Photographers – Think Differently..
week five.
So with a mini heat wave this week I got out on the motorbike. I done one off the Irish photo rally points. http://www.irishphotorally.ie/
For those that look at the I. P. R site this photo is number five on the map.
The date above the door is 1857, not sure if it was a post office from that date.. Today it could be somes home.
The m/c is a BMW r1200gs and me and this old girl has covered many happy miles. Hopefully a few more this year.
I took this photograph of Max about 4 years ago when I lived in County Monaghan here in Ireland. We would go on early morning walks around some of the local lough’s. He was in need of a trim has his wet muddy hair shows this up here. Just look at his face, eager to get back moving through the fields.
Hope he is still enjoying his walks, been a few years since I last seen him.
Take care and stay safe.
George.
Photo data: Nikon D7200 with a Sigma 17 – 70 mm lens.
1/100 sec @ f/4: focal length 70 mm : ISO 400
Welcome to my first B&W Wednesday in 2019. So today we are going to use something we get a lot off in Ireland. Yes rain. Taken through the car windscreen during a heavy shower. This was shot at Lough Muckno in Castleblayney County Monaghan.
Thank you for visiting and have a creative new year.
George
On the road again and another few Irish photo rally photography’s in the bag.
Rally Map link : Irish photo rally map
Set off around 7.30 am on a bright dry but still cool Sunday morning from my home on the NE side of Ireland in County down. My first rally point was in county Longford. My satnav tells me its just under 3 hours away. I head west before turning south through County Cavan and into Co. Longford. Number 7 on the map and its an aqueductjust north of the village of Abbeyshrule.
On the photo rally site they call this the Whitworth Aqueduct but the sign says..
Maybe its got two names????
Has happens when doing the rally points the locals stop for a chat, wondering why motorcycles are turning up and photographs taken. most welcome the interest in their home area. Then it was down to the town of Athlone where I was meeting some friends for a coffee and a chat. Been a few months since we got together, a few of us will be going over to Wales in the UK for a few days later in the year. Another post.
The next stop was in the county of Kildare, number 9 on the map. Another canal, this time the Grand canal 3km north from the town of Monasterevin.
MacCartney’s Lock and bridge over the Grand Canal in County Kildare. I was here I met a local man, 92 years young. A fresh looking man for his years who spent some time telling me about the lock and the near by mill. A story about a canal barge worker that was killed when a barrel of beer fell while unloading, senting the injured man into the canal where he drowned. I love the people i meet while travelling.
Thatched cottages beside the lock.
Lock gates holding the water back. For anyone not sure what a lock is, its where the water level differ due to a difference in land levels. There are gates at each end so if a Canal boat was going for the higher level to the lower, the gates at the lower end were closed and the upper slowly open which lets the lock fill up. The canal boat comes into the lock and the upper gates close. then the lower gates open and the water level drops and the canal boat is now at the lower level and sails out of the lock.
Turning north and my next stop was to stop in the town of Edenderry in Co.Offaly. Time to catch up over another coffee with a couple of friends before doing my last photo for the day. It was now raining hard, a wet ride a short distance north to the Hill of Down post office in County Meath.
The hill of Down post office and shop and pub. Has you can see it’s still raining. I only got one photo here and has I was packing up another bike pulled in. So has I was to discover his name was Terry from the town of Ardee in County Louth. We sat talking bikes, motorcycle racing and traveling and the rain just got heavier. Saying goodbye and around 30 miles later the rain stopped. The next few hours was in dry and a fuel stop and a warm coffee, well it was getting cool and i like coffee. With both fuelled it was a relaxing ride north.
Thank you for visiting.
George.
Took this one evening just has one rainbow faded another formed.
Enjoy your weekend and thank you for visiting.
Eye of Seoirse verse, short stories and other rants.
Another three of rally points done, but only got a couple of photos edited. The first is here in County Monaghan. This stands in the most northerly parish of Co. Monaghan: Errigal Truagh. Behind the old school house stands the ruins of an ancient church, where many beautifully carved old headstones of McKenna interest remain a major tourist attraction. Which I hope to follow up with some photos later.
Next its over to County Leitrim, to the birth place of Margaret of New Orleans. Will include a link here about this amazing woman. It surprises me sometimes the history and stories behind some of the photo rally points. Please have a read about this woman, Margaret of New Orleans. And here is her restored home in Ireland.
The motorcycle you see in the photos is a BMW R1200gs and is my transport around Ireland for work and pleasure.
Thank you for visiting and have a great weekend.
Woke this morning to the rising sun hitting the bedroom window, one look and I and my old pal where quick to get outside. I was setting up the tripod just has the last of the mist was kissing the lough surface. I took these with a 70- 300 telephoto lens, bracketing some of them and editing them in HDR Efex Pro. With the mist and a hoar frost coating the foliage it was a beautiful morning to be out. My old pal enjoyed following whatever scents and trails he was came across. Exploring the world by his nose like dogs do.
Thank you for visiting.
We stand on a hill top, watching the passing of time.
The world of change goes spinning pass
Vast forest of our ancestors, culled long ago,
Land naked for man to grow his food,
Or cleared to build his caves.
Soon no place left, for him to rest his soul,
Or clean the air, that’s life for him.
Upon this little hilltop,
There’s now just two of us.
Our leaves there are no more.
Thank you.
Below is a quote from John O’ Donohue. I was given a book many years back by this man and his writing awoke a spirit within me.
“Behind your image, below your words, above your thoughts, the silence of another world waits.”
― John O’Donohue, Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom
Been very busy this last few months so the camera has not seen a lot for use. So any breaks in working, I have my nose stuck in a book even if it’s only a lunch break. I love reading anything from the daily paper to whatever catches my eye. I bought a photographic magazine which there was a letter asking is photography art. I believe it is, I decide on a number of settings which affects the look of the in camera shot before pressing the shutter. There there is the post shot processing, which is unlimited in the looks you can achieve or the message you hope to convey. I got a book yesterday called ‘ Why it does not have to be in focus’ Modern Photography Explained by Jackie Higgins. Published by Thames & Hudson ISBN 978-0-500-29095-8 . My base for buying this book came about from reading that letter. Jackie Higgins explains the artistry behind 100 key works of modern photography. Into chapter 2 and it makes an interesting read into the art of modern photography and the expression expressed within the image.
My photographs here don’t claim to be works of modern photography, but are they what I saw in front of my camera.
Trying to figure if the trees were holding this upright.
The frost was real.
Thank you for visiting
Got in from work the other evening and there was a mist dropping over the lough. With the land bathed in the light of the full moon and the twinkle of stars adding to the view I set up in the cool damp air. With the temperature around 2 Celsius (35/36 F) it was not a night for standing around, so getting a couple of shots it was coffee time in front of the fire.
Thank you for visiting.
George McNeill Photography 
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