Sky – Michael Stephen Wills Photography

Loughan Bay Ruins, County Antrim

Deserted Cottages above the Irish Sea

April 9, 2021April 11, 2021 MichaelStephenWills19 Comments

We pulled off the side of Torr Road for this fine view on the way to Torr Head to take in this view of the Irish Sea. The steeply rising distant headland is the Mull of Kintyre. Loughan an Lochan, County Antrim, Northern Ireland.

We parked on a turnout above the Loughan Cottages, near this farmer’s sheep pen. He drove up in a huge tractor and conversed with Pam while I was below shooting the cottages. He made a good impression.

Roofless walls of a cottage more substantial than the other deserted ruins above Loughan Bay, with two fireplaces a walled porch with a view. A number of outbuilding foundations lay around. The integrity of the walls, chimneys and gables speaks to the quality of construction. A freighter in the North Channel of the Irish Sea is visible in the distance above the upper ridge. Beyond is the island of Islay, Scotland, about 30 miles distant. Loughan an Lochan, County Antrim, Northern Ireland.

I am happy to report a series of thirteen (13) photographs of these ruins were accepted for publication by Getty. You can click any of the photographs in this posting for my Getty portfolio.

The land slopes steeply to a rocky beach.

A thick growth of ferns, grass on the gable was once a home with a view of Scotland’s Mull of Kintyre 13 miles across the North Channel of the Irish Sea. The Isle of Sanda just visible on the right of the far gable. A landform named Alisa Crag is just visible in the distance, to the left of the nearest gable.

Please browse my reasonably priced stock photography. License a photograph, download and use it for your website or blog. Click this link to browse all my Getty IStock Photography offerings.

Or click this link or any photograph or this link to select a print with custom framing from my “Ireland” Fine Art Gallery.

Interested in learning more about this site? I have a series of postings on Loughan Bay. Click for the first posting in this series.

Celestial Geese with two haiku by Issa

October 17, 2020October 1, 2020 MichaelStephenWills3 Comments

Celestial Geese

None of Them Come Down

To My Pine

~Kobayashi Issa

Click any photograph view my Finger Lakes Memory gallery

The Bright Moon

In Raindrops from the Eves

The Geese Depart

~Kobayashi Issa

“Harvest Views”

“Antique Silo Apple Harvest”

Hammond Hill Walk V

Facing the sun

July 23, 2020July 23, 2020 MichaelStephenWills

I close this walk at the turnaround point, the high meadow, with a fireworks display of daisies.

Click any photograph for a larger view. To do this from WordPress Reader, you need to first click the title of this post to open a new page.

Hammond Hill Walk IV

“We Had A Great Ski — Tob”

July 22, 2020July 5, 2020 MichaelStephenWills4 Comments

New since I was last here, this bench, made from local “blue” limestone dedicated to the memory of cross country skiing.

Click any photograph for a larger view. To do this from WordPress Reader, you need to first click the title of this post to open a new page.

Here are sounds you may experience while sitting here on a summer afternoon.

Click me for better experience viewing the following video. To do this from WordPress Reader, you need to first click the title of this post to open a new page. Note the replay icon (an arrow circling counter-clockwise.

Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

Hammond Hill Walk III

High Meadow

July 21, 2020July 3, 2020 MichaelStephenWills

After birdsong, open spaces are an unexpected wonders of these walks. Nowhere listed on the map, and on private lands adjoining the forest, this meadow comes upon the hiker’s consciousness gradually as the trail approaches.

Click any photograph for a larger view. To do this from WordPress Reader, you need to first click the title of this post to open a new page.

I have seen those gigantic seed heads here and there and never taken the time to research and identification. Do you recognize it?

To be continued…..

Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

Hammond Hill Walk II

Diamond Strands

July 20, 2020July 3, 2020 MichaelStephenWills2 Comments

Hammond Hills walks are a solo affair for me. Pam joined in days past, summer and winter, and fell out of love with the lack of flowing water and bugs. The pleasures of the place, for me, are the miles and miles of varied trails, the sounds among silences, unexpected vistas from hilltops.

The trails themselves are unlovely, beaten down by mountain bike tires or grooved by skis. On the hills I am always on alert, listening for the sounds of bodies hurtling down. The bureaucrats called this “mixed use.” It could be worse, motors are excluded. Today there were two bikers.

Click any photograph for a larger view. To do this from WordPress Reader, you need to first click the title of this post to open a new page.

A sprinkling of wild rose.

The song of the Hermit Thrush, a sound of diamond strands, always stops me. Here are two 30 seconds clips.

To be continued…..

Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

Hammond Hill Walk I

Buttercup Meadow

July 19, 2020July 19, 2020 MichaelStephenWills5 Comments

Hammond Hill New York State Forest is visible as an alluring height from many places of Tompkins and Cortland Counties. It is not on the list of tourist destinations, very popular for locals to mountain bike, and cross country ski at an advanced level for the steepness of some trails that wend over this high hill.

Click any photograph for a larger view. To do this from WordPress Reader, you need to first click the title of this post to open a new page.

The beauty of this wildflower meadow took me by surprise. The pink flower is a Bouncing Bet, AKA Soapwart. Scientific name Saponaria officinalis. The genera name is from the latin root for soap, “sapo.” The juice of the plant mixed with water can whip up a lather. Thus, also its common name, Soapwart.

The meadow is almost entirely buttercup. Click me for a post about a member of the buttercup family that is the first to flower.

To be continued…..

Stealing a Shot

Father and Daughter

July 18, 2020June 30, 2020 MichaelStephenWills3 Comments

These people clambered up for a shot while I was set up to capture the scene at the perfect light. They wasted my precious moments of light. Luckily, I managed captures while the child was out of sight, shared in yesterday’s post. These photos were accepted by Getty as “editorial” content.

Click photograph for a larger view. To do this from WordPress Reader, you need to first click the title of this post to open a new page.

Click Me for my Shutterstock Gallery

Giant’s Chair

at sunset

July 17, 2020June 30, 2020 MichaelStephenWills2 Comments

Here is a formation seemingly created to capture the human imagination. I spent time attempting to get it right. At one point, the setting sun emerged from the clouds to light the scene.

Click photograph for a larger view. To do this from WordPress Reader, you need to first click the title of this post to open a new page.

Click Me for my Shutterstock Gallery

Pam’s Views of the Causeway V

Baby-Finn

July 16, 2020June 27, 2020 MichaelStephenWills1 Comment

For Pam’s return trip I recall a favorite episode of Finn McCool’s, the mythical hunter-warrior associated with the Giant’s Causeway. Fearing a match with an opponent sure to defeat him, Finn relied on the wits of his wife, Oona, who dressed him up as a baby. She made griddle cakes, hiding an iron skillet in one or two. The giant, given the iron cakes, suffered broken teeth. Baby-Finn wolfed his cakes down. Overawed, the giant fled back to Scotland, fearing to face the man who’d grow from a baby such as that, tearing up the road (The Giant’s Causeway) behind him, to prevent Finn from following.

Click photograph for a larger view. To do this from WordPress Reader, you need to first click the title of this post to open a new page.