So, from the last month or two, here are a few.

Taking pictures of people is not something that necessarily comes naturally to me. Most of these were done, I think, with the 50mm 1.8. There may be a couple of [...]]]> Strangely enough, it seems like all I have been doing lately is shooting pictures of people.

So, from the last month or two, here are a few.

Taking pictures of people is not something that necessarily comes naturally to me. Most of these were done, I think, with the 50mm 1.8. There may be a couple of 17-85s thrown in there as well.

In links, what do I have.

Julie has little treats.

Phil has handprints.

Jennifer is on Moore Street.

Darren’s abandoned farmhouse.

Tommie…well…words as usual not adequate.

Stephen’s weather is altogether different.

Louise’s puffins.

Okay, that’s it for now.

As a taster, here is a look at Inchydoney [...]]]> I now have an ebook up on the site which has 25 pictures of Irish beaches. The link is here and you are more than welcome to have a look at it. It is in pdf format and as advance working, it is a 31 MB file.

As a taster, here is a look at Inchydoney in Cork.

It’s a beautiful day in Dublin today but by way of stuff to do I am sitting here building new websites and trying to sort out a few online details. There will be a new gallery going up on my main official website later on today and at the moment I am sorting out some other blog related details. But I think the garden is calling quite loudly.

Welcome to Kerry. While I was on my so-called holidays a couple of weeks ago, I wound up with a plan to go to Dingle. For reasons [...]]]> Advance apologies – this is superwide. But I think it deserves it, big time. You see, this is what I couldn’t do in Mayo. Pretend to be Ansel Adams.

Welcome to Kerry. While I was on my so-called holidays a couple of weeks ago, I wound up with a plan to go to Dingle. For reasons I don’t quite want to go into, I got as far as Inch and Annascaul which was quite a bit short of the original plan to aim for Coumeenole and the Ranga. Never happened. Next time. Apparently I have time this year (yipee).

This is along the road between Castlemaine and Annascaul, one of the loveliest roads in the country. If you’re going to Dingle from Tralee, I’d nearly always recommend that road unless you’re in a mega hurray (although I’m not sure going the other road would make a whole lot of difference). It takes you past here (points up) and then on to Inch. (points down)

Inch, along with the beaches west of Louisberg in western Mayo, is one of my favourite beaches in the country. Barleycove in Cork comes pretty close as well but there’s something quite…special about Inch. It’s huge. It’s clean. Compared to Dollymount where I spend a good whack of my time, anyway.

No links for this post. I did a load this morning when I posted the non-volcanic ash pictures.

It sank behind a line of clouds leaving me with no ball of fire to give benefit to my decision to haul myself across the city and I barely got a pink sky to play with as well.

These are the beacon lights in Dun Laoghaire. The red light is on the East Pier which I [...]]]>

It sank behind a line of clouds leaving me with no ball of fire to give benefit to my decision to haul myself across the city and I barely got a pink sky to play with as well.

These are the beacon lights in Dun Laoghaire. The red light is on the East Pier which I walked tonight for the first time ever, in search of something (I didn’t find it, whatever it was). When I got there, some guy was playing banjo; I don’t know why but since I can hear banjo every time I go near Dun Laoghaire, I guess he’s there kinda regularly. Tonight, he treated us to Memory from Cats, twice. I will never forget it.

I’ve been out to DL a couple of times yet and somehow, it’s not giving me what I want in the photography front. To be be honest, I wound up there because a quick calculation suggested that I wouldn’t make the top of Killiney Hill in time for sunset – always supposing I could find it since I always – but always – get lost in DalkeyVortex. You’d sort of feel that with 10 million boats, a couple of lighthouses, a cannon, a bandstand and a near mile long pier (or two) I’d be sorted…but it never fulfills me in the way that say, Howth does. It sort of seems a bit flat. Can’t figure it out. I was sorry in a way that I hadn’t shaped off to Clontarf which would have had the benefit of being a) closer and b) more sky available to play with. Okay, no lighthouse but there was this huge cruise ship in the port which I saw leaving as I was coming home through Sandymount. That would have been one hell of a long exposure….next time.

Anyway, links for the day:

Richard has been out taking sunrises. See here and here. I usually give a trip to Skerries for the sunrise “sometime in April” but I haven’t done it yet this year. I’m toying with going to Howth this time and standing near the Martello tower but I need to make sure the sun will be rising where I think it will (somewhere around Ireland’s Eye).

Kyle has been – well – go look.

Tommie was in New York recently and I think this is one from that trip. I was thinking today – as I watched loads of people walk in and out of my frame waiting to get the shot above with no walkers but with the lights shining – that I really haven’t the eye to people/street stuff like Tommie does. I don’t know if you can learn it – I spend a lot of time watching people and I have some interesting portraits lying around the place (like the self portraits, for example). But I can’t quite freeze life like this.

For reason that I do not understand, this was never posted to the internet. Given my attachment to things lighthousish, I find this inexplicable.

In fact I was looking for some photographs I had taken in Inchydoney which is how I came across it. I will post those in a day or two – mainly I [...]]]>

For reason that I do not understand, this was never posted to the internet. Given my attachment to things lighthousish, I find this inexplicable.

In fact I was looking for some photographs I had taken in Inchydoney which is how I came across it. I will post those in a day or two – mainly I wanted to skip around the country a little from the west coast after Clare, Achill and Galway. I will find some bits of Kerry to post shortly as well.

Also took this the same day:

I like it.

I’m finding it difficult to explain why – I take lots of these silhouettes of people walking by the sea – seems to be some sort of fetish of mine.

Okay.

Couple of very classy sailing shots from Philippe Plisson here. !!!! loud music alert on the link.

World Water Day at the Big Picture – sorry I missed this.

Darren has flowers.

Phil was in Galway.

John was in Rahugh – by night – and on Inisheer. I will go there sometime for abandonedboats.

Ronan has been in Sydney.

_____________________________________

Deeply saddened also to learn of the death today of Danny O’Brien, without question the best wildlife photographer I know. Not just a photographer, however, a friend, and one I will miss hugely. He was a great, great man.

It’s amazing what you can do with the black slider and some patience waiting around in the cold.

I am not going to complain about the weather in Mayo last week. It was cold at the start of the week. It was markedly more cold at the end of the week.

Looking at this:

I did wonder in [...]]]>

It’s amazing what you can do with the black slider and some patience waiting around in the cold.

I am not going to complain about the weather in Mayo last week. It was cold at the start of the week. It was markedly more cold at the end of the week.

Looking at this:

I did wonder in my own mind if an enterprising photographer could do for Mayo what Ansel Adams did for the National Parks in the US. It’s such a completely different landscape to what I’m used to (sheep all over the shop – like WTF – I grew up in dairy country and cows, well, let’s just say they don’t have the same freedom of movement as your average sheep) – almost lunar in some respects, yellow versus the green I grow up with (no – no Tom Jones jokes, okay) and okay, I was on Achill Island which is especially so – complete and utter isolated desolation. I’m being careful here. I know there are people from Mayo around.

Ironically, I’m sort of one of them. My grandfather was born on Achill Island (see) but I have to confess I found myself less than at ease there. It’s very beautiful of course; it’s just very,very far away from where I grew up and where I live now, both practically and culturally. I can’t really explain why. I’ll bet there are some key differences between Achill and the rest of Mayo as well (I never felt the same way in and around the beaches beyond Louisberg which are a fair haft away from home too).

Anyway, with the benefit of some luck – and where weather is concerned, luck plays a big part in Achill, and getting there a tad earlier than I managed, Moonrise in Achill cold be as striking an image as some of the Yosemite shots.

Anyway, Danny’s been travelling.

This is Sean Murphy yesterday. I was out with a 17-85 – it’s not the usual lens to play with for kite shots but Keel gives you some wide angle options without you necessarily having to go into what was freezing cold water (I am told – I didn’t bother checking it out).

I’ve just had [...]]]>

This is Sean Murphy yesterday. I was out with a 17-85 – it’s not the usual lens to play with for kite shots but Keel gives you some wide angle options without you necessarily having to go into what was freezing cold water (I am told – I didn’t bother checking it out).

I’ve just had a week off which didn’t really work out as planned at all so the photographs are somewhat patchy. Of yesterday’s kite lot, this is – so far – the only one I really like. The weather was abysmal. I’m getting sick of taking pictures of kitesurfers in cloudy cold conditions; in the dark (effectively) yesterday. I could have done with some fill in flash but you need them to be sort of near for that to work, and my flash only goes ETTL when it feels like it. I think there must be a loose contact. When it’s not working properly, the camera refuses to recognise that it’s a Canon 580 EX II and assumes it’s a third party flash so I can’t configure it using the camera. I would prefer to use the camera controls to be honest.

The effective flash range is around 10m anyway, which makes it a bit not reliable for kitesurfers anyway. *shrugs*. There may be some portraits up here later today but first – Ronan has this. Go Ronan.

To day I discovered that the printing machines in Harvey Norman’s in Limerick didn’t understand folders on my USB key. As [...]]]> My holiday plans have more or less been abandoned. I may, if the weather cooperates with me, get the Ranga in Kerry to add to my collection of boats and wrecks but I’m not hopeful.

To day I discovered that the printing machines in Harvey Norman’s in Limerick didn’t understand folders on my USB key. As I’d sorted photographs into different sizes to print, this was a nuisance over nuisances. By no means the worse thing that happened this week (few things could top the disaster I had to contend with on Sunday – but let’s not go there) – but enough to rankle. The weather was awful too. I sat in the car for a while during one hell of a hailstorm and really, questioned the wisdom of continuing to live in Ireland. The lack of snakes is one of the few attractions right now. Anyway.

After the debacle with the printing, I stood outside Harvey Norman’s during a lull in the bad weather contemplating going home and getting a second USB key and sorting the photographs over 2 separate USB keys or fecking off to Clare to have some me time. I settled for Clare because it wasn’t work, basically.

I do the whole soul food place thing. Places to go where you just automatically feel better. For me, the biggie is the Pointe du Raz in Brittany but it is not practical to get there featuring as it does a plane ride to somewhere in France, a trainride to Quimper and a hired car drive out past Audierne, or else an organised tour. I generally go there in a Peugeot 207 from Hertz. It’s a special occasion kind of soul food and the nearest I can reproduce here is the need to get to the Atlantic as soon as possible. I’ve seen rather a lot of it lately between 2 trips to Galway, 2 days in Achill, another 3 coming up for Easter (and no they weren’t planned), and today…Clare. Someone told me the Burren is doable in two hours from the M50 – I think that’s pushing it but frankly if I can get to the pier in Doolin within about 3 hours of leaving home in Dublin I will do it. It and Inchydoney in Cork are the two soul food places in Ireland and Inchydoney is not a quick fix at all.

There’s something quite special about Doolin Pier. I couldn’t care too much about the pier itself although at some stage this summer I may well get the ferry to the Aran Islands from there, but it is exactly that point where the Burren and the Atlantic crash into each other.

[Beyond only ocean and sky]

[Feed the addiction of breaking waves]

[don't think the ferry was running today]

I love the rock formations. I didn’t like the so much freezing cold but it was worth it, dammit, for the feeling of detachment from the reel world. The east coast just doesn’t really cut it.

Most of the non-macro photographs of late have been taken with the 17-85mm kit that came with the 40D. I’m liking its range very much. Also, I forgot the two zooms, so…I didn’t have much choice really.

I intend to traipse down to Clare again sometime soon armed with the zooms for some playing with Crab Island from the mainland. I am looking forward to it.

And I exploited the opportunity.