Golden hour on the River Barrow, Co Kilkenny : Six Images.
Golden hour on the river Barrow,
County Kilkenny.
Irish Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
This September has been one of the warmest and driest in memory and just perfect for late evening walks along our local river banks.
These images are just some I have taken just before sunset each evening, September 2014 is one to remember for a long time !
Golden hour on the River Barrow : Gallery
The Sail boat , Images and then a poem by : Lee Shetzline
Sail Boat with red sail
Brownsea Island
Poole Harbour, Poole, Dorset
Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
The Sail boat on the Water
By : Lee Shetzline
Crisp triangle of red sail,
Standing to attention like tin soldiers,
Solitary and glowing
Amidst the thick blue smudges of water
One drop of color
Accidentally spilled onto an endless Sea
Too wonderful to remove
Irish Photography : Galesquarter Church and Castle, Co. Laois – Gallery
Galesquarter Church, Co. Laois
Irish Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
The Old Castle and church at Galesquarter, Co. Laois was home to the Lords of Upper Ossary the Gaelic Fitzpatrick family (Irish: Mac Gìolla Phádraig) .
The two buildings has stood empty since the 1700’s and today are very much in ruins yet go to make a wonderful site in the Local Landscape.
The Gallery below was taken last weekend on a walk through Galesquarter ending in the Bunlacken hills above.
Galesquarter Church and Castle, Co. Laois : Gallery
This old house at Glengarriff, count Cork (Image and Poem By : Sherri Ramirez )
Old house at Glengarriff, count Cork
Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
This house is very old
By: by Sherri Ramirez
This house is very old.
Yet, it stands so gracefully.
If the walls could only talk.
I bet they’d have a lot to say.
It holds a lot of memories,
buried deep inside.
It seems to stand with attitude,
as if it carries pride.
It stands upon the foundation,
seeming to claim the land.
Refusing to wither from age
with a little help from my man.
Not one room, is a favorite,
each displays a special touch.
It might be old but, we don’t mind.
We love it very much.
5 Images for the week , Friday – Apples and a Poem By : Patrick Kavanagh
An Apple-ripe September morning.
Irish Landscape Photography,
Kilkenny based photographer : Nigel Borrington
Well September is in full flow and one of the most noticeable features of the month is all the Apple trees locally are ready for picking.
Although September marks the end of another summer it offers some of the best gifts of the year.
On An Apple-Ripe September Morning
Patrick Kavanagh
On an apple-ripe September morning
Through the mist-chill fields I went
With a pitch-fork on my shoulder
Less for use than for devilment.
The threshing mill was set-up, I knew,
In Cassidy’s haggard last night,
And we owed them a day at the threshing
Since last year. O it was delight
To be paying bills of laughter
And chaffy gossip in kind
With work thrown in to ballast
The fantasy-soaring mind.
As I crossed the wooden bridge I wondered
As I looked into the drain
If ever a summer morning should find me
Shovelling up eels again.
And I thought of the wasps’ nest in the bank
And how I got chased one day
Leaving the drag and the scraw-knife behind,
How I covered my face with hay.
The wet leaves of the cocksfoot
Polished my boots as I
Went round by the glistening bog-holes
Lost in unthinking joy.
I’ll be carrying bags to-day, I mused,
The best job at the mill
With plenty of time to talk of our loves
As we wait for the bags to fill.
Maybe Mary might call round…
And then I came to the haggard gate,
And I knew as I entered that I had come
Through fields that were part of no earthly estate.
The Hill, a poem by : Jode Cox
Mount Leinster
Irish Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
The Hill
by : Jode Cox
The road keeps getting longer
the farther that I walk
A head wind seems to push me back
I don’t have the breath to talk
My lungs they burn, my heart it pounds
My throat is getting dry
I see a looming hill ahead
And now I want to cry
To you this hill may seem small
To me it is a mountain
I don’t want to ask you for help
I keep going as fast as I can
I slow with every footstep
Until I have to stop
I find a way to busy my self
To pretend there is nothing wrong
.
To admit this trouble to you
Is to admit it to myself
I don’t want to ask of others
I want to do this myself
I feel this is all my fault
If only I could heal
The shame I feel at every gasp
This journey has become too real
If only I was stronger
This disease I could have fought
It silently crept up to me
The illness I don’t want
Each day I am able to do less
No matter how hard I try
For now I can only do my best
You don’t even understand why
..
I used to run and jump and play
Nothing too hard to do
Now the smallest task I take
I must ask for help from you
You think I don’t see the resentment
The bitterness in your face
You think I chose to be sick
To give up on my life in this place
This hill is not enormous
The one you gave to me
I will make it to the top
I will do it just for me
The Voyages of Bran, A nine year voyage .
Brandon Bay, County Kerry
Irish Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
The Voyage of Brendan
The Voyage of Bran (Immram Brain) is a tale of a man’s journey across the sea to avenge his father’s murder. The content derives from Irish Mythology, but was written in the 8th Century.
Although there are many earlier references to the tale, one of the earliest preserved written versions of the legend is the 12th century Des Reis van Sint Brandaen (Dutch). Scholars believe it derived from a now lost middle High German text and combines Christian and fairy tale elements. It describes how a monk from Galway voyages for nine years, encountering the wonders and horrors of the world, such as Judas frozen on one side and burning on the other, people with swine heads, dog legs and wolf teeth carrying bows and arrows, and an enormous fish that encircles the ship by holding its tail in its mouth. The English poem Life of Saint Brandan is a later English derivative of the Dutch version.
As a genre, The Voyage of St. Brendan fits in with a then-popular form of literature, peculiar to Ireland, called an immram, which describes a hero’s series of adventures in a boat. For example, there appear to be similarities with The Voyage of Bran, written much earlier. The most commonly illustrated episode is his landing on an island that turns out to be a giant sea monster called Jasconius or Jascon. This too, has its parallels in other stories, not only in Irish mythology (Saint Brendan’s contemporary Saint Columba also met one) but in other traditions, from Sinbad the Sailor to Pinocchio. This style of storytelling meshed with a religious ascetic tradition whereby Irish monks would travel alone in boats, the same way their desert brothers used to isolate themselves in caves.
While it is generally assumed that the story is a religious allegory, there has been considerable ink spilled over the question of whether some parts of the story could have really happened. Christopher Columbus relied on the St. Brendan legends as part of his argument that it was indeed possible to travel to Asia by crossing the Atlantic. There is a St. Brendan Society that celebrates the belief that Brendan was the first European to “discover” America.
The Voyage of Bran
The Voyage of Bran (Immram Brain) is a tale of a man’s journey across the sea to avenge his father’s murder. The content derives from Irish Mythology, but was written in the C8th. Some Old Irish storyteller’s lists categorize the tale as an Echtra, or “Adventure”, but it contains the essential elements of an Immram, or “Voyage”. It may have influenced the story of Saint Brendan’s voyage later on.
In 1976, explorer Tim Severin built an ox leather curragh and over two summers sailed her from Ireland via the Hebrides, Faroe Islands and Iceland to Newfoundland to demonstrate that the saint’s purported voyage was feasible. On his voyage, he encountered various sights such as icebergs and sea animals such as whales and porpoises, which he suggests are factual counterparts to the fantastic sights from the legends of Brendan. See The Brendan Voyage, ISBN 0-349-10707-6.
Kilkenny Photography – Nature images
Butter Cap Fungi
Nature Photography : Nigel Borrington
While I was out walking on Sunday , I noticed the first mushrooms growing in our local woodlands so I took these images.
These Mushrooms are Butter cap Fungi as described below.
We are still in summer time but heading quickly towards the late months of the season, it was great to look ahead to the forests coming to life with all kinds of Fungi.
Distribution
Very common and widespread across Britain and Ireland as well as throughout mainland Europe, the Butter Cap is also found in the USA, where it is sometimes referred to as the Buttery Collybia, and in many other parts of the world.
Sometimes found in deciduous woodland, Rhodocollybia butyraceae is mainly associated with coniferous forests on acid soils, where it grows in large numbers beneath even the darkest of canopies.
Kilkenny Photography – Nature Gallery
Hastings – A Morning walk.
Hastings, sea front ,
county of East Sussex,
Landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
A Morning Walk at Hastings
Nikon FM2
These images were taken on a visit to the coastal town of Hastings , way back in the 1990’s . I remember that I had just invested in a Nikon FM2 Camera which I still own. Getting up very early one summers morning I loaded some Kodak Ektar 100 colour film and went for a walk along the sea front.
Hastings is a great sea side town located on the south coast of the UK and a wonderful place to get some beach and sea front images, I remember being really pleased with these images and encouraged to keep taking more.
I think finding a good location for your photography is key to keeping you going and learning as much as you can about using your camera and adding to your photography skills.
Hastings a Gallery
The bridge of the Glen-upper river, Kilsheelan, County Tipperary.
Bridge of the Glen-upper river, Kilsheelan, County Tipperary.
Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
Just a gallery today, a set of Black and white images from the Glen Upper river, Kilsheelan , I love these old Irish bridges, standing high above flowing shaded rivers below.
I took these images using a Canon G1 x, set to take raw pictures in a square format, a format that I have been using more and more as I feel it forces you to think about your image framing.
Gallery
The Bog of Allen (Móin Alúine in Irish) , Gallery
The Bog of Allen (Móin Alúine), County Laois
Irish Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
The Bog of Allen
The Bog of Allen is one of my favourite places to visit in Ireland for Walking and Landscape Photography. It covers some 958 square kilometers (370 square miles) stretching into County Offaly, County Meath, County Kildare, County Laois, and County Westmeath.
Although it main function is for Peat production, which is mechanically harvested on a large scale by Bórd na Móna, the government-owned peat production industry.
The bog of Allen is one of the most tranquil areas in the country and of great inter national importance.
This link shows how a raised bog is formed : raised bog formation
The Images below were taken on a recent visit and I feel that they show just how amazing this location is, from the large open sky’s and landscape to the amazing colours produced by Sphagnum moss and its flowers.
Gallery
Keeping cool in the rocky river.
Molly after a river swim,
Glenmorgan, clonmel
Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
Yesterday evening myself and Molly went for a walk in the woodlands above Clonmel, county Tipperary.
It been warm this week and keeping a retriever cool is a task these summer days. The river at Glenmorgan however is in a deep narrow cutting and its always shaded and cool, with deep pools of cold water for her to swim in.
This is one of our best local walks and a true escape of a warm July evening.
Glenmorgan, River : Gallery
Evening light across the fields/Across the fields : Gallery and Poem
Evening Light across the fields, County Kilkenny
Landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
Across the fields
Taken from a poem By : Imp y Celyn
I was just listening to songs from years gone by,
To make me feel the way I did then,
Does this count as masochism?
Gotta run till you drop
Run till you fly into the sunset
Walk for aeons to get to your door
To walk beside you and remember your skin, your hips
Your eyes are so dark, so dark now the sun’s on the horizon
So beautiful; does beauty negate honesty?
Honestly
How do I stand in your presence
Walk the fields with an invisible crown
Just to see what’s going on
Just to make it a little bit more in this life
Sunsets never mean the same
Each sun sets on a different you and me
I want to crown you in violets
So they’ll blaze blood glory in this light
As timeless spirits walk together
Through space, time always plays out the same way
Maybe ours will be a chaste attachment
Right,
And maybe tomorrow,
There you’ll be, leaning back on your throne
And grinning as you spin your fiddle in the air
I can watch the sunrise
But I’d rather lie down with you again
And see sunset paint your face in amber
So I can wash it away with my tears
Because I’ve just been touched by Ancient Gods
Did you know you make me Believe?
What to do with Green in the landscape ? – using Black and White.
Green in the Landscape, using Black and white
Irish Landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
One of my all-time favourite photographers James Ravilious, once while being interviewed by the BBC said about the colour Green in the Landscape :
“England is a very green country, and “greenness” creates a monotonal view, and one that it’s difficult to achieve much contrast or colour gradation in. Transposing to black and white allows you a richer tone palatte, and to draw attention to the subject more subtly. Black and white contains a bright silver to deep black tone range in landscape images and thus turns a green flat image into a wonderful tonal picture”
This monochrome effect in landscape images is something that has always interested me, Landscape photographers like Ravilious used Black and white film, which when developed correctly in the dark room produces the wonderful tones he talks about.
River Torridge at Sunrise © James Ravilious
I have worked for a long time to both find landscape subjects and black and white processes that can help in getting me close to the same results.
Woodstock country gardens, County Kilkenny, Photography : Nigel Borrington
Black and white image, processed in photoshop CS6 and taken with a fujifilm X100
This blog contains many of the black and white landscape images I have taken and in the Gallery below I want to use some local Landscape images to show, how landscapes taken in colour can look when processed in Black and white.
I have placed the colour images first followed by the black and white images, have a good look at them, see what you think and comment if you like.
Some photographers don’t get black and white others love it and will only produce images in monochrome.
Green or Black and white Gallery
The Kings river (Abhainn Rí), Kilkenny Landscape photography
The Kings River (Irish: Abhainn Rí)
Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
The Kings River (Irish: Abhainn Rí)
The Kings river is one county Kilkenny’s many rivers, for me personally it is one of the most picturesque.
It has its source in the Slieveardagh Hills in south County Tipperary, having many tributaries of its own of which there are three main. These tributaries are not named, one started as a spring in the townsland of Ballyphilip, the two remaining tributaries rise in the townsland of Gurteen.
The Abhainn Rí flows south-east from the hills and crosses into County Kilkenny. It is joined by the Munster River before passing through the town of Callan. It continues eastwards from Callan, past Kells and joins the River Nore west of Thomastown.
The following images are taken at the old bridge at Ennisnag and show just how green the Landscape of county Kilkenny becomes down by its rivers in July.
Gallery
My secret Spot on Newtown beach.
My secret spot, somewhere near Newtown , County Waterford
Landscape photogrpahy : Nigel Borrington
My Secret spot
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 its called mine,
My hidden Newtown Beach Spot
Its open, its free, its peaceful and protected
All can find, all can see, but beyond the vision,
belongs to me, My Secret Loved Spot,
On the Beach, in Newtown…
A friend I call to Show my Paradise,
and share the secret rooted
inside my heart, with all my soul,
My loved Newtown Beach
Blessed, and so dear to me!
A Poem : look up at the sky, By : Raj Arumugam
The sky above Slievenamon, county Tipperary
Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
look up at the sky
Oh, do look up at the sky.
look up at the sky that stretches in all directions and wherever one may turn
look up at the sky all above and that falls beyond the end of the visible earth
look up at the sky that stretches beyond one’s vision and look beyond the sky into limitless space
See, time and care and the narrowness of one’s conditioning confine one and bends one’s mind – as one’s back is bent, and one’s neck is loaded down; and one’s eyes are fixed to the spotlight-defined meters as one stands one’s ground…Oh, but just look up at the sky
Look up at the sky in the day and see its deep blue
look up at the sky and see the clouds and the sun,
the brilliance and the lack of limits and confines
look up at the sky in the morning and see the sun rise,
behold its wonder and its colors
look up at the sky at twilight and look at it at night
with the moon and the stars and the infinite space that stretches beyond
look up at the sky and behold its wonders and splendour and its power
look up at the sky and the space beyond and behold its brilliance and limitlessness.
Oh, look up at the sky and the space beyond – and behold the limitlessness of the mind
behold there the infinite stretch of your mind,
behold the skies and space, and behold the power and glory and the unconfined,
unconditioned freedom and brilliance of your mind and your being,
of the unconfined mind and of unconditioned being…
Sunday evening poem : Rippling stream’s circle
River Lingaun, County Tipperary
Landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
Rippling stream’s circle
By: Chris Matt
Out here watching the water flow by.
Talking to the wind, waiting for a reply.
I don’t know what it is about this stream I admire.
Like camping and gathering around watching the fire.
There is something about these inanimate objects.
It maybe the simplicity of beauty it reflects.
How it unconditionally forms over all in its liquidity.
It is the foundation of life being perfect in its ubiquity.
Watching this stream, there is so much to learn and gain.
This water can teach you, watch, as it starts as rain.
High above in the clouds, then it falls to the top of the peak.
As it slowly drips to the bottom, it mixes in with a creek.
It flows in a small brook, then ends up in this stream,
but it will one day rise up again to the clouds, as steam.
Like waters circle of life, we need to come together as one.
The lessons that we’ve learned here, have only just begun.
Saturday Morning walk on coolagh hill, county Kilkenny : Gallery
Coolagh old church on the hill, County Kilkenny
Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
It’s the weekend so why not get out and about and do some walking in your local area.
Often when you walk you will find places and views that you never knew existed just driving past in a car.
What ever you do I hope you have a great last weekend of June 2014.
Coolagh Kilkenny a Gallery
Kilkenny’s Standing stones, Time – a Poem by : Anthony Zeigler
Standing stone at Owning, County Kilkenny
Landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
County Kilkenny has many Standing stones, often located on farm land and hidden from public eyes.
They are a reminder of times past, long ago, so long few know their original purpose or anything about the people who first erected them.
It is thought that they were used to mark the passing of time , the Hours, days and months of the year.
Time
By : Anthony Zeigler
Time is where we are
And time is where we’ve been
Time is being lost
And found again
Time is the day we were born
the day we die
Time is the hours that pass
As they come just then fly
Time is what we know
what we learn
Time is what it is
Some times it will hunt and some times it will burn
Time is all we have
Though it seems so little
Time is all around us
We are caught in the middle
Time is when we’re there
what we’ve missed
Time is our biggest fear
But we try to make the best of it
Tatton Park, Knutsford, Cheshire
Tatton Park, Knutsford, Cheshire
Landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
Tatton park near Knutsford in the county of Cheshire is located about 10 miles from my childhood home town of Altrincham. As a family we would visit the park here many times as kids, spending the day walking around the grounds and viewing the landscape along with the wild life.
The grounds are open all summer and this is a wonderful place to spend a summers day, boating on the lakes or having a good old fashioned picnic.
If you want to get a feel for the county of Cheshire in the north west of England then a visit to Tatton park and the villages that surround it are a great place to make a start.
History
There is evidence of human habitation in the area of the estate going back to the Iron Age. In medieval times the village of Tatton was on the site. This has since disappeared but the area of the village and its roadways are a Scheduled Ancient Monument. By the end of the 15th century the estate was owned by the Stanley family who built and occupied the Old Hall. By the 1580s this building had been enlarged and it was owned by the Brereton family. In 1598 the estate was bought by Sir Thomas Egerton, Lord Chancellor of England. Sir Thomas and his children rarely visited the estate and it was loaned to tenants. At the end of the 17th century the estate was owned by John Egerton, Sir Thomas’ grandson, who built a new house on the site of the present mansion, some 0.75 miles (1 km) to the west of the Old Hall. This mansion, Tatton Hall, was extensively altered and extended between 1780 and 1813.
In 1795 the estate covered 251,000 acres (1,020 km2) (392 sq.miles). The estate remained in the ownership of the Egerton family until the last Lord Egerton died without issue in 1958. He left the house to the National Trust and gave them the park in lieu of death duties. However, as the estate itself was sold by his executors, Cheshire County Council committed to a 99-year lease in place of an endowment to ensure that it was preserved for the benefit of the nation. The Trust’s ownership (run now by Cheshire East Council) is some 2,000 acres (8.1 km2) (3.1 sq.miles).
Tatton park, a Gallery
The images below I hope show something of just how great a day spent here can be.
Culzean Castle, Ayrshire, Scotland
Culzean Castle, Maybole,
Carrick, Ayrshire coast of Scotland
Landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
Culzean Castle, Ayrshire, Scotland has to be one of the most treasured and interesting castles in Scotland.
Robert Adam was the architect and he designed the castles structure on a basic L shaped design. The structure is a fine country house and when completed it was the seat of the 10th of Cassilis ( David Kennedy ) , earldom.
The castle was built in stages between 1777 and 1792. It incorporates a large drum shaped tower, circular inside (which overlooks the sea), a grand oval staircase and a suite of well-appointed apartments.
In 1945, the Kennedy family gave the castle and its grounds to the National Trust for Scotland (thus avoiding inheritance tax). In doing so, they stipulated that the apartment at the top of the castle be given to General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower in recognition of his role as Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe during the Second World War. The General first visited Culzean Castle in 1946 and stayed there four times, including once while President of the United States. An Eisenhower exhibition occupies one of the rooms, with mementoes of his lifetime.
During my own days visit I took many images here as both the grounds and castle itself offer some wonderful photography, including a walked garden, cannon’s, walls, see cliffs and court yards.
If you are visiting Ayrshire , this castle has to be high on your list for a visit.
Culzean Castle , Gallery
Sunlight in the Glen , Sunday evening Poem by : Jan Allison And Mel Merrill
Cahirabbey woods, Cahir, County Tipperary
Landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
This evening I went for a Sunday walk in Cahirabbey woods, county Tipperary, the evening light was shining through the trees in the glen and it reminded me of the below poem that I found recently.
Sunlight in the Glen
Collaboration Poem By Jan Allison And Mel Merrill
Dappled sunlight dancing among the trees in the wooded glen
Lingering amongst the wood where it has ancient been
She dances fast, and sometimes slow, the tempo ever changing.
Gentle breeze she stirs the trees; the mood is scintillating
The crystal clear water sparkles with a silvery light
Like diamonds splayed on velvet, or a starry, starry night
Shafts of sunlight fall on the crumbling old stone wall
Shedding light on these, the wall and trees, near brook and waterfall
Nature’s beauty, boundless, in this timeless timid wood
We walk the paths so often trod where ancient feet have stood
Each scattered ray comes out to play in primordial den
How privileged I, that I could spy, this sunlight in the glen
Nigel Borrington 
Windmill Museum at Lytham Green, + A big thank you before some down time.
Lytham Windmill
Museum
Landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
The Windmill Museum at Lytham Green, East Beach, Lytham, Lancashire is one of the best kept windmills in the UK and well worth a visit. Its located along the sea front walk at Lyhtam and had featured in many films and tv Ad’s.
If you are in the location you must stop and take a look !
——————
This is my last post for a week or so, I have been posting on my blog for a good two years now and love sharing images with some details about places and locations here in Ireland and Europe. I also love viewing so many great blogs in wordpress this has become my most loved created space!! – Thanks everyone !!!
I just wanted to say a Huge thank you to anyone who has posted comments , added information, likes and just visited here.
THANK YOU !!!!
I am just taking sometime at home without technology – Back soon – have a great end of July everyone 🙂 🙂
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July 25, 2014 | Categories: Comment, Gallery, Landscape, Nigel Borrington, Travel Locations | Tags: down time, July, Landscape Photography, Lytham, Lytham Green, Nigel Borrington, Thank you, windmill, Windmill Museum | 21 Comments