Daily Blog

It was a wet and windy day in Mayo today, I did think that a trip to the coast may have been in order but I am heading to Leenane for the weekend with members of the Mayo Photographic Club so decided to stay at home today. Todays picture was made a week or so ago. I was in Roserk Abbey and looked back as I left the Abbey and thought "there's the picture!"

Photographed from the greenway, Bellacragher Bay, you dont always need sunshine to make good Landscape pictures.

Here is another image made during the Landscape course I led in Mulranny at the weekend. When we headed out at 5.30am I was not very hopeful of getting any pictures. It was wet and very dark. So we all set up our tripods and waited , sunrise time came and went with no sigh of the sun, I explained to the participants that this is the lot of the landscape photographer, waiting around for something to happen, and being prepared to come back again and again until it does. On this occasion we all agreed to just wait and watch and sure enough there was a break in the clouds for only a few minutes, and a mad scramble as everybody tried to control their cameras to get a good exposure. ten minutes later I poured the coffee and we made plans for the rest of the day. Later in the day one of the participants described the morning as waiting around in the cold but then we had ten minutes of "magic" I suppose its those magic moments that keep the landscape photographer going back.!

Here is another image from the weekend. This sea stack is called "the Queen of the west" and is located in Ashleem Bay , Achill Island.

I am back in kiltimagh after a lovely weekend leading a Landscape photography weekend at the EOM Studios in Mulranny http://www.greenwaygetaways.ie/. We did not get great weather, but despite that, or maybe even because of it ,the three participants got some great images. We finished the weekend by printing and framing the favourite images. So there are no images from me this evening , instead by kind permission of the three lads I am showing off their images instead.

Edward Soye produced the lovely image of the sky over Bellacragher Bay. Edward used a 30 second exposure to show the movement in the clouds.

Damian Mcconville made the lovely image of the Atlantic Ocean at Cloughmore on Achill Island. Damian used a 1 second exposure, again to show movement in the water, just enough movement in the water to create swirls.

William Fagan is a fan of film photography and he produced the image of the ruined cottage and processed it to make it look like an old fashioned colour print from film. I think he really succeeded.

So thanks to the three lads, i really enjoyed the weekend and I am thrilled with the images they produced. ( I think they were pleased also!


Bellacragher bay by Edward Soye


Cloughmore by Damian McConville



"Historic scene " by William Fagan

Had a great day today! Today was the first full day of the Landscape photography weekend. We left the house at 5.25 for a sunrise at 5.54am. It rained!!! we got to the location and my heart sank as I thought there was no chance of anything good happening, but we watched the clouds as they rolled over us when suddenly a gap appeared and we had ten minutes of frantic activity as the four of us raced to get the exposures right, everybody got some good pictures and after stopping at a second location we arrived back for breakfast at 9am. The morning was spent processing the results and in the afternoon we went to Achill finishing on Keem Strand. Keem was surprisingly busy with people walking the beach and a large group of divers disapearing beneath the waves. as we composed pictures on the strand a small girl and her brother approached us with their mother to tell us there was a small seal on the rocks and we should go take its picture!! The two children took us to show us were the seal was. Clearly he was waiting for the tide to rise, but we took loads of pictures, my favourite was this one because I liked the idea of the beach full of people but the seal "hidden" among the rocks. we were back at Cheryl's for dinner at 6.30 pm and back out for the sunset at 8.30pm. we have selected a location for the sunrise tomorrow but judging from the weather forecast we may get rained on !

I am in Mulranny for a couple of days leading a Landscape Photography weekend. The weather for this evening has been terrible. We went out to try and capture the sunset but could not see the sun and it rained heavily on us. so we went back as far as the beach and when the rain stopped tried a few slow shutter speed shots on the beach. Here is Damian one of the participants "working " the scene. Fortunately the forecast for tomorrow is much better, so having failed to get the sunset this evening we are meeting at 5.30am to try for the sunrise! here's hoping !

Here is another image from North Mayo. Roserk Abbey, is only a few miles from Killala. There are actually three Abbeys within a few miles of Killala. Moyne is probably my favourite and Rathfran is interesting to, but Roserk is definitely in the most photogenic site.

Yesterday afternoon as part of the one to one photo training I was doing, I took Danny to Downpatrick Head . It was a lovely sunny afternoon with a 20mile per hour North Western wind . This created ideal conditions for photography, although the bright sunlight on the white water was a little problematic. but if you never had a camera you could not but be impressed by the pure power and beauty of the place. The wind was not too strong and the sea was not that rough but the swell was incredible. Every so often the sea seemed to almost explode, as the waves crashed against the cliffs. Its a sobering thought to think that a couple of months ago ( on a much calmer day of course) I photographed the Dun Briste sea stack from a cave at the foot of that cliff!

On Monday Morning I had a one to one photography training day with Danny. We met at 5.30am on Ross Strand ,Killala. The plan was to photograph the sunrise. It was very cold with heavy showers and when we met it looked like there was no chance of a sunrise or any nice photos. We walked along the beach to what looked like a good vantage point. I brought an umbrella which we needed when the showers struck, they were sudden and heavy but short lived and the umbrella kept our heads and our cameras dry. The tide turned while we were there and as we tried to capture the little bit of colour that did appear we were hit by sudden surges of waves that raced up the beach and over our boots . Still I dont think you can really call yourself a landscape photographer until you have got your feet wet for your art!!
It was all worth it though for the few minutes of colour we did see. With the cold wind however we were glad to get off the beach and back to the warmth of the Joe Keane Creative Centre in Killala were we based ourselves for the day.

Thank you to everybody who has liked a picture, shared and or, commented on a picture, in the last 24 hours we have reached and passed the 3000 "likes".

last thursday evening I arrived in Killala for the evening photography course, this was the view from just outside the classroom when I arrived! Needless to say we did not stay in the classroom for long !! I am back in Killala in the morning, hoping to get a sunrise.

Yesterday I posted a picture of the bog near Ballycroy the sun is behind me , a`s the old Kodak film boxes used to demonstrate put the sun behind you , over your shoulder for the best pictures. I must say I don't agree with such directions and often the best images are created by shooting into the sunlight. Tonights image was made within a couple of minutes of yesterdays image. In the picture of the bog yesterday the sun is behind me but looking back the other direction this is what I saw , looking into the sun , over Bellagragher bay.

Yesterday evening as I travelled from Mulranny to Killala I went via Ballycroy, the road carves through a massive area of bog. On a good day like yesterday the sky looks huge, due to the flatness of the landscape and the sun brings out the colours of the bog, and in bad weather the place is still majestic but seems quite desolate . Anytime I travel that road I am struck by the big skies and the vastness of the bog,. Yesterday the weather was lovely and the clouds in the sky were fantastic. I have stopped many times to try and photograph the area but have never really succeeded. Yesterday however I found and open gate onto this freshly cut piece of bog which supplied a foreground and a leading line into the landscape and I finally came a way with a picture that I liked.

Back in Kiltimagh after our couple of days in Mulranny, this morning I had a three hour beginners class in The Mulranny Park Hotel. Then in the evening we went to Killala for the last of the six week evening classes. As it was so bright and a lovely evening the group decided to take a walk out to practice some photography skills before returning to the "classroom" where everybody processed their own pictures through photoshop elements. I must say it was great to see the results, and it always amazes me how a group of photographers can all walk the same walk and yet come back with such different pictures . Here are three of the participants Cartherine, Rachel and Mary, on the wrong side of the camera, kindly allowing me to demonstrate how to pose a group of friends!

Relaxing in Mulranny with Patricia and a bottle of Merlot and alll is well in the world! I spent the morning and early afternoon teaching a beginners class to a group of 8 people, we had great fun and they were a great group. this afternoon we just relaxed here at the Essence of Mulranny Sudios EOM STUDIO I always enjoy visiting with Cheryl in this wonderfully creative enviroment that is her home. I am running a Landscape photography course here on the weekend of 3rd-5th May there is still a place available.
Cheryl and other members of the Mulranny community are involved in a project to save a rare herd of old Irish goats that wanders free around the Mulranny area. This afternoon Patricia went to visit these two billys who are currently in the sick bay.

Busy preparing for a couple of days in Mulranny where I will be leading a couple of beginners workshops for a group of people visiting from Dublin on Wednesday and Thursday, should be fun!

Still experimenting a little with black and white . Black and white can really help to make skies look dramatic, I think it really adds to this one.

Spring has been a bit slow reaching Ireland this year. There was a news item tonight about the import of hay, because there is a shortage of grass for the cattle! Still looking at my own front garden this morning, there seemed to be plenty of dandelions growing where the grass should be! There are plenty of baby animals around though, I met this little donkey on a recent trip to Downpatrick Head.

Yesterday evening I had to be in Claremorris by 9pm. Sunset was due at 8.50pm ! We have not had any or many very colourful sunsets for some time in this part of Mayo. So I was not too pleased to be traveling to Claremorris watching as the colours began to develop, when I should have been traveling West towards the sunset !! Just as you enter the town of Claremorris from the Castlbar road there is a view of Croagh Patrick so I took a couple of minutes to climb a small wall to give myself a little extra height and managed, with a 200mm lens to get a picture of Croagh Patrick and the wonderful sky. The holy mountain does not look very big when viewed from 25 miles away!!

This evening I was back in Killala for week five of a six week digital photography class at the Joe Keane Creative Centre Joe-Keane-Creative-Centre . This evening's class was indoors doing processing work , but I arrived in Killala twenty minutes early which gave me just enough time to visit the near by Ross strand to get my image of the day !
next week if the weather is good I will be taking the class outdoors. the plan is to go to Ross Strand , were people will practice some of the camera skills they have learnt and then return to the centre were everybody will process their images using some of the photoshop skills they have learnt ! Should be fun.

Here is a second picture of Newport Co Mayo taken last Friday evening, this view is looking away from the town, downriver. The river is called the Black Oak River, and it looks its best when the tide is in.