Boyne River

I wanted to get a images of the mist and fog on The River Boyne but ended up with this image instead.

The River Boyne, Navan, Co Meath.

If you listen to the AudioBoo you will understand that the low level clouds worked against me today and kept the ground temperature high enough not to create the conditions I wanted.

However I think I came away with a cracker of an image all the same. This is a personal project of mine started a couple of years ago to photograph The River Boyne from Navan to Slane in Co Meath. Running along side the river is a pathway which you can walk. It’s a frequent place to see people walking their dogs, running and even cycling. For me it’s photography and I think there is another couple of years left before I’m finished this project. What then ? A book, an Exhibition. Who knows ?

But I will post some of the images as I go along and have about 15 in the bag already with another 3 from today to be added.

River Loe in The Gap of Dunloe

River Loe in The Gap of Dunloe Co. Kerry

Thanks to over trousers and wellie i was able to get this image of the River Loe in The Gap of Dunloe without much trouble.

How ?

Well you can either try and walk over the slippery rocks and not manage to fall and break something or you can walk in the water with your wellie on. Me pick the easy option all the time. Taken on the same day as The Gap of Dunloe post but further on through the gap. I set the tripod up as low as possible to get the angle of the foreground rock leading you into the image. The rocks made a V-shape to complement the shape made by the mountains. With strong contrast to deal with, two grad filters were fitted to the lens to balance the exposure. Again most people and tourists stand on the bridge behind me and look down into the river. Not me. Always looking for a different angle than the norm.

 

>Glenbeg Lough

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This is one of my favorite images from the four days down on The Beara Peninsula and it came out of disappointment. Let me explain:

The weeks leading up to the Beara Trip were spent looking over the Discovery Series of Maps from OSi (Ordnance Survey Ireland) to find suitable locations to shoot. One such place was Glenbeg Lough, Ardgroom. We have the lake surrounded by mountains a river flowing into the lake and a bridge over the river. All this looks like an interesting location. Looking at the details on the map and seeing the real life are two different things.

We had finished shooting up on the Healy Pass and Lauragh Forest and started our journey further west for sunset when hunger struck. Stopping at a coffee shop in Ardgroom, Peter noticed a painting on the wall of Glenbeg Lough. Now don’t get me wrong but painters have it easy. They start with a blank canvas and add or remove thing at will. Us photographers have a completed canvas and have to use whats in front of the camera lens. What greeted us on the drive up to the lake was nothing like the view in the painting. Missing was the car park, rubbish bins, public signs and the pipes going across the side wall of the bridge. And they say using Photoshop to edit your photos is wrong but…..

What a disappointment. We didn’t even get out of the jeep and to top it off low clouds started to roll in and this put a stop to sunset. We did however drive along the shoreline to find a point to turn the jeep around and head home. Oh, but wait. I spotted the view above with the reads in the foreground and Skellig Mt in the background.

Not the images I pictured a week ago looking at the maps but I think a came away with a much better image. Once again a portrait format helps in the composition. The slight blurring or the reads from the strong wind blowing down trough the valley and the dark clouds, helped by the filters, hanging over the tops of the mountains adds the drama of the image.

I have a hard drive full of image to post still from The Beara Peninsula.

>Eagles Nest

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I’m back from a 4 day trip down to The Beara Peninsula with a good friend and fellow Landscape photographer Peter Cox. The weeks leading up the trip were spent looking over maps and we came to the conclusion that the Beara would be an ideal location.

The trip down is a 4.5 hour drive but I was going to make a detour on the way and stop off in Killarney. Leaving my home at 5:30 in the morning with clear skies above me. Short lived as I was driving into the bad weather.

If you are following me on Twitter or Facebook you will see some of the images taken with the iPhone. One such image link here was taken out the car window from the very same spot as the image above. However in that image the rain was coming down very heavy. Not a great start to the trip and was this a sign of things to come? You will just have to wait and see.

I have started the series of image posts with the last image taken on the trip. It’s an image of Eagles Nest in the Killarney National Park from Five Mile Bridge along the N71. This is a image I have being after for a couple of years now as conditions have not worked out in the past but this they were perfect. A clear sky with the cloud pattern following the lines of the mountain. Some ripples in the water made by me standing in the water ( wellies, a photographers best friend ). I like the way the ripples make your eyes flow into the image. The looks I was getting from the many tourists taking their snap shots. What must they have being thinking?

Did I get any more images? Just lets say it’s taken me a few days to go through the images and start the conversion process.

Stayed tuned over the next coupe of weeks to see the rest of “The Beara Trip”

>Return to The Boyne

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Meath and the East coast of Ireland have had 2 weeks of heavy snow fall and sub zero temperatures. Wonderful weather for photographers right? That’s if you can get outside your house. The roads are just crazy. Snow falls during the day and then -12 degrees at night and the next morning it’s an ice rink outside. This has being going on for days now.

Lucky I did manage to get out a couple of weeks ago before the heavy snow fall and got back to the Boyne River and get a few mores images. Full story and more images can be found over on my website : Link Here

You can see the greater volume of water in the Boyne as none of the foreground rocks are visible compared to the image in “A Boyne Diamond” post. By the time I got back up to the car my feet were numb. Thank god the fire was blazing when I got home. I broke my rule of backing up my memory cards first. This time I sat down in front of the fire until I got some feeling back in my toes. Not much to report on the dog front this time as I have the place to myself.

On a different note, I’m having great fun with another camera. This camera also can make and receive phone calls. Yes, I’m talking about the iPhone. I have two of them. Don’t ask. The original one and the new iPhone4. I know the camera is not the best or is it? I have put a website together using wordpress just for photo taken with the iPhone. It’s called iPhoneNeil and you can link to it here : iPhoneNeil website.

Ramparts Navan

Here is your Monochrome Week image.

Global Warming ( it’s bloody freezing here in Ireland ). This clod snap as they are calling it has being going on for 2 weeks now. The temp went down below -10 last night and the pipes in the attic are frozen.

Ok, some other countries are having even colder weather, but there in Ireland we are not use to this cold and snow & ice.

The image above is The Ramparts in Navan, Co Meath. Another one from our New Years Day walk along the River Boyne. As you can see the river is frozen in parts. Mind you I say it’s completely frozen now. I must try and get down there again on Sunday as it forecast for more snow and freezing temperatures of -8 tonight.

You can now follow me on Facebook if you want

Link Here to Neil McShane ( aka Mononeil ) on Facebook.

New Year’s Day on the Boyne

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ONE AND ALL

Hot of the press ( well bloody cold mind you ), the first image processed and taken this morning while out with the family on a walk to clear the heads after a week of eating an drinking as if there was no tomorrow. We usually go for a walk in the mountains on New Year’s Day but the weather put a stop to this. The roads are in a bad state with no gritting in Meath.

So we made the short trip down to the River Boyne in Navan. I didn’t think I would get anything of interest. However the above image ended that theory.

If the first image on the first day of 2010 is this good I am looking forward to a very productive year ahead. I hope you have a good year also.