Ireland's Changing Skies #1 [Sky Watch Friday]

In the 10 days we toured Ireland, we experienced a wide variety of changes in the sky, which contributed to constant shifts in lighting and atmosphere. We learned that sun, blue skies and white clouds are not always what you want to see. The images below illustrate that point.

The above image was shot through our tour bus window.

 

I am always inspired to shoot landscape scenes where different regions of lighting are involved. It takes both patience and some luck to get what you want -- in the above case, luck was more of a factor.

This shot was another of my through-the-bus-window series. Yes, it eventually rained, but our spirits remained high.

My last example of how a rainy/foggy day adds to the mood of an image.

 

Ireland Country Roads

The images below would fit nicely in the coming Sunday Stills; viz, roads. But, no archive photos were permitted, even if they are only a few weeks old (?). Be that as it may, the topic piqued my interest as I looked through the shots from our trip to Ireland earlier this month. 

 The above was shot through the bus window -- it just happened to be our turn to sit in the front row, so I had my camera ready to shoot . Well, I lost no time in getting this canopy of branches/leaves over the road. It was a lucky catch.

This was taken during one of our numerous photo-ops along the way; but, the target was in a different direction. I looked around and felt that this view was actually the more interesting one.

What I like about this shot is that it gives you some idea of the narrow roads [one of the few straight stretches you'll encounter in Ireland --LOL--]. Imagine that these roads are shared between autos and big buses/trucks. This particular shot was taken along the Ring of Kerry -- the rugged landscape, stoned walls and a portion of the Atlantic all contribute to a unique atmosphere.

Ireland Panoramas [Sky Watch Friday]

We had a wonderful vacation in Ireland traveling with CIE Tours. Part of the pleasure of such a visit is the interaction with fellow tour members. However, the beauty and history of Ireland suffice to entertain and interest everyone. The top panorama of the Dublin skyline was shot from the 7th floor of the Guinness Brewery; it is a merge of 7 separate images. The white hemispherical objects in the right-center foreground cover huge beer storage containers [140,000 liters each]. The middle and bottom panoramas were shot at Kenmare Bay [along the Ring of Kerry]. The bottom one was made by merging images shot in vertical format [one usually sees panos made by merging horizontal format images, as in the two upper images]. In subsequent weeks, I will add some other shots taken on the trip.

Southern France highlights [Skywatch Friday]

We are still feeding off the two summer trips around France in the early 90’s. It’s hard to imagine today shooting with film and having to wait weeks to get slides back before seeing how they came out -- not to mention having to be more selective and economical in the number of shots taken. Digital has turned that upside down. Anyway, here are a few images scanned from those old slides. The aqueduct, Pont du Gard, was in southern France [near Uzes], as was the sunflower field.