Green Castle Ruins

The ruins of Green Castle (aka Northburg Castle) lie on the side of the main road running through Greencastle, Co. Donegal, and next to a new housing estate currently under construction. But while this doesn't provide the most romantic environment to view these wonderful ruins from afar, it is easy to walk into and explore the remains of the castle itself. Getting close up and even inside some of the towers it is easy to see just how large and important this castle was to the region.

Green Castle was originally built by Richard de Burgh (The Red Earl of Ulster) in 1305 as part of his efforts to counter the influences of the O'Dohertys and O'Donnells in the Northwest of Ulster as well as to provide protection from Scottish attacks.

This photo is just one of a series I will be posting of the Green Castle Ruins.

Forgotten Tack

Wandering around a derelict farm in Co. Donegal, something hanging up in an outbuilding caught my eye. Upon closer inspection, I saw that it was an old saddle and tack left behind when the building was abandoned.

Recent Interruptions

I'm sorry for the interruptions in posts. I started off wanting to post a photo a day, but a little too late I have realised how much of a commitment that requires. My hat is off to those blogs have have managed to do this over the years! Anyways, I've had a re-think of my plans and have decided, at least for the short-term, to posting three or four times a week. That way I can focus more on my photography to get it up to the standard that a post-a-day site deserves (who, after all, wants to look at a photo that was posted just for the hell of it?) and also give me the time to edit my photos (I shoot in RAW, some editing is required). I hope, however, that this change in plan doesn't put anyone off from visiting my blog!

Green Door

While searching for some standing stones in Donegal, I ran across a derelict farmhouse dating from the 17th century. This door caught my eye almost immediately because it was the most colourful part of the house.

I have a sort of attraction to ruins, both ancient and modern. There's just something about them that makes them stand out to me as excellent subjects for photography.

Ireland's New Forests

As part of Blog Action Day, I thought I would post one of the sights I love to see most of all in my travels around Ireland. This is the growth of new forests on agricultural land as a result of the government and EU policy of afforestation. Under the EU's CAP policy, farmers are allowed to apply for grants to plant and maintain forests on their land. This is enabling Ireland to regain much of its forested past (it has one of the lowest portion of forested land in the EU), providing what to me at least are the beautiful scenes above, as well as increasing the biodiversity of the region, as well as providing a sustainable source of wood.

Take A Walk

Take a walk along the upper tiers of Grianan Ailigh and view the wonderful landscape of three Irish counties (Derry, Donegal, and Tyrone). You can really see the importance of this site in ancient times and how it dominates the surrounding landscapes.

Walk On In

I'm going to post a few more photos of Grianan Ailigh, I really like the imagery conjured up at this site. The entrance to the site on this somewhat wet day provides the first glimpse of the green expanse within and the three-terraced walls encircling the enclosure.

Grianan Ailigh

Grianan Ailigh is a ringfort in Co. Donegal dating back to 1700 BC.

Ringfort

This image might look like a clump of bushes, but it is actually a very ancient ringfort (rath) in Co. Derry. It's surprising what you can find on along the side of the road if you look close enough!

The Landscape Tutorial and Me

This has been an interesting and worthwhile tutorial for me. The purpose of the tutorial was to better equip the beginning landscape photographer with the basic skills necessary to improve their technique in the field. As such, the tutorial began with the basics of learning how to critically evaluate your own photographs, through the basic mechanics of your camera, to capturing images in the field using the creative techniques of standard SLRs and prosumer cameras.

I learned some valuable lessons about my photogarphy. These might seem obvious to the more experienced out there, especially because they come top of the list of advice given to landscape photographers. These would be the invaluable nature of the tripod and ND grad. To tell the truth, I had always put off buying a tripod because I didn't believe it would make that much of a difference. I can hold a camera pretty still and if there is camera shake, I can always increase the ISO. However, after examining some of the photos I took for Day 1 of the turorial and seeing a loss of detail in the image, I finally bit the bullet and bought a monopod (for convenience, especially as a walking stick!). I think that the photos I took in the following days are a bit sharper as a result of using a monopod.

I've also learned the benefits of the ND grad. I never really bothered to use mine (I don't even have a holder for it yet) because I figured that any adjustments needed to the sky could be achieved in Photoshop. Well, when I finally did break out the ND grad, I was surprised at the detail I was able to capture in the sky while still doing a decent job of exposing the land. So, needless to say, along with my polariser and monopod, my ND grad will be going with me when I take my photos.

The other lesson I've learned is how to critically evaluate my photos. Before I would just look at an image and use my gut reaction to determine whether or not it "worked." Now that I know more of what to look for, I can see my photos improving, especially in terms of composition. One thing I have to keep reminding myself, though, is that I can change my angle of shooting, that I don't have to always stand up!

This tutorial has also highlighted some of my shortcomings. I had a great deal of difficulty dealing with natural light and shutter speeds. Well, to tell the truth, it was very overcast when it came to shooting the natural light tutorial, but I still had trouble determining the effects of light at different stages of sunset and the effects that more or less sky in the photo has on exposure. I've also really got to get the hang of shutter speeds and how they relate to aperture if I'm ever to totally wean myself off of the automatic/scenic modes of my camera.

So, what is my verdict of the 7 day tutorial? I think that it was a very valuable exercise for me. I learned a lot of the features of my camera that I've ignored as being too advanced and I've learned the difference small changes to the way you take photos can make to your photography. Most importantly, though, I've learned that patience is a necessity for landscape photographers. You won't always get the conditions you want to shoot in because, while you can control your camera and pick your subjects, you cannot control the lighting and weather!