I have come down from the Mountain, Poem by : Donald J Bennett
Comeragh Mountains, County Waterford
Irish landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
I have come down from the mountain
By : Donald J Bennett
I have come down from the mountain
The mountain of my youthful days
I have stumbled along the rock strewn path
The path of life that leads downward towards my final days
The long journey has rendered me bruised and battered
But I have found a trove of treasure along the way
The love of my family, and my friends are the treasures
These are the treasures that I hold so dear each and every day
This Morning I shared a post talking about an old lens ( A Tamrom 24mm f2.5 lens) I have owned for many years, the images here are taken very recently using this lens.
Down from the Mountain a Gallery
Two canal locks and one old Tamron 24mm lens.
Tamron Adaptall 24mm f2.5 lens
Two Locks one lens many years of enjoyment
For some 40 years I have been taking Landscape photographs in both the UK and Ireland, one of the very first lenses I purchased when I first got a Nikon 35mm film SLR, was this 24mm F2.5 Tamron, wide angle Lens, purchased in 1987.
The images below are from a visit I made to Top side lock, near Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire in the south of England a wonderful old lock with a lock keepers house. The second image is from Ballyellin lower lock on the river Barrow, County Carlow , Ireland, taken in January this year.
Sometime keeping a hold onto equipment that you like using and that work very well, is far more important that searching for the new. Endlessly upgrading equipment has become the norm, we live in an age of none stop upgrades yet now and again it is still possible to keep a hold of the old and trusted things.
This lens works very well and in many cases even better now that its used with a digital camera body.
It is a manual focus lens yet because it contains all the focus and aperture details on the lens barrel it is very easy to use, you can set it up for what is known as Hyper-focus and shoot all day like this.
I just love using this lens and get a real kick from the fact it still works so well.
Tarmon 24mm f2.5, Nikon Manual exposure SLR film camera
Tarmon 24mm f2.5, Nikon Digital SLR camera
Top side lock , Grand union Canal, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom
.
Ballyellin Lower lock, County Carlow, Ireland
Following the light .
Following the suns light through the trees
Castlemorris Woodlands , County KIlkenny
Irish Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
During the Winter months the Suns is sitting low in the sky for most of the day, this is a feature that I personally like a lot when taking images. Long shadows form on the landscape from woodlands and trees , hedge rows form deep and dark areas in your images during the morning and long into the afternoon.
What about the Sun in the deepness of the forests, its light finds it hard to penetrate far into the woodlands and onto forest floors.
If you get as deep into the woods as you can and find an thinned area of old tall trees however the light that does get through can be used to wonderful effect, in the images below I did my best to capture the light that was getting through, making use of some moss covered rocked and the trunks of the trees themselves.
One thing I noticed was that if you position the sun right behind a tree , the light wraps its way around both sides of the trees in front of you, forming an outline of sun light.
I also very much like placing the sun on the very edge of the image or just outside it and using lens flare to bring a beam of light on to some of the rocks and plants.
Following the suns light through the trees: Gallery
Borris Viaduct, County Carlow
Borris Viaduct, Co Carlow, Ireland
Irish Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
In January I visited the Viaduct in Borris, County Carlow.
The Viaduct is Located just north of the town and was an amazing construction for its day, back in the 1800’s this construction help link north county Carlow to county Wexford for both passenger transport and goods – daily , until 1947.
History
On the 1st January 1855 the first ground was cut near Borris, County Carlow, for what was to be the Bagenalstown County Carlow to Wexford, Railway.
However with expensive construction costs and difficult terrain the company only ever made it half way to Ballywilliam in county Wexford, shortly after going bankrupt with debts of £100,000.
After a period of failed ownerships the railway was sold for £24,000 by the board of works to GS&WR in 1876. Passenger services ceased on the 2nd Febuary 1931, a goods service remaining until 27th January 1947, CIE finally closed the line on the 1st January 1963, 108 years to the day after the first ground was cut near Borris.
Visiting the Location
The day I visited here it was very damp and cold as you can see in the images.
The Viaduct is located on a farm and is used as a public foot-path, access is through the grounds of a local school. The path up to the level that the rail line would have been on is steep but easy to walk up.
The first thing you notice is that the walls each side of the Viaduct and the path are very low and are not fenced, so you feel that you want to walk down the centre of the path. It is a good few hundred meters to the end of the Viaduct itself but the walk is well worth it as the views of County Carlow from here are spectacular !!
Once you reach the end of the path the old rail line cuts through some trees, there are picnic areas offering some great views of the county, at the end of this wooded part of the walk is a small bridge with a well kept garden and another picnic area.
You get the feeling that this is a much love and well kept area for the town and a pleasure to visit.
If you are in county Carlow you simply have to pay it a visit.
Location Gallery
When the river floods
The River Suir, Kilsheelan, County Tipperary
Irish Landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
The power and energy of a flowing river has to be one of the wonders of nature, if you live anywhere near a river you will know very well the seasonal effects that wet and dry weather can bring to the environment of the river banks.
We have had about two months of very wet weather here In Ireland and it has created some of the worst floods for over a hundred years, in many towns along Ireland’s river banks.
These images, I feel show the effects and power of the flooding river Suir, County Tipperary. The river level here is about eight foot higher than its normal level and none of the river banks can be walked along. Two the pictures show the posts of some steps that you walk through to get to the banks of the river, they are fully submerged under about 4 feet of water.
I took these images on Monday of this week, since then the water level is even higher.
The river Suir in flood : Gallery
A morning walk on the hill
Carrigmaclear hill, County Tipperary
Irish Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
This Morning the weather here was a welcome break from the days of rain we have been having since Christmas. Parts of the south of Ireland has been getting the
worst floods for over a hundred years.
This Morning however we had clear blue sky’s and a frost, I just had to get out early and take a walk. Carrigmaclear is a local hill near the mountain of SLievenamon , County Tipperary, the following images are taken on this mornings walk in the first light of the day.
Gallery
When I Am Among the Trees, Poem by : Mary Oliver
Castlemorris Woodlands , County KIlkenny
Irish Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
When I Am Among the Trees
by Mary Oliver
When I am among the trees,
especially the willows and the honey locust,
equally the beech, the oaks and the pines,
they give off such hints of gladness.
I would almost say that they save me, and daily.
I am so distant from the hope of myself,
in which I have goodness, and discernment,
and never hurry through the world
but walk slowly, and bow often.
.
Around me the trees stir in their leaves
and call out, “Stay awhile.”
The light flows from their branches.
And they call again, “It’s simple,” they say,
“and you too have come
into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled
with light, and to shine.”
Seeing into the light , By : Diana van den Berg
The Light through the clouds, Suir river valley , Tipperary
Irish landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
Seeing the Morning light
By : Diana van den Berg
Dreaming into the light
swimming
flying
embracing
touching
the spreading awareness
warm light
light
losing self in the light
light
finding the harmony of balance
in namaste and ubuntu
and the messages of the clouds
in the light
light
spreading
amongst tall sunpainted autumn grasses
inhaling the unconscious grace
of a giraffe melting into
the late afternoon gold
of light caressing the shadows
and drawing them
into the light
light light…
Getting close in the landscape
Following the fence
Irish Landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
Way back in 1986 I purchased a Tamron SP500 f8 Mirror (Telephoto) lens from a camera shop in London, it was second hand and cost around £150 back then.
The lens is reviewed very well here : Photozone review
I came across this lens again while sorting out some equipment last week and could not resist taking some images with it, so I put it onto my Sigma x3 camera and took a walk with both through some local fields.
I am not going to reviews the lens as such here as this is done so well in the above review, what I would say however is that this is a manual focus lens that is able and very capable of producing some very detailed and delicate images.
I really enjoyed using it again, if you are looking for a lens that is quick to use then this lens is not for you. If you take your time while creating your images however then this lens offers some very different and interesting results. I very much liked the shallow depth of field, there is something about the design in a mirror lens that produces a very find focus area in the image results.
I also felt that the combination of this lens alongside the sigma x3 sensor, produced some of the closest results to using film that I have noticed while using a digital camera.
The lens is very sharp, it produces wonderful colour and contrast, focuses down to 1.7 meters from the nearest subject and has a very shallow depth of field through out its focus range. Photographers spend a lifetime looking for lenses that have these features along with very distinctive results, if you can give this lens the time to learn how best to use it, I feel you will love it !
These lenses are often for sale on Ebay, if you want to purchases one and try one out !
Gallery
Hookhead lighthouse , From day into night : Image Gallery
Hookhead lighthouse, county wexford
Irish landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
One evening a little time back , while staying in country Wexford, I visited the lighthouse at Hookhead.
I always wanted to visit this great lighthouse, just before dusk and at the point that the lights are turned on for the night. It was a great feeling to stand below the tower and experience the darkness arriving over the coastline of Wexford.
The following images show this transition from evening light to darkness over the open Celtic sea.
Gallery
Captain of the lighthouse. by : Togara Muzanenhamo
Hook head Lighthouse, county Wexford
Irish landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
CAPTAIN OF THE LIGHTHOUSE
By : Togara Muzanenhamo
The late hour trickles into morning. The cattle low profusely by the anthill
where brother and I climb and call Land’s End. We are watchmen
overlooking a sea of hazel-acacia-green, over torrents of dust whipping about
in whirlwinds and dirt tracks that reach us as firths.
We man our lighthouse – cattle as ships. We throw warning lights whenever
they come too close to our jagged shore. The anthill, the orris-earth
lighthouse, from where we hurl stones like light in every direction.
Tafara stands on its summit speaking in sea-talk, Aye-aye me lad – a ship’s a-
coming! And hurls a rock at the cow sailing in. Her beefy hulk jolts and turns.
Aye, Captain, another ship saved! I cry and furl my fingers into an air-long
telescope – searching for more vessels in the day-night.
Now they low on the anthill, stranded in the dark. Their sonorous cries haunt
through the night. Aye, methinks, me miss my brother, Captain of the
lighthouse, set sail from land’s end into the deepest seventh sea.
Moor Abbey , County Tipperary
Moor Abbey, Co. Tipperary
Irish Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
Located in the beautiful Glen of Aherlow, looking out to the stunning Galtee Mountains are the ruins of Moor Abbey.
This Franciscan friary was founded in the 13th century by Donnchad Móir Ó Briain, King of Thomond (1210-1242). Historical evidence suggests that in 1471 a new church was constructed at the site, but that the following year it was destroyed by fire. The buildings that survive today date from this period.
The church consists of a nave and chancel, separated by a tall bell-tower. In the chancel is a double piscina for washing liturgical vessels. Beside the doorway in the north wall of the chancel is a stoup which contained holy water that would have served the friars entering the church from the sacristy which formerly stood to the north.
In 1541 the friary was dissolved and later became the property of John Fitzgerald, brother of the Earl of Desmond. In 1569, during a rebellion led by the Earl of Desmond, the abbey was burned by government soldiers led by Sir Humphrey Gilbert, originally from Devon and a half-brother of Sir Walter Raleigh. The following year Fr. Dermot O’Mulrooney and two other friars returned to the friary, but were murdered by government forces.
The south east of Ireland has many Abbey’s such as this one, Moor Abbey however is top of my personal list. I love a visit here , the Abbey is well kept and the location is just wonderful to spend some time in.
Moor Abbey a Gallery
Youghal lighthouse, county Cork
The Lighthouse at Youghal, county Cork
Irish Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
The lighthouse at Youghal’s, County Cork, is situated on the cliffs at the entrance to Youghal Bay.
The Geraldine owners of the town first built a tower on the site in 1202 and funded the nuns of the Chapel of St. Anne under the condition that they maintain the light in the tower.
his tower was demolished in 1848 to allow for the construction of the present lighthouse due to the large number of vessels using Youghal Bay – over 500 circa 1850.
The current lighthouse was built of granite and began working on 1st February 1852. It has since been automated with a light flashing every 2.5 seconds reaching a distance of 17 nautical miles miles from shore.
There are diving rocks below the lighthouse for those wishing to take a refreshing dip!
Gallery
When the river is high , A black and white image Gallery
When the River is high, the river Suir, County Tipperary
Irish Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
The river Suir in county Tipperary is one place I just love to spend sometime, in the winter it floods and bursts its bands many times. During these times it wonderful to get very close to the river , to walk along its banks and see the fields along side flooded with river water.
These Images are from a walk taken yesterday afternoon, the weather this week is predicted to give even more rain, I may get time to return and see the effect that this will have on the river bank.
When The river is high, Black and white Gallery
A swim at Glenveagh national park.
A swim at Glenveagh National Park
Irish landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
Molly is our ten year old Golden Retriever and she just loves the water, here are some images of her as she was taking a swim the the lake at the Glenveagh National Park, Co. Donegal.
Glenveagh National Park
Glenveagh National Park is one of six national parks in Ireland. Situated in the Northwest of Co. Donegal, Glenveagh encompasses some 16,000 hectares in the heart of the Derryveagh Mountains. Such a great wilderness is the haunt of many interesting plants and animals. These lands were managed as a private deer forest before becoming a national park in 1975. With the completion of public facilities Glenveagh National Park was officially opened to the public in 1986.
Gallery
Winter trees by the river bank
Winter trees along the river Nore, county KIlkenny
Irish Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
A river walk in January along side the river Nore, county kilkenny, offers some great views.
Amongst the best of these views are the great leafless trees, their hight and their shapes casting long shadows, their reflections in the water.
Gallery
My Secret Spot on the Beach, a Poem and images.
Images of an Irish beach
Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
My Secret Spot on the Beach
To a few I showed my secret Spot,
To many I reveal it is on The Beach,
In Waterford, still without my help,
none may find, because is called mine,
My hidden Beach Spot
Its open, its free, yet guarded and protected
All can find, all can see, but beyond the vision,
belongs to me, My Secret Spot,
On the Beach, in Waterford…
A friend I call to Show my Paradise,
and share the secret rooted
inside my heart, with all my soul,
My loved Beach spot,
Loved , and so very special to me!
Following the river over the waterfall
River Pollanassa, Waterfall, Mullinavat, County Kilkenny
Irish landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
County Kilkenny has many rivers both small and large, flowing through its lands. The River Pollanassa, however would not be the best known or the most spectacular of them but for the waterfall it has created as the river flows towards the town of Mullinavat.
The following images show the river as it flows towards, over and past the Waterfall.
The Waterfall at Mullinavat
The Old Dead Tree, By David Harris
An old dead tree, Kilkenny woodlands
Irish Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
The Old Dead Tree
By : David Harris
The old dead tree stood
gnarled weather torn;
its limbs were now brittle.
What stories could it tell
of the centuries it had lived,
the passing lives it had seen,
and the storms it had weathered
when it was young and strong.
When its foliage was green
and gave shelter from the rain.
Now it stands bare and broken,
a sorry sight to be seen.
It must have been beautiful
when it was young
with its canopy of green,
and a nesting place for little birds
among its evergreen.
Now they only used it
as a resting place whenever they pass by.
The old dead tree,
which had seen so much life.
The Unnamed Lake, Poem by : Frederick George Scott (1861-1944)
The Unnamed Lake,Comeragh Mountains,Co.Waterford
Irish Landscape Photography
The Unnamed Lake
By : Frederick George Scott (1861-1944)
IT sleeps among the thousand hills
Where no man ever trod,
And only nature’s music fills
The silences of God.
Great mountains tower above its shore,
Green rushes fringe its brim,
And o’er its breast for evermore
The wanton breezes skim.
Dark clouds that intercept the sun
Go there in Spring to weep,
And there, when Autumn days are done,
White mists lie down to sleep.
Sunrise and sunset crown with gold
The peaks of ageless stone,
Where winds have thundered from of old
And storms have set their throne.
.
No echoes of the world afar
Disturb it night or day,
The sun and shadow, moon and star
Pass and repass for aye.
‘Twas in the grey of early dawn,
When first the lake we spied,
And fragments of a cloud were drawn
Half down the mountain side.
Along the shore a heron flew,
And from a speck on high,
That hovered in the deepening blue,
We heard the fish-hawk’s cry.
Among the cloud-capt solitudes,
No sound the silence broke,
Save when, in whispers down the woods,
The guardian mountains spoke.
.
Through tangled brush and dewy brake,
Returning whence we came,
We passed in silence, and the lake
We left without a name.
Rivers flow, Image Gallery
A Rivers flow
Irish Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
Just standing and watching the flow of a river when I am out walking I find an amazing thing to do , I love the challenge of capturing it even more. Placing a camera on a tripod and using a slow shutter speed about one second or so, it is not a technically difficult thing to do but getting a good composition is a little harder. I love the processing of searching out the best location in the river to place the camera and its usually well worth the time and effort.
I really enjoyed getting the images in this post and its a pleasure to share them.
Gallery
Images of a rivers flow, Flow a Poem by : Noel McGinnis
As Rivers flow
Irish Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
FLOW
By : Noel McGinnis
Be as water is without friction. Flow around the edges of those
within your path. Surround
within your ever-moving
depths those who come to rest
there – enfold them, while never
for a moment holding on. Accept whatever distance others
are moved, within your flow.
Be with them gently, as far as
they allow your strength to take them, and fill with your own being
the remaining space when they are left behind.
When dropping down life’s rapids, froth and bubble into
fragments if you must,
knowing the one of you-now many
will just as many times be one again. And when
you’ve gone as far as you can go,
quietly await your next beginning.
New paintings , Digital art work
Painting from the Irish Bogs.
Digital art work : Nigel Borrington
First paintings for over a year :
Its over a year since I did any painting, I have been working with my photography so much, but as its the start of a new year , I felt a real need to paint again.
This painting is the start of a project I will work on , based on the upland bogs of Kilkenny and Tipperary.
It based on a series of photographic images from these great places.
Nigel Borrington 
Monday mornings in the Mist
Mist on a Monday Morning
Irish Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
Misty Monday Mornings.
Some Monday Mornings start full of purpose, the weekend has revived your spirits and you have a clear focus of what your aims are for the week. Other Monday mornings you just don’t know what your doing, you have aims but they just are not in focus sitting in a misty haze and you just cannot reach out to grab them.
This Monday morning, well ?
It was a wonderful Morning for a walk to clear my mind and try to find some direction, the mist was down on the local fields again and a blue and very peaceful haze just floated about the trees.
After Lunch time I hope the mist will lift ….. ?
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February 10, 2014 | Categories: Comment, Gallery, Kilkenny Landscape images, kilkenny photography, Landscape | Tags: focus, fog, Irish landscape photography, Mist on a Monday Morning Irish Landscape Photography, Misty fields, Monday mornings, Nigel Borrington, Nikon D7000, starting the week | 27 Comments