Recently in Photography Category

Philip Bloom mentioned, in his master class yesterday, a file utility I had not heard of before, one that seems brilliant to me:  ShotPut Pro.  This program will copy your media files from their source (camera card) to up to 3 locations simultaneously.  Brilliant!

I think that always having an untouched copy of your original media files and a working copy of them is always a bright idea.  This practice not only gives you the option of having an emergency backup of your files in case of drive failure or theft, but provides you with some measure of future-proofing your media files for later use—perhaps in projects using CODECs we don't even have today.

I also use BackBlaze to automatically and continuously sync all of my data off site.  The three important parts of that last sentence are:  off site, continuously, and above all:  automatically!  BackBlaze is a steal of a deal at only $50 per machine per year for unlimited storage!  I just do my work using my machines, and BackBlaze is always keeping my offsite backup up to date.

If you were doing professional projects, where setting up the shoot required a significant investment or was time sensitive (can't be easily repeated, for example), using locally redundant copies of the original media and off site backups is essential!

Neil Smith, at hdiRAWworks, arranged for Philip Bloom to conduct a Canon HD-DSLR masterclass yesterday here in LA. This was the first time I've ever attended such a thing, and I rather enjoyed it and learned a lot too. The little tidbits you pick up are also interesting: like why the Canon 5Dmkii will only shoot video for 12 minutes. I always thought it was just a storage capacity issue. No. (We live in such a weird world.)

Philip showed several of his shorts, which, of course, are amazing. I've embedded a few of them here at tt.us from time to time. While they look great on the computer screen, they were stunning on the big screen with the HD projector.

He spoke of many things related to his craft, but I suppose I learned the most from his talk about setup, actually using the DSLR for video. I've never bothered with custom camera settings before but have already imported the superflat settings he recommended and am eager to try the workflow: shooting with the increased dynamic range, though visually initially less "interesting," and then grading the footage in post. It makes sense as I do the equivalent process with still photography all the time. We just can't get raw data out of the 5D. Philip says: "Yet..." (See Luka Crnkovic-Dodig's post: How to increase the Canon 7D/5D dynamic range, which includes this link to the superflat settings file, among others.)

In my own casual exploration through this space, I've ended up with a lot of the same software and equipment, and now have a better understanding of implementation and process for video and timelapse using my 5Dmkii. It's now time to play, play, play!  I'm also eager to explore timelapse.

Aside from being brilliant at what he does, Philip is very personable and has a great sense of humor. He also comes across as completely genuine and open about what he recommends and why. If you ever have the opportunity to attend one of his masterclasses, jump at it! I'm glad I stepped outside of my comfort zone.

Related articles:



• Canon Rebel T2i DSLR: 18MP and Legit 1080p Video for $899 [Digital Cameras] (gizmodo.com)
• Canon EOS 7D digital SLR (go.theregister.com)
• Canon's EOS 1D Mark V DSLR defying death, launching tomorrow? (engadget.com)
• The First Clips Shot on the Canon T2i Look As Good as the 7D [Photography] (gizmodo.com)
• Gorgeous (timtyson.us)

Yes, The Oscars are upon us!

Back when I first visited my new dentist (who, incidentally, I really like!), I drove by a building I thought to be a church.  I was surprised to see that it is The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences—the people responsible for The Oscars!  I made a mental note.

Today, with the festivities fast upon us, I drove back out there and took some pictures of the building as well as the Hollywood sign, which is only about 5 miles further.  Three pictures of the Academy lurk behind the one shown below.  Click it to see them all.

The image is cropped; the roof, telephone pole and wires (enlarge to see) are removed; the sky especially (and the image as a whole) has a bit of my 11 different herbs and spices; and the electronics, fence, and road at the top of the hill are all removed.

Related articles

• Download the official Oscars App for iPhone and iPod Touch (teabreak.pk)


• Barbara Walters: Final Oscars Special Is Best (huffingtonpost.com)


• Oscar nods aren't translating into ticket boom (msnbc.msn.com)

Very clever time-lapse shot in Tokyo. To see the video in full HD, check out this link. Or you can click below to watch a smaller version from YouTube. To learn more about how the video was shot, go to the Laughing Squid.

In my earlier post, I mentioned that the surf has been out of control with the storm and earthquake.  The life guard stations had to be moved inland—waaaay inland, and the surf still almost got to them.  Here you can see that the sand was completely eroded away by the surf, creating the sudden drop off that was as tall as me!  (Click to enlarge.)

Normally, along a seashore, one expects to find seashells.  Well, not so here in the South Bay.  Regrettably, the dumping of LA's sewage has long ago killed such sea life.  But what I found even more distressing was the amount of trash the surf brought to the shore line.  It was unbelievable!  Thousands of plastic bottle caps littered the shoreline as if they were the missing seashells! Bits of styrofoam, in various sizes, were everywhere.  This is outrageous!  We have turned the Pacific Ocean into a sewer. Click the image below to see two different pictures.

Yes, I've ranted about my AppleTVs world without end!  Well, apparently, one of them was just completely messed up:  the hardware was bad.  Naturally, it wasn't under warranty.  (I think Apple only has a 90 day warranty unless you spend the extra money on AppleCare.  I always do for computers but hadn't for the AppleTV.)

So, I bought a new AppleTV.  My god!  The thing actually works!  After having been plagued with sooo many issues for sooo long with the other device, I was fully expecting this one not to function properly either.  But it works well!  And I purchased AppleCare for this one.

The only thing that greatly annoys me with the AppleTV:  the largest hard drive you can get is 160GB.  That's ridiculous.  I frankly don't give a rip what Apple thinks, Tim thinks he should be able to store his entire media library on the AppleTV hard drive and not have to clutter up the home LAN with streaming audio/video!  This would also give me another backup for the media files!

I do love being able to stream nearly 10,000 photos and music on the large flat panel TV downstairs for parties—like the one held here at the house last Saturday night.  (BTW:  Bristol Farms does a great job catering!!)  My photos just look awesome on the big screen, if I say so myself!  :)

Did the mountains in China's Zhangjiajie National Forest park inspired the floating Hallelujah Mountain Range in the movie Avatar? Our world has some of the most strangely gorgeous places.

I follow @PhilipBloom on Twitter. He does such amazing work. He has been in Dubai for the past several days shooting this video, Sky. This short timelapse beautifully captures the radiance of the city. And the music, Xibalba by Clint Mansell, is perfect for it.

I appreciate Philip's willingness to share how he does this with HD-DSLRs. It's so helpful to those of us who love to dabble. You can read about the process at his blog, here.

Be sure to watch this in full screen mode. It's beautiful.

He also has a uStream account and broadcast live from his iPhone today. I haven't tried that yet, but it's on my list!

I wasn't pleased with the video play button I created and used as an overlay on videos that would open in the shadowbox. My mother asked me why I had a weird finger on some of my pictures. I had no idea what she was talking about. Then, it dawned on me... So, I made a new one.

The new one takes inspiration from the (universal?) YouTube play button, is more "sculpted," has "instructions" on it, and hopefully draws a bit more attention to itself and its function without being too "in your face."

I like new one so much better and hope you do too!

BTW: clicking on the above images does nothing. :o)

This tutorial needs a slightly faster pace, but Helen does a great job answering some questions I've grappled with in frustration concerning changing the crop orientation while using a fixed aspect ratio in Lightroom. I could never figure it out. It's so easy when you know the magic trick!

With Paraglider over Campo croce near Bassano del Grappa soaring the thermals on the southern slopes of Mte Grappa Canon 50D with Sigma 4,5 mm Fisheye, free-hand, PTGUI, Photoshop CS3, Pano2VR"

[Source: 'Flugpano Papierfassung' on 360cities.net.]

I just have one question: How on earth did Martin shoot this!?

I think I've mentioned before on my blog that I've fallen in love with Arizona. The desert is such a mysteriously beautiful place. As I recently tweeted, I visited Page, Arizona, for my New Year's celebration. Regrettably, my numerous tweets on this trip did not go out as, unlike Verizon, AT&T had no 3G coverage at all in Page, and their Edge network rarely worked for me anywhere.

I went to see and photograph Antelope Canyon.

The small Page airport was wonderful--like stepping back in time. They have one car rental company: Avis, which was closed on January 1st; so, a car couldn't be rented. But when we landed (all 6 of the people on the Great Lakes Airlines plane from Phoenix) a man was at the Avis counter. He said that, even though it was his day off, he came in to do some paperwork, and decided to come in when the flight arrived in case anyone needed to rent a car.

Wow! Now that's customer service.

The Page city council should do something nice for this guy. As a result of his extra effort, Page took in more revenue. Instead of being stranded at the hotel until the tour guide arrived the next day, having a rental car, I was able to get out, see the sights, and spend some money. This guy is Page's unofficial ambassador. He also recommended some great places to see!

Be sure to view the larger versions of the photos below. Simply click a photo to see the larger picture which has better color depth. From any large version, you can view all of the photos in this post by simply pressing the "n" key for "Next."

I shot several pictures at Horseshoe Bend (above and first two below). This place was magnificent! The air was completely still, so I timidly, slowly, haultingly inched up to the edge of the 1,500 foot precipice for several shots. (I also kept the tripod in front of me as if it would somehow magically keep me from plummeting to my death.) There's nothing to stop you, nothing to prevent you from falling over, nothing to catch you if you did. You would drop 1,500 feet straight down to the Colorado river bed below.

The view near the edge is astounding and terrifying at the same time--breath-taking in more ways than one. Just thinking about it makes my knees weak and my skin crawl again. Frankly, it was scary as hell! I'm including a shot or two of some young guys who just walked right up to the very edge as if falling to your death were an impossibility. They were crazy insane!

Carol Bigthumb's son and a friend of his were our tour guides through the Lower and the Upper Antelope Canyon as well as Owl and Rattlesnake Canyons. Carol was delightful, and I recommend her tour guides.

I just thought we would walk straight into this large canyon (sort of like Petra, Jordan), and, at the upper canyon, you do. But the lower canyon begins as a small crack in the ground. Her son hopped into the crack, barely wide enough for your feet. I didn't realize that he expected me to follow until it suddenly started going deeper into the ground.

There were a few places near the entrance where I had to squeeze through with my camera backpack on my back. One of the guides, a thin college student who runs 4.30 miles, then wore the backpack for me for the remainder of the day. They were incredibly helpful.

All of the canyons were different and astounding. The lower canyon had numerous steps and ended with a large number of stairs going back up out of the canyon. At that point you realize how deep into the ground you are. I'm not overly bothered by heights, but I couldn't look down. I just grabbed the rails and went: up, up, up... Dear god, would we ever get to the top?! My leg muscles are still killing me from the stairs, hiking up and down, and the constant squatting down to peer through the camera viewfinder!

Eleven young people (twenty-somethings), were killed in the canyon a few years back. They were told to leave the canyon as flash floods were on the way. Seeing no clouds in the sky, they went back in. (Only one body was ever recovered.) Astoundingly, the violent rushing water completely fills these deep canyons all the way up to the top. The flash floods are what carve the smooth, gorgeous walls of the canyon from the rock.

The photos are exceedingly long exposures (many well over 60 seconds) because of the interesting and ever changing lighting conditions in the canyon. I shot for HDR (3 to 5 exposures per shot), so you can expect to see an incredible HDR gallery as soon as I have the time. For now, enjoy just these few single exposure shots.

Our Navaho guides spoke of the canyons as sacred. I can understand why. These were etherial, mystical, enchanting places that were cathedrals to nature, energy, harmony, and the quiet balanced spirit.

I will be back.

This picture was shot of a rose picked from the garden yesterday. Only in California!

Those who follow my blog know how I love 360º panoramas. They are such fun (and challenging) to shoot and build. Jeffery Martin, one of the founders at 360Cities is Mr. Pano. I can't imagine how difficult this pano was to create and am confident that his brief set of answers below belies the difficulty and challenge of his accomplishment! (I certainly couldn't have done such a thing, even with a robotic arm.)

You've got to check it out. The level of detail in this image goes way beyond astounding. Click the photo above and zoom in and around. Check out the people sitting in the distant park. Apparently Jeffery will have a treasure hunt related to the pano, with a $1,000 prize, and started releasing a clue a day for 30 days.

How did you create this panorama? I used a Canon 5d mark 2 and a 70-200mm lens, set to 200mm. The camera was mounted on a robotic device which turned the camera in tiny, precise increments, in every direction. All together, 40 gigabytes of images were shot. These images were then stitched together using PTGui. The resulting panorama was adjusted for color, contrast, sharpness, etc. in Photoshop. Afterwards, the image was cut into lots of ‘tiles’ and uploaded to our server. When you view the image online, you only load a few of these ‘tiles’ at one time.

How long did you spend stitching this panorama? Between loading the initial raw files into the computer, and having the panorama stitched, it took about a week. It took 3 additional weeks to fine-tune the image.

What kind of computer did you use? I used a four year-old windows PC with two single-core 3ghz xeon processors and 8GB of RAM. After a week of frustration, I also bought an SSD, which helped to speed up some tasks a bit. If I will make this image again, I will buy a new computer.

What is dimension of this panorama, and size it takes on disk? The final image exists as a 120 gigabyte photoshop large (PSB) file. It cannot exist as a TIFF or JPEG file because of their size constraints. The panorama online exists as a few hundred thousand small tiles (in JPEG format), and they take up about 1 gigabyte of disk space.

Link to the panorama

(Via Prague 18 Gigapixels – How was it made? «360 Cities Official Blog.)

I don't know what I did to cause this pano to be so blurry when viewed full screen on a large monitor, but it is what it is.

Every photo is it's own challenge, and this one had many! Just as I was almost set up in front of the ocean for the pano shots, the weather degenerated quickly into an all out down pour with no end in sight. I started packing it up while getting drenched. Half way back to the car, it stopped. I hesitated. Back I trod.

Now, while shooting, people and a dog come into the scene. O well, as I said, it is what it is. Then the ocean surf became particularly aggressive, coming up to the camera/tripod.

I just started shooting the pano as quickly as possible. (I don't think I even thought about focus at all!) Next I noticed one of the tripod legs had sunk into the sand and the careful balance needed for the perfect pano was to be hopeless.

I doubted the stitching software would even be able to generate the pano file. Amazingly, it did it and extremely fast!!

But the scene was too gorgeous not to share. So even though the pano lacks sharp focus, enjoy it!

Dublin is a very busy city. As I was out and about last night, I noticed how very young everyone was. But, I just thought that I was in the city centre area near Trinity College. I was just in college town. However, I've been told that, astoundingly, over 50% of the population of Dublin is under the age of 25!!

The catholic influence against no family planning combined with the booming economy before the economic crash (so the children stayed in Ireland) is credited with this astounding fact. However, the catholic church is losing its influence here. Businesses are open on Sunday. Abortions are performed. And a highly anticipated, national, reputable report (The Murphy Report) was just released stating that the leaders of the catholic church and the police were both in collusion to keep an enormous pedophilia scandal all quiet for decades resulting in its continuing unchecked. Heads are, as they should be, beginning to roll in Ireland.

The number of homeless people begging for money on the streets here in Dublin is concerning. Organizations such as the YMCA are on the streets asking for donations to address the homeless crisis in Dublin. But what I found very disturbing is the significant percentage of the homeless that are teenagers and young people in their twenties.

Capitalism in its present form does not work for too many people. Something must change! The divide between those who have more than they could ever need or want and those who lack basic needs is staggering and immoral.

The cold here in Dublin has been biting, bone cold! The pedestrian street traffic has been incredibly intense. The Irish don't seem to mind the cold so much, some even wearing short sleeves!

Rain was, yet again, in the forecast. But, astoundingly, it didn't rain today!! [Follow up correction:  It rained later that night; so, it rained every day I was in Ireland.] However, it was really foggy. Here are some pictures from the day in Dublin.

I've never spent the night in a castle before this trip to Ireland. In fact, I've never even seen a real castle before this trip. The experience was most interesting.

The castle grounds are spectacular. The heavily wooded spaces (virtual forests), and the green grass (most typically golf courses) were expansive beyond belief. Driving beyond the massive stone and gated entrances for some time before seeing the enormous castles in the far distance, surrounded by water, was truly impressive. The grounds are indeed something to behold. Hidden deep in the woods, one finds a variety of gardens: sunken, formal, trellis, and carpet.

The buildings themselves were also just massive--not only in physical size, but the materials used for construction. Even though the river was literally lapping up against one of the walls at Ashford Castle, I had some sense that the water would never make in inside because of the permanence of the thick stone construction.

The interiors were very different. Dromoland Castle was more divided up, probably as a result of the modernization of the interior. Ashford Castle was more open and expansive inside [See above photo.].

I knew castles used heavy curtains to keep the cold outside during the winter. I didn't realize just how heavy and thick these curtains would be. The numerous, enormous fireplaces burning wood and serving a significant function for heating as well as display were also lovely. The extensive use of wood paneling, especially in Ashford Castle, pictured above, was warm, ornate, and gorgeous. The molding (balustrades) at the top of the heavily decorated ceilings was ornate and intricate beyond belief. Who were the original owners that could live in such luxury?!

The Irish people are so warm and friendly by nature, but their sense of hospitality and service in the castles was a calling card of pride. They appeared to thrive on being asked about something which they promptly then volunteered to do for you. The heat was stuck in the full on position in the sitting room of the hotel room in Ashford Castle. When hotel maintenance promptly arrived to fix it, they were so apologetic I felt bad for having asking them to take care of it.

I personally don't like the smell of alcoholic beverages, but most people aren't like me. After having been outside in the cold and rain, when you walked in the main entrance of the Ashford Castle, they were heating wine, which they immediately offered everyone. The hotel stationery (isn't that a thing of the past?) stated "in residence at" and the name of the castle. You don't just feel at home. You feel attended to in so many ways. These brief visits were a glimpse into a time and place, a way of living, a lifestyle I can not begin to imagine: incomparable privilege and position.

If a person actually lived in such a space, s/he would have to have large staffs just to maintain the massive physical space both inside and out. I'm thinking a maintenance budget the size of Texas.

The hotel rooms themselves were smaller rooms with considerably small bathrooms. They were probably renovated years ago when luxury hotel bathrooms were not the same as those of today.

As I was leaving Dromoland Castle, I saw the falconer working with his bird. Had I not been driving off when I saw him, I would have stopped and taken pictures. The attire. The bird. The ritual of it.

I really wouldn't want to live in such a place as these. But an overnight visit is a must. One could easily get lost in time very quickly. Pamper yourself. These places have mastered the art of welcoming, serving, and entertaining noblemen and gentry for centuries.

Today was primarily a travel day--from the west coast of the island to the east. It rained the entire drive. So, not a lot of photos were shot today.

This morning on the way out of Cong, the village nearest the Ashford Castle, I shot a few pictures of some old church ruins and the associated cemetery. You can get a sense of the flooding from one of the pictures.

These last four shots are from the main shopping district in Dublin tonight. The first is the candle from the restaurant table. Dublin is overrun with visitors this weekend: a major shopping weekend for the upcoming holidays, and a huge rugby game is in town.

Entrance onto Castle Proper

Peering through the Entrance

Wood Carving on the Side of the Fireplace in the Reading Room

Eagle over the Front Door

Engraving over an Outside Wooden Gate Below

Coat of Arms High Up on the Back Castle Wall

Corner Tower

Peering through the Window in the Back Tower Wall

Back of the Castle from the River's Edge (Outside the Castle Wall)

Coat of Arms over a Fireplace in the Sitting Room

Today the weather provided periods of sunshine (and sudden downpours), so... back to the Cliffs of Moher with wind gusts of up to 120kph (almost 75mph!). I can't describe this place: the view, the wind, the cold, the drama of nature.

One of the guys who works at the park told of a man who got lifted off of his feet by the wind and blown "like a rag doll" about 20 feet into the air! Another spoke of people getting blown off the edge before the slate wall was installed 6 years ago. This place is serious.

I know I keep mentioning this, but Ireland is rather astounded by all of the rain. And with their road infrastructure, this is a huge problem. While driving through 5 of the 8 flooded areas on their roads, I was seriously worried the car would stall. Luckily, it didn't. But with no real knowledge of where you are or any alternate routes as the roads are few, rural, and far between, travel has become a very difficult issue.

Here are just a few pictures from the 355 I shot today. (I've also been shooting some HD video which will be posted before the end of the year.) Click any photo to enlarge it.

The Cliffs of Moher in the Far Distance

Cemetery in Clariecastle (on the way to the Cliffs of Moher from Dromoland Castle)

View along the Atlantic Ocean Just North of the Cliffs of Moher (in Doolin)

View along the Atlantic Ocean Just North of the Cliffs of Moher (in Doolin)

View along the Atlantic Ocean Just North of the Cliffs of Moher (in Doolin)

The Cliffs of Moher As Seen by an Ocean Side Cow (from the North in Doolin Looking South)

The Cliffs of Moher As Seen Ocean Side (from the North in Doolin Looking South)

View along the Atlantic Ocean Just North of the Cliffs of Moher (in Doolin)

The Cliffs of Moher in the Sunlight (with Reverse Waterfall--Waterup??)

The Cliffs of Moher in the Sunlight

To quote The Irish Times: "The word unprecedented is a bit overused. But the amount of rain we have had is truly unprecedented." And the wind was as well, with gusts up to 70kph, which is almost 45mph.

This morning, at 7:00am a huge, very old tree next to the hotel, blew down with a thunderous, earth-shaking noise.

The 3.5 hour ride from Killarney to the Cliffs of Moher included a ferry, somewhat rough seas, and lots of wind and rain.

I love how the Irish have structured the visitors' center at the Cliffs of Moher. It's built into the hillside so you don't even see it. They have also built a hidden stone wall (about 4.5 to 5 feet high) along the cliffs's edge so people don't fall to their deaths. I've seen pictures shot before the stone wall was in place that absolutely terrified me of this place!

However, the wind gusts were unparalleled in my entire life experience on this earth. I'm rather confident they significantly exceeded the 70kph gusts that were forecast back in the Killarney area. A couple of times, I simply could not stop or walk. The wind blew me so hard, I was forced to begin running and leaning back and down into the wind, or I would have been blown completely off my feet without doubt. If the stone wall had not been in place, I would have been terrified beyond belief!

The distance to the ocean below is significant, as you can see. (Unfortunately I'm not posting any pictures with people in them right now.  That would give a sense of scale.  Just think "tiny dots.")  Yet the wind blew the foaming, frothing ocean up the sides of the cliff where it rained down on everyone. At first I couldn't figure out what it was: snow? ice? Then a giant piece of the foam landed in front of me. Also, the wind would actually blow water up the side of the cliff and onto everyone. You can see it prominently in two of the pictures below. Amazing!

This was a spectacular display from Mother Nature!

Here are a few pictures to whet your interest for the Ireland photo album. Click to enlarge.

Ireland surprised me a lot today. With the exception of the cliffs on the west coast, I had a mental image of the country as pastoral, relatively flat, and rather green. Today I saw mountains (or giant hills with lots of goats, sheep, and cows), coastal areas along the Atlantic Ocean that reminded me of California's famous Highway 1, the beautiful and heavily wooded Killarney National Park, numerous lakes (all flooding their boundaries--the most rainfall in 20 years!), and a healthy number of rainbows.

This area, a circular drive called the Ring of Kerry, is gorgeous! 

Reminding me of the USA before the 60's litter campaign, I must say I am dismayed that the Irish seem to lack the concept of litter. They seem quick to discard their trash, without any hesitation at all, from the window of their cars along the roadsides or in the water ways, even in the most gorgeous areas. I didn't see any trash receptacles (not even one) anywhere. Ireland needs a very aggressive national litter campaign and a funded systematic roadside trash disposal system. To spoil such beautiful land and water is so sad. (And this is the off season for tourists!)

The weather was a bit of a challenge. Rarely was the sun actually lighting the vistas before me, and at times is was raining intensely. But I managed to shoot over 150 pictures today. Here is just a small sample. 

I must say, the Irish do seem to enjoy their drinking and singing.

And Ireland's birds start singing their hearts out around 2:00AM in the dark of the night.  It's just the oddest thing!

Today was a very interesting travel day: from Kilkenny to Killarney.

My travels first took me to town center Kilkenny to see the Castle Kilkenny, which is situated immediately next to a river. Immediate access to water seems to feature prominently in the ruins I've seen thus far. I recalled a professor's comment at Emory: "Everything in human history is about geology."

The town, perhaps once home to the peasants who served the castle, is now a thriving community filled with energy on this Sunday morning.

I recalled reading Indian Givers, the story of the impact of the American Indian civilization on the world, in which the author said the potato, which made its way to Ireland to become the "Irish Potato" because it grew so well here, created the middle class and ended serfdom.

Next, I was off to see Jerpoint Abbey in Thomastown. The abbey was first started around the turn of the last millennium--not century. I've been fascinated by the ancient ruins of Catholic churches and abbeys. They abound here in Ireland.  Often by ancient graveyards, these entire structures are now a tomb of an ancient way of being.

I want to know the stories these places tell.

How could such a prominent, expensive structure often in such rural areas, places that at one time had to be a center of community, if not survival, fall into ruin? How did these places become irrelevant to the people around them?

Then I was off to Cashel to see the Rock of Cashel. Unfortunately, I arrived 3 minutes after they closed for the day. But I really wasn't too upset about this. The weather was quickly becoming impossible. The wind has been astounding to me since I've arrived in Ireland. As I was leaving the Rock of Cashel, the walk became treacherous. The road was a very wet and steep descent back to the car park. I seriously worried I would be blown off my feet!

I've only worried this would happen twice before in my life: at Point Lobos, California, after a storm came in from the Pacific Ocean, and atop Dalsnibba, Norway--one of the more terrifying, yet beautiful, places I've been.

On the way up to the ruins, a group of about 5 or 6 boys was playing foolishly close to the edge of the wet rocks. As I was coming down, fearing I would be blown off of my feet, I happened to notice these same young daredevils had the sense to cower all huddled up near a huge rock that shielded them from being blown down the precipice.

Then the weather really turned foul. The sky became so dark, combined with the wind and the rain, I had to abandon photography shortly after shooting this shot of a nearby abbey in ruins.

A Garmin GPS has successfully steered the course on this trip. Today, however, was a bit of a nightmare!

In a previous post, I've mentioned that the constant rains have caused significant flooding all over the country. The roads in Ireland are mostly rather small. Actual highways seem to be fairly new--some seem to be very new indeed. So the GPS has often placed me on very small roads, like the one I shot below--completely unaware of the new highways. (I would never incriminate myself and suggest the photo was shot in a moving vehicle through the windshield and is therefore a bit blurry.)

Yes, that's one of the actual roads the GPS had me taking! They are cute. They are quaint. They are perilously narrow. They have a speed limit of 60kph!  (Dear god!  Who in their right mind...)  And, they are all too often flooded!

Think of a rectangle with Kilkenny in the top right. My destination is Killarney on the bottom left. Tiny little roads much like the one pictured above, cut diagonally across. The GPS chooses these roads. Off I go.

It's now dark and rainy as I come upon my worst nightmare: "Road closed because of flooding!" I have no idea where I am. It's pouring rain. The roads, even the large ones, rarely have lighting.  (Think  r e a l l y  dark!!)  I turn around hoping the GPS will reroute me. It does--via a quick tangled web of roads, it puts me in touch with another road closed due to flooding. All told, I found three of them, all in the dark middle of no where!  I was beginning to feel like I was trying to escape some twisted horror movie.

The GPS would not take me south to Cork and then west to Killarney as that was so out of the way. Yet those were far bigger roads. Those roads were passable.

After much trickery, I ended up in Cork, first heading for a ferry (oh god, no!). Cork's road's, in town at any rate, were jammed as much as the roads in Rome. I barely squeezed through between the parked cars on the sides. I felt like an embolism squeezing through a clogged capillary.

What a nightmare! I finally arrived in Killarney in one piece, safe and sound, about 4 hours later than I should have.

For me, the worst part of traveling an extended itinerary (both distance and duration) is actually getting to the destination. From LAX to Dublin, via Atlanta, was a bit of sitting. And, in my dreadfully customary way, I couldn't sleep at all on the plane. I arrived dried out (think: eyes stick shut), exhausted, and grumpy.

On arrival in Dublin this morning before the sun came up, the weather was very gusty! It seemed we had to land with a good bit of speed to compensate. By contrast, customs in Ireland is a breeze. :o)

The sun came up to find me waiting under a little covered outside area for the car rental shuttle. The wind was blasting the misty, drizzly rain in every direction, yes, including upside down. I was cold and wet. Everyone's greeting, and these are amazingly friendly people, was the same, a cheery, "Lovely morning we're having today."

I named the car "Droplet" because it looks like a little tiny bubble or water droplet--a very rounded and red Nissan something-or-other, cute really. [The car is a Nissan Micra. I checked.] Upon immediately getting lost trying to get out of the huge car park, a lady at the entrance of what looked like a construction site, came out into the miserable rain and gave directions in the most lovely Irish accent. "Yes, love, you turn right, then right, then left, then right, then right. Do you want me to right it down for you, love? I'd be glad to." Again, very friendly and helpful people.

Kilkenny, about 90 kilometers from Dublin, was destination one. The 170 acre, Lyrath Estate Hotel is a lovely spa and convention center sitting on beautifully pastoral acreage. [In the photo to the left, you can see the house, which is part of the hotel, in the distance on the left. In the photo in the center below, the house is in the center.] Apparently the original estate was purchased by a local photographer who pulled together a group of chemists back in the 1970s to start a photo developing lab that became a world wide business success. This hotel/spa and conference center is one of his investments. (I learned all of this from one of the 3 people who attempted to get the room phone and internet connection working. They never did, but seeing the camera equipment in the room, we all had a delightful little chat.)

Fortunately, even with a 10am arrival yesterday morning, they had an available room. The doorman, an elderly gentleman with old world charm: a jovial, welcoming, gracious face framed in his top hat, overcoat, and gloves welcomed this weary traveler to the estate. (I had hoped to get his picture later today before leaving but wasn't able to do so.)

After a 3 hour nap, the weather had cleared, the sun was out, and I was heading back about 50 kilometers to shoot the skeletal remains of an old cathedral I noticed off the road in Castledermot on the drive in. The weather changes quickly and often here.

I also was treated to an interesting view along a ridge: the rain clouds were moving rapidly over the ridge at sunset with the sun casting a unique orange glow through the wind-dirven drizzle and rain atop the ridge. To the south of the clouds hovering along the ridge was an area of clear sky with the moon prominently showing in the blue sky at 4:30pm. I was only able to get one picture through the car windows as the weather was just not going to allow me to get out of the car. They have had so much rain this year, according to the local papers, flooded areas abound. I saw several of them.

The Fox and the Geese Pub was the selected authentic local dining experience. Obviously a popular community pub (the place was huge as if 2 or 3 businesses had grown into 1 at this location) though I ate there earlier than the locals. Only 4 or 5 families or groups were in the pub around 3:30pm. I had fried cod, mushy peas, and french fries. I haven't had mushy peas since I was last in London.

I returned to the hotel to engage with the staff for some time about the phone and internet connection before retiring early (around 6). One last thing, before trying to go back to sleep in an effort to get on local time: I purchased 2 wool base layers from REI before making this trip. This is the softest wool I've ever felt! (By the way, sheep are everywhere here!) Warm, not hot, and delightfully comfy! Tim likes!!

Ever year I give, as a holiday gift, a calendar of select photos I shot that year. Last year, instead, I gave a book of photos, all from one vacation destination, to family members who I knew loved that place.

This year, back in sync with my traditional holiday gift-giving, I'm selecting photos for the 2010 Calendar. But now I have 2 years of photos from which to choose!

The task of selecting only 12 photos from 2 years of astounding travel has been all but unbearable! I narrowed the selection down to 60 and then had to begin sawing off my appendages to get it down to 12.

Here are a few that I love, but, for various reasons, these didn't make the final cut. Click any image to see the larger photo.

A few pictures from my Santa Barbara day trip this past Wednesday. Downtown is wonderfully quaint.

Avalon

View from high above Avalon

The jagged western coast

Western coastal pano

The Avalon harbor