Post-Oman…

Here we are, a week after a rigorous trip to Oman last week, and still waiting for the upcoming (real) vacation by the end of September. I have to say though, despite the rigorous nature for this trip it was a 50-50 adventure; I had fun despite "some" circumstances that might upset lot of people in such trips. The trip was a photography trip in the first place, but Oman is such a beautiful place that 4 days are merely enough for a single place to "document" - least to say.
We used to go out in early mornings (usually 8 a.m.) and come back to our "dwellings" after dusk, and sometimes spending more than 3 hours on the roads traveling from one city or village to another. In this rush it was hard to document the activities we were doing by writing or typing, and I barely had time to even upload the pictures I've taken during the day to my laptop (did that in the last night in Muscat only). Just to give an imagination about the rush we were in, we did in fact start doing photography at the night of our arrival in Muscat, the capital city of the Sultanate of Oman. It was a minor activity to "grease" our eyes a bit - yet I did come up with some shots that might be favorable for the group's activities later on!

Zenith
Mohammed AlAmeen mosque. Muscat, Oman.
Rokinon 8mm fisheye, f/8, 1/4s, ISO400.

The architecture of Mohammed AlAmeen mosque was quite favorable but because of the tired body and mind it was hard to focus in doing much there. Yet, I did try my best and found my Rokinon 8mm fisheye lens quite favorable for such place. I had to do some body-stretching though, as in Zenith, where I laid down on my back pointing my head to one of the entrances of the mosque and resting the camera on my chest. Three bracketed shots were taken in this position, but since I was breathing (surprisingly!), the first and last exposures were hazy and shaken and had no choice but to pick the lowest exposure (at -2EV) to edit in RAW format, which made up Zenith. Considerable work was involved here to enhance the exposure and sharpness and reducing the noise, but I doubt that it would be a good view in a large print.
The main gain in the trip goes to those who are interested in portraiture and documenting the rural life of Oman (unfortunately, international contests are always emphasizing these elements which leaves me empty-handed). Some members did indeed bring studio flashes and monolights, dragging them wherever we go; and the apogee of such activity was in Bayt Al-Safah: the home town of our guide which was an active center for the surrounding villages along many aspects of day-to-day life in the past. In that location specifically I didn't touch my camera and I really enjoyed myself in the rural life style and the traditional music which I love.

The Race
Rokinon 8mm fisheye, f/3.5,
8m10s, ISO400.

Compared to other members in the group, I would be probably at the end of the list in number of photographs taken, specially that I was concentrating on panoramas more than anything else (but I did take single shots yet I don't think they add much to my arsenal but a mere documentation). Probably the thing that I feel sorry the most for is the fact that I didn't do much night shots despite the dedication from the group to do a milkyway-shot from the top of the mountains on our second night in Oman. The wind was somewhat cruel with our summer clothing and no jackets (which caused me some severe pains in the wrists in the following days). Even though I'm accustomed to such atmosphere but being on the top of the mountain was quite a dangerous venture and yet somewhat annoying because the job was done by a group and not a single person, me. As you can see in The Race, which was a star-trail shot rather than milkyway-shot, there is a trace of car lights which passed through the frame just seconds before the exposure ended. I guess it is just my luck and it is supposed to be so. Probably it does add some dynamic touch to the overall look of the image. I've raised the ISO here to 400 instead of settling with 100 to shorten the time (it should have taken around 32 minutes with ISO100); spending so much time in that wind and with other members lighting their torches on and off to see their ways would be just a vain. After completing this shot (and the only good one I suppose), I've went down back to the hotel (on feet as the hotel was on the top of the mountain itself) with some members leaving the others there trying to find their luck. It was an amazing night, and in the morning the sun light exposed many aspect of the breath-taking terrain surrounding the area: we were on the top of a mountain, where we could see other mountains below us. Definitely this place needs more than just one-night stay. Unfortunately, that morning and because of the pain in my hands, I didn't risk doing anything; it was a time to rest.

Ya'aribah's Halo
Al-Ya'aribah Mosque, Nizwa. Oman.

Panorama-wise now. I was reluctant to do a panorama wherever I go; this is mainly because of the time limitation imposed on the group's activities overall. For this reason, I had to inspect in a whim and make quick decisions about whether or not a panorama should be done here or there. Well, this made me forget some points and precautions (typical even in normal conditions), but the great challenge with panoramas taken from Oman is not the architecture and the looks, but the surroundings and the people roaming the place.
As we were going around typically tourists attractions, it was inevitable to do panoramas with people roaming the place. At the time of typing this, I did not inspect all panoramas but so far so good with those done with the stitching already. The greatest challenge though is to see the yielding results of stitching Sultan Qabus mosque's panorama; the mosque is said to have the largest chandelier in the world and it is a tourists attraction, while taking photos is allowed only from 8 to 11 a.m.; I'm quite positive right now that there will be a great deal of Photoshop work and skills needed in that specific panorama, and I'm relying on the HDR ghost-removal techniques to reduce (not completely remove) some of the movements in the place. The HDR technique did some nice job in other busy places before!

Solar Jabreen
Jabreen fort and castle. Bahla, Oman.

Problematic as much as it is fascinating, those panoramas taken outdoors did have the glaring sun disk in them. Fascinating for the fact that exposures are done easily (in brackets), and also increasing the depth of field does not impose an immediate lag in the shutter speed after all; the sun light is rough! On the other hand, it is problematic because the sun disk does not provide a pleasant addition to the scene with just a glaring white spot in the sky. For this reason, I've found myself doing the tone-mapping for these HDR panoramas using Photoshop to control the tones curve freely - this way I could create the annular shapes for the sun as can be seen in Ya'aribah's Halo and Solar Jabreen. This work did extended in fact with some few other panoramas after these two even though there is no sun disk visible in the scene but because of the harsh contrast between the sky and the other elements in the scene. One thing I wish I did (but couldn't) is an infrared panorama like the one done in Ireland under a diffused sunlight (but here we got a strong sun light which should shorten the time of exposures). The time limit did not allow me to achieve this dream. My infrared panorama from Ireland did have quite a voiced support from some of the audience in the latest expo.

The Waterfront (IR)

QTVRs are early to talk about but they are doable. Despite the fact that I've taken shots for the nadir point under my feet with the intent to clone the tripod and other elements to make them adequate to be merged into panoramas, I've actually just cropped the bottom areas of these panoramas to remove the tripod without adding a nadir point. When it comes to making a QTVR later on, I'll be adding a label with the name and location for that QTVR. The only backlash here is when other projections are needed where the nadir point might be in the front instead at the bottom, which calls for heavy skills in cloning as usual. Hopefully I'll be posting more panoramas in the coming days just before my second travel to Malta on September 27^th.

Finale

I do feel like a running horse right now; all work and no play. Work with my photos that is. We have a sorting meeting coming up next week and thus I must prepare as much as possible before coming Sunday. Meanwhile, I do feel like doing nothing. In fact, once my feet stepped on the soil of the homeland, I wished to go back to Oman; not to take photos, but to live - as simple as that. I think it is time to change the people around me, yet it is such a hard task to do nor visible in the near horizon. All I can do is just travel as much as I can, as long as my financial situation allows to. If one has a home that doesn't feel like home, and workplace that bears no respect, where one should be going next?

3D Fort
Bayt AlRideedah, Nizwa. Oman.
Click to Enlarge

Fáilte go gConga...

Just like someone waking up from a dream, I can't believe that I'm already on my 10^th day in here and only 3 days are left till I move out and head to Dublin.
I'm checking things right now for a possibility to visit Inchagoil island, which might take place on Sunday or Monday. Because of the pressure somewhat here, I've canceled my plans to visit Brigit Gardens. It is a nice place but I do need some time to enjoy the nature around the Waterfront B&B too. I do need time too to put my tools down and arrange them in order to fit it all inside my suitcase before heading to the station.

Today, I've headed to Cong town, in Co. Mayo, to the north of Oughterard (which lies in Co. Galway itself). The town is the location of Ashford castle, which is now a 5-star hotel, and Cong Abbey. Thus, in the beginning we headed to the castle.

On the way to Cong

Things had changed a bit since 2009. Apparently, there is now a gate before the golf course and to cross it there is supposed to be some sort of payment. Anyway, we passed the gate without paying anything. My first target was the main fountain in front of the castle, and there I've placed my stuff to do a panorama. It was a fast rhyming panorama because the sun was shining today. After that I've started to search for that mysterious pathway around the premises which I've went through 5 years ago. I remember this path had a name,  a very specific name containing the word "Lady" - but this year I didn't find this sign; it was all entitled as "The Walled Gardens".

On the top of the entrance of the path.

Now, I think this path is supposedly to go around the "monk's fishing hut" or something like that, but I'm just going to call it "the path". This path also leads or circles the Falconry school in the premises. I have to say I kind of got lost there trying to find my way to the old path I've encountered before 5 years ago. I went back and forth until I've encountered a gateway which I remember clearly that it lead to the gardens and the path, and some of the details there which I didn't catch back then are now into my camera! Once I've found the way, I've encountered a shaded path made of tree branches which was the perfect spot for some shots; and specifically IR shots.

After taking few shots for this short pathway with my Rokinon 8mm fisheye, I switched to my 15mm fisheye lens (as it is the lens I can use infrared filter with). Unfortunately I didn't have the time to cut a little piece of the infrared filter slide (which I have in my bag) to fit my Rokinon 8mm. Maybe I would do that any time now or maybe I should leave it till I get back home!

Infrared shot for the shaded path.

Now, to take this infrared shot, I was supposed to expose for around 12 minutes. I was somewhat in a hurry and urging to move forward, specially that this spot was in the midway and I was expecting people passing by (the passage is narrow and I was blocking it). Thus, I've decided to shoot it at ISO400 instead of ISO100, which reduced the time from 12 minutes to 3 minutes only. And, they were really long minutes! Another infrared shot was made later in a different position, but at ISO500 to make it even a bit faster. That one took 6 minutes to be done! Those trees surely do provide a good shade.

Going back to the beginning...

On the way I took various shots for the forest and the path in different lenses (mainly the 8mm Rokinon fisheye). In general though, I think they are quite the normal shots like those I've done 5 years ago. In fact, they are even less in number. And here comes the problem which I will talk about briefly later.
After finishing I've just headed to the cab and since I was tired, I asked the driver to just skip the abbey. Thus, no pictures or panoramas from there, despite the magnificent architecture of that abbey. Even when I got into the car, I've left my camera at the backseat and didn't keep it with me to take pictures on the way. I was so tired, not only physically, but also emotionally.

It seems that I'm pressuring myself just to take pictures because everyone was expecting me to take a lot of pictures. This stress, probably, lead to my brain to switch off and I couldn't notice the beauty that I was hoping for like when I was a freshman to this area 5 years ago! I think I've missed the point big time and it is time for me to just enjoy my vacation without thinking about photography - and this is something I'm planning to do soon, just before I leave this place. As for now I've canceled my plans for Brigit Garden, and maybe I will do one night photography in the coming few nights for me here just before I leave…

Achadh na nIúr...

Well, I didn't post anything yesterday mainly because of the "surprising" weather that struck me on my head yesterday. My plan in the beginning was to head to the downtown and buy some stuff, but then seeing how the weather was nice in the morning I thought maybe I should stretch some muscles and head to the castle. However, half way to there, the rain started to hammer. I continued to walk as I was hoping the shower would stop, but it increased further and it came to me that I won't be able to change lenses that way! Thus, I had to head back home with a shower look! Once I reached home, the shower stopped - talk about Irish sense of humor; weather-wise.
Anyway, after coming back home I did order a cab and headed to downtown to get some food. However, I came back and noticing how the day was beautiful AFTER the rain, I decided to head out near the lake and do some shots and wait there till it's dark and do some long exposures. Before the darkness I did a little macro shots with my 50mm and 30mm tube.

I will try to work with those long exposures later when I get back home. Unfortunately, the long exposures done yesterday were not much dynamic because of the slow wind; but the weather has surely gotten colder than before!

Now, as for today, I headed as planned to the Aughnanure castle and not much has changed since then, but this time I'm in with a proper gear for panoramas. Because of the technical issues I'm having here, I won't be able to work on these panoramas of course. In total, there were 3 panoramas done: 2 interior and one exterior. Among those, a panorama was taken from the topmost floor in the tower of Aughnanure castle which, in fact, is the most interesting one for me because of the wooden roof structure. Back in 2009 I did take an awkward partial panorama for this "room" but of course without the tools I do have right now - which made it kind of useless and I don't remember stitching this panorama at all back then. Now, the chance is better. I did even take a shot for the roof (and the small balcony) with my Rokinon 8mm fisheye lens, but unfortunately I couldn't center it exactly - specially with this showcase in the middle of the room (which is sad really because it corrupts the view completely!).

There was also some work on single shots here and there, exterior and interior, and even some infrared shots. On the way back home there were some extra infrared shots (during which the rain hammered heavy for a while!). But I will keep all that for later. Now, going down from the tower was such a big deal and an exhausting "workout" - and I do think I do have claustrophobia now! Well, if I don't have it already.

The plan now, as it seems, is left for activities out of Oughterard, which means as well lot of money for the cab drivers (not good with buses). Beside that, I might get the chance to visit the Kylemore Abbey (which seems it is even further away from Cong town to the north of Oughterard, in Co. Mayo). Also, I wanna check with my host for a chance to visit Inchagoil island again - and by the way, the rooms in the Waterfront B&B are named after islands, and my room right now is the IInchagoil room!

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!

Cliff Hanger!

It's the 10-10-10 day. Well, should be either a bad or good omen, I don't know. To me, it was 50-50 deal. I had a walk to the castle again but this time I went to climb up the hill and be beside the walls of the castle itself, and that was a big deal with a backpack and a camera bag full of tools. The weather is not rainy but foggy a bit with clouds covering the place, but the wind was calm. Anyway, just in any case I put my cap on and the back of my hair was out of order. I think I did look like more of a... gypsy beggar!
I did take the walk as usual by the short cut to the town and I was thinking of going in between the alleys to shorten the way, but gracefully, 3 little dogs in one alley were fighting together so I decided to stop and turn back from where I come from and go back to my old way and path!
I turned to my old way, and found myself being panting like I never did before. The town was quiet even though it was already 10 in the morning. Well, no wonder. It's Sunday. However, the castle side was a bit busy with tourism as usual. Asians mixed with Americans and some Europeans as usual.
Beside the castle, I climbed up beside the castle. This is my second time in fact, as for the first time I couldn't go on further because there was a couple, having some "nice" time together. Anyway, this time, I've been climbing up and resting on some rocks and once I did that, a whole punch of tourists started to follow me and take pictures for themselves upon the rock, while I was sitting and panting trying to rest, and waiting for them to leave the place.
From up there, I took a regular (not-so-fascinating) image for the town of Cashel, and also I ran a handheld panorama for the town of Cashel from up there, almost 90 degrees wide. Just a simple one. The thing is the weather was foggy ad whitish, and I wonder if the HDR will make some interesting venture from these images. I took after that the path to the side of the castle on these slippery soft rocks and wet grass, and I reached a point that I couldn't get past through. This is because a weird structure!

The weird structure.

Seems this structure was put there for a purpose originally as an obstacle to block the way of attackers. To pass this structure you have to jump over it, which in my case was not a good option to do with all my bags and the hevy weight, adding to that, the cliff was directly under this structure. One slip, and you're down.

After this point, I decided to get back from where I came. Eventually, I sat down on one of the benches trying to take some rest and preparing myself for the long way back to my place, but something kind of weird (natural, but weird to me) happened.

Just at the bench, and while getting my camera cleaned a bit and putting back the lenses while I was taking a rest, I've noticed 2 ladies coming from some pathway at my back. I looked back to see that, the gate that I always thought to be closed and locked, was actually open and there is a path that leads to some where. I didn't notice before that this pathway was open and people could go there. So, here we go.

The newly discovered path!

The magnificent thing about this path really is that you can view the castle from the side in a more pleasant view, and away from the presence of the tourists all around the place. So, I didn't miss the chance, and I took some shots for the side and for the back of the castle with my fisheye. 

Cashel Rock Castle (once owned by Brian Ború himself!).

The picture is a bit dark, because it was one slide from the HDR auto-bracketed sequence and I tried to enhance it as much as possible but the DPP that comes with Canon utilities is not that much of a good tool like the Adobe RAW Converter, or ACR for short.

I've continued on the path and I've noticed some fields on the other side of the fence and the hills in the far horizon, and finally, at the end of the sloping down path, there was a locked gate. I don't know how people did cross this gate because I saw already some people come in and out of this path! Anyway, across the gate I've noticed a sign saying "Tipperary Heritage Path" and pointing to some direction. Now I began to wonder, what's hidden in this little town now? I thought I've seen everything so far! Tomorrow, I was planning for going out to Cahir and take a panorama for the main yard inside the castle (although I'm still reluctant about it), but now, I think I have some work to do and chase after this heritage path. Who knows, it might lead me to the ruins I've seen from the graveyard up in the castle.

Back now to my place, processing some images and keeping some for later and organizing some other, I've noticed that actually after settling down my bed after the hot shower, I still feel like the bed is moving and like I'm about to fall! In fact this is the second time this happens, and in the previous time I was also climbing the hill near the castle. I'm wondering now if this is something like the sea-sickness, or land-sickness. Yes, there is land-sickness, and it affects sailors mainly who spend so long time in the sea that when they touch the stable ground, everything seems to be moving for them. The thing lasted few minutes for me though, and I'm fine right now. Thinking about it now, I think I'll be heading to Failaka island at the nearest chance after getting back to Kuwait. I would still be in vacation, until November.

Time for me now to think of how to catch the damn magpie, after failing twice today. This bird really has the actions of a thief!

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...

The Castle, Again...

A new day of walking downtown with muscles growing out of my tongue instead of my legs. Why? Simply because there is no place left in there!
Anyway, started the journey with taking the short cut that I've been told about recently. It doesn't make the road shorter really but it is quieter and cars seldom pass in that way, and it is narrow and ordered by green cover and fields. It has nice views. Actually this is my second time on this short cut and I've decided to take my camera with me along the way today to take some scenes. Eventually, there were some unexpected guests that kept staring at me...

My New Friend!

There are other stuff I took a snap at along the way of course, but didn't prepare any so far. I think I've touched something on this way that makes my hand itchy, or maybe some insect did it for me. The back of my left hand is itchy and got some red spots as I'm typing this.

Anyway, the first thing to do as I got to the town center was to get the batteries that I need for my flash head. Hopefully, I'll be working again in the lounge and also the dinining room (for a panorama), probably tomorrow, as I am in no mood to walk!

I headed then to the castle. I've been told there is a gifts shop there. There was in fact. I didn't find many stuff in it. The gifts shop in Galway in Oughterard town was full of many stuff to buy. If I remember correctly it was a property of Keogh family there. Peter Keogh, if memory serves me well. However, I got some silver rings of claddagh and some with celtic knots, and a blouse. I really need to organize my stuff and decide what gifts goes to whom. I don't think I've settled down with gifts for all my close people, yet. After the gifts however, I headed back again to the castle, got the ticket and hurled in directly to the graveyard at the back of the castle.

In the graveyard, where mixed graves lie; old and new relatively, I've seen graves of old people, and young people, and even infants and babies. Made me really think how lucky I am that God let me reach my 30. I don't know what happened or how it happened, but I did feel a gush of tears coming, and if it was not for the tourists that don't cease to come and pass by, I would have probably teared down, and the reason is unknown. Maybe simply, it was just sad to see 18 years old people lie there, covered.

Typical Celtic Cross as a grvestone.

Now to the technical side of the story. I've been preparing "some" images only with my so-called "cheap" HDR substitution, as you can see above with the celtic cross. Tomorrow, hopefully, with my flash in new batteries, I will try to make the crystals in the ceiling and the wall reflect some light beams and give some interesting shining patterns, if possible. The process is not easy at all because there is a great play of angles in role here. For now, I think I'm done with the castle for now. I don't think I will be back to it again for more pictures. I think I will try to read the tourists guide to see if there are other places to go to other than Cahir. I've checked some information about Clonmel, but eventually, there was not much about it and seems not much is there to be seen! I will check again later. For now, I need to rest my legs...

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!

Caisleán Achadh na nIubhar (again)

Today, I went walking back to the castle of Aughnanure after breakfast, because I had some ideas for some photos that I wanted to apply and see. For my surprise I discovered that there are some things that I didn't see before in the last visit. There is a tower in the corner and seems the inner structure has gone, and the niches in the hard rock wall were filled with some plants.

I had to get out of narrow tower though in a hurry because the wasps seem to have a nest there, and the weather was nice and shiny which made all sort of activities for all these insects!

Also in the castle, I discovered a passage that I did not go into before and it leads to the back of the window that made a shot of before, and I found out that it had ornamentations at the back with an arc. Since I couldn't catch the whole scene with my lens, I decided to go on and make separate several shots for every corner in that window, to stitch them together later on.

On the way back, I was barked at by a dog near one of the houses and I tried to stay calm as much as possible. Combine this with flying wasps all around you, and you will have a very nice feeling!

Tomorrow, hopefully, I'm thinking of some shopping... if the time allowed me to!

Fáilte go hÉireann - The Beginning...

Here I am after a tiresome traveling from one country to the other and with "somehow" troublesome time, I got finally to my final destination... The Waterfront - Oughterard, Galway Co. in Ireland.

I took off from Kuwait Airport around 2:20 a.m. at the 29th of September. The destination was Istanbul, Turkey. The flight took around 4 hours or more a bit, and generally it was a nice one since I didn't have anyone sitting beside me at all (there was on guy who left to some other seat as it seems). I didn't expect the number of people though. In the plane I was trying hard to sleep a bit by flipping my head left and right or leaning my head against the window and so on, till I reached Istanbul. In in Istanbul, all I had to do is go on with the rush wherever it goes and follow the signs and ta-da I was in the transit zone. I had to wait for 4 hours there for my next flight to Dublin. It was a great waste of my time really. I was coping to keep my eyes open all the time, and I found some people sleeping there already but no place for me... thus I decided to take some Espresso from the Starbucks café in the transit zone. I guess that café was the only thing that I wouldn't really miss from Kuwait at all! However, the expresso effect wasn't effective enough. Finally the time was up and I had to go on to my plane. I was surprised to see the number of people traveling with me in the same plane! I thought tourism time is over and people don't travel at this time of the year, but most of the travelers with me were actually Irish people returning home! Thus, it was a crowded place and I was stuffed like a sardine in my seat.

My seat was another story. In this flight, the curse of children started to follow me like if I was at home. Children crying and children kicking my legs... why don't these guys use glue? However, I was seated, and 2 old people sat beside me then suddenly (as it seems) they discovered that they made a mistake and they must sit at the back and not in my row. That was a relief for some time till the stewardess came to me to ask nicely if I can change my seat to give a chance for a lady with her 2 children (african, and her kid was kicking and crying all the time) because they got separated in seats. Thus, I had to go to some other seat, with 2 people sitting there and I had to stuff myself... at that moment only I was thinking of a diet indeed.

After reaching Dublin, I ran around looking for a taxi and I got one to pick me to Heuston Station where I have to collect my ticket. Unfortunately, I missed the train and the lady on the information desk told me I can get on the train of 10 O'clock, which meant that I have to wait for more than 8 hours!

After all, I got sick of waiting and then after asking again some other lady, she told me I can go on the next train to Galway. I had only 15 minutes to catch it and I did. We moved at 7:20 p.m. and the train kept on stopping on several stations until we reached Galway station at 10 p.m. . The train though was a bit miserable inside and stuffed, and with my heavy luggage and backpack it was tideous. I found a place later with 3 other people who accepted me. The funny thing was that later on the way to Galway (but before stopping in some station before Galway) , we heard some cracking and it was a scary sound indeed, and the train was shook a bit. We stopped for 10 minutes almost and then moved again, and they informed us that it was a sheep that lost its way! Few minutes later we heard the same sound, and I said to the lady in front of me "hope it's not a cow this time, this sound looks stronger!"

After reaching Galway finally, with tiresome body, I got a taxi and asked him to pick me to the nearest hotel. He delivered me to Carlton Hotel. I remained there till the next day for breakfast and then made a confirmation for one extra day in the Waterfront, the place where I'm going to stay most of the vacation.

The owner of the place, a very nice lady, didn't expect me because they did not tell her about the update (i.e. the agency did not tell her), but everything went smoothly. The road from Galway to the place in a taxi was like 45 minutes.

I spent my first day in the Waterfront in phototaking first (until the owner prepares the place for my arrival) and then once I got into my room... I fell asleep one time after the other.

Today, my second day at the Waterfront, I went to the side of the lake, which is called Lough Corrib (Gaelic: Loch Coirib), I wonder about the meaning though. After that I had some rest and headed to the Aughnanure Castle (Caisleán Achadh na nIúr) which belonged to the Flaherty's in medieval times. I got dozens and dozens of images all the way to there and from the castle itself. It was like a dream. However, I will work on the photos later to put on here. I'm just so tired to type this entry even!