This became something of a mantra on Saturday while in the Mournes. Normally just about the time we headed into the wilds, got stuck in some bog or came across the skull of a sheep

With the skull being a grotesque and morbid sight, we all took photos...

(f/8, 1/200sec, 22mm, ISO-200, 27/09/08)

I think this might have been slightly better if the angle on the skull had of been higher. But I quite liked the out of focus grasses in the foreground.

Of course, if you put a Selenium tint on it, the world goes very Blair Witch.

When I first subscribed to a photo magazine many moons ago, they supplied me with a filter holder as my "free gift". At the time I'd bought a handful of filters but never really used them.

Knowing that our trip into the Mournes was going to involve a lake or a reservoir or some other body of water (just hopefully not my body in water), I decided to take them along.

In the end, I only remembered I had them two minutes before we left a rest stop at the side of a lake. I quickly pulled an ND filter (not a grad) from my kit and put it on the camera, just to see what would happen.

(f/18, 0.6sec, 13mm, ISO-200, 27/09/08)

Looking back now, I wish I'd taken the same shot without the filter, just so I could compare the difference. It wasn't this dark and I have a feeling the camera doesn't measure exposure well with a filter in front of the lens. Possibly it translates it as an evening shot and I should have pushed the shutter time up further to see the difference.

Still, as an experiment goes, I quite like the result. It's pretty amazing the effect a polariser and a long(ish) exposure can have on a body of water.

I am in pain. Not the sort of pain you get from a hard days night. More the sort of pain you get when you haul your old, overweight, carcass around something like 18 kilometres of mountains which only seem to go up! Added to that, this carcass stupidly decided to haul camera, lenses and tripod with him.

So, and let me make this abundantly clear, I am only typing this through the magic of ibuprofen. If it gets a little woozy, just ignore me...

I'd never been into the Mourne Mountains before, apart from a few trips as a child to the more accessible parks and places. Not having the first clue about hill safety or map reading or where to go while up there I never considered it an option really.

Thanks to Dean at Ulster Rambles  I was able to organise a day trip which took 6 of us up into the mountains yesterday. Deans expert guidance and knowledge of the area meant we all got a good challenging walk and lots of interesting asides and explanations. He also got us to climb Slievenaglogh for a view which was to die for. (I'd even say he organised perfect weather for us, but I'm claiming credit for that...).

I'm working through my 200 and something photos now, but in the meantime, here's a shot of the Mourne Wall.

(f/8, 1/200sec, 22mm, ISO-400, 27/09/08)

I'd spent a lot of time before this considering what to carry. given the weight of my camera kit these days, I knew it was unrealistic to take it all plus the waterproofs we wouldn't need. So, I quickly rationalised it down to two lenses - my 10-22 and my 55-250. I figured this covered off all the likely focal lengths I'd want. Also, after much debate, I took my tripod.

Weight was a major issue for me the entire day, but surprisingly the tripod and backpack wasn't the worst of it. Actually having the camera around my neck for 8 hours was the biggest issue. It was much more awkward to put the camera away than just carry it, but by the end of the day my neck was throbbing. (Thanks to Jon who carried it for me for the last part of the day).

As I climbed along the Mourne wall up Slievenaglogh  I'd really considered the sensibility of bringing the tripod. But, sometimes the experts are right. If you're going to take landscape photographs it's such a valuable addition to your kit bag.

In fact, the only part of my kit that failed me yesterday was my...erm...my trousers... Yep, my trousers. I'd love to say I ripped them in some sort of rugged "wrestling a mountain bear" type story, but no. I ripped the crotch clean out of them by lifting my leg to high to climb up onto a stone. By the time I got to the top of Slievenaglogh  I was getting a little too close to nature and the split rang from zipper to beyond my right knee. If ever Geoff needed to secure a place in heaven, he did it when he produced a spare pair of shorts.

So, would I do it again?

Yes. In a second.

I know people who walk in the Mournes a lot and I know people often go up there without guides (or even proper shoes). But for me, having Dean lead the party meant there was never pressure of checking where we were, keeping an eye on the time, fearing being left behind or even worry about a fall (and I had a couple). Walking off path, through heathers and bogs and over (OK, through) rivers was brilliant. I'd recommend using his services in a second. In fact I'm already planning a return trip where hopefully he'll take some of us up for some sunset photography.

And from a photo point of view. The sky was actually more blue than that picture shows. I actually de-saturated the blue a little to make it more believable.

Well, it's a sort of water isn't it?

I've been looking at different water ideas for the last few days, and as Geoff pointed out - either I take a brilliant version of the same typical water shot or I do something 'different'.

Well, I decided to give different a try.

Now I knew ice would be a trial and error thing so I decided I'd make a couple of different attempts and prove out a few ideas before going to far.

First problem with ice is that it tends to go white when you freeze it. Great for a cocktail, not so good if you want to photograph things embedded in it. Dermot suggested boiling the water first - something about getting the minerals and such out of it - so I gave that a try.

And after explaining to my patient and understanding wife as to why all the plastic containers in the house were now in the freezer filled with bits of leaf and flower, I got to break the first one out tonight.

Before I go on I have to say, these are proofing shots to see what the idea might look like with decent lighting and composition. All I was interested in tonight was seeing how the ice actually looked!

Ice in Container

When I lifted this one out, I was a little disappointed by the whiteness of the ice. It was by no means as white as the typical ice cube, but it still wasn't 'clear'.

Still when broken out of the plastic box, it was better than I first thought.

I took a few sample shots with an off camera flash at different angles. Here's the best of them.

Samples

So, what do I think?

• I'd like the ice to be a little clearer
• These aren't sharp enough (but I was shooting freehand using a +10 closeup filter indoors with an off camera flash lying on the table)
• To much petal, not enough ice

I've reset this container, with less petals this time to allow more of the ice to stand out. I've also boiled the water a lot more to make it clearer (I hope). I've also reduced the amount of water I used - I wonder if it will work better with less water and thinner ice as a result?

One final thing I might change is the composition, I've been considering getting really close up until now, but I wonder how this would look with a rose bud or something in a block of ice... Might be time to look for another container.

...take a picture of.

I recently joined the CPA, a photographic club in Belfast. I'd spent the summer debating the feasibility of doing a course and came to the conclusion that it was the one thing that might actually put me off photography - I'm always busy at home or with work and being forced into assignments and study would soon drive me up the wall.

So, I joined the CPA since a friend had recommended them to me last year. I've been to a few meetings at this stage and the talks are interesting. What's really good is seeing other peoples work and getting an honest assessment of some of the things I've taken. Everyone who comments here is great (and I thank you for it), but it's nice to have someone tell you in person that you suck (courtesy 'yerman'). that said, everyone has been brilliant.

One of the interesting features of the club is the competition nights. Essentially each month members submit photos on a topic and the best are sent forward into an inter-club competition.

Anyway, next months competition is on the subject of water. Yep. Water. That's it. No advice, no information, just one word. WATER.

Expect a lot of wet photographs over the next few weeks is all I can say.

OK, I know I have these pictures from last year.

I also have countless other pictures of beaches and lakes and such, but I really want to use the topic as a chance to take something new.

When I got home today, I decided to start simple, just squirting some water onto a tin tray...

(f/9, 1/40sec, 50mm,  +4 close up filter, ISO-400, 22/09/2008)

First thoughts...

This isn't sharp enough. Taken free hand with a close up filter at 1/40 just isn't going to work well. The decided lack of shadow/feature is also a bleurg (technical word).

I like the colour though. And be honest, if I didn't tell you it was rotated 180 degrees, you'd never know...

One thing always annoyed me about post processing and that was the capability of the machine I was doing it on. It's hard to mask something when the pc is 30 seconds behind you. It's impossible when it's 2 - 3 minutes...

Well, in an effort to make life a little easier, I've upgraded my pc to some new dual core thingmabob and bought some new peripherals and such. I'll let you know how I get on.

But in the meantime, hopefully this post will prove I can still post to the blog, and this picture will continue my experiments with de-saturation.

(f/4, 1/400sec, 50mm, ISO-200, 07/09/2008)

Thumb sized? That makes sense.

With a snazzy little clip thing for your camera strap? Sure.

But black?

Yeah, because when you drop that into a hedge it's going to be real easy to find again.

Yup, the second casualty of my camera life was my little Canon remote control. (The first was a tripod in Dublin, remember?). There I was clicking away and minding my own business, when suddenly fickle lady luck played a hand and my little remote shot off to join the land of the bogs and bushes that is Donegal.

Pain in the...

I didn't realise how much I depended on it until it was gone. Needless to say I had to order a new one.

Now to find a big piece of reflective tape or a "come find me" beeper thing for it...

And do you know what the worst bit of it was? The last picture I took with it wasn't even that great.

(f/22, 22mm, HDR composed of 1/8sec, 1/15sec, 1/4sec, ISO - 200, 06/09/08)

After the Peoples Photography I found myself sliding into the blues as I reviewed my last year. Not because I felt I'd done badly, more that mentally I'd reset the clock and was starting out on another year of photography. The slate was clean so to speak. Mentally I'd decided that I was going to move on from last years pictures and treat this year as a brand new year, with brand new challenges. Essentially filing last years pictures in the done box.

I'd heard a photographer in England once describe how he destroyed all his photographs every year and how cathartic and refreshing he found the experience.

...

Well, bugger that.

After a week in the dumps, I remembered that they're my photographs and I can do what I want with them. So I looked through them again. It was a hell of a fun year for me to even get to the distance I managed.

Onwards and upwards I say. But now by building on the last year of photo!

...

Anyway, I took this at the weekend. It's had the saturation dropped a little to make it a bit more low key and moody.

I think it's a good example of how things have changed in a year for me. this old swing has been in this field for eons. I walked past it with the camera a few times last year and never saw the picture until the weekend. I'm not sure I did it justice, but it's a decent example of how my approach to a shot has evolved in a year.

(f/2.5, 1/1600sec, 50mm, ISO-200, 07/09/08)