East Ferry Cobh , Cork

The area around Cobh , County Cork is rich in opportunities for the photographer. You may have realised that this is a favourite haunt of mine, being about twenty minutes from my home and easily accessible  . The upper picture was taken about 30 minutes before sunset at East Ferry, Cork. This is one of the places I revisit at varying times of day and the light is always different.  I find the vicinity enchanting .  In this image the light was fast going down to the left of the picture, with some higher ground just extinguishing the suns light, prematurely.  The weeds and grass was for a moment lit by these fading rays of sunshine enhancing their colours,  and I had to act quickly to grab this image. Taken with a Canon 5d Mk3 and a 24-105mm lens, exposure about 15/th of a second.  Thus a tripod was need and a low angle for the shot to include the foreground vegetation.  Minutes after this shot the light disappeared, the ground no longer magically lit by the evening sun....
        Second image is of an old gatehouse, in the area of the townland of Waltertown .  I do not know the history of this old Gatehouse, but of course relates to an entrance to land and an estate of  long ago.. The spot is beautiful and if you look at the picture you can see flowers at the lower window. It is obviously a place treasured by those living nearby. The shot was taken late afternoon and again within minutes the light disappeared behind trees ,.  This image is actually a blend of three images. It is as the eye percieves the scene, but the camera and its sensor is unable to record the full range of highlights and shadows in the image..So, taking three images - one just underexposed to retain the cloud detail in the sky,  one correctly exposed to shoot the scene and one slightly over exposed to record the shadow details... It is a technique called  High Dynamic Range photography , or  HDR' as it is referred to by photographers.   When the image is combined and special software in Photoshop, the image comes to life as the eye saw is at the time.  The human eye is a wonderful thing and has a wide ability to perceive light and shadow.. Who ever made us, was a clever one..... !