Morning rain on Loch Lomand
Nikon D7000, 35mm f1.8 lens
Rain falling on Lock Lomand, Scotland
Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
Last week I stayed in Luss on the banks of loch lomond, Scotland.
I got up early and walked down the the water front, it was a very wet morning so I took a large brolly with me and my Nikon. The rain was so heavy that it gave the entire surface of the loch take on a matt look. I took lots of images as you can see below.
The water level in the Loch is very high at the moment as you can see from the pier, used for local boat trips, as it was flooded and about two inches below the surface.
Rain on Loch Lomand : Gallery
Vital Spark and Artic Penguin, Inveraray.
Nikon D7000, 18-200mm vr2 lens
Vital Spark and Artic Penguin, Inveraray.
Landscape photography by : Nigel Borrington
Vital Spark and Artic Penguin, Inveraray.
There is some 20 years gap between the two photographs in this post both taken at Inveraray , Argyll and Bute, Scotland.
The image below was taken in 1993 and features the Artic Penguin sitting by herself, the above image was taken on Thursday as I was passing. As you can see two boats are now harboured along the pier.
The second boat in the image is the Vital Spark, the detail of which are below :
The Vital Spark
Vital Spark is a fictional Clyde puffer, created by Scottish writer Neil Munro. As its captain, the redoubtable Para Handy, often says: “the smertest boat in the coastin’ tred”.
Puffers seem to have been regarded fondly even before Munro began publishing his short stories in the Glasgow Evening News in 1905. This may not be surprising, for these small steamboats were then providing a vital supply link around the west coast and Hebrides islands of Scotland. The charming rascality of the stories went well beyond the reality of a commercial shipping business, but they brought widespread fame. They appeared in the newspaper over 20 years, were collected in book form by 1931, inspired the 1953 film The Maggie, and came out as three popular television series, dating from 1959 to 1995.
The original BBC Series Para Handy – Master Mariner, which ran from 1959–60, starred Duncan MacRae (Para Handy), Roddy McMillan (The Mate), and John Grieve (Dan MacPhail, the engineer). Six episodes were filmed, none of which survive.
In 1963 Macrae, McMillan and Grieve, accompanied by Alex Mackenzie and guitarist George Hill, recorded an album of songs, Highland Voyage. A short film was made to accompany the recording, filmed on board a puffer as it cruised around the Firth of Clyde. Macrae and McMillan appear as The Captain and The Mate, while Mackenzie appears as The Engineer, causing Grieve to move to play The Cook. Although very obviously based on Munro’s characters, the names of Para Handy, the Vital Spark, etc. are never mentioned, probably due to copyright issues.
In the second version, The Vital Spark, McMillan took the role of Para Handy, and Grieve reprised his role as McPhail; Walter Carr (Dougie the Mate) and Alex McAvoy (Sunny Jim) completed the crew, and the series ran for three series between 1965 and 1974. The third series, filmed several years after the first two, was in colour and consisted of remakes of selected earlier episodes.
In 1994 BBC Scotland produced The Tales of Para Handy which starred Gregor Fisher in the lead role alongside Sean Scanlan as Dougie, Andrew Fairlie as Sunny Jim and Rikki Fulton as Dan McPhail. The series also featured a young David Tennant in one of his first acting roles. Alex McAvoy, who played Sunny Jim in The Vital Spark, appears in one episode as a fellow captain of Para Handy in the coastal trade.
The deck of a “puffer”.
“In her captain’s own (islands accented) words, the Vital Spark is “aal hold, with the boiler behind, four men and a derrick, and a watter-butt and a pan loaf in the foc’sle”. The way these steam lighters with their steam-powered derricks could offload at any suitable beach or small pier is featured in many Vital Spark stories, and allows amusing escapades in the small west coast communities. The cargoes carried in the hold vary from gravel or coal to furniture to livestock, the crew’s quarters in the forecastle are taken as lodgings by holidaymakers or lost children and the steam engine struggles on under the dour care of the engineer McPhail. Tales are recounted of improbably dramatic missions in World War I. Others scoff at her as a coal gaabbert, reflecting the origins of the puffers, but an indignant Para Handy is always ready to defend his boat, proudly comparing her 6 knots (11 km/h) speed and her looks with the glamorous Clyde steamers.
Eilean Eisdeal dressed as the Vital Spark.
The stories sparked considerable interest in the puffers, and many books explore their now vanished world. When VIC 72, renamed Eilean Eisdeal, ventured from her home at the Inveraray Maritime Museum to visit the Glasgow River Festival in 2005, she proudly bore the name Vital Spark in testimony to her continuing popularity. Now in 2006 she proudly is the Vital Spark of Glasgow having been successfully re-registered.
The Argyll brewer Fyne Ales, situated close to Inveraray, where the current boat rests and Neil Munro was born, produces a beer called Vital Spark [1] in tribute to the series.
In December 2007, the Vital Spark Clyde puffer returned to the Forth and Clyde Canal – the place of her ‘birth’, as reported on STV news'[2] Reporting Scotland.
The puffer now sits on the slip way at Crinan boatyard awaiting restoration. ”
5 solo images for the week (Friday).
Nikon F90x
Ilford XP2
Nikon 50mm f1.4 lens
Inveraray, Argyll and Bute, Scotland,
On the western shore of Loch Fyne.
Landscape photography : Nigel borrington
Inveraray, Argyll and Bute, Scotland
Inveraray sits on the A83 between Glasgow and Oban/Argyll, I have driven this route many times and stopping to look at the boat, Artic Penguin and loch Fyne was something I do every time, just a fantastic view.
The morning I took this image was cold and very still, the pier was empty and it was a few moments of magic in the air, of peace and silence.
5 solo images for the week (Thursday).
Bog cotton in the comeragh mountains
Irish Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
Bog Cotton fields, comeragh mountains, county Waterford
Each spring, the boggy fields in the mountains of county Waterford are filled with Bog cotton. This year was no exception, there is so much cotton that the sides of the mountains become white and can be viewed from far off.
It was a pleasure to get out and walk through it all and get some images to record this great event.
5 solo images for the week (Wednesday).
Puffins on skellig michael
Irish landscape and wild-life photography :
Nigel Borrington
Puffins on skellig michael
I will post fully very soon on the Skellig Islands, a visit to both Islands is just Magical.
Each year the Islands are home to one of the worlds biggest colonies of Puffins and the above image is just one from many I got on a Visit back in July. The cliff top slopes on Skellig Michael are just breathtaking and you have to be very careful not to slip.
I really enjoyed getting these images as these wonderful bird are just magical to be around.
5 solo images for the week (Tuesday).
Lighthouse on Valencia point, County Kerry
Irish Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
Lighthouse on Valencia point, County Kerry
Valencia island is a wonderful part of county Kerry and just a wonderful place to visit, the light house on the island has been open to the the public for about two years and is well work a visiting for the tour.
I was very pleased with this image as a sail boat was just passing the moment I got the view of the lighthouse that I wanted.
5 solo images for the week (Monday).
Nikon slr, 50mm f1.4 lens
Curracloe beach, County Wexford
Irish landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
This week I am working on selecting some single images in order to update my web site and put an exhibition together.
I have been posting on my Blog now since May 2011 and really enjoy every moment of it. In this time I have posted some 1500 images here.
Also what I love the most about blogging and word-press is viewing and reading other peoples blogs, so over the following week I am going to give myself sometime to do more reading than posting.
So I am going to post some single images each day. Along with a quick comment as to how I got the image and why I enjoyed it so much !
Mondays Image..
Curracloe beach, County Wexford
The above image is from Curracloe beach in county Wexford taken one Christmas time about four years ago, It’s the first time I have see snow on a beach like this and it could be the last as the climate here is not usually as cold over the winter months, the temperature was -12oc at the time the image was taken. The image was taken at about 4pm just as the sun was starting to set and the reds and yellow from the sun were being reflected by the snow.
This was a wonderful moment to be out taking pictures, one I will never forget.
Sunday Evenings
Nikon D7000, 18-200mm lens, iso 100
Sunday evening, River Suir, Tipperary
Landscape photography by : Nigel Borrington
Sunday evenings are my most favourite time of the week, the weekends light is fading fast and we have a new week ahead of us, new chances to grow and reach our aims.
Its the weekend so..
Nikon D7000 with
Nikon 50mm f1.8 Manual focus Ais lens
Irish woodlands, county kilkenny
Irish landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
Its the weekend so why not find a local woodland, put on some boots and go for a Walk.
Get out side into the Autumn mist and colours …..
Clear you mind and Relax.
Life in an October hedgerow
Nikon D7000, nikon 60mm f2.8 macro lens
Life in a county Kilkenny hedgerow
Irish nature and landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
In an October hedge-row
The Hedgerows in county Kilkenny at this time of year are so full of life, Insects, berries, flowers and leafs.
I just love capturing all of these natural things as they change and get ready for the winter !
Life in an October hedgerow : Gallery
Rose hip
Flys
Blackthorn flowers
Flys
Hawthorn berries
Horse fly
Ivy leaf
Horse fly
Blackberry Leaf
Moments at the Market
Nikon D700, 50mm f1.4 lens
Kilkenny Cattle market, Gallery image
Irish photography : Nigel Borrington
Two Local Farmers, Talking – Kilkenny Cattle market, Oct 2013.
Kilkenny Photography – Cattle market
Nikon D700, 50mm f1.4 lens
Kilkenny Cattle market, Gallery image
Irish photography : Nigel Borrington
Kilkenny Cattle market, Thursday Morning 24th Oct.
I have just spent the last two Thursday mornings at the Cattle market in county Kilkenny building up some Gallery images and selling some cattle I invested in.
The market meets each Thursday Morning from around 9am, the sales provide one the most atmospheric locations to take images in and I just loved watching all the farmers selling or buying cattle.
I will keep returning over the next months as I hope to keep building on this portfolio of images, I will also post the best images I have so far during the coming weeks.
Old Houses – A poem by, Robert Cording
Old cottage, Bansha, county Tipperary
Irish Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
Old Houses
By Robert Cording
Year after year after year
I have come to love slowly
how old houses hold themselves—
before November’s drizzled rain
or the refreshing light of June—
as if they have all come to agree
that, in time, the days are no longer
a matter of suffering or rejoicing.
I have come to love
how they take on the color of rain or sun
as they go on keeping their vigil
without need of a sign, awaiting nothing
more than the birds that sing from the eaves,
the seizing cold that sounds the rafters.
Sunday evening at the gate …. Poem by : John Montague
Images of the Galtee Mountains
Irish Landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
Sunday evening and it’s time for one final walk of the weekend.
I love to find a long lane to walk down then stop for a while, rest against a gate and just take in some views of the Irish country side.
These images are of the Galtee Mountains in counties Limerick and South Tipperary, just before the sun set.
I have included a poem below.
WINDHARP
By John Montague
The sounds of Ireland,
that restless whispering
you never get away
from, seeping out of
low bushes and grass,
heatherbells and fern,
wrinkling bog pools,
scraping tree branches,
.
light hunting cloud,
sound hounding sight,
a hand ceaselessly
combing and stroking
the landscape, till
the valley gleams
like the pile upon
a mountain pony’s coat..
Its the weekend so why not ……
Nikon D700, 60mm f2.8 Macro lens
Images for an Autumn weekend
Irish nature and Landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
Its the weekend, so why not get out and explore. Spend sometime walking and discovering the things that Autumn has to offer …..
The nature that Autumn brings : Gallery
Two Cows in county Kilkenny
Sigma SD x3 Slr, 15-30mm f3.5-4.5 ex lens
Two cows in County Kilkenny
Irish Landscape potography : Nigel Borrington
It’s not often, if at all I post a single image, just one image !
So maybe its time to just look at one, a single image of two cows in a field.
I was just standing at a gate that’s along a lane I often walk down in county Kilkenny and took this photo, so I hope you enjoy it !
Images from a walk in the setting Autumn sun and a Poem by Rebecca Dobson .
Nikon D700
Sleivenamon, country Tipperary
Under the setting Autumn sun
Irish Landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
On an Autumn evening as I was out walking with our dog , I watched the sunset over the mountaim of Slievenamon, county Tipperary in the distance.
My mind was clear as I was just enjoying the view.
I have been looking for a way to describe the feeling I had and found the following Poem .
The Aftermath
Rebecca Dobson
The final fragments of my shattered
mind slip into place
alongside
Random thoughts and jagged
edges
I disintegrate from the outside inwards
slightly blurred
edges
and I flutter inside
(excited child) , I feel hollow and empty and a
warmth, and my nose is raw
and crystals gather at my nostrils
Electric, almost static
I float and fumble
and agitations tickle my spine and my scalp
Sniff and cough, they grate against my brain
and scratch discomfort into my buzz;
I float on higher plane
and feel conscious, feel able.
.
I talk with a wired mouth
and words are laborious and stick to my lips
Suspended in wakefulness I skip work
and relish in my openness of mind
and free thought
and I think I am happy
Killamery High Cross, county Kilkenny
Fujifilm X100
Killamery High Cross,
Kilamery grave yard and old church.
Killamery – High Cross
The Killamery High Cross is one of Ireland iconic early Christian symbols.
It is situated in an old graveyard in county Kilkenny, the location is just below the mountain area of Slievenamon on the other side of the Kilkenny, Tipperary border.
The cross is one of the western Ossory group of crosses. The cross stands at 3.65 metres high and the west face of the cross bears most of the figure sculpture. The east face pictured right, is decorated with three marigolds on the shaft and has a boss in the centre of the head surrounded by intertwining serpents with an open mouthed dragon above the boss. The cross is known as the Snake-Dragon cross. The cross has a gabled cap-stone and the narrow sides have double mouldings. At the end of the southern arm of the cross there is a panel depicting Noah in the Ark and the end of the northern arm features four scenes centered around John the Baptist.
There is also a worn inscription on the base of the western side of the cross which is said to read as ‘OR DO MAELSECHNAILL’ a prayer for Maelsechnaill. Maelsechnaill was the High King of Ireland from 846 to 862.
Images of a Winters Message – Poem by Mark R Slaughter
Images from a Kilkenny winter
Irish landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
A Winter Message
By : Mark R Slaughter
A flake of snow in flurry thro’ the air
Had landed as a kiss upon my cheek:
A secret message, just for me to share;
.
To take to heart but never dare to speak
About or presuppose to other eyes
Your open feelings – distant though they are.
And so, upon my own surprise:
A flake of snow returned from me afar.
.
The Lighthouse – by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)
Sigma Sd15, 15-30mm lens
Dungarvan Lighthouse, County Waterford
Irish Landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
The Lighthouse
By, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)
The rocky ledge runs far into the sea,
And on its outer point, some miles away,
The Lighthouse lifts its massive masonry,
A pillar of fire by night, of cloud by day.
Even at this distance I can see the tides,
Upheaving, break unheard along its base,
A speechless wrath, that rises and subsides
In the white lip and tremor of the face.
And as the evening darkens, lo! how bright,
Through the deep purple of the twilight air,
Beams forth the sudden radiance of its light
With strange, unearthly splendor in the glare!
Not one alone; from each projecting cape
And perilous reef along the ocean’s verge,
Starts into life a dim, gigantic shape,
Holding its lantern o’er the restless surge.
Like the great giant Christopher it stands
Upon the brink of the tempestuous wave,
Wading far out among the rocks and sands,
The night-o’ertaken mariner to save.
And the great ships sail outward and return,
Bending and bowing o’er the billowy swells,
And ever joyful, as they see it burn,
They wave their silent welcomes and farewells.
They come forth from the darkness, and their sails
Gleam for a moment only in the blaze,
And eager faces, as the light unveils,
Gaze at the tower, and vanish while they gaze.
Slievenamon – Walking to the top.
Nikon D7000, 18-200mm lens
The Walk up Slievenamon, County Tipperary
Irish landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
The mountain of Slievenamon is about 15km from home, in Tipperary and just across the county border from county Kilkenny. Its Elevation is 721 meters and on a clear day offers good views of a large part of the south east of Ireland, including down to Hook-head on the Wexford coastline.
The pictures below are taken on a walk up to the top two weekends ago, it was a very foggy Sunday morning at the top as you can see. The mist only added to the wonderful feeling of being up there even though none of the best views where possible.
The Walk up Slievenamon a Gallery
Sundays on the hill
Nikon D7000, 35mm f1.8g lens
Ballykeeffe Wood and Nature Reserve, County Kilkenny
Irish landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
Sunday’s are a great time to get outside and do some walking, so why not find a woodland walk and a place with a view.
Sit down stay for a while and relax….
Rain Water, The chaos of falling and splashing
Nikon D7000, 105mm f2.8 Macro lens
Rain water, County Kilkenny, The chaos of falling and splashing
Irish based photographer : Nigel borrington
Yesterday here in Ireland was very wet, I still had to use my Camera.
So I sheltered under the cover of the Ballykeeffe Amphitheatre, and took these images of the rain running of the roof and hitting the ground. The rain flowed freely from the lowest parts of the roof and down over the bolts that hold it together.
The rain was so heavy that the effects I feel I captured, show just how chaotic the water looks as it splashed of the paving stones.
Rain water flowing and landing
Nigel Borrington 
Ninemile house grave yard, Happy Halloween.
Ninemile house Grave yard,
On the Kilkenny and Tipperary county borders.
Irish Landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
Happy Halloween! – welcome to Ninemile house grave yard, a place of rest OR is it ?
I few weeks back I visited this old Graveyard at Nine mile house, County Tipperary.
This place just has to be one of the most atmospheric Grave yards in the local area. It is full of very old graves and the remains of an old chapel who’s insides have been used as the location of some graves dating from the 1800’s.
This is a place of rest however and a very peaceful location, But on Halloween night, well I just wonder ? ?
For anyone who has been following my blog, they will know I love poetry, well last night I had a go at my own poem for Halloween!
A poem for Halloween
There is nothing in the dark…
Don’t run to the light, Run towards the night.
For ever fearing the Dark .
Don’t turn on a lights, Shining a torch into the blackness.
There is nothing in the Dark, No monsters to fear.
Nothing hiding in the blackness.
No possessions
No ghosts
No evil demons
No open graves
No devils to consume your soul
No vampires
No zombies
No omen of death
No!
Don’t look towards the stars, Fires of the heavens.
Hoping forever to be alive.
Don’t fear the blackness of the woods at night.
There is nothing in the dark,
nothing that is not just asleep in the day
and awake at night.
It is not the dark you should fear,
Fear the light.
In the dark there is rest,
A peace of your mind.
There is nothing in the dark but rest and a lack of light !
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October 31, 2013 | Categories: Comment, Gallery, Kilkenny Landscape images, Landscape, Poetry Gallery, The Celtic year, The Pagan world | Tags: black and white photography, fujifilm X100, Halloween, Irish landscape photography, Irish photography, Kilkenny, Landscape, Nigel Borrington, Tipperary | 10 Comments