Morning meditations, in a foggy kilkenny landscape
Nikon D200, 50mm f1.4 lens, iso 1600
Fog over a Kilkenny Farm
Kilkenny Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
Morning meditation
I find nothing to fill the emptiness,
Of a very cold grey moment
In the endless time of my waking up attempts,
When feeling is painful and the morning is fogged,
Time comes and goes as I try to understand,
Understanding becomes big, huge as a true thing can be,
Truth is relative they say,
Points of view and ways to see,
Interacting is so self defined,
Perceptions float when empty seems deathlike,
Silence in and out is not necessarily peace,
Nothing is rational in a sleepy fogged mind,
But the sun has no fault for this,
So,
I decide to get up from my warm bed,
In a fogged, cold, grey and empty morning,
Carry on my sleepy, fogged mind,
With the conviction this certainly is a different day.
By : Mirela Kapaj
Cuckoo flowers, on the kings river
Canon G1 x, iso 100, f2.8
Cuckoo flowers
landscape photography
Nigel Borrington
Cuckoo flowers on the banks of the Kings river, Kells, County kilkenny…..
Sunday evenings….
Nikon D700
Kilkenny Landscape
Landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
Sunday evenings are my favourite time of the week, hopefully your mind has been stripped down, cleared out and ready go into the new week ahead!
Its the weekend so…..
Nikon D7000, 50mm f1.4 lens,iso 100
Kilkenny landscape view
Nigel Borrington
Its the weekend so take a country walk and stop for the views………..
Rosebuds of May
Nikon D700, 50mm f1.4 lens
White rosebuds and flowers
Landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
I love this time of year, our hedgerow is coming alive with all kinds of life, these white wild roses are just one wonderful example.
Nikon D700, 50mm f1.4 lens
White rosebuds and flowers
Landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
When these Roses come out each year they are always wonderful to look at but they last such a short time, I would love it if they flowered all summer…
A Poem by :Robert Herrick
Gather ye rose-buds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying:
And this same flower that smiles to-day,
To-morrow will be dying.
The glorious Lamp of Heaven, the Sun,
The higher he’s a-getting
The sooner will his race be run,
And nearer he’s to setting.
That age is best which is the first,
When youth and blood are warmer:
But being spent, the worse, and worst
Times, still succeed the former.
Then, be not coy, but use your time;
And while ye may, go marry:
For having lost but once your prime,
You may for ever tarry.
Nikon D700, 50mm f1.4 lens
White rosebuds and flowers
Landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
Nikon D700, 50mm f1.4 lens
White rosebuds and flowers
Landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
Mystery of a place – Castlemorris house and gardens
Fujifilm X100
The Green door
Irish landscape photography: Nigel Borrington
This old door and the stone shed it is attached to is all that remains of one of Ireland greatest ever country houses, The house had some 356 windows and belonged to the Montmorency family.
In its day in the mid-19th century, it was one of the finest (and largest) houses in Ireland at that time and compared well with Bessborough in Piltown.
Built around 1751 in the parish of Aghaviller, the Castlemorris estate was previously known as “Diore Lia” (a grey wood). Formerly home to the Morres and de Montmorency families, the family vault can still be seen in the local churchyard.
The churchyard also contains the remains of an ancient round tower. Built to protect the occupants and valuables of monastic settlements from Viking raids, these towers dot the Nore valley.
In 1924 the house was sold to the Land Commission. In the early 1930s it was unroofed and a demolition sale took place. Many parts of the house can be found in houses around the country.
The house itself was finally demolished in 1978. The grounds now merge with other Coillte woods, totalling approximately 2,000 acres in the district. Ms de Montmorency-Wright gave an excellent talk and should be complimented for her extensive research into her family and their association with Castlemorris.
This old red door – Goresbridge, Kilkenny
Fujifilm X100
KIlkenny photograher, Nigel Borrington
The old Mill at Goresbridge
When I was considering posting these images, I was wondering if I should show the setting of this old and wonderful red mill door. Its located on the site of on old mill sitting on the river Barrow as it runs through Goresbridge, county Kilkenny.
Sometimes just displaying something like a door just by itself can create a Mystery.
On this occasion, I will show the door in its location, I am however thinking of creating a series of images that do separate these kind of subject’s from their surroundings.
Fujifilm X100
KIlkenny photograher, Nigel Borrington
The old Mill at Goresbridge
Fujifilm X100
KIlkenny photograher, Nigel Borrington
The old Mill at Goresbridge
In ancient woodlands, bluebells and wild garlic grow
Fujifil X100
Kilkenny Ireland
Landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
In Ancient Woodlands
We walked within an ancient wood
Beside the path
Where oak and beech and hazel stood,
Their leaves the pale shades of May.
By bole and bough, still black with rain,
The sunlight filtered where it would
Across a glowing, radiant stain—
We stood within a bluebell wood!
And stood and stood, both lost for words,
As all around the woodland rang
And echoed with the cries of birds
Who sang and sang …
My mind has marked that afternoon
To hoard against life’s stone and sling;
Should I go late, or I go soon,
The bluebells glow where wild garlic grows— the birds still sing.
Fujifilm X100
Kilkenny Ireland
Landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
St Patrick well
St Patrick’s well is located In Clonmel, County Tipperary.
The Well pre-dates Christian times by a considerable period, clearly only being referred to as belonging to St Patrick since he or the local church converted the local people to Christianity.
“The Celtic pre-Christian period.
There is a lot of evidence to show that in ancient Ireland well worship was widely practised. Many if not all of Ireland’s holy wells of later Christian times had been objects of pagan veneration, and regarded as sacred, centuries before the advent of Christianity. In fact many Irish place names which have their origins dating from pre-Christian times are derived from wells. One of those sacred springs Tipra Arann in the present Barony of Clanwilliam around Tipperary Town, gave its name to County Tipperary. In the Bronze Age there seems to have been no temples constructed for the purposes of worship. Pagan rites were performed in the open air. Those were places of popular assembly as well as centres for pagan worship and sacrifices.”
Sacrifices ? There is no evidence of this so I think the writer of the page is talking about offerings. Items of personal value placed into the well as a thank you to the water gods.
“St Patrick and his disciples on their travels throughout the country took advantage of those assemblies to preach the Gospel and to baptise the new converts. To St. Patrick coming from lands within the former Roman Empire some of those Celtic customs must have appeared strange. Well worship was re-orientated and transformed into a Christian context. In due course, from being places where pagan rites had been performed, the wells became places of Christian worship. There was a tradition which has died out that people visited St Patrick’s Well before sunrise on the first day of May – a date which coincides with the Celtic Festival of Bealtaine.”
I find the idea of Holy wells in the early Christian period to be fascinating, It appears, as covered above to be a clear attempt by the church to override the previous worship of water gods and to move this worship over to the new God that the modern christian church now worships.
River Anner, Clonmel, County Tipperary
Nikon D700, 18mm focus length, f8, 30 seconds exposure
Hoya R72 Infrared filter
Irish Landscape Photography: Nigel Borrington
I first exhibited this Infra-red photograph of this bridge that crosses the river Anner, Clonmel, County Tipperary. The exhibition was held in the public Library in Clonmel town.
Boarding the Titanic
Fujifilm X100
Titanic Museum, Cobh, County Cork
Irish Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
This small pier that now looks well past its best days, helped transport one hundred and twenty three passengers from the white star line booking hall at Cobh/queenstown county cork on to small ferry’s and then on to the HMS Titanic before she set sail to New York.
This is the list of Titanic Passenger boarding at queenstown (11 April 1912 a:10:30am d:13:40pm) on that day. While visiting the museum and Pier you cannot help but feel the moment when these people boarded their boats and looked back at the harbour of Queenstown as they headed towards the Titanic. At the time of course they were only looking forward to a new life or the great experiences that they had ahead of themselves.
We however cannot help but view these moments in a different light….
In the above passenger listing, If the passenger survived the events that followed they are listed in the boat number that they were found in, if they didn’t they are listed as a body or if they were not found they have no entry in the last two columns.
Fujifilm X100
Fishing Harbour, Cobh, County Cork
Irish Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
Fujifilm X100
View of Cobh, County Cork
Irish Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
Fujifilm X100
Titanic Museum, Cobh, County Cork
Irish Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
Sunday evening Walks
Canon G1x
Sunday Evening in Tipperary
Canon G1x
Sunday Evening in Tipperary
I love Sunday evenings at this time of year, we go out to walk the dog and just take our time to let the last hours of the weekend pass us by.
I love to stop for a little and just take in the views, camera in hand to record these still moments. Not even a tractor is moving ……
Allihies
Allihies area from the old Cloan hills road.
Nikon D7000, 24-85mm f3.5 lens.
Allihies, west cork
Irish Landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
Allihies, west cork, offers one of Ireland’s most remote and stunning Landscapes, This shot was taken on a visit Last year.
The old Cloan, copper mining road out of the town gives some stunning landscape views of the area below
It also passes the old copper mines in the hills above the town.
Torc waterfall
The Torc river and waterfall are located in The Killarney Nation Park, county Kerry. These four images show some of the rivers flow over the Torc Waterfall and into Muckross lake below.
Nikon D200, 35mm f2.8 lens
Irish Landscape Photograhy : Nigel Borrington
Nikon D200, 35mm f2.8 lens
Irish Landscape Photograhy : Nigel Borrington
Nikon D200, 35mm f2.8 lens
Irish Landscape Photograhy : Nigel Borrington
Nikon D200, 35mm f2.8 lens
Irish Landscape Photograhy : Nigel Borrington
The D200 camera was mounted on a tripod for all these images and I used a slow shutter speeds to blur the rivers water flow.
Wet photo days on the canal
Nikon Fm2n, 35mm f2.5 lens
Kodak T-max 100, film
Nigel Borrington
I took these images back in 1986, with my then first SLR camera a Nikon fm2n, we were holidaying on a long boat that you can see in the second photo, for a week.
From what I can remember I don’t think we had one day without it raining and spent most of the time in the boat in front of a fire or in a pub drying out, its funny, at the same time you remember moments like this with great fondness!
This set of images has also reminded me to get back on track for my DIY film development project, I made a few phone calls and just need to go collect everything that I finally need to get on.
Nikon Fm2n, 35mm f2.5 lens
Kodak T-max 100, film
Nikon Fm2n, 35mm f2.5 lens
Kodak T-max 100, film
Nikon Fm2n, 35mm f2.5 lens
Kodak T-max 100, film
Kite Flyer – Bunmahon Beach
Nikon D200. 50mm f1.4 lens, iso100
Kite Flyer,Bunmahon Beach, county waterford
Landscape photography by kilkenny based photographer : Nigel Borrington
I first displayed this image as part of a photography exhibition about six years ago, It was taken on a very wet day on the beach and it was a pleasure to work with about five Kite flyers for the day. Keeping the camera dry was a skill I had to learn very quickly…..
Nigel
Kilkenny Castle
Nikon D90, iso 160, 50mm f1.4 lens
The Parade, kilkenny
Landscape photography : nigel Borrington
Matt the Millers Kilkenny
Nikon D90, iso 160, 50mm f1.4 lens
Matt the Millers Pub, kilkenny
Landscape photography : nigel Borrington
For anyone who is thinking of getting a basic slr camera, I think this night-time image of Matt the Millers in Kilkenny shows that you should give the Nikon D90 a good looking at. The D90 is one of Nikon’s longest ever running digital cameras and for good reason, for a starter or even for a Professional ( as a go anywhere, do anything, bottom of the bag camera ) its image quality is simply stunning. I have owned one since they came out and have love it from day one its not my only camera body and is down my list a little, but its one I will continue to use in its right place.
Personally, I go off results not what the Camera snobs say and this camera produces the results every time!
You can get them for around €550, or €350 body only on ebay…..
Kilkenny photography
Nikon D90 with IR720 Infra-red filter on a 50mm f1.4 lens
Castlecomer discovery park, County Kilkenny
Landscape photography: Nigel Borrington
Another Infra-red image from the Discovery park, Castlecomer, County Kilkenny.
Deep dark water, infra-red photography
Nikon D90 with IR720 Infra-red filter on a 50mm f1.4 lens
Castlecomer discovery park, County Kilkenny
Landscape photography: Nigel Borrington
One reason I truly love monochrome images is for the contrast range that can be achieved, no where is this more possible than when attaching an IR720 filter on to a lens.
This filter only lets in Infra-red light and excludes any other light wavelength, Thus anything that is emitting IR light will be recorded in light tones and any other area of the image will appear dark a deep, deep black.
It is this very high contrast that is so hard to achieve in photography, without post processing software. Using an IR720 filter however can produce this effect in images right out of the camera and they just look wonderful.
You do have some issues to over come however, you need to pre-focus and lock the focus before attaching the filter to the lens. You need long exposures and you need to experiment with the correct selection of setting for this by taking many shots as you will not truly be able to see the results until you get home.
You can get a camera completely converted to Infra-red, but this is expensive and may not always work i.e. the focusing system fails to work and some sensors produce better results than others.
Its the weekend so…
Why not…
Travel some old roads…..
Visit some places you have not seen for a long time !!
Stop and take in the view…
Or find a beach and have some fun….
This Old Caravan
Nikon D200, 50mm f1.4 lens
The old Caravan
Walton Court, Oysterhaven Bay
County Cork
I took these images one September afternoon while we were on a weeks holiday at Walton Court, Kinsale, County Cork. I was walking our dog Molly down towards the beach when we came across this old wooden Caravan.
I just had to get some shots, it makes you wonder about the life it has had and how long it has been sitting here.
I found the owner the next day and its been a long term dream to restore it but I think the downturn has probably delayed that a little, one day however it would be wonderful to see it looking as new
Nigel
Two boats and Windermere
Nikom D200. 50mm f1.4 lens
Two Boats and Windermere
Nigel Borrington
This photo was taken one morning at a small bay on lake windermere in the lake district national park, Windermere is some 18km long and at it widest some 2km wide. Its one of the most beautiful places I know and if you can spend sometime you will find many wonderful location just to set and read and study the wildlife or nature it offers.
Even just to sit and look at these two boats moving slowly in the water is something I will always remember.
So then Windermere and two boats and one cleared out mind!
Tramore Beach
Nikon D200, 35mm focal length f2.8 lens, Iso 800
Tramore Beach,
County Waterford
Word list and play:
People, beach, sand, sounds, waves, cars, chips, cans, parking, fun, dogs, running, holes, digging, walking, sitting, looking, sleeping, parents, kids, couples, crying, kicking, ball, boats, boards, paper, bags….
Feel free to add more !
Nigel Borrington 
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