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
Fleeting bird, A poem – a moment in flight.
Capturing a birds flight.
Wildlife Photography : Nigel Borrington
Fleeting bird
Fleeting bird
With wingspan so large
Fleeting
Fleeting bird
I did not see you
until you got up to go
Fleeting bird
In the night
You flapped your wings
And went out of sight
I did not know you were there
Right in front of me
This whole time
Seeming to be watching
Waiting
But you withstood your time
And gave up
Before I could even
Glance up
Then flew away
with nothing
But the view
Of a great opportunity
Fleeting
Flying away
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
Happy Burns Night ! , Robert Burns Cottage and home place.
Robert Burns Birthplace Museum
Photography : Nigel Borrington
Happy Burns night to everyone who would like the celibate the life and works of this great Scottish poet and Artists.
The following images are from a visit I made last year to his birthplace Museum located in the town of Ayr, Alloway, Scotland
Once again Happy Burns night !!!
Birthplace Museum
Robert Burns Birthplace Museum offers a truly unique encounter with Scotland’s favourite son.
The museum comprises the famous Burns Cottage where the poet was born, the historic landmarks where he set his greatest work, the elegant monument and gardens created in his honour and a modern museum housing the world’s most important collection of his life and works.
The images below I feel show the life that this young poet lived and include the small rooms that he grew up in with his brother and sisters ( Analella, Gilbert and Agnes Burn), the display of the bed they shared and their bed clothes, I felt was just brilliant.
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!
The Herons flight , Galway Bay.
Herons flying above Galway bay
Nature Photography Nigel Borrington
On a very enjoyable visit, I managed to Capture these Herons during a spring time visit to Galway Bay. At this time of year the Local Herons are hunting along the coast line for fish and getting ready to nest build in the spring.
To get these images I stood under some trees along side a beach and captured them as they flew above me.
The Herons flight : Gallery
Nature photography : Wood and Common Puffball Mushrooms.
Wood Mushrooms, Kilkenny woodlands
Irish Nature Photography : Nigel Borrington
Photographing and capturing Nature is something I love doing through out the year.
In January the woodlands are still full of life, it may be a little harder to find but it is still all around. Mushroom are enjoying a very mild winter here in Ireland and I managed to find and capture these (Wood Mushrooms and Common Puffball Mushrooms) yesterday in a local woodland nature reserve.
Gallery and details
Common Puff ball Mushrooms
Lycoperdon perlatum, popularly known as the common puffball, warted puffball, gem-studded puffball, or the devil’s snuff-box, is a species of puffball fungus in the family Agaricaceae. A widespread species with a cosmopolitan distribution, it is a medium-sized puffball with a round fruit body tapering to a wide stalk, and dimensions of 1.5 to 6 cm (0.6 to 2.4 in) wide by 3 to 7 cm (1.2 to 2.8 in) tall. It is off-white with a top covered in short spiny bumps or “jewels”, which are easily rubbed off to leave a netlike pattern on the surface. When mature it becomes brown, and a hole in the top opens to release spores in a burst when the body is compressed by touch or falling raindrops.
The puffball grows in fields, gardens, and along roadsides, as well as in grassy clearings in woods. It is edible when young and the internal flesh is completely white, although care must be taken to avoid confusion with immature fruit bodies of poisonous Amanita species. L. perlatum can usually be distinguished from other similar puffballs by differences in surface texture. Several chemical compounds have been isolated and identified from the fruit bodies of L. perlatum, including sterol derivatives, volatile compounds that give the puffball its flavor and odor, and the unusual amino acid lycoperdic acid. Laboratory tests indicate that extracts of the puffball have antimicrobial and antifungal activities.
Wood Mushrooms
This species was originally noted and named in 1753 by Carolus Linnaeus as Agaricus campestris. It was placed in the genus Psalliota by Lucien Quelet in 1872. Some variants have been isolated over the years, a few of which now have species status, for example, Agaricus bernardii Quel. (1878), Agaricus bisporus (J.E. Lange) Imbach (1946), Agaricus bitorquis (Quel.) Sacc. (1887), Agaricus cappellianus Hlavacek (1987), and Agaricus silvicola (Vittad.) Peck (1872).
Some were so similar they did not warrant even variant status, others have retained it e.g. Agaricus campestris var. equestris (F.H. Moller) Pilat (1951) is still valid, and presumably favors pasture where horses have been kept. Agaricus campestris var isabellinus (F.H. Moller) Pilat (1951), and Agaricus campestris var.radicatus, are possibly still valid too.
The specific epithet campestris is derived from the Latin campus “field”.
The cap is white, may have fine scales, and is 5 to 10 centimetres (2.0 to 3.9 in) in diameter; it is first hemispherical in shape before flattening out with maturity. The gills are initially pink, then red-brown and finally a dark brown, as is the spore print. The 3 to 10 centimetres (1.2 to 3.9 in) tall stipe is predominantly white and bears a single thin ring. The taste is mild. The white flesh bruises slightly reddish, as opposed to yellow in the inedible (and somewhat toxic) Agaricus xanthodermus and similar species.
The spores are 7–8 micrometres (0.00028–0.00031 in) by 4–5 micrometres (0.00016–0.00020 in), and ovate. Cheilocystidia are absent.
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 first flowers of Spring
Snow drops, the first flowers of spring
Nature photography : Nigel Borrington
Each January The first flowers of spring are the snow drops, I love to see these flowers, the winter is not yet over, yet they bring into your mind the spring that will soon be here.
Snow drops…..
Early in the Spring
County Kilkenny, woodland landscape
Irish Landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
Early in the Spring
By : James Kent
Early in the spring
Not a leaf has struck the ground
The swallow has yet to sing
And the plowmen are no where to be found
Early in the spring
The forest stands still
And no creature dare come out
Before the sun rises o’er the hill
Early in the spring
The valley holds the morning dew
And its serenity may be captured
By only a certain few
.
Early in the spring
The trees turn, brown to green
Many changes occur
But few can be seen
Early in the spring
Or in the latter of fall
No matter the change of season
The evergreen stands tall
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 ….. ?
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