Perhaps an unusual perspective and perhaps not as impressive a between-the-legs-shot as it would be with a tennis racket. Still, I thought myself clever at the time.

It’s a busy life being nearly-4. She took time out of her busy schedule of Play-doh heart manufacturing to glance at the camera just long enough for me to achieve focus (this is with the Samyang 85/1.4 mounted on the NEX). I have no idea where she gets that expression from.

Our kids were playing in the rock pools, getting stuck in the sand and “rescuing” each other while I furtively pulled the camera out of the jacket to occasionally take pictures. The great thing about the NEX-5 and Nikon 24/2.8 combo is I can use a street photographer’s pre-focusing technique and just concentrate on getting a quick shot off (f/11, 1/250, ISO400, +0.7EV). In this case, I couldn’t have the camera out for too long as the heavy mist/rain would quickly accumulate on the hood-less lens (the Sony 70-300 G with the 4″ hood is much better in the rain).

Anyway, I noticed these surfers moving down the beach and spotted the composition. It’s not the first time I’ve used these rocks and nor will it be the last ;-)

It brought a smile to my face when I got it although it’s perhaps too clinical. Hilary accused me of loving the mathematical composition. Well, yeah, I guess I do. I hope you like it too.

Ivy and Moss. That basically sums up Currabinny Woods. Oh, and incredibly quiet, practically silent except for the light mist landing on the the dead leaves. Beautiful.

Next time I take a lunchtime photowalk, I hopefully won’t be hampered by a painful knee and I’ll spent more time exploring the woods. Admittedly, this was mostly about playing around with the NEX and the Samyang 85/1.4 and just enjoying a few minutes with a camera in my hand.

Ok, apologies if you didn’t want to see that. It’s in stark contrast to the the usual pretty landscapes which I take in Kerry, but also hints to another side of my photography which I don’t normally publish.

It’s a fact of life: sheep fall off cliffs. They’re not the brightest of animals. There were two on a small section of the beach today and a few deceased sea birds for good measure. Winter is like that.

Every so often it’s great to step outside, marvel at the stars and feel so totally insignificant. And then, spin around and around until your dizzy (or perhaps that’s just me).

The clear nights recently have provided us with some great views of the stars and planets, though unfortunately no Aurora like we might have seen earlier in the week.

“The Light and Clouds Show” regularly tours the country but the performances are extra-special in Kerry. I think this is probably my favourite image of 2012 so far. Yes, there’s lens flare but I think it adds rather than detracts from the image. And I love the surfer highlighted by the sun as he walks off the beach. It’s also a slightly unusual image for me as for most of the summer the sun will set to the North and behind a ridge of mountains.

Since I’d probably forget to post them individually, here’s a bumper blog post with e selection of the best that Kerry had to offer last weekend:

Layers and Lines

More layers (note the difference in colour between fresh and saltwater)

"We're not going to stop here", said my wife as we reached the top of the Conor Pass. Oh, yes I did!

One of the highlights of the show

I'll never tire of seeing sunshine filter down through those blue clouds

...and so here's another one

Obligatory surfer pic (re-toned)

"Err... I think I'm going down to the beach to take some photos" *abandons family*

Want sunbursts and lens flare? We can totally do that!

There’s a fine line between inspiration and imitation, and I’ve probably bulldozered across it today. But flash photography, particularly using multiple flashes, is a very new experience to occupy these dark evenings.

I was looking at Stephen’s wonderful kids portraits  from the weekend and I knew instantly that I wanted one of my own. I was particularly taken with the use of a light behind the model to catch the hair and outline of the shoulders. And I knew just the model for the job.

Finn has these wonderful curls which is mother and grandmother keep threatening to chop off. In fact, they already had a slight trim before Christmas much to my disappointment. I really wanted to show off these curls before they were gone forever, lost to the march of childhood or a scissor-wielding relative.

So I gave it a go. The challenge was to get a black background without actually have a black background sheet. It required a f/13 and 1/200sec on the camera, low power flashes (1/32-1/16) and a little finessing of the lights to ensure there wasn’t enough bouncing around show the radiator behind the model. And after a little faffing around experimentation, a few tandrums from both model and photographer, and a small quantity of jellies, this is what I came up with:

Setup: a Sony HVL-42 with a small Lumiquest LTp softbox, 2x bare Minolta 5400xi flashes

If you’re interested, Stephen shared his lighting setup here. I think the main differences are the much bigger softbox which gave a more pleasing light, and he didn’t need to kill the background light as much as I did.

The kids were playing with bubbles and for some reason they were sticking to everything instead of bursting. We had bubble hedges and a bubble lawn. Liveview + tilt screen was made for these opportunities ;-)

It’s been a long few months since I last posted a photo which is ridiculous because I’ve shot over 3000 photos since then and there’s some really good stuff. Mostly family photos rather than landscapes but still some things worth sharing.

This was taken yesterday at Farran Woods. I just loved all the contrasts; the autumn colours against the dark interior, the deciduous trees and the evergreens. Perhaps I’ll dig myself out of the rut I’m in and actually process and post some more this week. No promises though.