Irish Photo rally 2017

April 17, 2017April 17, 2017George McNeill 6 Comments

Started doing the first photo points on the IPR this year. There’s a link here which shows the map and rally points. You can do them in any order and have a few months to complete them. My first was number 8 on the map.

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Moylough Castle or Church

Then traveling south it was number 7 next, Ballinahowen Tree Sculptures

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There are a few of these tree sculptures here so will do a post about these soon.

Still heading south to the next one number 13 on the map it was another tree sculpture in Banagher. It is called The Musician (J McEvoy) link

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Heres a link with Johnny McEvoy singing The Ballad of Jack Reilly.

Then it was over to the town of Tullamore to see a friend and enjoy a coffee. Back on the road home in the evening sun with just short of two hundred miles covered, the buzz of riding is still there even after forty years of motorcycling.

Thank you for visiting

Spring morning in the back yard.

March 25, 2017George McNeill 13 Comments

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.

Garden vistors

March 19, 2017George McNeill 4 Comments

We get a good range of birds visiting the feeders in the garden, this afternoon I grabbed a few shots from a window in the house. Also been making and putting nesting boxes around the area, with plans to make and install a camera in one for next year. So a couple of photographs off our visitors.

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Great Tit swinging in the breeze.

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Blue Tit

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Chaffinch (male)

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Chaffinch (female)

Rook a member of the crow family.

Thank you for visiting.

Lake Muckno

March 18, 2017March 18, 2017George McNeill 4 Comments

Sunday evening and it looked like it was going to be a lovely sunset, so took a drive over to Lake Muckno in Country Monaghan. Any clouds in the evening sky must have went else where has the sunset, the sky went flat. So shot a few Black and white photos. With interesting trees and the last on the sun has it dropped into the hills. With the camera on the tripod I got this shot.

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I love the beauty in these twisted limbs as if they were drawn in a quick sketch. A short walk saw me looking over a short stretch of water at what I think is the water skiing club.

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Has I drove home over higher ground I saw the last of a beautiful sunset in the direction of my home.

Thank you for visiting.

Waiting

March 6, 2017March 9, 2017George McNeill 8 Comments

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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

Is photography art, an age old question.

February 11, 2017George McNeill 11 Comments

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

Moon clouds

December 16, 2016George McNeill Leave a comment

Still the super moon with us tonight, a light covering of cloud makes it way in front of the moon. Liked the look of this and on with the coat and hat and out I went. Grabbed a couple of shots while the foxes called for a mate close by. With a mist over the lough and the foxes calling, the night had an eerie feel to it.

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Thank you for visiting and have a great weekend.

Mist on the water.

December 15, 2016December 15, 2016George McNeill 2 Comments

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.

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Thank you for visiting.

The lough’s edge

November 25, 2016November 25, 2016George McNeill 2 Comments

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

November 20, 2016November 20, 2016George McNeill 7 Comments

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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