West Cork (C&C welcome)

nilhg

I had the chance to take a few days away last weekend and headed off to West Cork, such a lovely place, a chance to see whales, fine weather, good food and a few pints in the evening, what more could a man want.

On Friday I dragged my good wife (patient woman that she is) up and down every boreen and lane between Union Hall and Baltimore looking for some picture opportunities, and got a few I quite like even though the day was overcast and the light was quite flat. Then on Saturday morning we headed out to Galley Head lighthouse to see the whales (I need a longer lens) not something you get the opportunity to do at home.

Some Pictures

A whale watcher walks out to Galley Head



Expert Fisher



Owenahincha Beach



Castle Haven from Rinnin Forest Park



More on my flickr or pix.ie

shepthedog

Great capture with the seagulf.. They are a little dark thought, perhaps try lightening them???
West Cork is great photo location but it really is dependent as with everything in Ireland, largely on the weather..
Some very nice shots on your flickr..

sineadw

OOooo its lovely there isn't it? Did you get into the gallery in Clon? If you're down that direction again check out Castle Townsend and the C of I church there. Camera heaven! And there's a breathtaking Harry Clarke window in the church to boot...

As for your shots, the first is lovely but I think there's something missing in the processing? I'd go for a bit more contrast in a curves layer, maybe crop out some of the sky? I'm pretty much into the heavily processed look at the moment though... The seagull's great! Very narcissistic The beach shot, I like the dark tones. I got one very similar on Inchydoney last week but haven't been able to process it properly.

nilhg

shepthedog wrote: »

Great capture with the seagulf.. They are a little dark thought, perhaps try lightening them???

Thanks shep, if you think they are dark now you should have seen them from the camera! It was pretty dark though.

sineadw wrote: »

OOooo its lovely there isn't it? Did you get into the gallery in Clon? If you're down that direction again check out Castle Townsend and the C of I church there. Camera heaven! And there's a breathtaking Harry Clarke window in the church to boot...

As for your shots, the first is lovely but I think there's something missing in the processing? I'd go for a bit more contrast in a curves layer, maybe crop out some of the sky? I'm pretty much into the heavily processed look at the moment though... The seagull's great! Very narcissistic The beach shot, I like the dark tones. I got one very similar on Inchydoney last week but haven't been able to process it properly.

Sinead, I did make it to Mike Brown's gallery, and bought his Irish nature book, I couldn't resist when I saw some of his prints that were in the bar of the hotel. The hotel also had some prints from by Deaglan De Bha which were also very impressive.

We did visit Castletownsend but I didn't make the church, next time...

As for the processing I have tried to get them reasonably close to the scene as I remember it, the light was very flat. I know I could push some of them a lot more if I wanted but never like to push things to the limit, even if I had any idea where the limit is.:D Its a matter of personal taste I suppose.
All the PP was done in Lightroom.

Incidentally I learned today that the light keeper's house at Galley Head can be hired out by groups, a possible boards photography outing?

Carrigman

I think the first one would make a great black and white conversion. Burn in the sky and make the shot all dark and moody. I tried a quick version in PS and it looks great. Try it!

rymus

nice one with the seagull.. I've sat on the rocks at Galley Head a good number of times trying to capture that and then the gull coming back out of the water with a fish.

nilhg

Carrigman wrote: »

I think the first one would make a great black and white conversion. Burn in the sky and make the shot all dark and moody. I tried a quick version in PS and it looks great. Try it!

Ok here you go, feel free to stick up yours if you like.