My photographic style centers on the use of natural light to visualize emotion and evoke memory. The evolution of my style began early in the year 2002, with an imperative to capture personal and fleeting memories.
My son and I traveled to New York City, to view the first Saint Patrick's Day parade after September 11, 2001. My work from that parade was so successful and satisfying (see "New York Fire Department, Saint Patrick's Day 2002") I just never stopped.
The road runs high on the shoulder of Slievenaglog peak, the 200 mm lens peers into the next townland over, Ballycoly (or Ballygoley), the valley floor broad, pastured.
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Ballycoly Farmlands from Slievenaglogh
This is the seventh and last of a series using the Canon EF 200mm f/2.8L USM lens.
Here is a recap of recent posts with the 200 and 24 mm lens. Can you tell the difference?
Quickly moving sheep pass the hay wagon on May morning, early. A great start to this week.
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Ewe, Lambs with abandoned hay wagon.
This mountainside pasture is grazed by a flock of sheep alongside a long unused farm wagon. Slievenaglogh Townland, Cooley Peninsula, County Louth, Ireland.
This is the fifth of a series using the Canon EF 200mm f/2.8L USM lens.
Here is a recap of recent posts with the 200 and 24 mm lens. Can you tell the difference?
The view of the placard, to the north, starting left, Greenanmore is a height on Ireland, the site of a prehistoric passage tomb. Rathlin Island (with the East Light) is Ireland as well. Mull of Oa is on the Scottish island of Islay. A “mull” in Scotland is the same as a “head” or “point”. It turns out, the closest point of Scotland is the Mull of Kintyre, 12.4 miles across North Channel, is to the east. Islay is 27.4 miles north.
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Pam was standing on the edge of the head, short for headland (“point” is another name for it). The Paps of Jura are part of the Isle of Jura, 40.7 miles distant.
Here is a gallery for easier flipping between photographs. To do this from WordPress Reader, you need to first click the title of this post to open a new page.
Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills
This breed may be a Balwen Welsh Mountain sheep, as it fits the description. When the ewe caught sight of me, she hightailed it for cover, the lambs followed.
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Ewe and Lambs
The Balwen is bred for meat and that is the rule in this area, the lambs are sold.
The description is of a black color with a white blaze on the face, four white “socks” and white on the tail. This individual is missing a white tale, so might be a Shetland and even more so as the others of the herd are white (Shetlands are a variety of colors), Shetland is common and the other rare.
These are on the hillside of Slievenaglogh Townland, County Louth, Ireland.
This is the fourth of a series using the Canon EF 200mm f/2.8L USM lens.
Sunrise for Florida, January, is roughly a quarter past 7 am. Most mornings this year I was on the beach for a morning, pre-dawn, walk camera in hand. This day, the 9th, the clouds were promising, no to heavy on the horizon and scattered, cumulus clouds otherwise. For the promise I brought the full frame Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III, Canon lens 24 mm f/1.4L II USM fitted with a graduated .6 ND filter sitting on top of a Manfrotto BeFree Carbon fiber tripod.
A graduated neutral density filter has a portion shaded with gray to produce a “2 stop” difference in exposure between the darkest shade and clear glass with, between, a gradual feathered reduction in shade. In this way, the dark foreground and bright sky are balanced.
A carbon fiber tripod folds into a compact shape. At about 2.5 pounds it fits into a suitcase with the least weight possible for a reasonably stable platform. Using it, I am able to take a sequence of frames of the identical scene, changing camera settings as I go along.
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Exposure: 1/6 sec at f / 22, Focal Length: 24 mm, ISO 125
Sunlight, low in the western sky, was perfect for mirror-like reflections in the retreating surf.
Exposure: 1/250 sec at f / 4.0, Focal Length: 24 mm, ISO 125
In a few weeks, after the “Slievenaglogh View” series now underway, I will present a week of these images moving from pre-dawn to sunrise.
A slide show of these images. Use is to compare the effect of longer vs shorter exposure time and f-stop.
Exposure: 1/250 sec at f / 4.0, Focal Length: 24 mm, ISO 125
Exposure: 1/6 sec at f / 22, Focal Length: 24 mm, ISO 125
Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills
On Tuesday, December 17, 2019 a caterpillar dropped from vegetation to crawl across the parking lot of Sonic Drive-In, 2140 N Courtenay Pkwy, Merritt Island, FL 32953, crawl up an order station, affix its tail to the kelly green semi-gloss enamel, to form a chrysalis.
The afternoon of New Years Eve, 14 days later, we spied the Retro theme of this fast food business, finding it appealing, stopped for a hi-fat lunch of hamburgers, onion rings (“highly recommended, very delicious”) and (ha, ha) diet sodas, choosing this same order station where the emerged Brush-foot butterfly, of the family Nymphalidae, clung, drying in anticipation of flight.
Captured here with the Apple IPhone 8. I cannot identify the exact butterfly species this is. Source: wikipedia article on Nymphalidae.
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Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills
797 is the count of subscribers to this blog, an interesting number. The individual numerals sum to a prime number, 23. The first and last can be swapped to yield the same number. I appreciate each and every “1” added together, you readers. Thank You.
Here is a selection of images from post posts.
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The trail at Petrohue Falls is packed with tourists on a sunny summer afternoon.
Pam and Mike Wills stayed with Marantha House B&B, during our Spring 2014 Ireland Tour. It was our base in County Cork. Our day of arrival, that evening, I visited Charlemagne and fed him an apple, saved from dinner. We learned from our hosts, Olwen and Douglas Venn, he is a retired show horse they rescued. The following morning I visited Charlemagne again with an apple and my camera. As I walked up, starting from the far end of his field, Charlemagne rewarded me with a series of astounding poses, trotting toward me in fine form. The morning mists, hawthorn in bloom, distant hills came together for this memory.
Newlyweds on Cocoa Beach waiting for the photographer in a perfect early evening light. A cruise ship departing from Port Canaveral in the distance.
Trillium bloom April through May in central New York State. I found these blooming on the rim of Fillmore Glen near Owasco Lake and the town of Moravia.
Don Roberto is on the bow
Mexican Poppies bloomed in profusion throughout the Superstitions after the plentiful winter rains of 2008.
Pamela and Michael Wills with Iceberg Glacier, Bernardo O’Higgins National Park, Fjord Tempanos, Chile aboard the Oceania Regatta
A swan and cygnet feeding from the pristine waters of the River Cong, County Mayo, Ireland. Outside the door of Ashford Castle.
Ocotillo Sunset
My son, Sean, and I traveled to New York City for the first Saint Patrick’s Day parade after September 11, 2001. Every one there shared in the pride and resolve of the New York City Fire Department delegation. They had a huge presence. All of 5th Avenue from side to side, as far as we could see, was full of firemen. Each held a full size American flag, so there was a block of American flags up the street. I composed this image to capture the feeling of this moment.
Copyright 2019 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills
Michael Stephen Wills Photography 