Daily Blog

The most exciting thing I did today was visit the dentist ! I did not bring the camera!!
Having posted two sunrises over the last two days I thought I might post a sunset this evening. This one was taken on Carroniskey Beach in the middle of the storms we had a few weeks ago.

I attempted to get another sunrise picture this morning, travelling to Lough Muck between Swinford and Foxford. The sun made the briefest of appearances between rising and disappearing behind the heavy cloud cover.

I got out briefly this morning. I decided to visit Lough Carra to photograph the sunrise. I arrived half an hour before sunrise just as the colours started to develop, but I barely had time to shoot off a couple of pictures when the cloud cover moved in and the colours disappeared, the actual sunrise was very disappointing, however I went home happy knowing I had this image in the bag.

Another day and I failed to get out with the camera, three days now, feels like a drought!! So I was forced to look again at the "archives". Archives is a loose word, one might imagine that all the pictures are sorted and put away carefully, far from it. The "archives" refers to all the photos I have on file that I have probably never looked at !. You see when you visit a location you will always have a favourite picture of the day, thats the picture I work on and put up on the site.But there will have been many others that were not the favourite and are not looked at again ! So here is one of them, taken on Carramore Strand, Louisburgh, I have converted it to black and white which I think really suits the tones in the sky.

Another wet day in Mayo. Todays picture was taken on Keel Beach on Achill yesterday. It shows some patterns in the sand that are left behind when the tide goes out. They look like the most delicate sculpture of flowers ! These amazing works of art are of course very short lived, lasting only until the change of the tide, or until somebody puts a footprint through them!!

I was on Achill today and while it was a lovely day it was very hazy and the colours were very muted. I stopped for a few minutes on Keel Beach and took this picture, which I thought would look best in Black and White.

Failed to get out with the camera again so here is another picture from Co Leitrim, this is Kings Mountain and is part of the Dartry Mountain Range.

Poured rain all afternoon today so I am posting a picture taken last week in Co Leitrum ! having photographed the waterfall at Glencar I walked downstream a little and took this picture which in its own way is I think as nice as the waterfall itself.

We had a very pleasant day weather wise in Mayo today, lovely and sunny in the morning though cloudy in the afternoon. I was travelling through mulranny, I seem unable to ever just pass Mulranny without stopping for a picture, well today was no exception, I did a quick detour around Bunahowna, Mulranny and got this boat, resting under the shadow of Croagh Patrick.

You can never tell what the weather may bring. I have discovered over the years that its best to continue with your photographic plans even when the weather is bad. While out in appalling weather the other day there was a sudden break in the clouds ! It only lasted a few minutes but long enough for a picture, and it gave us hope for later.!

I photographed these three cattle earlier in the week at Carroniskey , they seemed unconcerned by the stormy weather.

I went for a little "adventure" out of Mayo last week, through Sligo and on to Co Leitrum! this is Glencar waterfall in Co Leitrum.

While on Carroniskey Beach on Tuesday evening attempting to photograph the sunset, during the storm, I looked behind me to see another photographer doing the same. I was tempted to shout "Look Behind You" to him but he would never have heard me with the wind, but I was delighted he was there as he gives scale to the huge sky !

I described how yesterday I was at Lecvanvey in the wind, I asked if I had any pictures. This picture may not have been posted only for the request!. I did take a number of pictures from Lecanvey pier but it was so windy it was almost impossible to stand up never mind hold the camera steady ! I was confident that my 18 stone would keep me on the ground , but I did think that my petit "big" sister may get blown away, so we did not stay long and this picture is the best of a bad lot I'm afraid !

Well the storm did its best to disrupt things though the worst of it was over by morning.I spent the day with my sister Elaine who had travelled from Dublin for a days photography. We started at Tourmakeady waterfall which was at least a little sheltered. We also travelled to the coast and were amazed by the power of the wind,especially at Lecanvey . The picture shows Elaine at Tourmakeady waterfall, getting to grips with the tripod!

There is a real storm brewing outside, we shall see what the morning brings... Yesterday I took a trip up to Co Sligo and as far as Glencar Waterfall in Co Leitrum, on the way home we stopped at Strandhill Beach which was already pretty wild. I am told the small light house you can see on the righthand side is called "The Metal Man"

I was out early in the morning to capture the first image of 2012. I was out just before sunrise and the sky was black! I went down to the bog close to where I live in Kiltimagh and about ten minutes after sunrise the sky began to clear and there was a few minutes of colour. Twenty minutes later I was at home having breakfast as the rain just poured down !

Thanks to everybody for all the good wishes, and once again Happy New Year to you all.
Todays picture was taken a few weeks ago on Achill Island. Often with these pictures its all a question of timing.To get the curl of the wave in just the right place. The camera is on a tripod and you have to watch the waves for a while to find their rhythm. So I was happy I pressed the shutter at just the right moment for this shot, but there is often a second part to the timing that also has to be got right, and on this occasion I got it completely wrong ! Its called the Bail Out. Its the time between pressing the shutter to capture the wave, the shutter closing and the photographer grabbing the camera and tripod and moving away from the oncoming wave ! I did manage to shield the camera, but took a soaking myself, fortunately it was very windy so I dried out quickly.

What's another year ? Its two years today since I started posting a daily picture on my website, I started a little later on Facebook. On both of the last new years I posted pictures of snow ! Well there is no snow this year, just plenty of rain. Here is a picture of Keem Bay,on Achil Island in the rain!
Thanks for all the" likes" and comments during 2011, it is always encouraging to get feedback on my work.
I wish every body a very good 2012.

Rained all day!! No pictures taken today, here is a picture from my last visit to Dunbriste, on a very calm day!