Ireland - along the Wild Atlantic Way - Part 2

[cervantes]

Hi everyone,

the second and final part of my trip to Ireland is now online.

The journey continues down to the stunning cliffs of Moher, the Ring of Kerry with Killarney National Park all the way to the southern end of the Island at County Cork.

This article contains more tutorials!

You can find it here: http://www.focrates.com/articles/ireland_2017/ireland_2017_part2.html

BR,
Ben

 

[Hector1970]

Glad you had a good trip around our fair country. Thankfully it's still a place where you can still get to be the only photographer in a beautiful place. I found Iceland beautiful but quite crowded by tourists. Every tiny side road or lane near the sea is worth exploring. For a small place there are endless places to photograph. When you are here all the time sometimes you don't appreciate it. A few years ago I got to travel for a while in Australia and I loved it but when I returned to Ireland I was taken aback by the abundance of colour. We really do have 40 shades of green. Yes we are a bit wet at times but it doesn't rain all day every day. We've very little extremes in weather. When the sun breaks through it's just gorgeous. The Wild Atlantic Way is a great road trip. Not for the faint hearted in spots but with so many great photo opportunities. Put it on your bucket list if you are a serious photographer.

 

[Maximilian]

Hi Ben!

Once again a really lovely traveler story. And wonderful pictures from wonderful places.

I really enjoyed your explanations on the "harp tripod"

 

[cervantes]

Glad you had a good trip around our fair country. Thankfully it's still a place where you can still get to be the only photographer in a beautiful place. I found Iceland beautiful but quite crowded by tourists. Every tiny side road or lane near the sea is worth exploring. For a small place there are endless places to photograph. When you are here all the time sometimes you don't appreciate it. A few years ago I got to travel for a while in Australia and I loved it but when I returned to Ireland I was taken aback by the abundance of colour. We really do have 40 shades of green. Yes we are a bit wet at times but it doesn't rain all day every day. We've very little extremes in weather. When the sun breaks through it's just gorgeous. The Wild Atlantic Way is a great road trip. Not for the faint hearted in spots but with so many great photo opportunities. Put it on your bucket list if you are a serious photographer.

Thanks, and fully agree!

 

[cervantes]

Hi Ben!

Once again a really lovely traveler story. And wonderful pictures from wonderful places.

I really enjoyed your explanations on the "harp tripod"

Thanks so much!
I really wanted to share that Long Room experience since not many people even consider long exposures without a tripod. When I started doing long exposures some people around me noticed and immediately imitated it. I think the idea deserves a bigger audience.

 

[Maximilian]

Hi Ben!

Once again a really lovely traveler story. And wonderful pictures from wonderful places.

I really enjoyed your explanations on the "harp tripod"

Thanks so much!
I really wanted to share that Long Room experience since not many people even consider long exposures without a tripod. When I started doing long exposures some people around me noticed and immediately imitated it. I think the idea deserves a bigger audience.

Funny!
Because I really often have no tripod with me and do similar things all the time:
- using the benches in churches, fences, rocks
- pressing cameras against walls or door frames
- etc.

The environment is not only subject to my photos but also tool to get the picture that I want.

But thanks for sharing to others as well.

 

[SPL]

Excellent photos, but...I'm sorry, IMHO...out of respect for the Irish people, I absolutely would not have used that display case as a tripod...

 

[Click]

Hi Ben,

Excellent work. Beautiful pictures.

Well done, Sir.

 

[stevelee]

Neat pictures. I especially enjoyed your story about photographing the Long Room. It is so impressive that I don't think the tourists detract that much. My picture there and of the harp are found on http://www.stevelee.name/britain/ireland/dublin.html. Maybe I could have got a good shot of the harp if I had had a polarizer. The statue reflections are somewhat interesting in themselves. Links on that page will take you to more pictures of Ireland, and the index will take you to the pages of pictures from England and Scotland. Sorry, no tutorials. All photos were shot in April and May, 2017, with a Canon G7X Mark II.

 

[cervantes]

Excellent photos, but...I'm sorry, IMHO...out of respect for the Irish people, I absolutely would not have used that display case as a tripod...

In my opinion, putting a camera on the protective glass case is not really disrespectful towards the Irish people.

Could you elaborate why you feel that way?

 

[cervantes]

Neat pictures. I especially enjoyed your story about photographing the Long Room. It is so impressive that I don't think the tourists detract that much. My picture there and of the harp are found on http://www.stevelee.name/britain/ireland/dublin.html. Maybe I could have got a good shot of the harp if I had had a polarizer. The statue reflections are somewhat interesting in themselves. Links on that page will take you to more pictures of Ireland, and the index will take you to the pages of pictures from England and Scotland. Sorry, no tutorials. All photos were shot in April and May, 2017, with a Canon G7X Mark II.

Thank you! I checked out your website - your travel experiences are quite interesting - thanks for sharing!

 

[Hector1970]

We wouldn't be offended in the least.
If fact we'd admire your ability to bend rules and use a bit of ingenuity.
It's like crossing the street, we too are supposed to cross at traffic lights but no one does.
We get in trouble in other countries that observe that as a rule of law.
I'm happy you came and had a good look at our country.
It is a pity you can't walk around more of the library as it's a beautiful room.
Ireland is a great little place to photograph . I never run out of things to photograph.

Excellent photos, but...I'm sorry, IMHO...out of respect for the Irish people, I absolutely would not have used that display case as a tripod...

In my opinion, putting a camera on the protective glass case is not really disrespectful towards the Irish people.

Could you elaborate why you feel that way?

 

[MrFotoFool]

Another great travel article like always. The image of the library is fantastic and I agree - the blurred people actually adds to the photo. I stated on your first Ireland installment that I did not care for the explanations of the photo technique and I felt the same here UNTIL I got to the library photo. I found myself very interested in the explanation of the photo technique. So maybe others will enjoy your explanations on the previous photos and you should ignore what I said earlier.

 

[ethanz]

Hi Ben. I like the images. How do you plan your trips? When I travel, I try to fill my schedule to get the most of my time there to see things, which unfortunately tends to rush picture taking. But if I only have a week to travel, I want to make sure I see a lot.

 

[MrFotoFool]

Hi Ben. I like the images. How do you plan your trips? When I travel, I try to fill my schedule to get the most of my time there to see things, which unfortunately tends to rush picture taking. But if I only have a week to travel, I want to make sure I see a lot.

I know this question is directed to cervantes and not me, but I will add my two cents worth. For photography I far prefer to spend at least a few days at a given location as opposed to trying to see it all. Not only does this yield better photo ops, it is more relaxing which is part of the point of a vacation.

 

[Maximilian]

Hi Ben. I like the images. How do you plan your trips? When I travel, I try to fill my schedule to get the most of my time there to see things, which unfortunately tends to rush picture taking. But if I only have a week to travel, I want to make sure I see a lot.

I know this question is directed to cervantes and not me, but I will add my two cents worth. For photography I far prefer to spend at least a few days at a given location as opposed to trying to see it all. Not only does this yield better photo ops, it is more relaxing which is part of the point of a vacation.

+1
That "I have just x days! I want to it all!" leads to pure stress.
Better to calm down, take your time, enjoy staying somewhere, finding nice places, getting the right light situation, maybe getting the time talking to locals giving you hints where to go.
Having just one week, like you, ethanz, I'd reduce it to a max of three places to go. Better just two.

To me it's more important to get the sentiment of the place I am than to see as much "important" places as possible.
But, of course, you might see it different. I wish you a pleasant journey anyway.

 

[cervantes]

We wouldn't be offended in the least.
If fact we'd admire your ability to bend rules and use a bit of ingenuity.
It's like crossing the street, we too are supposed to cross at traffic lights but no one does.
We get in trouble in other countries that observe that as a rule of law.
I'm happy you came and had a good look at our country.
It is a pity you can't walk around more of the library as it's a beautiful room.
Ireland is a great little place to photograph . I never run out of things to photograph.

Thank you very much and fully agreed!

 

[PixelTrawler]

Hi, on the pictures of Derryclare, did you edit out the big powercable or did they finally reroute it? I havent been out that way in a few years. There used to a 10 or 20kv line running right across in front of the pine trees. Disgraceful positioning on one of the most picturesque spots in Galway.

Nice shots by the way. Did you get to Slieve League? Much more impressive cliffs than Moher. If not, maybe next time...

 

[cervantes]

Hi Ben. I like the images. How do you plan your trips? When I travel, I try to fill my schedule to get the most of my time there to see things, which unfortunately tends to rush picture taking. But if I only have a week to travel, I want to make sure I see a lot.

Hi!

I suppose i could write a whole article about this question.

Basically, for me there are two kinds of trips:
1. I go somewhere because of some reason and decide to bring a camera
2. I go somewhere to take pictures

On the trips of the first kind I'm happy if I manage to get one or two decent shots but I do not expect to get any. I do not usually publish these either, maybe sometimes in my "recent images" section.

All the photos in the travel articles I publish on my website were created during trips of the second kind.
Traveling to do photography is very different to traveling just to "see" things. You can easily visit five places every day so that you can say "I've been there", but if you want to take real pictures you need to spend much more time on each location.

Usually I scout a place before I even think of taking a picture - for example in the middle of the day where photography is not an option anyways, due to boring light. I take "mental" images and make a desicion where exactly I want to get what picture. Then I come back in the evening or next morning to take the shot, very often only to find out that low hanging clouds are blocking the sun and no light means no photo.
So I have to come back the day after in the hope of having better conditions.

Sometimes an opportunity presents itself on the first try, other times I have to go back to a place multiple times. Especially if you visit destinations with a humid, finnicky climate you should account for at least two, better three tries.

As others already said in this thread it is important to plan enough time (multiple days) for each main location so that you have a reasonable chance to get the pictures you want. Apart from that you should of course get a good shot every time an opportunity presents itself by chance where you just happen to be at the moment.

Hope that helps!

 

[stevelee]

Years ago when I was more serious about photography, I decided not to take a camera with me when I traveled. That way I would do things and see things instead of just taking pictures.

Then in 2000 I took a camera with me to eastern Europe and found I could finally hit a reasonable balance, so I’m back to taking a camera along these days. (OK, Prague was a challenge. I did get carried away with photographing it.) For the most part, while I do take a lot of pictures, photography doesn’t get in my way very often.