The first post

I have several folders in my portfolio, representing different categories of images. My intention is to add a few each week and introduce them through this blog This first post will be larger than usual in order to get at least two images in each category….

We are very fortunate to have a pair of choughs who nest in a box in our barn and raise three chicks each year. This triggered membership of Birdwatch Ireland and the acquisition of a telephoto lens. Hence, a section on birds and other wildlife.

This is one of our choughs on a rock outside our front door.

And an elusive wren who came out onto the wall on our terrace.

The streets and pavements beneath our feet have many manhole covers and other ironmongery. These functional items are often very stylishly designed yet are passed over, often un-noticed. I have started quite a collection of them. Here are some first examples:

In Prague, Czech Republic. Spotting this example was the starting point of my obsession…..

This is another from the same trip to Prague.

A modern example from Skibbereen, Co Cork.

I like to see textures and patterns in nature as well as man made objects.

We were scrambling down to a little beach in Corfu when we came across this. A spring just above the beach had carved out this shape in the rock and whether the colours were in the rock or stains from minerals in the spring water we have no idea but the shapes and hues are extraordinary.

This tuft of dead seagrass was washing around just below the surface of the water on a beach in Hampshire, UK.

My wife, Susie, is a musician. Before we moved to West Cork we used to participate in a “free improvisation” group. Musicians would simply play whatever came to them, no score or preparation. It was all about listening to one another and responding. At times it could be a bit chaotic but mostly the results were quite sublime and unique. As well as musicians there were artists who would respond to the music in their own ways. I would take my camera along to record the occasion and it wasn’t long before I found myself wanting to find ways to encapsulate the music itself in the images. I used long exposures and camera movements and, sometimes, some work in Photoshop afterwards.

This photo of Susie playing her flute has been inverted into a colour negative.

Here I’m trying to capture the music flowing from the keyboard.

The sun and moon illuminate our landscapes in so many ways. In this category I have sunsets, sunrises and moon shots.

A moon ring at the farm we used to live on in Dorset, UK.

I have a few portraits to share – I hope they speak for themselves….

Machinery can have quite a visual impact, even long after it has served it original purpose.

On the Butter Road between Schull and Ballydehob.

Sadly, perhaps, this has now been removed, presumably for scrap…..

A lot of buildings, particularly ruins, have a fascination for me. Possibly it has something to do with the fact that we bought one here in West Cork and restored it.

This was in 2014, before we started work.

The Landscapes section covers a broad range of subjects. Sometimes I like to capture the feeling of being there – sometimes there will be something unusual or quirky.

Boats can be beautiful in life and tragic when they have fulfilled their purpose. Wrecks have a strong fascination for me – imagining all the places they would d have been the adventures and perils they experienced.