Christmas Eve in Connemara
I did most of the Connemara Loop today. I didn't head up to Tully Cross as the road was literally white from the ice on it. This morning shooting portraits of dead leaves covered in hoar frost, when I got a text from an acquaintance from Clifden letting me know there was snow on the mountains in Connemara. I packed my bag, scraped the frost off the car and away I went. While around my house was clear, the city and the road all the way to Ougtherard were covered in fog. The icy road would've kept my speed down anyway, but the little old lady 3 cars up made sure we all stayed below 40kph!Based on prior experience my plan of attack was to go to Lough Inagh first, then Derryclare, and then perhaps Ballynahinch. I opted not to go to Ballynahinch as the snow on the front of Benlettery had melted quickly. The mountains at the top of the Inagh valley were also more compelling looking.Even though there was a plan, I could help stopping once the fog had cleared. The Maamturk mountains were looking splendid, so I stopped to shoot my first panorama of the day. As it's long, it's not going to look great at 600 px wide!
From there I went to Lough Inagh, and shot at a few locations along the lakeshore. I made a point of shooting from new places, so I got some different views. For some of the time, the lake was like a mirror, a real rarity from my experience.
I saw an image request for Benbaun from one of the stock sites, so I carried on up the road and shot a panorama of it. As always hindisght is 20/20 and I should've included the road on the right.
I did a U-turn then and went back to Derryclare. Derryclare and Pine Island are probably the most frequently shot photo in Connemara, so today I was looking for something different. 2 muddy boots from sinking a foot into the muck later and I had something different.
It was at this point that I decided that heading back up the Inagh valley was the plan. If I got time, I intended going home by the coast. I did stop and shoot at Inagh again, and then went north. I met an accident along the way. A young lad from Scubadive West had managed to spin his BMW, ruining the passenger front wheel. I meant it was sideways.. Noone was hurt, but the car had spun through the fence. The back wheels were inches from a 6-8 foot drop, so very lucky.I went up to Kylemore lake and shot across at the Abbey. I'm still deciding how how to process these images, as I did include a set for HDR processing. Next stop was just past the church at Creeragh. I've always wanted to get a shot of the Maamturks from the northern end, but never found anything to make a useful foreground. Well today I trekked across the icy field and found a nice long section of frosty turf.
The next shot is from the other side of the road. I'm actually not sure which mountains are in the distance. It could be Ben Gorm, or Devils Mother.
I took the turnoff for Tully Cross, which passes Lough Fee. The road was white with ice, so I was very cautious on it. Another shot of turf and I drove down to find a turning point. When the road started to go down a steep hill, I stopped and did a U-Turn. I figured there really was not enough grip to drive up it!
I drove down the main part of Killary and while I had intended stopping, there really wasn't a shot there. I noticed the Sun shining up the end of the valley, so I made for Aasleagh falls. I'm always wary there because I dropped a camera in the water there once! It stills works fine, in fact I had it IR converted.I was there about a month ago and the water was the highest I'd ever seen it. You can imagine my surprise getting there today, and having it the lowest I've ever seen it. I made a brisk walk to the falls on the frozen bank, and shot from a number of angles, including from rocks that are usually under water! I shot with a frozen puddle as foreground here. Not my best shot, but I still kinda like it.
On the way up I noticed a well at the sea, so on the way back, I jumped down for a shot. Climbing to find a better view, I mananged to go knee deep in a hole, getting about half my leg covered in even worse mud than at Derryclare! If I had wellies on, I'd have lost it for sure.
I also shot the rocks breaking through the ice, where the ice sheet had collapsed after the tide went out. Interesting seeing that the sea had frozen.
I made one final stop before driving into the fog and home again. This is handheld, leaning on the bridge in Leenane, looking over Killary. You can even see my car on the right, so yep, it's really only a snap. Fortunately the trip home was uneventful, bar overcautious drivers! I thoroughly enjoyed being out shooting on Christmas Eve.One thing I need to do is get a wider lens. I suspect it'll be a Tokina 11-16 f2.8 for the 7D. Apparently it works on a full frame at 15mm with no vignetting.