Taken in Aherlow Woods in County Tipperary during a winter trip there way back in November 2014.
The photo was taken on a Canon Eos 20D using a 18-55mm lens fitted with a deep red filter for that little bit of extra contrast. Hope you like it.
Tag Archives: Tall Trees
Fallen Tree
I am beginning to think I have developed some kind of subconscious love of fallen or broken trees. Not sure when this actually started but I have discovered four or five posts on such subjects at this stage. I suppose it is just the nature of photographing trees that I am obviously going to stumble across many of these things, but what makes me have to photograph them I just don’t know. I suppose there is some kind of obscure beauty to these trees, nature tries to defeat them but they just struggle on and slowly repair themselves.
The trees in the background have appeared on this blog before, they are becoming regulars at this stage but I had to explain to them on this particular day they would have to play second fiddle. They were very understanding about this scenario and behaved themselves very well indeed.
The little stone bridge on the left hand side has also been captured before, who knows I may just have it set up on wheels and I bring it everywhere with me.
Enjoy.
(Comments and opinions are greatly appreciated, please feel free to let me know what you think)
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It Looks Windy
This photo was taken a couple of weeks ago in an area just off the main road through the Phoenix Park. If you are travelling up through the park from the main gates towards the Castleknock gates you simply look to your left just before you come to the big roundabout, the one with the large phoenix statue in the middle. There is a tiny pond in the centre of this cluster of trees, known locally as “The Dog Pond”. I wish I knew where it got its name from but I must admit I don’t know everything about this park, I like to let on that I do but in reality there is plenty still for me to learn about this vast expanse.
My little 2 ½ year old boy looked at this photo yesterday as I was preparing to get it ready for posting and immediately turned to me and said “Look Dad, it’s very windy” and in fairness to him I can see exactly what he means by that. Truth be told it was nowhere near being a windy day. It was just very slightly breezy but I think both the long exposure and the infra-red effect give the impression of movement in the trees on the left hand side of the photo.
The tree right in the centre of the photo has recently become one of my favourites in the park, I must admit I’m quite fickle when it comes to favourite trees and my opinion can change from week to week, it’s kind of similar to picking your favourite records of all time, this week it’s “Heavy Rocks” by Boris but next week that all could change.
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Reach For The Sky In The Phoenix Park
Another one for my “Tall trees that look like characters from Lord Of The Rings” series for you today. I find something very majestic looking about this particular cluster of trees, they seem so much more powerful than those in the background. It seems to me that some trees are perfectly happy to stretch up a certain distance and then spend the rest of their lives spreading outwards, that’s not a way of life for this particular bunch though. There seems to be some kind of fierce competition going on to find out which one can reach the highest first, I often wonder is the air more clear up there. There is a beautiful sparse look to the lower parts of the trees, barely a branch to be seen until you reach about half way up.
On a completely separate note I must say I am feeling very bad about the fact that it has been almost a month now since I have visited the park with my camera. I have been several times for family visits but as far as long strolls in the park with my trusty old Canon friend, well it’s just been too long. I should explain I was away in County Mayo for two weeks, in a most beautiful place called Carrowmore Lake. I will post some of my photos from the Mayo trip on my Flick page as soon as I get them all processed.
The Dog Pond in The Phoenix Park
Ok, todays post is my first attempt in ages to replicate the fine art form that is medium format photography. I have always loved the perfectly square shape of medium format, sometimes though it just doesn’t suit landscape photography. Having said that, it does lend itself to photographing tall trees, if you get the right ones then there is nothing more pleasing than a good square photograph.
The two trees on the left of the photo look like they are leaning over but in fact they are just blowing slightly in the wind, it was taken on a particularly blustery day in April [yes this is Ireland, we get blustery days in April].
The trees actually form a natural surround for a small pond that is known locally as The Dog Pond, still wonder why, is it owned by a pack of wild gangster dogs. You can almost imagine them going out at night to do battle with all the wild deer. Somebody could make a great film out of this, imagine a Warriors style film where the dogs have to make their way home through the park without getting attacked by the other wild creatures. I would love to see the battle between the dogs and those extremely cheeky squirrels, you might think the dogs would have to win because they are bigger but think again. The squirrels could take to the trees and bombast the dogs with all manner of flying objects, you see, it wouldn’t be that easy for the dogs now. What if the squirrels got all the local birds on board too, those poor dogs wouldn’t stand a chance.
Where am I going with this…………………… I don’t actually know.
Goodbye and have a good weekend !
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Phoenix Park Does Exotic
Another recent photograph for you today.
This was taken on May 2nd, just a week ago to be exact on a truly beautiful day here in Dublin. The sunshine was truly amazing, strong but still slightly hazy, great for detailed close up shots but really bad for those wide angle landscapes. Whatever way the light was catching these trees just drew me towards them no matter how hard I tried to avoid it. I have taken pictures of this bunch of trees on several occasions from many different angles so I really tried to move on and see what else I could find. Every time I looked over my shoulder the light just got better and better, so you can guess the rest. Well I suppose I don’t have to finish telling you, otherwise how could I have taken the photo.
By the time I succumbed to the trees in question it was almost midday and the light appeared to be slowly overhead and was actually not quite so dramatic as before. I was almost disappointed until I walked all the way around and discovered that the trees almost seemed to be in totally darkness as there was no more sunlight able to reach down through the foliage. I love the darkness in the tree trunks, if you look further passed them its pretty obvious how sunny the day was from the brightness of the smaller trees in the distance.
There is something very exotic about the trees themselves, they seem to be from a distant land and not something we would be used to seeing in Ireland. I love the way we always use the word exotic for objects that we wouldn’t normally see here in Ireland, I wonder what word people from so-called exotic countries would use instead of exotic to describe something that is maybe a little bit out of the ordinary.
Anyway, you know exactly what I mean when I use the word exotic.
It’s almost hard to believe that this scene came from the likes of the Phoenix Park, I have to keep reminding myself that I am pretty much in the middle of a city centre, not quite in the heart of it but a good swing of a golf club would send a ball into the River Liffey.
Enjoy the photo.
You can purchase prints or postcards of his photo from as little as €2.50 by clicking this link.
A Drunken Tree in The Phoenix Park
This here is one of my most recent photos, taken only a few days ago, on the 2nd of May to be totally exact.
A beautiful sunny day in the Phoenix Park, pity I forgot it was a bank holiday though, far too many people walking in front of the camera just as I was about to hit the shutter button. It’s amazing the amount of attention you draw to yourself with a camera set up on a tripod, I think most people assume you are either
- A professional photography
- Somebody important.
As you may or may not know already, I am neither.
I love the completely random questions you get from complete strangers but my favourite reaction from people has to be their attempt to figure out what on earth you are trying to photograph. I always get lots of people standing close by and trying to look off into the general area you are pointing the camera at. Sometimes I overhear conversations usually featuring this phrase –“I don’t know either love, just looks like a load of trees to me too”
I think my all time favourite [and most common] question has to be – “So you’re a photographer” or “You’re into the photography then are you”, it must be said these questions most commonly come from old men, that will most likely be me someday.
Anyway, on to the actual photograph.
On first glance I thought I should really get a few shots of this fallen tree before the park wardens removed it. Once I got a little bit closer I realised it was actually still alive and seemed to be growing in this formation. I think it may have blown over at some point in its life but managed to stay alive somehow, it’s definitely still alive as there is plenty of new growth on it. It’s amazing how robust trees actually are, at least half of the trunk has been severed but it’s decided to carry on regardless.
So, basically if you are one of those old men in the park then yes, I am actually into photography [and not in the “Say no more, nudge nudge” Monthy Python kind of way].
Enjoy the first of many shots to appear from this beautiful day.
You can purchase prints or postcards of his photo from as little as €2.50 by clicking this link.
Candy Floss Trees In The Phoenix Park
This particular shot was taken back in 2007, August 21st to be totally exact. It’s amazing what you can find out about photos when you discover how to read all the hidden data in the files. I wonder did Ansel Adams [one of my all time favourite photographers of all time] ever think that the day would come when you didn’t need to carry around a notebook to record all the data about individual photographs. I remember back in the day when I still used film and I had to basically carry around a notebook to detail the settings on pretty much every single photograph I had taken. The reason behind that was simple, if you shoot ten rolls of film and end up with just one beauty then you really want to remember what settings you had on the camera so you could possible replicate that scenario. I still think the rules are pretty much the same except now digital cameras do all the dirty donkey work for me.
Back to the subject of Ansel Adams again, if I may rewind quite a bit.
I was in town today and to be honest I must admit every time I see one of his books I tend to be drawn towards it. At this stage I think must have every photograph he has published in one of my many books but I was attracted to a book featuring a collection of his colour photography. This man is one of the greatest black and white photographers of all time so I almost felt obliged to complain to the shop owners and ask them to remove the book from their shelves, I don’t disagree with colour photography, I simply don’t like it myself.
I have often thought how cool it would be if I could go and have an operation to stop my eyes actually seeing in colour anymore, imagine the world in black and white all the time, next thing I would be saving up for the infra-red operation.
An Explosion Of Trees.
Another blast from the past for you today.
This shot was taken in May 2008, again using my brand new toy, a Hoya infra-red filter.
I think this one works particularly well due to the one lonely white tree right in the centre of the shot. To be honest it didn’t look that much different to the rest of the trees with the naked eye but the infra-red filter really brought out the contrast between the two different type of trees.
The trees actually look like they are blowing in the wind, they all look like they are leaning from left to right but to be truthful it was a beautifully calm summers day and there wasn’t a breeze to be found.
I love the way the trees seem to be all clustered together, safety in numbers maybe.
There is a lovely soft almost cloud like feeling about the photograph.
After showing this photograph to a friend of mine recently they have commented that it almost looks like some kind of strange explosion of trees coming out of the ground. I never really noticed that before but if you step back a bit it does look like they are exploding out of the ground, like some kind of nuclear mushroom, except they are made from trees and thankfully completely harmless.
Infra-red Airplane Smoke
I think this particular tree has appeared already on this blog at one point but never mind, as I always say, every time I come back to the same spot I see something completely different. Some days the light is just so different that things look totally new to me.
I was really lucky on this day, just as I was walking back to the car after a fairly unsuccessful afternoon with the camera a plane noisily shoots over my head and leaves this wonderful trail in the sky. I rapidly tried to set up my tripod and get everything in place to capture what was going on above my head. I love the fact the literally five minutes either side of this plane flying over, the moment would have passed.
Whilst processing this photo I also noticed an interesting detail in the trunk of the tree. If you look really closely it almost looks like two people embracing each other, actually the first thing I thought of was those wonderful Ents from the Lord Of The Rings. If you get a chance, enlarge the image on your screen and focus on the trunk of the tree, it looks like a pair of arms are coming from the left hand side.
This was taken at the car park opposite the walkway down to the Furry Glen in March 2011.
Visions of The Phoenix Park 