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.

The Sugar Loaf

A short break from The Mourne Mountains trip for a moment. I have said and will always say it's not the camera but the person using it that takes the photo. You have the eye to see whats in front of you and the camera. It's you who presses the shutter button at that specific time. You moved one step to the right the help the composition. You get the picture ?

When I got out for a walk/hike with the family I more than likely only bring my compact camera with me. Being the gentleman that I am I always carry the backpack with the food, water and rain gear. No room for the dslr, filters and tripod. The image above was one such image taken with my Canon G10 compact camera. We went for a walk up The Sugar Loaf mountain last sunday. On the drive up to the car park I noticed this structure and decided to make a stop on the way home to see if an image was possible.

I jumped the wall and waited for the sun to light up the side wall. I took a couple of images in landscape and portrait format. The portrait format works the best for this composition. Ok your not going to get a 40inch print form this but you will get a very nice 20x16 image and when you put this in matt and frame you have got yourself winner.

So, you don't need the top of the range camera. You do need to see better and learn to use the camera you have first. Keep your money and spend it on knowledge. Take a workshop. Plug plug hint hint ( workshop link )

More Skies can be found here SkyWatch Friday.

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

Reenbeg Point Dingle

We are coming to the end of my Dingle Trip images.

The image above shows Reenbeg Point, the mouth to Dingle Bay and Harbor. This is also the home of Fungie the Dolphin (Link here). This was taken form a cliff face on the other side of the bay. It was the every last images taken on this trip before I packed by bags and headed home.

Even though the first day and a half was a wash out the the rain, on the whole the Dingle Trip was great. The new camera system was put through it's paces and came out with flying colours.

You have The Mourne Mountains and Westport Trips to look forward in the coming weeks.

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

More Skys can be found here on 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

Dunquin Pier

This is Dunquin Pier, Dunquin, on the Dingle Peninsula Co Kerry. You can get the Ferry over to the Blasket Islands visible in the background from here. The path down is unbelievably steep and I don't know how people walk up and down this winding path. Mind you it makes for a great foreground interest in a photograph. I have seen a few images of this Pier shoot closer and tight to the frame but I decided to take a wider view and capture the Blasket Island in the background to give the image a little extra bit of interest. Does it work ?

I would say yes as that's what a had in mind when I got to the location after I ran back to the car during a quick 10mins rain shower. It was very windy and I was standing right on the cliff edge which made me a bit uneasy as I don't like heights or rather looking down over cliff edges. So I was holding onto the tripod so that it wouldn't blow away and for my life.

I will continue My Dingle Trip next week after I get back from England that's if the airlines are able to fly again due to the Iceland Volcano that is causing chaos over here in Europe. I have to shoot the London Marathon on Sunday fly home and then back to England a day later to Canon for training on new equipment.

So see you all this time next week and have a good and safe weekend.

More Skies here 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.

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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.