Daily Blog

It was grey and misty all day today, so here is another picture from last week !.I am posting a little early because I am heading over to Westport in a few minutes for the evening class. Tonight we are starting the "photoshop" section of the class and that always takes a little bit of setting up.

Got out for a little while this afternoon and went to Cill Aodain church close to Kiltimagh, but the light was disapointing but on my way back I came upon this old tractor which I thought made a good picture.

I got up early this morning full of hope, looked out the window and thought there might be a nice sunrise. But while it promised for a few minutes about fifteen minutes before sunrise there was no colour at all . The day was grey and the rain which was forecast finally arrived just after I had gone out on the bike, with it came strong wind and the cycle became very difficult ! anyway I got no pictures today so I am posting one taken a few mornings ago, the flood in the field providing a lovely reflection.

This afternoon Patricia and I took a drive to Cong to deliver some pictures and hand made cards to a Gift Shop who sell sell them for us. So if you are ever in Cong make sure to call in to Robert and Susan in “The Lady’s Buttery “ on Abbey Street. I had hoped to get some sunset pictures around Lough Corrib but the weather clouded over . We took a walk around Ashford Castle and I took a few pictures but I really liked the fountain which was lit after dark.

I spent several hours today processing the images from the playschool yesterday, as it happens it has rained all afternoon so I don’t mind being in front of the computer when I know there are no pictures to be had outside !

I am posting a picture taken on last Sunday morning about fifteen minutes before the sunrise.

Just in from teaching the evening class in Mulranny. I had hoped to get some pictures taken in Mulranny before the class started but I was late getting there and it was very cloudy so I am posting one of the pictures I took last night at Lough Na Annagh.

Landscape photographers work very hard to get their pictures. Scouting for locations, getting to the right place at just the right time, usually very early in the morning or late in the evening, often in the freezing cold. Trying to feed a blog on a daily basis has certainly challenged this photographer, and by and large I have been lucky. I was thinking about that today and I recalled the famous quote of Arnold Palmer who said “ the harder I practice the luckier I get”.
Well today’s picture just gave itself up ! I had spent the morning and early afternoon photographing the children in the local playschool here in Kiltimagh as I put the camera gear back into the car I looked up at the church, with the sun lighting it and the blue sky behind I thought it looked more like Italy then Mayo, but what I really liked was the hard lines of the church , counterbalanced by the soft swirl of the cloud. Gosh I’m going all arty now !!

For the record I still went out this evening to see the sunset and got a couple of nice pictures but I’ll save those for when my luck runs out !!

I,m just in from the westport night class, we had loads of fun doing portraiture, there was agreat laugh when we created a "happy family" from among the course participants , some even suggested I should put the pictures on the blog!!

I did not get any outdoor pictures today as we had persistant rain all day long. I am posting a picture taken last night on the top of "Sleive Cairn" Kiltimagh .

Hope you all had a good Valentines day ! Patricia and I went out for our lunch today and afterwards went for a walk around the grounds of the Museum of Country life in Turlough. It was a lovely spring day, very cold but very bright. I was delighted with the shadows being thrown by these trees.

I'm exhausted! Just watched Ireland Vs France in the Rugby. We nearly won again !!
I am posting another picture taken yesterday morning, the sky was just fantastic, I was struggling to describe it , Patricia suggested it was like candyfloss.
So here it is, " Candyfloss sky".

The forecast for today and tomorrow is pretty bad so when the morning turned out to be so nice I went out and got a couple of pictures , the morning was really lovely with a very interesting sky.As I write this however it is pouring rain and looks like it might continue for a couple of dayss !
I loved the sky in this picture taken just outside Claremorris this morning.

Yesterday I told you about a small lough called Lough Nannagh, it turns out that the roadside sign that directed me to it has misnamed the Lough , it is infact called Lough Na Annagh. I went back there this evening to see what the sunset would be like. I arrived five minutes before sunset but I was already too late as the sun had set behind low cloud so did not produce the sunset I wanted. I waited for half an hour or so to see if any colour developed but it was a little disapointing but there were lovely reflections in the still water.

I was out early this morning when I discovered this small Lough. Called Lough Nannagh it is just off the old Knock to Claremorris road. Im not sure why I had not come accros it before as I have done alot of exploring in the area. I arrived just as the fog began to clear and it cleared in about ten minutes. I was not able to stay long , but I will be going back to explore further. I imagine if is is possible to access the far side of the lough it may be a good spot for a sunrise, probably earlier in the winter, and may even be good for a suset, though the lough is very narrow , but it will be interesting to explore further.

It rained all day today, I went to the recycling centre in the morning and decided to do a detour on the way home to get todays picture. It was very dificult in the rain, which just seemed to get heavier and heavier and I took some pictures from inside the car. I came upon these sheep however at the foot of Nephin and thought they were worth getting wet for!

Just out on time for the sunrise this morning, this picture was taken near Claremorris. It was the best time of the day and certainly by afternoon the weather was much cloudier and there was no possibility of a sunset.

I was teaching a class this evening near Castlebar and so left home early to visit Lough lannagh for the sunset. I got held up on the way so arrived just after the sunset, but waited around for some colour to develop but it didn't happen. Just as I was about to leave these three swans put in a late appearance.

Another cloudy day, I went out late in the evening for a cycle, I took the camera "just in case" . I stopped and tried to photograph a group of five donkeys in a field but they just would not come near me so I got back on the bike to head home , as I turned the next corner I nearly ran into these cattle, I'm not sure which of us got the bigger fright!

I held one of my "Camera Skills" one day beginners classes in Westport today. So I spent all day indoors. It was a very enjoyeble day, for me anyway, and we covered alot, from camera through to photoshop. The weather today was was fairly dull and after the class I had an appointment with a bride and groom planning their wedding for latrer in the month, so while I spent the whole day in photography I did not get any pictures for the blog ! So its back to the archives Im afraid, But I did find this twilight picture taken on Achil that I liked.

Another wild and windy and very wet day, I did not get our with the camera today . I did fight the elements trying to recycle large sheets of cardboard at our local recycling centre. I was glad of my 19 stone to keep me on the ground !!

I am posting a picture of carrowniskey beach taken on a similarly windy though brighter day.

It poured rain all day today, and blew a gale. I was teaching an evening class in mulranny this evening and got to Mulranny. The class started at 6.30 and I arrived at 5.15pm . It was already almost dark but i decided to try and photograph the stormy weather. It was extremly windy far to windy for a tripod, so i had to hand hold the camera. I used iso 800 and even with the 50mm lens wide open, ie at 1.4 I still only had a shutter speed of 25th second.In the wind it was very hard to hold the camera steady so I put the camera drive to rapid fire and shot off about eight photos in the hopes of getting one with no camera shake..... this is it!