Wildlife – Page 17 – Michael Stephen Wills Photography

Climb to Torcorr Townland II and beyond

Gorse in flower

March 22, 2020March 22, 2020 MichaelStephenWills2 Comments

In 3.1 miles Torr Road passes nine townlands between Cushendun and Torcorr Townland, each with a namestone holding the Irish and Anglicized name. We can walk it in an hour at a steady pace, the terrane is sliced up so.

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Tornamoney townland is “Cattle Field of the Bogland.” That is the car door, foreground.

Common to all was the slope down to the North Channel.

Rowan Tree directional growth from a constant east wind..

Sheep pasture above the Loughan Cottage ruins.

Here is the friendly owner who climbed off his tractor for a chat with Pam while I photographed.

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Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

Climb to Torcorr Townland I

Rising from Cushendun Village

March 21, 2020March 8, 2020 MichaelStephenWills13 Comments

Torr Road passes nine townlands between Cushendun and Torcorr Townlands, each with a namestone holding the Irish and Anglicized name. Here are a few interesting names.

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“Ballindam” is derived from the Irish “Baile an tdam”, the Anglicization is the sounding out of Irish. Baile is “town” and “an tdam” is on the dam.

Headed uphill, the next is “Ballycleagh”. Bally is the English pronunciation of Baile. I found “cleagh” on Google translate under “Scots Irish” for “Well.” So, this is the town of the well.

Here is a sheep lookout at the aptly named, Alt gabhair townland, Irish for “Goat Section.” Otherwise known as Altagore.

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Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

Nook of the Ferns

Ancient Gaelic Names

March 20, 2020March 8, 2020 MichaelStephenWills4 Comments

Take a look at the view of Coolranny Townland on approach from Torcorr on Torr Road and see the source of this townland name that, from the Irish Language, means a recess, or “nook”, of ferns, or “bracken.” This, in the “Glens” section of County Antrim, is not a deep glen, as such, is rather a wrinkle between town headlands.

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The words carved on this namestone are from ancient Irish language with “Cuil” (a recess) and “Raithni” (possessive case of the noun for bracken, a type of fern). In other words, recess of ferns. The anglicized name, “Coolranny,” is the untranslated sound of the Gaelic place name.

The road to Coolranny starts at the foot of Glendun, Cushendun village. Here is the view over Cushendun and its sheltered harbor as Torr road climbs in a series of switchbacks to Torcorr townland.

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Found along Torr Road in Coolranny townland.

Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

A Bit More About Coolranny Townland

A shining Star

March 16, 2020February 28, 2020 MichaelStephenWills2 Comments

Saint Mary’s “Star of the Sea” Church. Culraney, Cushendun, Co Antrim, BT44 0PU. Diocese of Down and Connor.

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Part of Cushendun Parish, this church on Torr Road served the people of Loughan Cottages.

See this post for a description of wildflowers flowering here in the month of June.

The rest of the Coolranny information placard. I used the information about wildlife on a previous post.

I have yet to correct the horizon of this view.

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Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

View South from Torr Head and North from Torcorr Townland

Facing Views

March 13, 2020February 28, 2020 MichaelStephenWills10 Comments

Standing on Torr Head the sights, every direction, overwhelmed the senses. With the camera I was able to capture views even today are coming into my understanding.

In this view south, Torcorr Townland coastal ridge runs down to the North Channel at Runabay Head. There are two bays, the nearest Portaleen Bay, between the dark, unnamed, point and Runabay Head is Loughan Bay.

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See this post for a description of the foreground wildflowers.

Tor in Irish is a steep rocky height. Likewise, Corr means odd, uneven, rounder, convex, curved, peaked, projecting, smooth. Combined, Torcorr is the townland where we stopped on the Torr Road, halted by our wonder at this sight. This photograph looks toward the vantage from which the previous photograph was taken, Torr head.

Looking toward Torr Head from Torcorr Townload, across Loughan Bay

In the distance, Torr Head projects into North Channel, the closest land to Scotland. Following the coast, the unnamed point in front of Torr Head is home to numerous sea birds such as Fulmars (family Procellariidae) nad Oystercatchers (family Haematopodiadae). Along the rock beaches next Eider Ducks (genus Somateria). You might see the Common Buzzard (species Buto buteo).

The curved bay is named Loughan, above it are ruins of cottages emptied by Irish emigration.

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Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

Torr Head Crooked Horizon Problem 3

What solutions do you see? Please post your solutions in comments. Thank You

March 11, 2020February 28, 2020 MichaelStephenWills6 Comments

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Another solution to the crooked horizon is to level, crop, and build out the lost portions, as I did here. Very time consuming….better to keep the horizon level in the camera, difficult for me to remember.

Here is the second approach to correction of the tilted horizon problem that was first described this post.

A time intensive technique is, after straightening the image, to build out the blank sections. Here is an image after straightening. Corrected image size increases with degree of tilt, measured by the degrees of correction with the area of size increase being blank. It is this blank space that is filled by this technique.

The technique is to open a copy of the image, leaving the original unchanged, then, with Photoshop Lasso tool, select a portion to copy to clipboard, then to the blank space. A great deal of time is consumed by the trail-and-error approach required.

The sky was the simplest, the cliffs most difficult. The grass and flowers were not a difficult as they first appear. I varied feathering with sky the highest (30 pixels), grass and flowers at 10 pixels. Another general maxim is to run the lasso line through pixels the most similar to each other. After pasting use the Move tool to place the new layer.

A common effect to avoid is duplication of image elements. For example, after copying there are duplicates of flowers. This can be corrected through use of the Erase tool to reveal original image elements under the copied layer.

The cliffs on the upper left were impossible to correct. I solved this corner by running the Lasso line through the sky, water and grass. As a result the space between Rathlin and the “mainland” is wider.

See this post for a description of the foreground wildflowers.

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Taking in the foreground, I neglected to maintain a level horizon. Leveling the image results in too much cropping. View from Torr Head, north.

Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

Sunrise Texture Series 7

Final Series, Sunrise Completion

March 6, 2020February 18, 2020 MichaelStephenWills

Betelgeuse, AKA “Alpha Orionis”, was the first star disk, other than our Sun, measured. One hundred years ago the apparent size of Betelgeuse was then as now 0.003% of the sun. I bring this up because this “red” star at the end of its life cycle, is in the news, being now 40% of its brightness last year.

Betelgeuse is so far away this dimming is 700 year old news, the time it takes for light span the distance. News of our sun is more recent, sunlight informs us of the Sun’s surface from 8.33 minutes ago. Sunlight bursts from clouds to the camera in an instant of a second. In comparison my reactions to capture it are glacial. Sixteen seconds passed since the images of Series 6, time for three exposures at a slowed pace now the sun breaks free from the clouds.

Twelve minutes, fifty four seconds elapsed from the first images of this series. Seventy nine exposures taken with 16 selected moments, these last without the sand mirror.

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Exposure: 1/400 sec at f / 4.5, Focal Length: 24 mm, ISO 100

A Willet feeds in the new day. This is a species sandpipers, a cousin of the Sanderling of yesterday’s post.

Exposure: 1/400 sec at f / 5/0, Focal Length: 24 mm, ISO 100

All sixteen Sunrise Texture moments are presented below.. Suggestion, for this series in a larger format, open a separate browser tab for each post. At series end you will then have eight (including the very first post a few weeks ago) landscapes to compare.

Exposure: 1/6 sec at f / 22, Focal Length: 24 mm, ISO 125

Want to see more? Visit this series on Getty IStock.

Sunrise Texture Series 6

Sunburst

March 5, 2020February 18, 2020 MichaelStephenWills3 Comments

Two minutes pass from Series 5, and not because I have stopped snapping. My routine is to insert a (automated) sequential number into each filename. Using this it is possible to calculate the number of exposures in a series. Since Series 5, 16 were snapped before the first I could use in Series 6. Ten exposures between the first and last of Series 6, during which a minute, twenty eight seconds elapsed..

The sun disk is above the horizon, bursting from clouds.

Ten minutes, eighteen seconds elapsed from the first images of this series. Seventy one exposures taken with 14 selected moments of shining sand mirror, a strong curving return flow.

The small bird feeding, of the first image, is a Sanderling, one of the smallest species of Sandpipers.

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Exposure: 1/320 sec at f / 4.5, Focal Length: 24 mm, ISO 100

In this second image, the mirror is erased as sand absorbs surf. I needed to show the developing sun burst.

Exposure: 1/8 sec at f / 22, Focal Length: 24 mm, ISO 50

A slide show of these images. This set compares short exposure with open aperture (f 4.5) to a much longer exposure driven by a narrow aperture (f 22) and the lowest film sensitivity of the camera (ISO 50). Suggestion, for this series in a larger format, open a separate browser tab for each post. At series end you will then have eight (including the very first post a few weeks ago) landscapes to compare.

Want to see more? Visit this series on Getty IStock.

Sunrise Texture Series 5

a paradox

March 4, 2020February 19, 2020 MichaelStephenWills8 Comments

A scant five seconds pass from Series 4, with the sun above the horizon I strive to catch the moment.

The sun disk is above the horizon, shining behind the clouds.

Seven minutes, 34 seconds elapsed from the first images of this series.

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Exposure: 1/400 sec at f / 5.0, Focal Length: 24 mm, ISO 250

I selected moments of shining sand mirror, a strong curving return flow with a continuing mark of a southeast wind of seventeen miles per hour, with bursts above twenty. Wind, waves, even the rounded particles of sand all created from the energy of the celestial body I am waiting to appear.

Exposure: 1/500 sec at f / 5.6, Focal Length: 24 mm, ISO250

A slide show of these images. Suggestion, for this series in a larger format, open a separate browser tab for each post. At series end you will then have eight (including the very first post a few weeks ago) landscapes to compare.

Want to see more? Visit this series on Getty IStock.

Sunrise Texture Series 4

a paradox

March 3, 2020February 18, 2020 MichaelStephenWills9 Comments

Thirty three seconds pass from Series 3, the high clouds shine less bright, the sun disk now blocked by those clouds on the horizon, the rising sun brings darkness yet a first hint of sunburst.

Seemingly, the first image foam-wave swath will erase the mirror.

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Fifty seconds later, instead of erasure the new water brings clarity.

Six minutes, 39 seconds elapsed from the first images of this series.

Want to see more? Visit this series on Getty IStock.