Daily Blog

Happy Easter to everyone.
I did not get out with the camera today and was going through some pictures on the computer when i found this one. Its not the best picture I have ever taken, but I laughed because I certainly remember taking it . I was trying to capture the waves on the rocks with Croagh patrick in the background, well I suppose I succeeded but you might also notice that this little wave made a big splash and moments later I was seen scampering up the beach trying to dry both the camera and myself! The picture was taken on Mulranny beach.

By the way I am leading a Landscape Photography weekend in Mulranny in a months time . it starts on friday 11th May, there are still a couple of places available, if you would like to attend you can contact me for more details, or check out the website.

Judging from the weather this evening and the forecast for the next few days the lovely sunny weather of the last week or so is over.We have had a very mild winter and spring this year. The last two winters have been very harsh and the gorse bushes have taken a real battering from the cold. Around kiltimagh there are huge areas of gorse bushes that are just like skeletons and have never recovered, but as you can see from this picture some of them are recovering and doing really well in the mild weather.

I was out early this morning, it was a lovely bright morning. I stopped to photograph these cattle because I loved the way the low sun was lighting them from behind. I only got the one shot however as they were not very impressed when I shouted "cheeese" and they all turned their back on me !

It was a lovely day in Mayo today. Although I was a little unlucky in that any time I went out it seemed the sun disappeared ! I had gone to Loch Conn and did not have time to wait for the weather to improve so I took the picture anyway. You can see a shower travelling across Nephin in the background.

This tree near Craggagh, Kiltimagh, is beginning to feature a little too often !! However its a good location for sunset pictures at this time of the year.

I was in Cong today to deliver some prints to Robert at "The Ladies Buttery" I had hoped to take some photographs while out but it was very dull and overcast and I did not get inspired. This evening it looked like we might get a good sunset so I set out again , but the sunset was very disappointing as thick cloud covered the sun completely and I headed home again with no pictures. Half an hour after sunset the sky did begin to clear however and I took this picture just outside Kiltimagh.

The Mayo Photographic Club Exhibition opened in Foxford this afternoon, its a good show and well worth a visit. In the morning I went to Knock, this small lake is about three miles from Knock. I thought the fallen tree that had clearly adapted to being half submerged made an interesting subject.

Exhibition Opening.
If you are looking for something interesting to do this afternoon, why not come along to the opening of an Exhibition of photographs by members of the Mayo Photographic Club ( of which I am one !) The Opening is at 4pm at the Foxford Woolen Mills and will run for a month.

See you there!

One of my earliest memories of a landscape photograph was in a calendar from Ireland by John Hinde. I have no idea really how old I was , but I do recall that I was not living in Ireland at the time and I thought that this photograph was really special and that Ireland was a lovely place. Being a john Hinde, it was of course very colourful with deep blue sky and ocean. Well today I had to go to Dublin and while there I took a trip out to Dalkey to visit my auntie. On the way I passed Killiney Bay and immediately recognized the view in that picture from long ago ! So I stopped to try and recreate it. Things have changed little in the forty years or so since I first saw that photograph, but some things have changed a lot. The scene is of course roughly the same , but in the John Hinde picture the colours are much more vibrant, the train is a diesel, orange coloured CIE train, and of course both the sea and the sky are blue!! There was no blue sky for me this morning and the train is now an electric DART and the view is spoilt a little by all the Electric overhead wires for the train!! I did a quick search of the internet this evening to see if I could find that original John Hinde photograph but to no avail .

Just back from a busy day in Sligo, photographing Angela and David's wedding. As you can see it was a fun day!

Spent all day in the car! drove back from Cork, then up to Sligo to Markree Castle to have a look in preparation for a wedding tomorrow !
I took this sunset picture last week. The picture shows croagh patrick and was taken in Ballintubber, close to the Abbey.

Still in Cork, and despite the glorious sunshine I did not get out with the camera. I took this sunset picture a couple of nights ago at Craggagh,just outside Kiltimagh.

I am in Cork for a couple of days and don't expect to get much time for photography. HOWEVER... yesterday my friend Sinead texted me " I got a big stopper from Barkers ! " The photographers among you will know that a "big Stopper" is a ten stop ND filter from LEE filters. It is used in front of the lens to block out light, this results in very long shutter speeds that allows moving water to appears "wooly" and will show clouds moving on a windy day. You will also know that Big stoppers are very hard to get with waiting lists several months long. So on recieving Sinead's text I immediately phoned Barkers Photographic in Cork. Do you have another one? will you keep it for one day ? I promise I will collect it tomorrow!!! So the first stop I made on arriving in Cork this afternoon was to Barkers to collect the filter, they took a surprise delivery yesterday of ten filters, and I got the last one !! So this evening I spotted this tiny waterfall and quickly took this picture. the Exposure was 30seconds, which was as long as I could do without a cable release. So I am really looking forward to getting some more pictures using it when I get back to Mayo. And lets hope it lasts longer then the last one ! They are very delicate and smash when you drop them ! I know....

What a lovely day we had today! Hazy sun and blue skies, warmer then Greece and Malta! Here is a picture of the Cherry blossom in the garden, and look at that blue sky!

We had a lovely day in Mayo today I was out early and was looking for a subject to photograph, the morning was very hazy and not great for landscape pictures, but as I drove through Kilkelly, the light falling on this derelict pub made it stand out. At the time I was listening to a documentary on Newstalk Radio called "deserted village" It was actually about all the empty new houses around the country where development went mad during the now dead Celtic Tiger. It occurred to me however that there were some places that the Celtic tiger never even reached. I think this was one of them.

I was in Mulranny this morning making the final arrangements for a Landscape photography weekend I will be hosting on 11th May. ( there are still places available!) Apart from fantastic scenery Mulranny is also famous for its herd of "Old Irish goats" The goats are wild and live for the most part in the hills above Mulranny. They are a bit of a tourist attraction and are considered a great asset for the area, though you can imagine that their relationship with the people of Mulranny is not always a positive one. The goats can occasionally be seen in the village. Today as we left Mulranny I spotted a couple of them and stopped to take their pictures, one was in the front garden of a house and was munching away, and I dont think it was weeding!



Meantime around the back of the same house a second one seemed to be really casing the joint! Can you imagine looking out your bedroom window and finding this Billy looking back in at you!

Very often when I am taking my photographs the sky is the most important part of the landscape, or in this case the seascape. Dooagh Beach Achill Island.

Very late posting today. i normally try and post just after midnight but was unable to connect to the internet last night so here I am nine hours later. The photograph is from Castle Bourke. If you look carefully in the sky, to the left of the castle and under the branches on the right, you can see what looks like specs of dirt. Well that dirt is in fact swarms of what I thought were midges. it turns out they are duck flies. The fishermen among you will know, I had never heard of them before. But anyway it seems the duck flies dont like the wind and so were sheltering on the leeward side of the hedges, and would swarm all over you. So you can imagine I did not take as long taking this photograph as I normally would. And my three companions beat a hasty retreat to the car. By the time I got back to the car the drivers side of the car was completely covered by these little flies. i really should have taken a photograph, but with them swarming all around i too decided to just get into the car.I was not very popular however because as soon as I opened the car door they followed me in, in very large numbers. we had to drive quite a distance with all the windows open to try and get rid of them!

Return to the Landscape pictures this evening. I took this picture Of Turlough Round Tower on sunday afternoon. Really the Tower is only giving scale to a great sky!

As promised yesterday I have created a new gallery of St Patricks day pictures from the parade in Kiltimagh.



To visit the gallery click here [urlhttp://www.imagesofmayo.com/st-patricks-day-kiltimagh-2012] /url St Patricks Day]