They built a golf course on the Old Head of Kinsale so access is a bit more limited than it was in days of old.

This was taken some time in March during my last traipse around West Cork. I actually got a few photographs I really liked while I was [...]]]> Another occasional lighthouse, again, from Cork.

They built a golf course on the Old Head of Kinsale so access is a bit more limited than it was in days of old.

This was taken some time in March during my last traipse around West Cork. I actually got a few photographs I really liked while I was down there and feel like doing it all again.  Maybe in August. I’d also like to go back down to South Kerry where I haven’t been for years so…must do some planning. Or Planning.

I’ve been googleplusified, by the way, and you can find me on googleplus here. It transpires that so far, most of the people I know on it are photographer types with a few yarnies thrown in for good measure.

Travelling laptop has already crashed once on me this evening and I am nowhere near done with the homework yet tonight. So fingers crossed no further trouble.

What we have here is a Royal Navy patrol boat in Fistral Bay outside Newquay. I missed the drama plus I didn’t have long lenses with me, but he [...]]]>

Travelling laptop has already crashed once on me this evening and I am nowhere near done with the homework yet tonight. So fingers crossed no further trouble.

What we have here is a Royal Navy patrol boat in Fistral Bay outside Newquay. I missed the drama plus I didn’t have long lenses with me, but he dropped in to say hello to a trawler to check they were complying with regulations. At least that’s what two men I met later told me. I’d well believe it; our own navy are well known to do something similar too.

I’m in Newquay, which is, in fact, tack capital of the UK. If you can imagine something like Salthill multiplied by Tramore multiplied by Bundoran with added foam parties, you’re in the ballpark. There’s a spectacular number of clubs and amusement arcades. A couple I met at the bus station yesterday – a couple who probably left their foam party days behind them 40 years ago if I’m honest – averred that that they were somewhat underwhelmed by Newquay as a shopping town. Your choice of shopping is 1) surf shops 2) hoodie shops 3) amusement arcades and 4) pasty stores. Beyond that, there’s a few tattoo parlours and a branch of Boots and Superdrug. I don’t know what to make of the place at all. It’s got the best most beautiful location in the world, for now at least, and they filled it up with tack.

I can’t figure out what the main tourist attraction is either, whether it’s the utter tack (viz, lots of hen and stag parties), the beaches (lots of surfers), the golf course or what. The population seems to consist of people under the age of 25 or over the age of 60. Accommodation is targetted accordingly with a bunch of surf hotels and a bunch of slightly higher class establishments that you feel never quite left Miss Marple’s era behind.

Anyway, I was out on Wednesday night armed with a camera. I spent a lot of time taking pictures of interesting cloud formations and the attempt at sunset. The sun never quite made it but I got lots of ominous looking clouds, which helpfully opened during the night – rain? I’ve never heard anything like it.

In the meantime, the surf has been pretty dire. The British Junior surf championships which were supposed to happen this weekend were cancelled and I spent a lot of today taking pictures of surfers engaging in the Extreme Waiting Around Hopelessly Championships. If I want waves, I’ll have to try again another time.

When I was down around Bantry Bay the other day, it was quite hazy. I actually really like the haziness of this picture – mainly because when I have tried to shoot things like this before, I’ve just failed to get it right. But I like the layers in this.

There seems to be something about [...]]]>

When I was down around Bantry Bay the other day, it was quite hazy. I actually really like the haziness of this picture – mainly because when I have tried to shoot things like this before, I’ve just failed to get it right. But I like the layers in this.

There seems to be something about me and layers – a lot of the music I listen to involves complex layers of sound – one key example would be Chronologie 6 by Jean-Michel Jarre and a lot of what Conjure One come out with. This may be why I listen to quite a lot of piano concertos by the more romantic composers too (my favourite pieces are Concerto No 2 by Rachmaninoff and Concerto No 5 by Saint Saens) and also some more obscure electronic music. I’m not sure.

There’s an extraordinarily talented French nature photographer by the name of Vincent Munier whose photographs of the Vosges Mountains in France are really well worth looking at. Because of the way his site is laid out I can’t point you straight at that particular gallery, but even so, if you’ve an idle few minutes, wandering around his gallery is a rewarding experience. The above photograph was inspired by some of his light and shade and frankly, as it occurs to me, there is one of his which I’d like to buy for my walls as well. It featured three migrating geese and I am pretty sure he created the photograph in Japan.

West Cork is full of mountains and stuff which has a bit of an impact on whether you have sun or not (around the next corner, any number of things can change).

This is somewhere on the road between Kinsale and Timoleague. It’s a gorgeous drive, particularly if you ship off by Garretstown on the way.

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Okay, [...]]]>

West Cork is full of mountains and stuff which has a bit of an impact on whether you have sun or not (around the next corner, any number of things can change).

This is somewhere on the road between Kinsale and Timoleague. It’s a gorgeous drive, particularly if you ship off by Garretstown on the way.

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Okay, on a totally unrelated note, I bought a book a little while ago called Shooting the Curl. If you are at all interested in surf photography, it is the business. Not because it tells you how to do it – that, for the most part you will have to work out yourself – but because it opens your eyes to what other people can do. It features some work by favourite around these parts, Clark Little, but also there are stunning shots by Tim McKenna and Mickey Smith. In particular, the latter has a stunning shot of early morning mist in Clare which I’d really like on my walls.

The book is an exceptional piece of work and the guys at Carve Magazine who were involved in putting it together really deserve many gold stars for it. It is essential reading.

I have a few other photographs to come so there will be another blog entry again later on. It is summer in Cork at present; however we managed it given that it is also March. This is Inchydoney, a popular beach with walkers in the morning.

I’m back. There are waves out there and I really have to figure out a better place to try and shoot the sunset from. As the rally was on today, I didn’t do too much exploring. In the way of surf photography, not too much. There were six optimistic souls in the water for an [...]]]>

I’m back. There are waves out there and I really have to figure out a better place to try and shoot the sunset from. As the rally was on today, I didn’t do too much exploring. In the way of surf photography, not too much. There were six optimistic souls in the water for an hour or too today; they didn’t really score.

Outside is the sound of the sea though; and I love it.

I brought Shooting the Curl with me because I haven’t really had time to read it and I have to say that some of it is inspirational. It features some stunning work from Mickey Smith (hope I got that right) and also, Clark Little. Somehow I missed that he was involved in that book, and they helpfully have a bunch of photographs that I utterly love from him. Not too many photographers that I’d displace my own stuff for aside from the long adored Philippe Plisson but this guy…yeah I think a print could be called for.

I have my camera with me here in West Cork (yeah, that was taken with the Canon and not the iPhone). I do not, however, have the charger for it so I could be slightly screwed if I get a hot surfing day. Even if I don’t it’s so beautiful down here that….frankly how can I not?

Planning to head towards Skib and Rosscarbery over the next day or so although given that I am staying in one of teh swankier spa hotels in the country that may well be tomorrow afternoon. Sunset is around 7 which will feature in the plans anyway.

The key feature in the photograph above – I feel the need to explain for once – are the cars. I usually go out of my way to avoid cars in photos but…Inchydoney was busy today. Even at 6 when I went looking for something to eat, the place was packed and there was precious little room in the carparks. It’s very much a place that people come and spend days at, but not so many nights at. So despite the majesty of the sky and the hills and the water, and basically mother Nature’s bit of the equation, the theme of the photograph is actually Daytrippers.

My phone has just reminded me that at 10.30 in the evening, I stop whatever I am doing, particularly if it involves a computer, and go and relax, or whatever. So this will be short.

This photograph is from June 2006, I think, on a 350D not long after I met the jump to digital. The [...]]]>

My phone has just reminded me that at 10.30 in the evening, I stop whatever I am doing, particularly if it involves a computer, and go and relax, or whatever. So this will be short.

This photograph is from June 2006, I think, on a 350D not long after I met the jump to digital. The location is the Lagoon in Cairns which is a man made pool on the seaside. Cairns itself isn’t great for beach facilities – all the beaches are out to the north I think (and I’ve kitesurfed on one of them, sort of).

Tony reckons we get 20 knots in Sutton tomorrow and the NE wasn’t too bad today. Didn’t freeze too much. I’m not working tomorrow so I think I’ll go along and maybe say hello. And take out the 500mm zoom lens. I should have been in Hawaii on a photography course last week but in the way of things, I had to just forget about it. Hopefully the run of surf trips getting cancelled will be over for the time being.

Okay

It is a *very* long time since I linked out to Bryan Elkus and this is criminal of me. Snow in Cape Hatteras. Bryan is one of my favourite kite photographers but he has some really great stuff too. I really, really want to go to Hatteras this year, so am looking into that trip at the moment. Fingers crossed.

And Tommie has this which I think is just wonderful:

Okay time to go off line.

and

It feels like it’s warmer outside than in.

I took a wander around the estate with a 50mm lens and a camera this morning. When I got home I discovered that the computer had different ideas to me about how I name files which is why this is actually called Snow nn rather than IMG_nnnn. [...]]]>

and

It feels like it’s warmer outside than in.

I took a wander around the estate with a 50mm lens and a camera this morning. When I got home I discovered that the computer had different ideas to me about how I name files which is why this is actually called Snow nn rather than IMG_nnnn. I prefer IMG_nnnn to be honest; works better in my mental filing system.

Then I discovered there is no Canon RAW codec for 64 Bit Win7 which is a huge nuisance as I am without image browsing software at the moment following my fury with ACDSee last week or the week before. And then I discovered that Adobe Updater had failed to notice that I need to update Adobe RAW. Net result, before I could even look at the photographs this morning quite a bit of work had to be done.

So here are a couple of rattle bag photographs that I happen to like more than others.

This is some more of the Atlantic coastal route in Mayo. One of the things that gets rammed home to me each time I am Atlanticside is how much I miss the Atlantic and really the Irish Sea; it’s a piffling little sea by comparison. It doesn’t smell right, it doesn’t feel right and it [...]]]>

This is some more of the Atlantic coastal route in Mayo. One of the things that gets rammed home to me each time I am Atlanticside is how much I miss the Atlantic and really the Irish Sea; it’s a piffling little sea by comparison. It doesn’t smell right, it doesn’t feel right and it just isn’t right.

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.