Daily Blog

Another day in Clare, the promised heat wave arrived around 11 am ! The sun did not actually appear but it got alot brighter and the clouds began to thin. By 12.30 we had set out on a walk on the Burren Way, as we set out we debated wearing sunscreen and ,or jackets, we chose the jackets! By 1.30 we were soaked by the rain that settled in for the afternoon and our heatwave was well and truly over !
In the evening after dinner we headed to the Cliffs of Moher, I was not expecting to get any pictures but just as we arrived the sun put in its first appearance of the day and we were treated to a wonderful sunset.

We are still in Co Clare and so far the weather has been really bad but it looks like it might improve today. We arrived in Fanore on Friday evening it had rained for the whole day . We stopped to look at the sea which was just so grey. It reminded me of my Dad who was himself a seaman. I was telling Patricia of a time when aged about 12 or 13 I had washed white vests with dark clothes and my Dad described them as no longer being white , but being “Battleship Grey” . This must be battleship grey I said. I had no sooner said it when a battleship appeared on the horizon !! Well I know its not a battleship the Irish don’t have any, but a naval ship all the same , but the sea is definitely “battleship grey”

I am in Fanore Co Clare for a couple of days where the weather is terrible and the internet coverage is even worse ! I have made several attempts to post this already and had to take a drive in the car to find some internet and phone coverage.! Still its good that we cant easily be disturbed, or distracted .

Yesterday I posted a picture from Carramore Strand. I am sure I have said before, that landscape photography involves a lot of standing around waiting for things to happen. Yesterdays picture was taken twenty minutes before the sun set, todays was taken half an hour after the sun set !!. As you can see I have hardly moved during that time, and I can tell you it was very cold, more like a winters evening than mid summer. The two pictures don’t even look they were taken on the same day . The big shower clouds that rained on us before sunset cleared to leave a bright clear sky.

The weather here in Kiltimagh yesterday was "mixed" and I nearly decided to cancel my planned trip to the coast for some photography. I was glad I didn't. this picture was taken on Carramore Strand ,Louisburgh. It was raining at the time and there was a constant battle to keep the lens dry.

Back to my favourite place on Achill for todays picture,a dull morning on Keem last week did not stop us taking pictures! The dull weather meant I could experiment with slow shutter speeds. This is a half a second exposure.

Another dull morning in Mayo. this picture was taken last week near Drumin. I wondered about how much work was involved in reclaiming these green fields out of the side of the boggy hill.

Today is midsummer day and I had romantic notions of getting a midsummer day sunrise. Now you may have noticed I do more sunrise and sunset pictures in the winter. The reason for this is clear... like me in winter the sun gets up later !. So I set the alarm for 3.45am having planned on a location I needed to give myself time to get there for 4.30 for the sunrise at 5.07. So I dragged myself out of bed got dressed got the camera gear together and sat in the car. The weather was awful skies were very heavy and grey and the rain was persistent! I started the engine and then thought "what am I at "!!!, So back in the house and back under the warm sheets. I then could not sleep imagining the lovely sunrise I was missing!!! I looked out the window at 5am and to my relief the weather was exactly the same and I missed nothing!! It rained all morning until about an hour ago, I was out in the car and stopped to photograph a few roadside flowers, I spotted this bee foraging in a bunch of foxgloves and followed her for a while!

This morning it is very dull and threatening rain, however it is not as windy as it has been for several weeks now, so I thought conditions ideal for a little flower photography. I went down to our local bog and photogrphed this Heath Spotted Orchid, there is a great display of flowers on the bog at the moment. I must go again during the week. I would have stayed longer this morning but after all the rain overnight the bog is very wet and I was kneeling in water when I took this picture !

I took a walk down to the local bog yesterday evening, just as I did it clouded over and began to rain. I did photograph these oxe eye daisies, despite the wind blowing them about and making focusing difficult!

I thought I should take a little break from Achill ! This photograph of Doolough was taken last Friday. this is probably one of the most photographed views in Mayo, but even though I have photographed it many times I can never resist stopping for another one!!

Another picture from Achill, it looks much more peacful in this one. I had spent the morning photographing with my friend Monica, the sun was high and we had decided the "photographic day "was over and we should go to Alice's Hotel for a seafood chowder, however we passed this shed, which was probably once a house and it just looked good ,so we had to stop. It was the sky that made it really interesting.

I did not have to go far for todays picture, I opened the front door as this cloud passed by, it looked like it was in a real hurry!!

Another “weather picture” from Achill today this was taken from the little harbour at Purteen.

Over the next few days I will be posting more pictures from Achill. This one is taken on Dooagh beach, Patrcia and I watched a pod of dolphins for about twenty minutes, they were in very close to the shore but too far away for good photographs, but it was still magical to watch them. Can you see the dolphin just behind the breaking wave ?

Patricia and I were in Mulranny last night at a dinner to celebrate the winning of the European Destiny of Excellence Award. Patricia had to be in Knock early this morning so we said we would leave early. So at 11pm we left, however as we drove out of Mulranny the moonlight on Clew Bay proved too much of a distraction and I turned the car around and went down to the strand . While there I met another photographer walking her dogs, so we had a little chat, This picture was taken at five to midnight ! So much for leaving early.!!

Todays picture is a good example of why good weather is not always the best for Landscape photography. This is a picture of Dooagh strand on Achill Island. The fast approaching shower adds drama to the scene. Within a minute of taking this picture I was running for the car park , I got soaked !

Another lovely day for photgraphy in Mayo. I met up with my photographer friend Sinead early this morning and instead of going to Achill we decided to travell south of Westport to Doolough. We explored the scenic route from Westport to Doo Lough, we made several stops along the way including at a place called Tawnycrower, where I photographed this lovely stream.

I'm just back from Achill were I spent a lovely day photographing with my friend Monica. I think I will have to dedicate the rest of the month to pictures of Achill! Achill was completely different today than it was yesterday. The forecast was for heavy showers, I think we only saw one shower and that was just after we arrived on the ...island. We went first to Keem Bay, just "for a look"…. two and a half hours later we decided we really should move on! Pictures were much harder to get today. The sun hardly came out at all , for the first few hours, though it was very bright, , but we experimented with slow shutter speeds and moving water! In two and a half hours we only saw four other people, on what must be one of the most beautiful beaches in the world! As we drove away I stopped to take this picture, I loved the sky, it really looks like the wind is stretching the clouds as it blows them along.

Well as promised, here is one of the Achill pictures from yesterday. this is Dooagh beach. the sky was just amazing. The sky over Achill yesterday really was really dramatic every way you looked, occasional blue sky but lots of black clouds with high contrast as the sun broke through, so i have more pictures from achill to share, and I am going back up there tomorrow morning with my friend Monica we are meeting on Achill at 7.30am so lets hope the skies continue to be dramatic !

I am posting very late this evening. I have just returned from a lovely afternoon and evening on Achill Island and Westport. Patricia and I went to Achill late in the afternoon to deliver some pictures and cards to “the Beehive” coffee shop and gift shop, so if you are visiting Achill be sure and drop in ! The weather was perfect, sunny at times with big black shower clouds and occasional downpours that sent us scampering for the car! But as usual Achill was magic, we even watched Dolphins from Dooagh beach! Then we went out to dinner in Westport, somebody had given us a gift of a voucher for the Plaza Hotel, we were both starving form all the fresh air on Achill and the food in the Plaza is excellent !
I had to make a quick trip to Keem Strand, I took this picture of the sheep and lamb above the bay, the sheep are so sure footed!!



I will share more pictures from Achill during the week.