Daily Blog

Spending a quite day at home today, but even at home there are things to photograph. The cold weather has resulted in the bird table becoming very busy, the goldfinches are probably the prettiest of the visitors.

Here is another view of Dunbriste, this will be a more familiar view for most people. But even in this image those that know the place will agree that the sea is unusually calm.

Here is another image from yesterday's adventures at Dunbriste in North mayo.

I had a lovely morning this morning. After all the grey cold days we have had , I looked out this morning to see that at last the sun was trying to break through and there were some breaks in the cloud cover. There was still a cold wind and I thought that Downpatrick head might be worth a visit. I was hoping for some big waves. When I got there the sea was flat!! Still, I thought, I'm here now lets go and have a look. It was at that point that I noticed the sea was not only flat but also that the tide was out and infact was lower then I had ever seen it . So I checked the tide times and discovered that it was still an hour before low tide, this meant the tide would go even lower. So I decided I might try and go around the headland , under the cliffs to the cave looking towards the sea stack (Dunbriste). Now I would not usually ever even think of doing this without somebody with me, and with a lot of planning, because it can be a very dangerous place . And it certainly was not part of my plan for today. But everything just seemed to be perfect. The tide was low and getting lower and the sea was unusually calm and the light was coming from the right direction. Saying a little prayer , I headed off. I got to the cave and took a number of pictures , all the time rushing, aware that I needed to get back before the tide turned, but I actually started the walk back at exactly low tide. reaching the car delighted that I had got to the cave and back safely, had got a couple of pictures, had experienced the magic of the place, and that Patricia did not even know I had been ( She worries).

Although this picture was not taken today, it certainly could have been. Grey sky and high winds, also very cold, I would not like to be at sea today!

I had planned to go out this morning for some photography, but the sky is very grey, just an overall grey, not the interesting clouds I had hoped for. So I have plenty of other things to do and I'll just "bank" the time for photography for some other time. Here is a picture to cheer us up on such a grey day.

Wild weather in Mayo! Wind and rain and lots of grey. I had hoped to get some pictures on my way to Killala yesterday evening for the new beginners class, but the weather was horrible. So here is another image of Lough Nambrackagh taken last week.

Its a dark and very grey morning here in Mayo this morning, lots of rain forecast. here is a picture I took last week on a brighter morning. I had gone to Lough Conn to get a photo of some boats with Nephin ( the mountain) in the background, this horse was an unexpected bonus!

Its a lovely crisp morning this morning in Mayo.

I am starting a BEGINNERS DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY CLASS in Killala tomorrow evening. Thats Thursday 21st March. 6.30 to 8.30 for six weeks, cost €85.
Some of the topics to be covered will include;
Seeing as your camera sees ( practical exercise)
Controlling exposure (practical exercise)
Camera Modes what they mean and when to use them.
Focusing tips (practical exercise)
Depth of Field -controlling how much of the image is sharp (practical exercise)
Composition ( making pictures not just taking pictures)
Introduction to digital editing ( photoshop elements)

I still have a couple of places available . If you would like to attend please message me or call me on 0872380787.

Eamonn

After photographing the parade on St Patricks Day, I went home and processed the pictures, by evening time I was glad to sit back in front of the warm fire and enjoy a whiskey. I then remembered I was supposed to take still life picture for an online competition and the deadline was midnight. I looked around for something to photograph, I did not have to look very far!

It poured rain on our St. Patricks day Parade yesterday in Kiltimagh, but it did not seem to stop anybody from having the craic !





See more pictures HERE

It poured rain on our St. Patricks day Parade in Kiltimagh, but it did not seem to stop anybody from having the craic !

Good Morning and Happy St Patricks Day, especially if you are away from home, no doubt you will play some part in turning the world green for the day. As I write this having got up early to photograph the "St Patricks Day Sunrise" it occurs to me that for many of you St Patricks Day was yesterday ! I did get up early to photograph the sunrise, but the rain that was forecast for the afternoon seems to have arrived early, and there was no sign of the sun, so I came home and thought I would post an image of Croagh Patrick, in honour of the Saint. I have so many images of Croagh Patrick that my son Barry at one point suggested I should change the name of my website from "images of Mayo" to Images of Croagh Patrick"! Anyway I decided to post this one which was taken several years ago and is still one of my favourites.
Lá Fhéile Pádraig Sona Dhuit- Happy St. Patrick,s Day.

I set the alarm for early this morning but woke about an hour before the alarm and feeling really tired I switched off the alarm and returned to sleep. So getting up later then I should I looked out the window to see a really misty morning, sorry that I had not got up earlier I dragged myself out of the bed and ventured out. The mist was rapidly lifting as the sun rose in the sky. I got this photo just a couple of minutes drive from the house, down the bog road.

Spent much of the morning processing yesterdays images from the playschool. Its amazing how much time is spent processing pictures.
Here is another from my trip out on Monday night. This picture of Burrishoole Abbey was taken around 11pm, the abbey is lit with a torch.

iso 2000 20seconds@f4

Spent the morning photographing the children in the local playgroup, what fun!! The kids are just beautiful, though some smile easier then others !

Here is another image from Tuesday evening at Lough Nambrackagh.

The Beginners class that was supposed to start in Killala this evening has been postponed for one week and will now commence next Thursday 21st March.

There are still a couple of places available!!

Yesterday evening I took a trip to Lough Nambrackagh , between Swinford and Kilkelly. This image is a thirty second exposure . I had the long exposure noise reduction switched on in the camera, this means that a thirty second exposure takes another thirty seconds to write the file , so each picture takes a minute to make. A minute does not sound a long time but when the sun is dropping out of the sky it seems to speed up! And the thirty second wait between shots is very frustrating! I only got about five shots taken before the whole show was over!

ISO 200 f10 30seconds 10stop ND filter + stop NDgrad

I spent a lovely evening yesterday. The Mayo Photographic Club meeting was in the evening, and club member and extraordinary wildlife photographer Kevin Murphy, was leading a workshop on macro photography. that was great fun. Why not have a look at Kevins website to see his work.

http://www.irishwildlifephotography.com/

If you do visit, leave him a message, us artists are all the same, we love to get feedback!

On my way to the club, I was thinking it was such a clear night, and we have not had one for ages, that maybe I should not go to the club , but instead go for some lightpainting ,night pictures. Anyway I was glad I went, but on leaving the club at 10pm I thought "the night is young" I will go and visit Burrishoole Abbey and also Rockfleet Castle. I did mention to a couple of other members that I was going to make the trip, in the hopes that I might have some company, but people just looked at me with that "this guy is a bit mad" look on their faces !
It was the perfect night because there was no moon, yesterday the moon rose at about 6am and set again at 6pm!! the lack of a moon meant that the stars were much more visible. In this picture of Rockfleet castle I wish I could have shown you more stars. Honestly to stand in the one spot look up and turn 360degrees to see the whole sky was just incredible, we are so small and insignificant !!

Its a lovely bright and sunny day in Mayo, but WOW its COLD !. The snow did not arrive, not yet anyway. Nephin had a white coating like icing sugar on it this morning. The picture of Nephin is taken at Lough Conn. Despite it being such a bright day, I did not stay out in it very long as my fingers were really cold, I know I am a bit of a wimp.