Water – Page 13 – Michael Stephen Wills Photography

Bullet Dodge Series 1

First of a looooonnnngggg series

April 30, 2020April 29, 2020 MichaelStephenWills4 Comments

One day after my “Sunrise Texture” series as the sun rose on Cocoa Beach I was waiting with the same photographic kit. It was perfect weather for a visit to Walt Disney World, planned for that day: unsettled.

This image couple demonstrates the effect of long / short exposure without using filters. I changed the ISO and F-stop to achieve these effects.

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With a tripod it is simpler to achieve a level horizon….

I turned around to observe the colonies of shore birds…..

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Want to see more? Visit this my “Sunrise Textures” series on Getty IStock.

Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

Cushendun Published

Photography accepted this week by Getty

April 27, 2020April 16, 2020 MichaelStephenWills3 Comments

Click me to visit Getty, my recently accepted Cushendun photography.

Beauty and Infection

Cutting Trees to Fight Disease in Glenariff Forest Park

April 13, 2020April 25, 2021 MichaelStephenWills9 Comments

White Hawthorne tree blooms grace hedgerows of the rural hillside facing Glenariff Forest Park. The other white is grazing sheep. The North Channel of the Irish Sea is visible at the foot of the glen, with the shore of Scotland just visible.

Foreground are the stumps of mature trees cut by the forest service to control the oomycete plant pathogen Phytophthora ramorum. We visited June 2014, the year before, October 2013, the Belfast Telegraph reported “Northern Ireland is close to the point where it will be impossible to eradicate a virulent disease from the forests where it has taken hold.” Glenariff Forest part was one of those forests and the tree stumps are victims of that struggle.

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Here is a link to this photograph on Getty.

Getting My Work Out There

A Blessed Easter to Everyone

April 12, 2020April 11, 2020 MichaelStephenWills8 Comments

Comparing this view with the first of this series, first glance, with the camera held steady on a Manfrotto studio tripod, it is identical but from the play of light and cloud. My model Pam walked a few feet to sit in quiet contemplation of the beautiful surroundings.

To produce stock photography I research the details of the image, to write an informative caption. For example, in the post “Another Glenariff View” my identification of the Rowan was from a two volume atlas, paging through page after page.

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Here is a link to my Glenariff photographs o n Getty.

Glenariff Green

a closer look

April 11, 2020March 26, 2020 MichaelStephenWills9 Comments

Walking around the park trails with a handheld Sony Alpha 700 dslr, a Sony DT 18-200mm variable lens mounted. Sorry to say, I was selective and have only these three photographs to supplement the grand views of the previous two posts. Click me for the first post of this series.

These are from the upper portion of the Red Trail, we did not wander far from the car park. Such a funny term for a parking lot, a park for cars. The cafe offers pick me ups and we indulged.

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Here is a link my Glenariff photograph on Getty.

Another Glenariff View

…with a flowering bush.

April 10, 2020April 7, 2020 MichaelStephenWills1 Comment

After photographing the broad expands of a wide Glenariff valley, moving the tripod on that same eminence, here is a near and far view.

The foreground white flowering bush of pinnate leaves is Rowan (Sorbus in the family Rosaceae subfamily Maloideae). In Irish it is crann caorthainn, a plant considered sacred in ancient times by both Celts and Vikings. The fruit is made into preserves, jellies. The pinnate leaves are similar to Ash, the reason it is also known as Mountain Ash, Rowan is not botanically related to Ash.

The Canon lens EF 24mm f/1.4L II USM was mounted on the Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III camera. The graduated neutral density filter was perfect for the setting. Notice, between the hills in the distance, is a patch of the Northern Channel (of the Irish Sea), and just visible the Scottish Coast, a tilted horizon uncorrected.

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Here is a link to this photograph on Getty.

Going backward….

….to Glenariff

April 9, 2020March 24, 2020 MichaelStephenWills4 Comments

Here is the first stop on our tour of the Antrim Glens and coast, Glenariff Forest Park. These blogs have gone backward from Torr Head towards the started our day with breakfast in Coleraine, proceeding south along the plain to the head of Glenariff. The name, in Irish Gleann Airimh, means “Glen of arable land.” The Glenariff River flows from the height of Tievebulliagh, a 1,300 foot mountain, to form the broad valley of Glenariff. Arable, means tillable, and the land is tillable because the valley is wide.

This is one of my most popular photographs, it is from that day. I set up the tripod on an eminence overlooking the glen and a park path. Pam, in her red raincoat, headed down. The Canon lens EF 24mm f/1.4L II USM was mounted on the Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III camera. The graduated neutral density filter was perfect for the setting.

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Here is a link to this photograph on Getty.

Cushendun, more information and good bye, for now

…upon the sea-sand….

April 8, 2020March 22, 2020 MichaelStephenWills

The National Trust manages the heritage lands on this coast and throughout Great Britain. Looked up Cushendun on their web site and there is some useful information there. If you are touring Great Britain, a National Trust membership is a worthwhile investment. Sadly, there is a notice on the site about Coronavirus restrictions….and closures.

I learned Red Squirrels, an endangered species on the island, have an enclave at Cushendun. We didn’t visit the forested location where they live. We keep up with their antics looking out the window here at home where, thanks to our hemlocks, spruce and walnut trees the species is thriving.

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Here are several more of the information placards near the harbor explaining some local natural and tourism information.

Our travels this day, on the chart, were from Cushendun to Giant’s Causeway.

The last view of Cushendun town as we mounted the steep hill, Torr Road. The dashboard and windshield of out tiny car in the foreground.

Cushendun, a house

…upon the sea-sand….

April 7, 2020March 21, 2020 MichaelStephenWills2 Comments

Here is another information placard found near Cushendun harbor, with a lovely poem.

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Here are several of the information placards near the harbor explaining some local history.

Here is a house on the Cushendun harbor road, windows opening to the Irish Sea. Doesn’t it go well with the poem?

Cushendun Beach View North by Northwest

Nearest Ferry, today

March 28, 2020March 10, 2020 MichaelStephenWills2 Comments

Today, the nearest ferry is just over an hour south, on the M2, Belfast and there is no option for the Mull of Kintyre. You can go to Cairnyan, Scotland; Douglas, Isle of Mann; or Liverpool, England.

Torr Road lopes over the hill, upper right.

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