A mixed bag.

Went to bed Thursday night and the fields were green, woke Friday and the place is white. First snow of the year and it was evening before I could get time to head out of a walk around the local roads. There’s not a lot of great shots around here with it being just grazing and most of the old buildings pulled down and new homes replacing them. The one weekend it would have been great to be free I’m busy, snow just won’t last more that a few days here. Anyway back to a few photo’s.

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Beside these trees there was a lovely old ruin, a home from over around 200 years ago with a little history.

Murder in Carricknaveagh

Scroll down the page in the above link to read the story of this spot.

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Not much traffic here.

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Above details and textures.

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Winter sun.

These next Photos I caught at the last minute and were shot to be silhouettes has I metered off the black bird with spot metering against the bright sky.

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This next shot is not something I do often but I enjoyed creating this. It was taken down by one of the many small lough’s we have around here.

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And we have some visitors here at the moment, Redwing’s migrate here for the winter along with the Fieldfare both members of the Thrush family.

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Above this is the Fieldfare.

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The Redwing is the one in the foreground.

The next set of Redwing photo’s see the bird spit out a Hawthorn seed from the berries they were feeding on.

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Did not know till I process these photo’s I had caught this, all the bird shots where taken with a 600mm and chopped in production. One more to go.

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In this photo we have three Fieldfare’s and one Starling, So spot the odd one out.

Thank you for visiting and take care.

George.

Spring morning in the back yard.

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.

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Thank you for visiting.

 

Is photography art, an age old question.

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.

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Trying to figure if the trees were holding this upright.

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The frost was real.

Thank you for visiting

Drumlin’s , lough’s and frost.

Sunday morning with a hoar frost covering all the vegetation and the gravel welded together, me and my old pal set off for our morning walk. The cold biting at flesh exposed and the sun rising in the sky it was a beautiful morning.

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This part for Ireland has rounded hills called Drumlin’s  and within the valleys lough’s of various size. With the sun still low the land contours and the frost covered foliage stood out has the landscape changed with the light acting has a large craving chisel.

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And with nay a breeze the lough mirrored the beauty of nature’s landscape plantings. Has my old pal and I wandered around the lanes exploring short off shoots heading down the lough’s edges where others came to fish.

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With it being cold the edges around the lough still had ice on them. Carved like cut glass with the remains of last years reeds forming hollow masts. It gave a look like a modern sculpture to the edge.

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Reaching the far side of the lake and the sun in our faces we stopped to watch a swan drift by. I turned around and there sitting in the sun my old mate was sat waiting. Getting low I quickly shot a couple of frames.

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With the sun reflecting of his coat and the sun in his eyes it was time to make our way back. Like myself he loves his rambles around the lane and lough’s as he checks out every path our wild friends make while living there lives.

Thank you for visiting

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Thought I would give it an Irish tricolour look.

Enjoy your weekend.

 

The lough’s edge

With a few days of freezing weather and mist over the lough it has started to freeze over.

Here are a few photographs from the lough edge.

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With a heavy frost build up on the plants and the waters freezing over it gives a whole new look and feeling to the place.

Thank you for visiting.

A Cold & Misty morning

So a misty morning greeted me with a heavy frost coating the world in fine jewels. Just me and the dog out for a morning stroll, with a 17-70 zoom on the camera we headed out. With the mist acting like a giant softbox the landscape soft on the eye, my old pal and I headed off down the road.

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Yes this is a road, one of the many little L roads in Ireland.

A stop at one of the small loughs and it’s soft on the eye with the mist still down.

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 A couple of close ups for the foliage

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A beautiful morning in a grand part of Ireland where the pace is slow and the company great.

Thanks for dropping by.