“When my ship comes in” Robert Jones Burdette (1844–1914)
When my ship comes in
Photography : Nigel Borrington
“When my ship comes in”
Robert Jones Burdette (1844–1914)
Somewhere, out on the blue seas sailing,
Where the winds dance and spin;
Beyond the reach of my eager hailing,
Over the breakers’ din;
Out where the dark storm-clouds are lifting,
Out where the blinding fog is drifting,
Out where the treacherous sand is shifting,
My ship is coming in.
Oh, I have watched till my eyes were aching,
Day after weary day;
Oh, I have hoped till my heart was breaking,
While the long nights ebbed away;
Could I but know where the waves had tossed her,
Could I but know what storms had crossed her,
Could I but know where the winds had lost her,
Out in the twilight gray!
But though the storms her course have altered,
Surely the port she ’ll win;
Never my faith in my ship has faltered,
I know she is coming in.
For through the restless ways of her roaming,
Through the mad rush of the wild waves foaming,
Through the white crest of the billows combing,
My ship is coming in.
.
Breasting the tides where the gulls are flying,
Swiftly she ’s coming in;
Shallows and deeps and rocks defying,
Bravely she ’s coming in;
Precious the love she will bring to bless me,
Snowy the arms she will bring to caress me,
In the proud purple of kings she will dress me,
My ship that is coming in.
White in the sunshine her sails will be gleaming,
See, where my ship comes in;
At mast-head and peak her colors streaming,
Proudly she ’s sailing in;
Love, hope, and joy on her decks are cheering,
Music will welcome her glad appearing,
And my heart will sing at her stately nearing,
When my ship comes in.
Sunrise behind the Knockmeal downs standing stone.
Sunrise behind the standing stone.
Knockmealdown Mountains.
County Waterford.
Irish landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
Standing at the top of a hill in the knockmealdown mountains, county Waterford is this amazing standing stone, it rises about 2 meters from the ground. It must have been here for some four thousand years.
I took this images one morning just after sunrise while walking through these mountains that look down over the Waterford coastline.
I placed the rising Sun behind the stone as I wanted to capture the idea of the function of these stones, the tracking of the sun as it moved position on the horizon during the year.
The Glassblower , Images from Waterford crystal and a Poem By : Jeff Crandall
Waterford Crystal Glass blower
Photography : Nigel Borrington
The Glassblower
By : Jeff Crandall
This vessel has curves
pleasing to the eye, a soft lip,
a flat foot to rest on. I want to cup my palms
over the glowing color of its cooling,
but later. . . .
Now my eye is caught in the heat
of its final fire polish.
What dripped from the pipe
—radiant, thick as semen—
achieves fulfillment in the motions
of my own turning.
The amorphous, the malleable
awakens. There is a taste to the air here.
Steel. Iron in your mouth.
What formed at the glory hole
delicate as an adolescent
reflection in a mirror
cools in the first few minutes from that heat,
cools to the rigid shatter state.
If I hold this glass
suspended in the lit gas heat
I can watch it slump. I can let the thin walls
collapse and tear
back to a puddle of clear:
I wipe saliva from my chin.
I anneal myself with hugs.
I contain the polarized stresses.
I return to the cold of the holding shelf.
Afternoon At The Lake, Poem By : Sandi Vander Sluis
Carraigbraghan lake, county Waterford
Irish Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
Afternoon At The Lake
by Sandi Vander Sluis
I sit by the lake on this wondrous day,
watching the reflection of flowering trees,
rippling past watching appreciative eyes.
Breathing in the smell of glorious summer,
as chattering frogs and birds sing,
their way of celebrating the new season.
The lush green forest surrounds and protects me.
Soft fluffy white clouds in the blue sky above
play peekaboo with the bright yellow sun.
I feel a peaceful feeling overtaking me
and my spirits seem to soar from within
just like the eagle circling, floating above.
The wind softly whispers through the trees,
as I rest on the soft green bed beneath me,
drinking it all in – glad to be one with nature.
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!
Its the weekend so why not ……
Ballyquin, County Waterford
Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
Its the weekend so why not….
Head to the beach and look a the views …..
Sit down on the sand and watch the waves roll in !!
Take the Dog for a Walk ……
Kindred Spirits, Poem By : M s. Simpson
Sea gull flying over the sea, county Waterford
Photography : Nigel Borrington
Kindred Spirits
By : M s. Simpson
I’ll meet you there,
at the horizon,
when the glowing orange tip
of god’s pen writes
a sunset on the sea.
I’ll be soaring free
a seabird
sunset fires upon my wings.
I’ll know you by the colors
your imagination brings
let’s fly awhile
together where the clouds
like angels sing.
A walk along the beach , Images and a Poem
A walk along the beach at Tramore, County Waterford
Landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
A walk along the beach at Tramore
The sight of sunlight shining on the water just dazzling,
The sound of waves breaking delicately on the sand,
The feeling of the suns warming my skin,
The cool wetness of the sand between my toes.
Fellow dog walkers passing by,
Saying hello and talking for a while,
Their dogs swim and bring back sticks,
The marks they level in the sand,
Smoothed again by the waves.
.
The fresh breeze moving through me,
Slipping across the water a sea bird gliding silently,
The salty sea air carrying her to deeper waters.
Above me seagulls friends swirl singing their daily song,
Before diving down into the sea to snatch a fish.
The breeze and warming sun feeding my soul,
The enchanting pleasures of sight and sounds,
I breathe in the wonderful scent of salt water that fills the air,
The intoxicating aroma of wildflowers thick along the dunes,
A feeling of contentment fills every corner of my being,
As I walk along the beach I realise… Life has true beauty…
Easter (Ostara) Friday at the beach.
Dunmore east, County Waterford, Ireland
Irish Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
The Easter weekend is traditionally to first weekend of warm summer days here in Ireland, its a great time to get out and about and what better place than going down to the beach.
With a population of only 4.3 Million the beaches are never to full at this time of year, yet the weather can be very good. The images in this post were taken this Morning at the small fishing town of Dunmore east and the near by beach of Forenaught, a small and private little place that’s great for a morning swim.
Image Gallery
Sunrise from the Mountains, Poem by : Anna Katherine Green
Knockanaffrin,Comeragh Mountains, County Waterford
Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
Sunrise from the Mountains
Poem by : Anna Katherine Green
Hung thick with jets of burning gold, the sky
Crowns with its glorious dome the sleeping earth,
Illuminating hill and vale. O’erhead,
The nebulous splendor of the milky way
Stretches afar; while, crowding up the heavens,
The planets worship ‘fore the thrones of God,
Casting their crowns of gold beneath His feet.
It is a scene refulgent! and the very stars
Tremble above, as though the voice divine
Reverberated through the dread expanse.
But soft! a change!
A timid creeping up of gray in east–
A loss of stars on the horizon’s verge–
Gray fades to pearl and spreads up zenithward,
The while a wind runs low from hill to hill,
As if to stir the birds awake, rouse up
The nodding trees, and draw off silence like
A garment from the drowsy earth. The heavens
Are full of points of light that go and come
And go, and leave a tender ashy sky.
The pearl has pushed its way to north and south,
Save where a line spun ‘tween two peaks at east,
Gleams like a cobweb silvered by the sun.
It grows–a gilded cable binding hill
To hill! it widens to a dazzling belt
Half circling earth, then stretches up on high–
A golden cloth laid down ‘fore kingly feet.
Thus spreads the light upon the heavens above,
While earth hails each advancing step, and lifts
Clear into view her rich empurpled hills,
To keep at even beauty with the sky.
The neutral tints are deeply saffroned now;
In streaks, auroral beams of colored light
Shoot up and play about the long straight clouds
And flood the earth in seas of crimson. Ah,
A thrill of light in serpentine, quick waves,
A stooping of the eager clouds, and lo,
Majestic, lordly, blinding bright, the sun
Spans the horizon with its rim of fire!
Using old lenses , Hoya M42 28mm f2.8
Hoya M42 , 28mm f2.8 lens
Using Old M42 lenses on a digital SLR
M42 lenses fit to the camera body using an adaptor for the body you own.
Over the years that I have been taking images using SLR cameras both film and now Digital, the items that I have always show the most interest in are the lenses I have Purchased.
These days lenses are usually purchased as a secondary item to the camera body, with all the dazzling features and technology that goes into cameras and marketing them, it is easy to forget just how important an item a lens is.
It is the lens that produces the image, the camera just records this image and if its a great lens then your image stands a good chance of being so too.
Something that becomes very clear to you, the longer your into photography is that for the most part, lens technology the parts of the lens that really create the image, has been very good for a long time. Little development is needed with the type of glass and the coatings that are used on the lenses.
Most of the development today is with adding lens features such as image stabilisation, the process of moving some of the lens elements to allow for any movement in the camera while it is being held in your hands and help produce a stable image.
So just how far back do you have to go to get a good if not great lens ?
Hoya is a lens filter and lens coating company, they have done huge amounts of research and development over an very long period of time. you may know of them mostly through their UV filters that are attached to a lot of peoples lenses.
Back in the 1970’s along with a lens manufacture Tokina they also sold a limited number of great lenses, I am lucky enough to own a Hoya 28mm f2.8 M42 lens in very good condition, it cost £50 in 1975. I have used this lens for many years for Landscape work and have always been very happy with its results.
This is a fully Manual lens , No auto focus, no stabilisation, No auto exposure and just perfect for Landscapes.
I feel that landscape photography should take a little time and the fact that everything is fully manual with this lens, just adds to this experience. You have to think through all the settings and this extends into your thoughts about what your taking images of.
I feel that this Hoya lens is one on the best I have for reproducing great colours, contrast and sharpness.
The Gallery below is just a quick sample of some very recent images taken using this lens.
Hoya M42 28mm, f2.8 lens gallery
It’s the weekend so …….
Ballyvooney Cove, County Waterford
Irish Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
Its the Weekend so why not get outside, maybe head down to the coast and go for a beach walk, relax and and watch the waves roll in.
What ever you do, have a great weekend ….
Stradbally cove and caves, County Waterford
Stradbally Cove and caves, County Waterford
Irish Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
The cove at Stradbally, County Waterford is on of my favourite places to visit along the coast line of souther Ireland, it a deep cove that contains some wonderful little caves that have a long history, Most likely used for smuggling goods in the past.
These days they more used to take shelter from bad weather or just sit in and enjoy for views of the blue sea here , they are a great feature well worth a visit.
Stradbally Cove and cave: Gallery
Warmer days, down by the river.
The River Suir, May 2013
Irish Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
Today could the the first day for weeks that we get no rain, the forecast is for a completely dry day, so in a effort to get my mind away from the bad weather I want to post some images from one of my best loved walks in the south east of Ireland.
These images are from May 2013 and show the River Suir in county Tipperary as she winds her way slowly towards the coast at Waterford Harbour, Myself and our Dog Molly do this walk many times but May just has to be one of the best Months. Life has returned to the river Banks with many birds and flowers returning. Molly just loves this walk as it offers her the chance to swim and walk along the river path for some miles.
These images show the views that will soon exist here and the recent floods will be a long forgotten part of this rivers annual cycle.
May on the River Suir, Gallery :
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
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!
Images of Ireland from the Air.
Images of the south east of Ireland from the air.
Irish Landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
One of the most exciting ways you can see County Kilkenny and its surrounding counties is from the air, the images posted here are taken during a flight in a light aircraft.
You can fly from Kilkenny air field on a sight seeing visit to any location you would like, on this trip we travelled south of Kilkenny and followed the river Suir towards Waterford city, returning to the airfield about 2 hours later.
Its a great way to see Ireland and wonderful on a sunny clear day.
Gallery of the flight
The Storm Crow Calls. By, John W. McEwers
The storm Crow
Landscape Photography, Nigel Borrington
The Storm Crow Calls
By, John W. McEwers
It sounds like rain
big rain
the kind that hurts
if you tip your face back
and catch drops on your tongue, ill advised.
But whether the rain hits hard or you stay inside
it screams thunder, and you must pay
attention enough to hear
the storm crows call,
telling you you aren’t safe
or strong enough
or big enough
or happy enough
but you dont know better
and you believe him when he calls
and the storm crow gets your goat
in his talons.
The Sea Of Time, Poem by Robert Crawford
Images of the Waterford coast.
Infra-red photography
Irish landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
The Sea Of Time.
by Robert Crawford
On that strange sea
Where Man’s bark moves as toward eternity,
What sails put forth that are not seen again!
So joyous it may be, or in pain,
The mariner doth drive still on and on
Beneath no mortal star,
And to no mortal port — as one
Who may but anchor somewhere so afar,
.
Not himself wrecks if he shall reach no more
In that tremendous sea another shore:
He is so like a wave himself at last,
He would toss through the future as the past —
But tethered as a whale is to a wave,
So he might still the one life have
Through all the changes that may be
On that tremendous sea!
Its a winters weekend so why not….
Nikon D7000, 18-200mm vr 11 lens
Monatray West Beach, county Waterford
Its a winters weekend so why not find a beach and go for a long walk….
On a beach, a winters weekend
I walk on the winter beach
from here to there
and beyond where the beach ends
past indifferent sea gulls
over beached kelps
over bleached sea shells
to the sound of crushing waves
to the call of ebbing memories
.
I walk on the winter beach
I shall go
I must go
alone
beyond where the beach ends
Beyond the Sea, Poem by Thomas Peacock.
Fujifilm X100
Irish Landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
Beyond the Sea
Thomas Peacock
Beyond the sea, beyond the sea,
My heart is gone, far, far from me;
And ever on its track will flee
My thoughts, my dreams, beyond the sea.
Beyond the sea, beyond the sea,
The swallow wanders fast and free:
Oh, happy bird! were I like thee,
I, too, would fly beyond the sea.
Beyond the sea, beyond the sea,
Are kindly hearts and social glee:
But here for me they may not be;
My heart is gone beyond the sea.
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.
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.
Surfing the Waves at Bunmahon Beach, county Waterford
Surfers at Bunmahon Beach, County Waterford
Irish landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
One place I keep returning to for some photography is the beach at Bunmahon, County waterford.
There is always lots going on with kite flyers and Surfers.
The waves are not be the highest in the country here as the beach is on the south coast, the best surf can be found on the west coast of Ireland( Counties, Clare and Galway for example). It is however a perfect location for beginners or locals at in the evening or at the weekends.
The following photographs are or a local surfing club surfing during the summer.
Surfers at Bunmanhon beach, Gallery
Nigel Borrington 
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