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June 2009
Greetings from Westport County Mayo, one of my favourite places. Good food, good music, and a geat pint. Oh! And it happens to have some of the most beautiful scenery in Ireland on its doorstep. What more could you want?!
Sadly however 4a.m starts mean no pubs for me. Instead it is a case of bed by eleven and waking hotel night porters at 4a.m to open the gates of the hotel.
The location on my hit list this morning is the wonderfully named Lough Nafooey. Unnamed on many a map and wedged between the hills of Galway and Mayo, it is a place I came across a few years ago, and am only getting round to revisiting.
Instead of driving across the mountainous sheep trails that double as roads, I make my way via Leenane to the Lough. On arrival, darkness stills hangs in he air and the wind is blowing a gale. However there are enough gaps in the clouds to make me hopeful that this early morning trip may be worth it.
As a landscape photographer my favourite conditions occur on the edge of weather fronts. Here the weather mutates from good to bad and vice versa. As a photographer it is where I always want to be, something interesting always happens. Thankfully the West of Ireland has a lot of days like this.
Dropping down from the road above the Lough, I find myself at the shore of the Lough admiring the curves of a boat. My wife says I take too many pictures of boats. She is possibly right, but they are photogenic and their curves and shapes lend themselves to photography. Curves, what can I say?!!!
With the sun getting up behind the distant hills I choose a vertical composition to emphasise the lines of the boat and the distant hills. As ever, my trusty Singh Ray gradutated NG grads are in place. This time I have a three stop and a two stop filters in place. Checking that they are aligned correctly and with the ISO and aperture set, I press the shutter. Image in the bag.
With the minutes going by and with the light only geting better, questions of staying put or heading back up the road above the Lough for an overview shot go through my head. Go, and I may loose the light, or stay and take pictures of a subject that I know I already caught perfectly. Chasing the light is something I hate to do.
Thankfully I decide to gamble and throw all the gear in the car and scramble back up the road above the Lough. The view is nothing but stunning.
Using the car as a buffer against the wind. I compose a shot with the 70-200F4L Canon lens, probably Canon’s sharpest lens. With the wind howling and the light changing by the second, I set the camera to bracket 1stop above and below the cameras recommended exposure.
A quick check of the display and histogram, and all seems well. Happy with the result and with a grumbling belly, it’s back in the car and back to Westport for a heart stopping Irish Fry.
“In the Field Workshops”
Like the sound of In the Field? If so why not join me on one of the number of “In the Field’ photographic workshops around Ireland this year. These workshops come in two formats, a full day one to one workshop and a less intense In the Field Photo shoot which typically take place at dawn or dusk. The dawn & dusk sessions serve as an introduction to the more intense all day sessions. Photographers will typically join me on location shoots and photograph with me. A typical session lasts no more than one or two hours.
The one to one workshops start early and finish late. Lots of photography and processing will be the order of the day. email: info@photoimagery.net for more information
Upcoming “In the Field Sessions”
“In the Field” (Photo Shoots)
St Stephens Green – May 1st 2009 – Sold
May 9th 2009 – Glendalough – Sold
June 13th 2009 – Howth – Co Dublin – Sold
July 18th 2009 – Glenveagh National Park
September 5th 2009 – Mullaghmore Sligo
Cost – €60
“ In the Field” – All day One on One Workshops
Donegal Workshop – June 20th 2009 – Sold out
Roundstone to Delphi Workshop September 6th 2009
Cost – €380