Ireland, View of Dingle Peninsula

Dingle Peninsula from County Kerry

On this Ireland trip I got into making panoramic landscape images using my iPhone4s and either ProHDR, TrueHDR and sometimes stitching Clear Cam images. The goal was to use as few applications as possible, and, for the most part kept it to Filterstorm, Snapseed and occasionally Blender and Iris.As mentioned previously the weather conditions were less then hoped and I attempted to stay true to the image as I remembered it.

This particular image is the view of the Dingle Peninsula from the Ring of Kerry....there are many many places one can drop down to the water from the ring with little or no 'private property' signs - albeit some of the access roads are hardly wider the car....

Ireland, Killarney National Park

Killarney National Park - Ladies View

“Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.”.........John Muir

This image made with my iPhone4s - it is a straight ahead three image stitch using Autostitch. Local adjustments were made using Filterstorm....It is Ireland but feels to me like The Hudson Valley....

Two Irish Friends

Childhood friends - Ireland

I was sitting in the car at Tuliag Bay, County Donegal waiting for sunset thinking it might be a good one...Out of the corner of my eye I notice a car pull up and two women get out.....Not paying attention I am startled by a tap on the window....of course it is the two women asking if I would take a photo of them with the bay in the background.....of course I say yes with one caveat - i can take their photo also...we agree - i take photos with both of their cameras and then get to shoot a few hipstamatic images with my iPhone...

Long story short they were childhood friends and used to swim in that very bay..currently they are 67 and 71.....back for another childhood memory...and me, I am happy to have been part of it.......

PS: the sunset never happened but the portrait did.....the universe responded....

The JOyce's, Partry Mountain, Ireland

The Joyce's

So there we are driving down this one lane road up on Partry Mountain looking for an images.....Spot this couple walking their dog coming down the road and needless to say have to stop to let them by.....Mr Joyce looks in the window and says 'Surely you must be lost' - I say 'Yes, but on purpose'.....He tells me I might not make more then one more mile as the road is closed..... We chat for awhile and I ask to take their photo.....this is the iPhone version - I also did a big boy camera image to process later (this one has the dog in the photo).....In the end we take their address to send a print and move on down the road.

As we drive away it suddenly dawns on us that this is 'Joyce Country' as in James Joyce.....Make you wonder....will ask when I send the prints over....those are two fabulous faces....

Ireland, Giant's Causeway

Giant's Casueway

Quite the place. This was one place I was looking forward to seeing...located on the Scenic Causeway Coastal Road in Northern Ireland approximately three miles northeast of Bushmill. Giant's is a World Heritage Site and a National Nature Reserve.......Wikipedia says the fourth natural wonder in the United Kingdom...

Mostly this area is basalt columns stemming from an ancient volcano eruption - some as tall as 12 meters. According to Wikipedia the Irish warrior Fin McCool built the causeway so he could walk to Scotland to fight his Scottish counterpart....maybe yes maybe no......At any rate a must see if you are in Northern Ireland.....that and the murals in Belfast should be high on your list...

As it was off the charts windy this particular day, 70 mile an hours wind and pelting sleet I was only able to manage a few images...This one is an iPhone4s image....

Happy New Year

Knowlton, Quebec, Canada

All the best for 2012........

Winter Park Bay, Ballintoy, Ireland

White Park bay, Ballintoy, Ireland

Had quite the day today...Sun, Rain, Sleet and howling winds sometimes hitting 60-70miles per hour -  wind that one could actually lean into....did manage to get around though doing the Scenic Causeway Coast Road.

Left Belfast and motored north and east to Larne where we picked up the Scenic Coastal Causeway. Then it was north to Glenarm, Cushendon, Ballycastle, Ballintoy (White Park Bay) and finally finished at the Giant's Causeway before motoring back to Belfast. Notice me picking up the lingo by saying 'motoring' instead of 'driving'. I like the word 'motoring'.....

Late yesterday I noticed that I forgot my DSLR battery charger at home but got lucky as Belfast has the only Calumet in Ireland. Also learned the Northern Ireland is actually British....guess I missed that in school....

Today's image was made at White Park Bay in the town of Ballintoy.  Fell onto it by accident - was looking at a church from the road and decided to see what was behind the church......got really lucky...

Have I mentioned how good the food is in Ireland....and the soda bread.....nuff said for tonight.....

Belfast, Ireland

Old Mill, Annalong, Northern, Ireland

Finally made it Northern Ireland. Landed in Dublin early this morning, rented a car and headed north for Belfast. About 60 miles outside of Belfast got off the M1 and headed out to the Irish sea for a bit of exploring the coastal regions. Does not get much better then a fresh coffee and croissant to get the juices flowing -  always nice to be back on the road exploring new places...

Today's image is from Annalong, a coastal village in County Down at the foot of the Moume Mountains. Annalong is mostly a fishing village and vacation resort town. According to Wikipedia Annalong was first settled somewhere around January 1843.

Mostly the weather was alternately rain and then sun every 20 minutes or so - sometimes rather heavy...Managed to make a few images between the drops....Ireland is such an amazing place to visit not to mention visit with a few cameras - one of course being an iPhone...Anyway a good first day - 9 more to go.....

iPhone 4s on a tripod
ProHDR
Filterstorm
Photo FX Ultra
Photo Wizard
Transfer

Knowlton, Quebec

Arrived into Knowlton, Quebec last night and noted that this was the first time I had made this trip and there was no snow. Needless to say when I got up this morning I was not dis-appointed. I had some coffee and toast, put on some warm clothes and set out to find a few iPhone images.....and once again was not dis-appointed. I heard somewhere that we should all make postcards from time to time and today's blog is just that......something about a fresh snow when the temperature is 32F.....makes everything look like a  Thomas Kinkade painting...

OK, time to leave for the north country......going off radar with no internet or phone service....


Wishing everyone a happy and healthy holiday season.....all the best for 2012 - hope to see you all somewhere out there.....

Sometimes I Wonder

 'Reality leaves a lot to the imagination'....John Lennon