Cloughglass Beach holds a lot of sentimentality for me. It was one of the very first places I ever deliberately went with a dSLR just to take pictures.
It’s kind of amazing what 5 years, several thousand pounds of gear and the right light can do.
It’s been a quiet summer photographically. I’ve taken a decent number of photographs, but not the sort of things that I’d normally share here. After the frenzy of the Lagan Sessions, it was good to sit back, reflect an do other things.
But, as September approaches a new camera club season beckons and a few other things begin to creep in. All heralded by a photography weekend away in Donegal.
I believe this boat is referred to locally as Eddies Boat. You’ll probably be sick looking at it as I’ve a few shots of it I like.
The Mortello Tower, just outside Dungloe.
Festival time in Donegal is a great time to people watch and if you’ve blue skies it’s even better.
Sometimes, just sometimes, Irish weather plays into your hands.
I might never be a great photographer, but it’s days like this I’m glad I’m learning how to use a camera. I’ve maybe 30 photos of my little girl on the beach and being able to capture the look in her face is worth all the hours of photoshop hell and frustrations in blurred shots.
If there was one new lesson I’d take from this weekend, it’d be “take photos, but have fun too”
When in Donegal, I always seem to end up walking the same route if the weather is good. I’ve taken loads of pictures along the way, always finding something new or a different angle. It’s a good thing to do – it keeps me trying new things.
And of course, the fact there is a pub at the end of the route is a happy coincidence…
An old photo, slightly reworked.
I was looking through the Chromasia tutorials again this evening and it got me playing along with some of his post processing. I’ve mentioned Davids stuff before, but it still amazes me how he ses the final photo from the original.
Anyway, a grab shot in Donegal from Christmas/New Year…
I fully accept black and white conversions aren’t everyones cup of tea. But to be honest, if you’re shooting in digital then any black and white is a conversion and it’s all down to the method you use to make the change.
I’d fully recommend the Chromasia tutorials. Some of it is way beyond me, but he’s very free with his time and a decent guy if you ask questions.
I often take pictures from this pier when I’m on Donegal. It’s close to my in-laws house and it’s always got something interesting on it. Let’s be honest, it’s not the prettiest pier in the world, it’s for local fishermen and as often as not it’s a bit of a mess. But I’ve picked up some nice photos on it, including some which made me decide to take this hobby up in the first place.
This picture isn’t about the pier, it’s about flash guns and night shots.
This was taken over new year, when some of the family went for a walk to help digest dinner. I’d brought the camera with no real hope of any photography beyond family snaps, but the sunset was nice and the opportunity came along.
Key things here are it was shot hand held on a low shutter speed (1/6 sec). The aperture (f/10) was pretty arbitrary really. What made the picture for me was the boat. I’d a flash gun on the camera and I really liked what it did with the boat.
The combination of flash for the subject (the boat) and the slow shutter speed for the ambient light is what makes this shot for me. I guess this is a lot of what’s talked about on the Stobist blog when he uses combinations of natural light and flash guns to make excellent photographs.
I did a little post processing on this. Mostly to remove some ropes which had the boat tethered to the pier. If you look closely you can see a cloning error. I’d love to say I left it in on purpose, but I didn’t and whilst I might remove it later, for now I’ll leave it be.
(Edit: I’m reliably informed it’s Purth, not Perth…. Sorry. I’m a city boy)