some interesting images. I will post them over the next couple of weeks.

Marathons are back on again with me being away every weekend in September.

More SkyWatch Friday can be found here

Another Drive-by shooting

Well it happened again today, another drive-by shooting. This time they didn't even stop the car. Camera out the window as they drove by. Where and when?
It happened on the road out of Laragh, Co Wicklow towards The Sally Gap. You slowly make way up the side of the mountain by car and when you nearly reach the top the view opens out and Glenmacnass Waterfall comes into full view. Just pass the waterfall you can pull into the big carpark and walk along the banks for the river and out onto the waterfall itself. This time of the year and amount of water in the river will vary.
We had being camping down in Roundwood and were heading home the long way. I didn't want to bring the full camera pack with me, so the G10 was all I had. The image above is the view you have from the top of the waterfall.
What kind of person the would drive all the way out and up here and doesn't stop to even look. Whats even worse, sticking the hand out the window while the car is moving to take a photo.
This is one of the few things that makes me go crazy.

Spelga Dam Again

After the mist lifted form Spelga Dam and sun rising over to my left, the beauty of the area started to appear. I moved back a bit from the last post to include the rocks on the shoreline to add some foreground interest. Also the light was wonderful on the rocks bring out that texture and different tones.

I had the whole place to myself that morning bar the people who were camping in a tent just from the shoreline. I never even seen the tent on the way down and nearly walked over them as I was walking backwards up the hill.

From here I traveled down towards the mountains you see in the background. More of them next week.

My Exhibitions has come to a close with some wonderful comments signed in the visitors book. A few print sales and workshops finished off the month of July nicely.

Next week will see me traveling up towards Sligo - Donegal area for a few days.

I am still going through the Mourne Mountains Images and Westport at the end of June.

So plenty for you to enjoy.

Spelga Dam

I think it's time for a change. We travel up north this time to The Mourne Mountains in Co Down and a funny tale to tell.

We two months solid working for MarathonFoto finished I was ready to get out and shoot some landscape work. Checked the weather OK. Packed my camera bags, tripods and all other gear ready for the early start and left them down at the front door ready. I was going to shoot sunrise on my way up the North. One slight problem with all this preparation. I forgot todo one thing. Can you guess?

I woke up to the sound of my 7 year old son getting out of bed. That's funny, he never wakes that during the night. No I was wrong. What did I forget todo? Set the alarm clock. It was Saturday morning. I was not a happy chap. That was the end of that trip. So the following week I did set the alarm and let the house at 4 in the morning. What a wonderful sunrise I got and the rest of the day was fantastic.

The image above is an image of Spelga Dam. Mist started to roll in over the surface of the water to give this lovely effect. This lasted for about 10mins and was gone. I stayed here for a while longer and have some more images of the lake and surroundings.

So over the next couple of weeks I will bring you more images from The Mourne Mountains.

More Sky's over at SkyWatch Friday

Conor Pass Again

OMG it's being 1 month since my last confession sorry Blog Post.

What can I say?
I have being very buzzy fly all over Europe that past month or two working for MarathonFoto. During this time I have taken well over 50,000 images of runners. The season is now over for a while so I can get back to doing some more Landscape work.
So where did I leave you?
Yes up on the Conor Pass on the Dingle Peninsula, Co Kerry. It's a funny old world here in Ireland but that's one of the many reasons I love it so much. In the last post you can see the snow capped mountains and storm clouds moving in. This image taken from the same spot but turned to my right, we have wonderful blue sky and some sunshine over the Slievanea Mountain. I love the play with the light and the shadows cast by the clouds on the mountain face.
After getting the new camera system back in April, this was the only time I got to use it. It has being sitting safe and sound in my backpack. Last week I did manage to get out and travelled up to The Mourne Mountains. Next week I'm off to one of my favorite location as a base for the week, Westport Co Mayo.
So it's this post for another week or I might get one uploaded on Saturday before I'm on the road again.
More Sky's can be found at SkyWatch Friday here.

Conor Pass

On the way home form the Dunquin Peir shoots I noticed that the tops of the mountains were snow covered. So after a quick shower and Irish breakfast in the hotel, I headed back out again for a quick drive up to the viewpoint at the top of the Conor Pass.

The Conor Pass is the highest mountain pass in Ireland. It is situated on the Dingle Peninsula in County Kerry, on the road that crosses the peninsula between Dingle Town and the coast the other side. The Mountains the Pass crosses are the Brandon Mountains and contain Ireland's second highest peak Brandon Mountain at 3127 ft. From Dingle Town the road runs some 4 1/2 miles rising to 1500 ft as it winds its way to the pass. There are wonderful views of the coast. At the Pass there is a carpark where you are confronted with this magnificent sight. The road then carries on down towards Brandon Bay past cliffs, a waterfall and lakes

A short walk up the Conor Hill on the left of the car park and this was the view in the image above. Snow covered mountain tops and low storm clouds. However to the right was clear blue skies and sunshine ( the next post ). It was very windy up here and I was glad I had the spiked feet on the ends of the tripod legs stuck into the ground.
I waited for the clouds to move and the sun to light up the tops of Geathane and Brandon Peak which were covered in snow. I had the place to my self up here which was great. It was only on the short walk back down that a car pulled up, two people got out and took a snap with a compact camera and back into there car. Total time 20seconds. It am always amazed by these type to people ( tourists ? ). What must the thinks when they are looking back thru their images. Take the extra time to take in the view and this includes smell and sounds. For me when I look back at an image I have taken I see the view but have all this information with me to enjoy the image more.

Have a good weekend and talk soon.

More Skies can be found at SkyWatch Friday

Coumeenoole Bay 2

We continue on My Dingle Trip series with another image form Coumeenoole Bay.
In this image the headland is now lit up by the rising sun over Eagle Mountain behind me. This is the head land behind the cottage on the right in the last post. Taken about 45 mins later you can see the sun has risen high enough to lit up the foreground and cast some interesting shadows with the rocks. Again the Blasket Island can be seen on the horizon.
I was finished shooting down on the Coumeenoole Beach and was walking back up the path towards where I parked the car when I looked over the wall to see this viewpoint. A quick hop over the wall and set up the camera. I liked the portrait version better as there was nothing of interest in the open water to the left. The version has better composition and impact with the shape of the rocks leading you into the image.
This was the last image taken that morning as I headed back to the hotel for a well earned shower and full Irish Breakfast.

Chapter 3 to follow next week.

For More SkyWatch Images Link Here

Coumeenoole Bay

Easter Holidays are now over and mind & body refreshed yes ?

It's being a while since my last post, looking at the date on the last post 21st March. I was away down to Co Kerry for a few days last week with a couple of new toys to play with and test.

Got a new car. Well when I mean new, I mean new to me as it's 8 years old. Funny thing is I payed twice the price of the car for the new camera and lens combination. Typical photographer right ?

We ( the family ) headed down to Dingle, Co Kerry for a break and I used this to put the 5Dmk2 and 24mm TS-E mk2 through some field tests. The results are only wonderful. Now I will have to upgrade my Mac computer to handle the very large files. I think my bank manager is going to cry if he sees me again.

When we go down this direction, we normally stay in Killarney and go to Dingle on a day trip. This time we used Dingle as our base for the holiday. A few days before we left I planned out locations to goto and shoot using maps and Google Earth. However this being Ireland plans changed. Explain later.

The Dingle Peninsula is one of Ireland gems for photographers and the road around Slea Head to Dunquin and onto Ballyferriter is just wonderful. The image above show Coumeenoole Bay and Great Blasket Island in the background. No joke, this is the view form the side of the road as you drive around Slea Head. Just imagine what it must have being like to live in that cottage and open your front or back door to that view ?

Now getting back to the plan. It rained for 18hours non-stop. All I could do was look out the hotel room window and hope that tomorrow would be better. So one and a half days lost. Mind you the children didn't mind as they came home with lots of goodies from the Kids Club in the Hotel. It was definitely worth the wait as the weather the next day was spot-on.

So, stayed tuned for chapter 2 in My Dingle Trip.

Priory of St John.

The first image taken with the new Canon TS-E 24mm F/3.5L II.

The Priory of St John, Trim, Co Meath taken this morning on a field trip with 12 of my students from the class on Photography I teach. I didn't manage to take a bucket load of image as I was too busy looking after the passing on a few words of wisdom.

When I did take an image. What results. Stunning is all I can say. Centre to edge sharpness is wonderful. Crisp, clear and contrast all wonderful.

Ok the low-res jpeg image here will not do it justice, but the export form Aperture viewed at 100% in Photoshop or Loupe in Aperture looks like is needs not unsharp mask applied.

Back to the image. We had to wait a short while for the sun to come out from behind the clouds all day. This was great for the students as they could see that a difference it makes to their exposure and the way it subject was lit up. Also they also learned position of the sun in the sky plays a important part in a photographers knowledge which no text books can teach you.

I think at the end of the day they all went home very happy campers. Now I have to wait until next Tuesday nights class to see their results.

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 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.

Bective in the Snow

Here is your SkyWatch image.

Well the snow has gone, well from most parts of Ireland that is. I didn't get out much to get some snow images. Don't know really but was not that interested as I could not travel to the locations of interest. I did manage to get over to Bective Abbey, near Trim in Meath and got a couple of images before another snow storm came along. You can just about see the start of it from the cloud cover on the right of the image. I lost the rubber feet on the end of my tripod legs taking this image. No worries as it gave me the chance to buy the spike ends for the tripod which I have being meaning to buy for a long time.

If you have being following me on Twitter or Facebook you will know I am putting the 30 Images together for my Exhibition in Dublin Ireland called Black & White Ireland with will open next week. I will let you know times and location etc. on Sunday for all people who wish to go along and see my work up close.

Talk soon.

SunFlare

Here is your Monochrome Maniacs image.

It's been a while since my last post. Catching up after a couple of Christmas Craft Fair's. Printing and posting images. I also teach a two day Monochrome Workshop. This weekend just past was one such. I enjoy teaching and explaining the methods used to achieve my style of black and white photography.

Interesting, if not completely mad image taken on the workshop. It shows Newtown Abbey, Trim, Co Meath at sunset ( well before sunset ). Normally I would not do such a image but I kind of like this image. I have another image taken from the same spot, again at sunset, but at a different tie of the year. Just goes to show the different positions of the sunset during the course of a year. Link here to see the other version.