Tag Archives: Ireland

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #204 Doors/Doorways

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I used to have a bit of a fascination for old abandoned buildings, of which there are quite a few in the rural areas of Ireland. Here an old cottage.

abandoned cottage

Here an old shed, possibly still used for some sort of agricultural storage.

Old shed

And another; the door frame remains but there isn’t much left of the building itself.

old door

There is a certainly melancholy about these places, a history lost and forgotten.

Thank you to Syvia at My Colorful Expressions for hosting this week’s Lens artist challenge – door /doorways

Lens-Artist Challenge #195: Colourful Expressions

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Today we enjoyed a beautiful walk in Brackloon woods near Westport, Co Mayo. The wood is a Special Area Conservation due to the presence of old oak woodland. It was full of the colours of spring. The woodland floor covered in flowers. Mossy greens , the pink stems of Herb Robert, yellow Lesser Celandine and white Wood Sorrel.

Woodland floor

Here the Wood Sorrel in more detail, and below that the Celandine.

Wood sorrel
Lesser Celandine

Also the delicate white of Greater Stitchwort.

Greater Stitchwort

Among the flower butterflies added further colour and beauty. First the aptly named Peacock and below the Holly Blue butterfly, tiny but like a little bit of sky fliting about.

Peacock butterfly
Holly Blue Butterfly

It does the soul good to immerse oneself in nature for a little while.

Thank you to Anne at Slow Shutter Speed for this week’s Lens Artist Photo Challenge.

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #188: A Special Place

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I have been a regular follower of the Lens-Artists since Patti, Tina, Amy, and Ann-Christine started their weekly challenge and it is a real honour being asked to host one of their weekly challenges.

The theme of this week’s challenge is “A Special Place“. Many of us have a special place; maybe it is a place you like to escape to when you need a break from the ups and downs of the everyday; or it may be just a place you enjoy spending time. Your special place may be a certain room in your house, it may be a place you like to visit, or it may be a building such as a library, museum, or church.

There are many reasons too why a place may be special. It might be a memory that it holds, or the way the light plays in that space, it may be something to do with the way the place feels or smells. It would be wonderful if you could show us the places that are or were special to you and if you can tell us why. I live in the west of Ireland and am lucky to be surrounded by many beautiful places.

In general, though, I am a home bird, so for me my garden is a truly special place. It is somewhere to sit and enjoy, somewhere to garden and find release from the stresses of work.

If I go anywhere, I just love going to the coast. Growing up, I spent many happy summer days with my family, by the ocean on the north-west coast of County Mayo, so maybe it is this that connects me to the sea. Or it might be just the smell of the salt, the feel of the wind in my hair. It is a place where I can always find peace, no matter what the season.

Many thanks to Anne Sandler for her Water challenge. It was so lovely to enjoy all the beautiful photographs and posts.

We hope you will join us this week. We look forward to seeing what makes a place special for you. Please link to my post here and use the Lens-Artists tag to help us find you.

Next week, Tina will lead LAPC #189. Her subject is Odds and Ends.

Low light

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Winter in Ireland can bring low light challenges and even though there is what we Irish like to call “a stretch in the evenings”, the grey, windy weather this week has given me plenty low light opportunities.

The first image is from near Doohooma on the west coast of Ireland, as hail showers made their way rapidly from the Atlantic.

Doohooma

Back at home the frogs have returned to the garden pond and as Storm Dudley calmed for a couple of hours this afternoon it was dry enough to get out and get some photos.

Common frog

And then this evening a beautiful moon. Thankfully my camera has a good IAuto function which sometimes works for me in these very low light conditions – needless to say there were some blurred images as well.

Moon

Many thanks to Sofia of Photographias for providing inspiration on this week’s Lens-artist challenge – Low Light.

Lens-Artists Challenge #183 – Memorable Events

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There was just something special and memorable about this trip to the coast at the end of last summer. It was probably the last sunny day before the kids went back to school. Something about it just gave me a really warm feeling. It’s a beach we’ve been to before, though this time we choose the little secluded bay as opposed to the big strand. The day was perfect, sunny and warm.

Secluded beach

The water was perfect for swimming.

North Mayo Coast

And even when we got tired of the water, there were the dunes to explore, with their wonderful wildflowers.

Harebells

And of course bumblebees – just to make the day.

Large carder bee

Lens-Artists Challenge #181 – Double Dipping

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This week the Lens-Artist challenge suggests that in addition to their challenge, we link to some of the other creative opportunities our fellow bloggers make available. Cee does a wonderful job keeping us all up-to-date with the current challenges. So I have chosen two of her challenges to link to this week. First her CBWC challenge and this week’s topic is “birds”.

Blue tit on branch

While birds can bring lots of colour into our gardens we can also appreciate their beauty in black and white.

Blue tit from beneath

The second of Cee challenges is her flower of the day (FOTD) challenge. In Ireland, it is mid-winter and really we shouldn’t be finding any flowers around. But I photographed this meadow buttercup, the essence of a summer meadow flower, on the 1st January.

meadow buttercup

FOTD