Daily Blog

The weather in mayo was pretty poor yesterday evening but Patricia and I decided to go to Kilcummin Head for a walk and maybe a sunset picture. As we drove North the weather got worse and we nearly turned back a couple of times. When we got to Kilcummin( famous for the landing of the French army in 1798) the weather was pretty bad, low dark clouds and misty rain. We started down the cliff path when I decided it was nonsense to carry the big camera bag with Nikon camera and lenses and a big tripod, because I ws not going to use them, so I left them back in the car . Of course I did not want to be without a camera all together so I put the little fuji EX1 under my jacket and off we went. Twenty minutes later the rain stopped and suddenly the sun broke through in a blaze of colour, and we witnessed a beautiful sunset, it only lasted five or six minutes before the clouds closed over again and we were running for shelter as the rain poured down!
Camera, FujiXE1 iso 200 1/30second f6.3 handheld.

What a great win for Mayo over Cork!!!! Great game and the narrowest of wins !
I promised to post a second image from last night's trial with the flash gun. this is Charlie crossing the bog at the top of Sleive Cairn , a familiar spot to those who participated in the Race to Glory Kiltimagh, maybe Charlie and his sister Lucy will be participants in the future?
This image was made half an hour after sunset.

I am breaking from the landscape again this evening, which may not suit the "Mayo" fans but the photographers among you might enjoy this one.
Yesterday I got a new flashgun and really wanted to put it to the test. So I asked the children next door to model for me and tried a bit of off camera flash. The real test was to see could the flash compete with the sun if it was in the picture. So to do this kind of image you must first calculate the exposure for the landscape, then adjust the flash for the foreground , I think you will agree the flash worked!
Thanks to Lucy for posing, and to her brother Charlie for holding the light stand for this image. Tomorrow I will post a picture of Charlie in full flight!!

I had to make an unexpected dash across to Co Kildare this morning, so most of the day was spent in the car. County Kildare looks very different from Co Mayo, much better land! This is the church at Jordanstown, Co Kildare.

The light this evening is almost non existent and there is no sign of it clearing, so I have decided to stay at home and post an image I hade a couple of weeks ago, at Doolough. I was very lucky that the clouds took on the shape of the trees !

Some images are harder got then others. This evening having not got out for a couple of days I decided to go out and get a picture, despite the heavy cloud cover, I was determined to post a "fresh" picture! There was no sign of the sun as I left the house but as I drove over the bridge at Pontoon ( beside the Pontoon Bridge Hotel) I decided the gaps in the cloud were probably as good as it was going to get and so I stopped. The contrast between the sun coming through the gaps and the rest of the scene was just too strong so I just waited for the gaps to close a little and the sun to drop. eventually I made this image, using a big stopper filter to give a long 30 second exposure helped to smooth the water and give some movement and therefore interest to the sky. A photograph only takes a second to record, or in this case thirty seconds, but it was an hour in the making!!

Cloudy and overcast today in mayo and I did not get out. I took this image in Westport one day last week. Notice the old boathouse in the distance which is part of the Westport house Estate.

Different kind of "Reek" today. I was told about this great set of reeks of turf near Knock and went to have a look, it was dull and cloudy at the time , but I took the picture anyway because they are so temporary . I might try and go back in a day or two but by then of course they could be stowed away for the winter. A lot of work went into these !

oday is "Reek Sunday" here in Mayo. On the last Sunday of July thousands of people climb Croagh Patrick (locally called "the Reek" )in pilgrimage. St Patrick spent 40 days on the summit fasting, back in 441 , though it is thought the mountain was always of spiritual importance long before Christianity and St. Patrick came to Ireland.As many as 25,000 could climb it today. I was not among them and have not climbed the mountain now for about four years, guilt is beginning to set in !!

Yesterday I posted a picture of a cow and calf who I thought looked cute! But as I admired them, her true admirer spotted me and did not like the attention she was getting ! At least that was my interpretation of what was happening when he walked into my shot and gave me the "look". With only a small piece of barbed wire between me and him I decided to beat a hasty retreat!

I am always on the lookout for pictures , I spotted this one this morning as I drove between Claremorris and Kiltimagh. I had to drive a further half a kilometre or so to find a place to turn the car and come back. but the cow and calf were still standing beside the broken dry stone wall when i got back. I thought they looked cute !

Well I thought I should return to the Landscapes today. The weather over the last couple of days has not really helped though. I was in Athlone yesterday afternoon and got just a couple of minutes at Coosan Point on Lough Rea. Of course its not in Mayo, but in County Westmeath. It was very warm but very overcast but the sun did its very best to break through in the couple of minutes i was there. Taken, hand held with the Fuji XE1.

I hope you don't mind if I break from landscapes for another evening. After yesterday's joyful picture , here is another taken at the same time, same place and one of the same people, but I am sure you will agree the image has a very different feel. Its interesting how tatoos create an impression, one that with Nicks help I have exaggerated ( Nick was working very hard to give that cross face) . But the camera really can lie, because despite how he looks in this image, Nick is a very gentle and chilled out guy!
For those who may be interested the lighting for this image is from an off camera flash through a small soft box.

It was a dark cloudy and at times wet day today. I went over to Westport this evening to meet Fiona and Nick whose wedding I am photographing in a couple of weeks . We visited Murrisk and looked at some possible photo locations, but it was more about putting Fiona and Nick at ease in front of the camera before their big day, but as you can see they were pretty chilled !

I was in Westport yesterday, I did not expect to take any pictures but since I got the little fuji XE2 , I always have a camera with me , and I could not pass Croagh Patrick as seen from the quay.

Thanks to everybody who sent good wishes after yesterdays post.! I am posting a little early today as I will be out this evening. While walking on carramore strand yesterday evening I came across this compass jellyfish washed up. the patterns in nature are amazing, the low setting sun made the patterns stand out even more.

Dosen"t time fly when you are having fun. Patricia and I are married 30 years ago today. Feels like 30 months not years . This evening we went out in Westport and then to Carramore strand at Louisburgh, we walked along the beach and reminisced . Now you may remember the Canon add from a few years ago, it read something like..."you are walking along the beach watching the sunset with the woman you love and you think to yourself....125@f8 !!!! Well I must confess I am that man, but I did take just a couple of seconds out for a "romantic selfie with the most amazing woman in the world !

We had a little rain in Mayo today!

We have been entertained for weeks now by the summer birds visiting the bird table. families of starlings, robins, goldfinches, chaffinches, and a few others are regular visitors.They use the cherry tree as a launch pad to the bird table, but it looks like these three have already had their fill!

Here is an image of Croagh Patrick, once again on a day with "magic light' exciting light that really challenges the photographer. in this image I am shooting towards the light which is always that little bit difficult in terms of capturing all the details in the scene, and not allowing the camera's metering system to be fooled. The clouds were fantastic and the gaps in the clouds meant that small areas of the mountain side would be lit , but just for fleeting moments.
Taken with a fuji XE1, I think the final image really shows the capability of this camera.