Zooming...

I have to say that I'm really not so sure what's the big deal with starting a new year. I hear the same hopes and the same wishes all over again like the previous year and the chain of history and events never changes. Time is just time for me; something to be used as much as possible.
However, suddenly and just without knowing it, I've found myself being one of the organizers and volunteers in the photography group. This might imply that I do have some changes in front of me; maybe a new smartphone with new phone number to be in contact with the group, and a more time-occupying schedule and tasks. In the meantime, there are a lot of expenses awaiting for me this (new) year. The car and a new PC are the major concerns for now. Marriage might come later, if any. Also, I'm upset for the delays in shipping with all this holiday season. If it takes any longer than this I have to proceed with contact-making and see if there is something serious about my shipment. One item out of four is still hanging out there not reaching my US mailbox.

Early in the beginning of the last week, an old friend showed up online. I didn't have a chat with her for a really long time - probably more than 7 years. We were online friends only though.

Gothicum II

As she flipped through my Flickr photostream she liked one of the images taken from Ireland, specifically for the front door of Cahir church; Gothicum II. The shot was in fact a small vertical panorama. She asked for a print of this. The snap shot you see on the left is for the print after spraying 2 layers of varnish. I have a major problem with sprays here as I'm still in the phase of trial and error. The varnish sprays were gloss for acrylic and satin. I waited for the first to dry, then sprayed the next and waited for few hours until it was totally dry.
You might be asking if she paid for it, well no. She suggested that, but I hated the idea of receiving money from an old friend liking one of my pictures for the first time.
Now, I need to work more on trying various varnish types. Something that would make the print really glowing, and contrasty.

Currently, there is a general lacking of ideas in my head to do any photography, thus I've decided to work more on macro photography with reversing lenses. One of the hardships of such method is to determine what's the actual focal length! I'm pretty sure though that with some physics this issue might be clarified. Another issue is to know the magnification power or factor for such a combination. These matters are somehow important to make a studied option about which lenses to combine and whether to attach one or the other to the camera while the other is reversed, that is if it makes a difference (and I'm sort of sure it does). Imagine building a simple microscope with some lenses and a camera that you already have!.

20 Fils

A

Literally, Sugar Cubes

Match Head

Edge of Feather

Ant Head

The shallow depth of field is a major problem as well. Maybe with static problem it is not much of a problem but it would be so with a little moving object like an ant! Increasing the depth (i.e. f-number) might not work all the time as well and it does change the depth only slightly sometimes, add to that, a longer exposure time. Because of the many elements that stand between the camera and the subject (and depending solely on the live view display) it needs some trial and error to get the right exposure time - because not everything you see on the live view is what you will be having in the final image.

Emission
Canon EF 100mm macro, f/2.8, 2000^-1sec, ISO 100.

Let There Be Light
18-55mm @54mm, f/5.6,
13^-1sec, ISO 200.

Still going on with the philosophy of light workshop, and things are going smoothly with it. Most of the information encountered, so far, are already in my pockets. The only thing left for now is the inspiration to do something. Ironically, some of that inspiration hits at the moment while the training in the workshop is still going on, and that's how Emission was made, when I simply pointed my camera to the fluorescent light and putting down many stops of the shutter speed. My aim in the beginning was to capture a glimpse of the original tubes behind the metallic grating, but what I got was something totally different, and colorful. After 2 or 3 successive shots, some of these were bright while the others, like Emission, were colorful. This is simple to understand when we know that such CFL lighting sources depend on the excitement of atoms and emitting photons every time the electrons are back to their original orbits. That's why CFLs are energy-saving devices - because they don't need a continuous electric source like the traditional bulbs which depend largely on heating by continuous electricity to produce light.
I've suddenly found myself documenting one session of the workshop as it was requested from me by organizers, but as I was documenting I had also to indulge in the session itself, and that's when Let There Be Light emerged. A simple minimalistic shot for a light fixture in the wall, in one corridor out of the conference room (of the hospital) where our sessions usually take place. Because everyone was out I had some problems taking this one and I had to zoom in and out trying to avoid distractions. It appears to have some overexposure but according to the histogram, it is quite natural in fact and not overexposed. Probably I should have cropped a little from the right to the limits of the vertical line.

Now, it seems to me a busier time is coming up and a tiresome one too of course. I'm not sure how to cope with all of that yet, but I do hope some merit would shine through. My main concern right now is financial, and probably I'd have to drop some amount of money (and time) to do things that I need to do. I can only dream now of a secondary income source that helps me to sustain my back. I think my work with the group is a first step for the time being, even though my visions are different than theirs, but we have common interests after all.
We have other health issues as well and seems, this time, I have to consider dieting seriously. I'm not sure how to make up the time for this, but I have to. Talk about stress for doing things you really neglected on purpose because you don't have time to do them in the first place. What's so special about this year anyway?

Dublin, again... Goodbye Ireland.

Here I am, in Dublin again, getting ready to get back home by the morrow. I'm in the usual hotel, the Travelodge in Ballymun. Today the connection has been awful, or should I say my laptop had been awful. So I better wrap this as quick as possible.

I couldn't post yesterday because I was in Cahir House Hotel, and the connection is only available in the lobby and not in the rooms. However, I had sort of a busy day yesterday in Cahir. Once arrived I didn't spare a minute and went on directly to take out my stuff from the luggage again and the backpack. The camera, tripod and the VR-head. I was planning mainly for 2 panoramas only but then I found myself taking 3 panoramas and more single images. Some little panoramas were added later on even, when I got out of the castle.

The stairs inside the castle were about to suffocate me. Despite the fact that I went there in this chilly weather, I decided not to wear my jacket just to make my movements a bit easier inside the tunnels there and on the narrow stairs. Well, this did work a little, but never the less, walking around with a backpack and a tripod and VR-head was not easy either, adding my camera bag of course. On the top of the castle I took a 360 panorama (not spherical, only horizontal line) for a general view of the town from there. Although I raised the pole of the tripod to the max, the edge of the wall was still obvious in the view. I think I will have to accept it that way and then cut it out when I stitch the panorama together, hopefully.

I'm so concerned about the extra weight of my luggage and I'm thinking of reducing the weight significantly, but unfortunately, seems this is not possible. I'm afraid also to remove the gifts (that weigh maybe 1 kg in total) to my backpack and make some problems for myself before boarding. I was thinking of getting a new case to divide my stuff in between the two, but anyway, no shops for such things near by so I have to get a cab or a bus and I'm totally exhausted now. All I want to do is close my eyes and wake up at morning and be ready to take off. Seems no escape from paying extra for the extra weight.

Coat of arms, on the walls of Cahir Castle.

Goodbye Ireland. Hope this won't be my last time here. I will take off tomorrow, by 11:20 Irish time, that is 1:20 noon in Kuwait. And will arrive technically, after 12 hours! Tiresome day is awaiting... . Bye!

St. Dominic Abbey

With my leaving day approaching, on the 14th, I finally got inside te abbey ruins that was around the town center. The abbey's name is St. Dominic's Abbey and lies in a street of the same name. Well, not exactly the same name. Sráid Ministreach; The Abbey's Street.
It was indeed a beautiful morning, with shiny sun and not much winds except of a breeze, but it was cold as well. I went out today without wearing my jacket. I realized later on I would get sweaty and hot with the jacket and actually it adds to my burden when I work and walk, as in everyday so far. It was chilly and my thumb specially got almost frozen, but with time and some walking in the sun, got me almost to normal.
I reached the abbey after some 15 minutes of walking or so. I went around the abbey trying to find some sign or some way to get in. I did that for like, 5 times or so. My host actually told me that there was a sign as a guide on how or where to get the key to get inside the abbey. Finally, one lady came out from the next door house and asked me if I want to go inside, and I said yes! She handed me the key then after going inside her home to get it and told me to put it in some box when I finish.

In my roaming around the abbey, I did take some separate shots for different angles of the abbey, and also a shot through the bars of the gate for the inside. I did a little vertical panorama for one of the walls which was topped with a little tower or some kind of observatory. I was so close to the wall that I couldn't make up for one shot for this view, and I really loved this angle of view. I have to do it back home when I have the chance as my laptop is not equipped at all. I almost feel naked when I work with it.

However, in the inside of the abbey there were 2 main halls or yards. One which was in the front and can be viewed through the main gate of the abbey, and full of graves (but not much standing gravestones), and the other one was somehoew viewable from te main gate in the front but it was inside and you would need to get over some steps to get to it. I made a panorama for each hall of those and then wandered around shooting some random single images.

Some flowers on the top of a high wall of the abbey.

One of the most interesting features I've noticed in this abbey actually is, some paganic-like symbols or statues. Being not Christian myself, I did ask a friend who is a Christian and they said it does look like some paganic like symbol of fertility, although I always thought such symbol should be a feminine one and not a masculine like this one;

 Idol?

The question is, what does such a shape or statue do in such an abbey? The abbey dates back to the 1200s when it was first built. It had been reconstrcuted several times though, but definitely this thing is so so old from the way it looks, and feels. The other significant thing here as well is that, in this abbey and in Hore Abbey which I visited yesterday, there were many graves for people died in the 1800s and specifically around the 30s of that era or maybe 50s I'm not sure because the old gravestones are hard to read big time. I think most of these graves from that era belong to victims of the great Irish famine back in the 1800s although I'm not sure of the years of the famine but it happened back then in the 1800s. 

Beside that little (relatively) statue there was another statue or idol of some sort in a shape of a head as it seems but its features were completely, almost, abandoned...

 It is such weird to see these shapes inside such an abbey. The structure of the abbey is actually fascinating and there are some traces that you can see there were for arcs inside the abbey but eventually with all that time since the 1200s and re-building again and again, lot of these features are lost. All you can see is some lines as traces of some structures or broken columns. My panorama should tell better, hopefully. 

As for now, my plans for tomorrow, my last day in the Thornbrook house, is to take a walk without my camera and all the heavy loads and then simply get back home and start sorting things out and putting my stuff in the suitcase. By the day after tomorrow, I shall be in Cahir and probably I won't log in online from there, but I do have a little thing to do with the interior of the castle, hoping that tourists are not condensed there to make my work even harder.

Gotchya Buddy!

It was a foggy morning. So foggy that you can literally see the fog as a mass hovering over the ground wherever you go. But it is also a morning when I finally got the culprit and my #1 nemesis! The Magpie! YES!
Of course the images were taken with high ISO and hence, got lot of noise in them but I kept on shooting in a mood of a triumphant that I didn't want to stop whatsoever!

Two of the many shots I took for this big bird.

This bird's size is around that of a hen in fact, but of course it is slim and more elegant. It is closely related to the raven or the crow and the beak is almost the same in both going up with the shape of the head, but its colors are significant. The raven is also beautiful when the sunlight gives it a bit of dark blue streak on the side.

However, after the breakfast I went on roaming the garden and taking some simple pictures of some weird stuff (mainly spider webs!), then my host thankfully dropped me by the place that I always wanted to see myself, in close. The ruins that I kept looking at from afar from the graveyard at the back of the castle at Cashel Rock. 

The ruins on the far left.

It turned out that the name of these ruins is Hore Abbey. I don't know much about its history but I think I would be able to find it easily by googling anyway. My host drove me down to the abbey entrance and it lied in the middle of some field. Just like that, forgotten. The weather was foggy as I said in the morning, but eventually, everything became OK and the sun started to shine through and the sky turned blue again just when I started to take my panoramas.

Hore Abbey amid the fog.

The place is almost completely forgotten, and the good point is tourists do not know much about the place I would say. I didn't see any there and could work for almost 2 hours with my panoramas with no distractions. The place is connected to the path I've encountered yesterday, where the sign said "Tipperary Heritage Path." The abbey itself actually was located over the "Bóthar na Marbh", road of the dead. The name refers to the path it was taken to move the dead people for burial, presumably, here, in this spot, in the abbey and around the abbey. I do think that the grounds and this wide field around the abbey is indeed occupied with some unseen friends.

However, I went inside, and on the way to the main yard inside the abbey there were some tourists who were going out themselves, and so I was so HAPPY about it. It was a really busy day with panoramas and for the first time ever, I had to change my memory card from the 16GB CF card to the 8GB one (which I used before for my 350D always). Generally there were 4 panoramas; 3 spherical and one vertical. The vertical panorama here is the first I do with my VR-head, which I believe is better, but also takes a longer time to settle. When I take a vertical panorama, I usually set the camera directly on the tripod without the VR-head because I need the camera, with the fisheye lens, to take a large horizontal field of view. With a vertical stance, the fisheye would take large vertical field of view. Anyway, I was thinking of how to use the VR-head but putting my camera in landscape orientation but seems it is impossible to do, and to compensate for this, I went on taking 3 images from left to right on every elevation. I did a mistake here, I have to confess and I'm worried about the results when I get back home. In this vertical panorama, which was taken from a side walk in the abbey overlooking some graves, I went on elevating the camera up from -30, 0, 30, 60, 90, 60, 30, 0, and -30 to the other side of the scene. Now, my worries is that the sky, do not have much significant features that it might prove insignificant for the view in general. Maybe I should have included the ground I was standing on better. However, this was one vertical panorama, and there is not much harm in it, but my main concern now is the changing conditions of the weather while I was involved and indulged in my work in the panoramas, the major ones. The change from the foggy to sunny day, might prove very problematic in the final composition.

After finishing the major panoramas I wandered about taking pictures here and there from around the abbey, and the view of the castle from there was fantastic as well, just like the view of the abbey itself from the castle!

The castle as viewed from Hore Abbey.

And that was not enough for me as well. After finishing from the inside of the abbey I went around it. It was so hard walking on that wet grass and also some mud and dung were all over the place. However, I did catch some snaps from the sides and the back of the abbey. The structure in general is beautiful and I do really like the inside. I wonder how it was before it became like this. I'm pretty sure the design was amazing. I've captured some coat of arms from the inside and some logos on the walls, while some other features were unknown to me.

 The back of the abbey, with many holes that I presume they were holding 

supprting beams of some kind. Notice the 2nd arch from 

the right. It has been almost closed but not completely. I wonder why?!

I left the place after all, carrying my heavy load of images, which are carried on 2 CF memory cards this time, and started to walk down the bóthar na marbh heading back home. Before I go out I had to settle down my stuff and pack them up, and while doing this, I've lost the back cover of my 18-55mm lens. It is the cap that covers the back of the lens which attaches to the camera. I think it is not a big deal for the time being. I might use an aluminum foil to cover it in the future or might even consider buying a completely new lens. I don't want to bother myself with a cap story right now.

Tomorrow hopefully, I will be heading to the other abbey which lies almost in the center of the town. It was an abbey that I couldn't get into all these days and it lies on the way to the castle. My host tells me that I can find te key some where to the gate to get inside if I like, and she said she will check after it. I really didn't notice any signs of any kind in the previous times. If this proves true, and I can indeed get inside, I need to get prepred for another panorama, or should I say, a set of panoramas maybe!

My clothes are so wet after walking here and there and I'm trying to dry them out with the hair dryer provided for me in the room. Well, it did some job. Few days are left for me here and I need probably to set things straight and prepare the luggage before I head to Cahir. I was planning for a panorama in the main yard of the castle but I think I will leave that to the time when I get there to spend one night before heading to Dublin on the 15th.

Roaming Aimlessly...

My bag is out of plans. Yesterday I didn't type much here because it was a day mostly out of activity, well, except of sitting in the lounge and capturing some of the glassware there. I can't wait to get back home to work with the photos and this laptop is giving me a real headache.

Some glass work taken yesterday.

Today, I took a walk to the east of my place (I think, if my sense of directions is right) and I kept walking and crossed a bridge. All the time I was aiming at birds and kept my camera ready on Tv mode with ISO set to "H" (highest) and a shutter speed of 1000-2000. It is a risk taking indeed. I really don't know if my software packs would be able to clean such images, but for such images of flying birds this is almost a must. I also took some HDR trials on the way with such settings, and found out that the high ISO combined with Tv mode makes a different in the light level for the images taken if I did auto-backeting. This gives a chance for some good HDR images maybe providing that I can clean the noise in a proper manner.

Some of the birds I caught today was doubtlessly, the crow or raven. Although there is one shot that I doubt it would be for a crow and it could be for the wagtail or the magpie, but I'm not sure.

The Suspect!

Pied Wagtail

Crow (or Raven)

Judging from the shape of the head and the beak of our "suspect", I think the bird in question here is actually a raven with white streaks. Beside the big birds there were little ones, flying in a flock and collecting stuff from the ground, but I think it was hard to distinguish them even after I loaded the images. The image is extremely noisy however...

I don't know what they call it yet!

There on the bridge, my eyes fell upon a beautiful corn field, which I presume it belongs to some family and not a factory of a company. So, I snapped that with my fisheye, to take as much of the horizon as possible.

 

The Corn Field.

Definitely the shoot was for HDR (3 bracketed EVs), but I'm not sure it will be quite the interesting view here, until I try my Photomatix on it. The question now is about whether to fix, or not fix, the distortion of the fisheye lens. Sometimes it adds a catch on the image and sometimes you'd like simply a straight image. In the image above, I was trying hopelessly to get down as much as possible to make the horizon interesting, but I was not able to do that since I was on a bridge, and for my own convenience let's say, I didn't want to go down to that farmland!

And beside the birds and the fields, I met some other type of friends...

Now, it was not the only one there, there were many. In fact, this one was a pony rather than an adult horse. Walking alone that straight road with that hard wind blowing off my mind as well as my jacket, There were some flowers left like memories of the past summer; I snapped some of those. But the view that I liked the most was of a maple laying on the grass and it has some strange hue indeed.

Winter's Maple

I'm pretty sure this image with a ProPhoto space would amazing, and also it was taken for an HDR composition, so hopefully there is so much possibilities awaiting to be played with. It sounds to me though that I'm taking images without feeling them for real. Like I do compose my images depending on my own feelings about them. Even the maple picture, was taken for the sole purpose of color composition and the attractive reddish hue in the leaf.

I don't know what are my plans for tomorrow, but it's going to be Sunday. I'm not sure if the cabs will be having the time to pick me up anywhere (there was no problem last Sunday). Anyway, in my mind now I have two locations: Cahir (yes, again), and Kilkenny. As for Cahir, I realized there is a great potential for a panorama inside the castle and unfortunately, I didn't do anything the last time I got into the castle. While for Kilkenny, I don't know how far it is from my place but I hope it is a town like Cashel and not a city of some sort. In fact, I don't know anything about Kilkenny and the historical places in it. All I remember about it is, it is mentioned in the famous Irish folk song "Carrickfergus":

And now in Kilkenny,
it is reported,
They've got marble stones there,
as black as ink.
With gold and silver,
I'd support her,
But I'll sing no more now,
till I get a drink.

I'm drunk today,
but then I'm sober,
A handsome rover,
from town to town.
Oh! but I'm sick now,
my days are over,
come O ye young lads,
and lay me down.

I might have to dig around a bit more about Kilkenny. If not much is there, I might give up for Cahir again. I think I've done shopping for gifts now, all I have to do is sort them out. But now, it is time to concentrate on much needed scenery. The fact that Cashel is a little town and my place is in fact part of the town, that thing do not give me much options about taking pictures of the landscape around me. Yet, with hope, I'll be out hunting for more, if only the winds calm down now. New ideas pop in my head as I type these words...

Hunting Day!

Hunt, hunt, hunt. This is all what I was doing today. Not necessarily for images, but for various stuff. In the beginning, it was the hunt of food. I woke up with a really squeaky tummy. On breakfast, I've pulled out my camera and made it settle on the chair next to mine. I had in mind that I must catch that magpie and eventually, and maybe because it was not a sunny morning (although the rest of the day was wonderful), the magpie didn't show up, just in the beginning.
While I was talking to my host about some stupidity with cars back there in Kuwait, the magpie cut off the conversation and landed on the grass and followed by another. My host told me that there is actually some old song about the magpie (with some variations and versions) that says:

One for a bad luck and two for a good luck...

I don't know the origin of the story, but seemingly this means I'm having a good luck. Anyway, I was not that lucky with catching him with my camera and my simple 55-200mm lens, but, I do have hopes for the future in the few days left for me here.

The magpie fleeding as it appeared from the dining room window.

My host went out in a hurry after that and went to the lounge where the window there overlooks the other side of the garden and called me to check. I went there and the magpie was jumping in a hurry and hid behind some bushes. After that, I really gave up looking after it. I was moving in between the windows in the lounge with the camera hanging around my neck and waiting for a suitable chance to snap that thief! Anyway, no luck at all so I decided to get ready for the cab to pick me up to Cahir.

In Cahir, I've paid a visit again to the castle, and I was surprised at the amount of things that I didn't see in the first time I was there some days ago, when I was about to visit the Swiss Cottage. Many things to be seen and many stands to take and just watch that beautiful part of nature. An, in case you are blind, it is enough for you to step there and listen to the running river, the river Súir, going on and on. In fact there, I decided to be a bad boy. Yes, a bad boy. How? Simply, by using a high ISO value with a fast shutter speed. High ISO is not something you want to use in your photos, unless you are really capable of eliminating the noise coming out of the sensor. Anyway it was a trial, and when I get back home, we'll see if I can do some decent job out of these photos. While I was walking on a path beside the castle walls, the path drove me to some source of "noise" if I should say. Some really loud sound coming from the river. Finally, I reached the point when the water was gushing from no where virtually and crashing on some rocks. On tht spot, I've worked on my camera with various settings really, but all I remember was putting the camera on Tv mode (time value priority) and sitting the speed something between 1000 and 2000 (that is 1/x) and the ISO on 1000 and higher (and even used the highest value available, the 12800, which by the way is denoted by "H").

Water crashing on the water.

I got many shots in these settings and the water was, for the naked eye, beautifully frozen! I tried this as well with other objects, specially birds, but it was harder to make something of them. Anyway, there was some nice chances out there. But maybe one of the weirdest thing in the catch today was, that "memorabilia"...

 Couldn't agree further!

Now, into the castle. In the beginning, I didn't know that that gate which was half closed with some construction sign falling on its side beside it was really the gate to get into the castle and see it from the inside, well, after getting the ticket of course! I thought the location was closed when I saw the castle the first time I came to Cahir and spent one night in it.

I got inside, got the ticket and got into different halls and different chambers and rooms, and the stairs were so so so small. It was so hard climbing up on those stairs with a backpack and my camera bag on the side. In some cases, I was literally going down the stairs backwards because the space was so small to turn around and get down the normal way. After jumping here and there from one corner of the castle to another, I noticed in the main yard of the castle, some stairway tht goes down into the ground. I went down to find myself in a place that I think it would be suitable for a garrison. Of course, everything was made by solid rocks. The stairs were going downstairs and ending to some black gate with bars, exactly like in jails, but in the middle of this stairway, there was a relatively new stair going up and connecting to another side which, as it seems, was connected to this stair I was standing upon but fell down by time.

I climbed up that stair. It was so so narrow even though it was relatively new and made of metal. After that "bridge" to the other side, the stairs became even harder to climb and literally, I had to bend my back in like 90 degrees to go through. Finally, at the end, I was up on one of the towers, as if by magic! You go down and you end up being up!

The view from the tower was simply amazing. With even little waterfalls viewable, some flock of birds were also there and made a nice chance for some hunting again!

General view for Cahir from the top of the tower.

The main thing that captured my eyes is a crane (or a heron). It was so big even though it was so far away from me, but I was greatly disappointed with me lens that I wished I had a larger one with a nicer zooming to make it even bigger in the viewfinder.

 The crane on the edge of the small waterfall.

My 55-200mm was on its max when I shot this but still the crane was not that clear, and with the high ISO and high shutter speed things aren't any better. Anyway, I'm still hoping that when I get back home I will do a better pic out of those.

Beside the crane there were other guests. Swans and ducks. While I was shooting them continuously, the camera needed some time to process the images and hence there were stops in the sequences of images, which made it look like 2 different groups of images. However, this is not a big deal to me. I'm not making a story here!

After finishing from the castle I got into a gift shop and tried my best to pick up something for the family. Most of my shopping was to bring gifts for females rather than males actually. I asked the shop owner about the antiques shop on the other side of the street and he confirmed what I doubted about, and the shop was closed. He said that they have some branch in Dublin, but it is less likely I'm going to check it when I get back there before my final leave. 

Well, I'm still thinking and planning for what to do tomorrow. I'm still not sure. I think I've seen the majority of scenes in Cashel and Cahir, and despite the fact that my fisheye betrayed me today and some images appeared out of focus a little, I don't think I will re-take these images anyway. I guess I will sit down and watch for the magpie!

The Garden Hunt!

As planned yesterday, today I've decided to take a rest in my place; since there is no more room left for another muscle in my legs! Anyway, that doesn't mean I'm not using my camera. In fact, with the breakfast, my mind was at work planning on what should I catch for today.
My first idea was to roam the garden for some birds hunt, and specially, the Irish magpie, which made me felt like I've been accompanied by a guest all this time...

TheMagpie

Source: TvTropes.

This bird was an everyday visitor almost. Every day, at the time of breakfast, you would see him jumping in the garden catching something, most probably small insects that I couldn't see. I loved its colors and patterns. I thought him a raven or a crow in the beginning but his white streaks were destinctive indeed, and when I asked my host about its name, she told me The Magpie. The way he jumps on the grass sort of reminds me of penguins as well.

Now ravens are also nice looking birds despite the bad reputation and the awful sound they produce, and they had been a target as well. But unfortunately, no luck so far. The closest I could get to a bird, any bird, so far does not give the quality I'm seeking...

Something like a magpie, but I don't think it is a magpie, on electric pole.

A raven, picking up something from the field or yard next house.

But nevertheless, it is a nice atmosphere, and really puts me to sleep again. Cold wind, yet I like it. I wonder how is the weather back there in Kuwait. I'm not optimistic about it, but I do expect the temperature to be down to around 36C. After all, my catch wasn't that bad for today. I got a close up of this tiny little creature...

On the other hand, I tried to try my flash head today and tried to make some sparkles on the glassware, but my trials were not successful. I think I do need a darker room or a softbox. In fact, I was conducting the experiment without removing the glassware from the cabinet, and using my 55-200mm lens from a distance of nearly 2 meters or more a bit. I think the circumstances did not help on making some sparkles on the glass edges. The light coming from the window was also fine, hence no great change in light on objects. I think I shall leave it to another day. I didn't really want to remove or touch any glassware like I did last time. I didn't know how to compose my image after all.

In the mean time, I think I will be going to Cahir again by tomorrow. I'm going to check the antiques shop again. I might have done a mistake thinking it was sold or something. But the real reason is to check the gifts shop there actually, and also check the castle there for the last time. The way on cab took me around €25, and the way back to Cashel was for €20! A week passed so far, but I still feel the need to do more photography than this...

Cahir again...

It was a long day, for the activities, and for the catastrophes that followed. It was one beautiful morning with sun shining over, but the rain came in in afternoon. However, it was not much of a thing since I already finished shooting by the time the rain came in.

In Cahir, I took that long road to the Swiss Cottage. Many stuff and sceneries to be photographed but I tried my best to be precise at what attracts me the most even though everything there was attractive to me, regarding that I came from a land where deserts play the role! In the last third however, almost, there was a groove in the cliff side with some holes in it and one big hole like a little cave entrance. Well, it was not a cave, but only one big hole. The view with the trees growing on the top of the cliff was amazing, so I decided to stop here and make a panorama of the place. I was not in a hurry so I tried my best to work slowly and not miss a thing, but things did go the way I wanted, as usual. In the middle of my work I realized that I didn't format the CF memory card in my camera the night before and hence the images of the panoramas done yesterday were still in and, since they are mixed now with new ones, I can't format the CF as simply as that! I had to go on one by one and deleting some and then taking more pictures for the panorama and deleting some and so on.

Unfortunately, when I reached the Swiss Cottage, which by the way is not a swiss thing at all, I've found out that taking pictures inside is not allowed. Anyway, taking a picture from the outside was fine. This Swiss Cottage reminded me of the Carnnóg in Brigit's Gardens park.

The Swiss Cottage

The Crannóg

The conical roof is almost the same in both. The cottage was in fact a home for Richard and Emily Butler in 1810. The title "Swiss" was given by the locals to the place because it looked like swiss cottages in Switzerland. This is what the information card says anyway!

After leaving the place I headed back on that long way again, walking beside the River Suir, and I've noticed this little amigo staring at me as it seems...

I've twisted my left foot on the way back, but it's not a big deal really. I've soon returned to normal. But there was another crises waiting for me, on this one damn laptop I'm typing my blog with right now!

Trying to upload my pictures, which are taken in RAW format, I was suddenly surprised by the laptop's message "not enough disk space". I do have another partition of the harddisk that is not used much still with a capacity of 30GB for now, but this is still alarming. I've ran over my images again doing and early filtration that is supposed to be done back home and not here. I've deleting many images trying to make space, but alas, the only space I could free here was 2GB. Now I wonder if there is any computer accessories shops in this little town. We'll see... or I'm in a big trouble...

Cashel...

Here I am. Finally, in my final destination, the Thornbrooke House in Cashel, Co. Tipperary. I couldn't write something yeterday when I was in Cahir because the wireless service in the hotel was only downstairs in the lobby, and I really didn't have the time to go there. I was so tired that after showering in Cahir House Hotel, I fell asleep for most of the day and woke up by night.
Cahir is a little town, and I was surprised by the simplicity and the beauty of this town. There is so much to see in that town and since I was planning for one day stay only, I didn't have the time to go around so much. There is a place called the Swiss Cottage which I aim to visit some time from now. The way takes around 15 to 20 minutes from Cahir to Cashel. I had my morning walk after breakfast around Cahir and snapped some images, but before that and the day before, I snapped a picture for the castle from my window, and at night it was also glamourous.

Cahir Castle from my window

Down there and beside the castle, there is so much to see. Long walks and chestnut trees, and the river or the stream, which I've forgot its name!

The Little Waterfall Beside Cahir Castle

There is so much to see in this little town and even it has an antique shop that I SHOULD visit beside a gifts shop that it is a MUST for the family and friends. But the thing that really pleased me there is... SHAMPOO!!! YES! They do have a shampoo in the bathroom in the hotel! Silly isn't it? Well, after being in Travelodge in Dublin, I decided to buy my own shampoo, and I found out a pharmacy in Cahir that got plenty of hair-care stuff. Beside that pharmacy there was a photography shop that got me interested to see. It might be a studio, and they might still have the old camera stuff!

Cahir House hotel is a fine place but not for people who expect high level of services. It's quiet, sort of. The squeaky floor was a problem for me since I move a lot inside my own room, and there is no lift (elevator). I had to train my muscles a bit with carrying my luggage, because I didn't want to anyone to carry them for me. It's a habit of mine not to trouble others with my own stuff!

Now this is my first day in Cashel, I'm not planning to do much other than organizing my stuff and settling down a bit. I have 13 more days to come ahead. The owner was so generous to offer me 2 muffins! They were so yummy! I'm trying to remain awake so far and thus adjusting my sleeping habit. On the technical side, my Photoshop CS2 on this laptop, beside the laptop's speed, is giving me some hard time. The RAW files taken with my Canon 7D are not supported, and hence I have to adjust the terms and the size to post them in here with the DPP (Digital Photo Professional) that comes with Canon cameras usually. Beside that, All the images here won't be adjusted in anyway to be tone-mapped HDR like I did last year, but directly put in here, from a single RAW file.

I need to get up now and do other things!

Dublin, 2010.

Here we are, in Dublin again after one year, and after a tiresome trip to Istanbul then to here. I reside now in Travelodge hotel in Ballymun, Dublin, the same place I stayed in for one day before my leave last year.
I'm so tired, and discovered there is no shampoo in the room here, but since I stink, I had to take a shower just as it is and put some mousse to pull my fussy hair back. I think I've taken a lot of clothes this year; unnecessary. The weather in Dublin is nice though, not so cold and not HOT or HUMID! The problem though with this hotel so far is the noise outside. The window is not much of a muffler.

I'm not so much interested in the city life and I can hardly find something (providing that I do have the mood to go outside!) to take a picture of, thus I don't think I will be working on my camera. Or maybe I shall try the bulb mode this time. It is noteworthy to mention that the Bulb mode in Canon EOS 7D is fixed in a separate mode on the dial and not like my old 350D, when it was merged originally within the Manual mode.

By tomorrow, hopefully, I'll be leaving to Cahir; a town in Co. Tipperary, not far away from Cashel, my final destination. In Cahir, hopefully there are more things to capture with the camera. There is a long way waiting for me on the railway heading to Cahir. Maybe I should leave by the early morning to have enough time for the rest of the day (and also to look for an hotel to stay for one night there).

I didn't change the time on my laptop, but only on my mobile (which doesn't have an Irish sim card yet) and my watch. I hate to change all the clocks. So far so good, and tomorrow will be a new day...

Alexander 6, V66.

Feeling like chilling out today. No work on my Ayvarith, no nothing. Well, except of some sample preparation, so just to say I was not idle all the day actually.
Generally, the paperwork for the Ayvarith part of Alexander 6 is over now, i.e. I don't have to face the papers and type down words and other stuff into my documents. But, I have to refer back to them from time to time to correct some mistakes, and not only in papers, but even in the transliteration that I've made already. The document that I've just made right now, contains 12 pages of new words and additions or fixes notes for the present dictionary, but before adding that, as I said I have to correct the main thing in Alexander 6 transliteration, and also, I have to change the transliteration system in the already existing dictionary, where I'm starting to use the letter "ŧ" and "ħ" for the usual Ayvaric words, instead of borrowed words. That also means I have to flip back the words that already use such characters for other sounds, and make them use the underline instead.
Too much fuss going on and just thinking about it now makes me numb really. I want to relax now. But my relaxation is not so complete, because I have to plan for my vacation. I'm putting the pieces together and I don't want to push my luck further like last year when I was in a hurry to catch up with the trains and spent more than 20 hours without a decent nap! This time, I'm spending one day in every stop, and also hoping for more views to enjoy. Although Co. Tipperary is south a bit from Dublin and the distant is not (virtually) as far as Galway, but the trip to there seems tiresome. I've made my mind to settle in a B&B like the last year, a place called Thornbrook House. It is a place around the village of Cashel, and as the description says, it is few minutes walking away from the Cashel Rock, where one of my teachers told me and showed me some old castle there that went into ruins. My plan, if gone correctly, should be like this:

• 28/9 - To Dublin - rest.
• 29/9 - Railway to Cahir - rest. (a junction change is required as it seems and the way is not directly to Cahir).
• 30/9 - Going out by a cab or something from Cahir to Cashel where I shall stay.
• 14 days shall follow.
• 14/10 - Leave the place and head back to Cahir to stay.
• 15/10 - Get from Cahir to Dublin and stay for a night.
• 16/10 - Fly off.

Beside this plan, I must make out some essential papers for the visa and that thing is getting on my nerves a bit. Why it's not easy to get a visa in this area? Anyway, I'll manage.

My car is still in the garage after one month and one week, and one day. No news about it at all, and every time I call the sickening garage, no one answers. You think I will get it after getting backfrom vacation? I hope so...
Did you notice that the title is composed of "666" ? Yep, that's how I feel today...
__________
1561. Alexander then asked the old man of the white beard
1562. "and how this Cadid became like this? and why he attacked me?"
1563. thus Biryári answered: Cadid lives within you wherever you go,
1564. it only leaves your body in two ways known to me,
1565. either you succeeded to conquer your cruelty,
1566. and that made him mad so he attacked you,
1567. or he can be out of you with rituals,
1568. but sooner or later he shall be back to the body
1569. Alexander then asked: and what shall I do with him now?
1570. the old man said: killing him is the solution as I see it
1571. but Alexander refused and said: no, something inside me says no
1572. and Biryári then smiled and said: it is but your kind heart that said no,
1573. and after defeating your own Cadid, thus you are free of darkness,
1574. I see you tightened him like a slave already,
1575. thus I suggest you take him as a slave for your ways
1576. and Alexander thought that it is indeed a good idea
1577. then he said to the old man: but is he safe to be with?
1578. and Biryári answered: with some time, he will be tamed,
1579. just like your own twin walking with you wherever you go,
1580. but his animal side shall remain as it is I presume,
1581. but at least he can be of no harm to you later
1582. and Alexander accepted the advice of the old man
1583. and decided to make his own Cadid a slave
1584. he might be of enormous help in this world