40″, f/5, ISO 100, E-30, OLYMPUS 12-60mm Lens @ 14 mm

To try to solve my problem with the 10 stop filter I was doing some testing the other morning, to be fair the conditions weren’t similar enough to properly replicate the problem so I suppose it was wasted time but then during processing I was taken with this image so I suppose it was worth going out.

49.99″, f/18, ISO 100, E-30, OLYMPUS 12-60mm Lens @ 12 mm

Just after Christmas I went up to Wicklow with the Camera Club, one of the disappointing parts of the day was that I discovered a problem with flare or internal reflections when using my 10 stop filter, I wasn’t exactly sure what had happened but thought the most likely explanation was that I had been too busy chatting and had somehow fitted the filter wrongly. So when I had a chance to return to the lakes to have another go I was ultra careful to make sure I had everything as tight as possible, you’ll understand then why I was disappointed to find the same effect when I took the shots off the card and into Lightroom. It probably wasn’t quite as pronounced as the previous time but there all the same, the extent of the problem relating to the length of exposure and the angle of the sun to the lens.

I’m not really sure where the problem lies, it may be that the seal between the holder and the gasket on the filter isn’t good enough, but I’m going to have to do some experimentation to fix this problem.

This shot was one of the least affected, and cleaned up reasonably well in PP.

1/800, f/4, ISO 100, E-510, 40.0-150.0 mm f/4.0-5.6 @ 40 mm

Though it’s been very mild at home here in Kildare over the Christmas and New Year period I doubt if many folk in Ireland spent the morning of New Year’s Eve having a barbie on the beach and watching the locals enjoying themselves in the sunshine.

Four years ago I had the pleasure of doing that (despite the jet lag) and have to say it’s a great way to finish the year.

1/2sec,  f/14, ISO 100, E-30 OLYMPUS, 12-60mm Lens @ 12 mm

Yesterday I ventured out to the Christmas outing of my local camera club, it was nice to get out and meet all the folks and see them at work.

1/2 f/11 ISO 100 E-30 OLYMPUS 12-60mm Lens 12 mm

For quite a while no I’ve been looking at other photographers blending textures into their shots, being impressed by the results and making a mental note that someday I’ll have to have a go at that.

Well today was the day I had my first go, I thought that this image might be suitable to try with so I downloaded some free textures from the internet and let loose in Photoshop trying various combinations of blend modes and opacities.
I’m not sure now that the textures I picked were the most suitable but as with everything else with photography and post processing you have to climb that steep learning curve….

1/10 f/10 ISO 200 E-30 OLYMPUS 12-60mm Lens 23 mm

Another shot from the cold snap of December 2010, this is the Church of Ireland church in Rathangan which has a lovely position in the town, high on the hill near the Rath, with the snow and the trees it makes a picturesque scene.

f/8 ISO 100 E-30 OLYMPUS 12-60mm Lens 17 mm

The Citadel above Victoria ( Rabat) on the island of Gozo is an impressive sight from the outside rearing up over the surrounding countryside, you might imagine that the access from inside to the walls might be bigger than a few passages like this, but I suppose the inhabitants were confident that they had plenty of time to arrange their defences.

Last Sunday morning I headed off early (for me anyway) to Manor Kilbride in Co Wicklow to try to catch the last of the Autumn colour, I knew that I wasn’t going to be there at the best time for the light but I had other commitments later on in the day so I had to make the best of it.
One consolation was that I had the place pretty much to myself which doesn’t happen too often this time of the year, it always seems to be busy with a mix of photographers and the general public getting in each others way.

It’s almost exactly a year since the coldest spell of weather I cam remember hit Kildare and the rest of Ireland, at first the snow and the well subzero temperatures were something of a novelty but as the month wore on most of us were looking forward to a return to normality.

It was spectacular while it lasted though