Guess what? I know where Heaven is.

I found out where Heaven is a few months back thanks to my 5 year old niece Eva. Eva and Adam are twins and they should know.
This is how it came about. Last October 12 months our faithful 13 year old dog Gypsy died. Any dog lover out there will understand how awfully sad it is to lose such a beloved animal.
We buried Gypsy in the garden of our holiday cottage in Ring Co. Waterford beside Misty. (an earlier tragedy)
Adam and Eva were only 4 at the time and they loved her dearly. She in turn was very gentle with them. After she died their mother Karina told them that Gypsy had died and gone to Heaven.  They got over it as children do and when we got Bonnie a few months later they fell in love with her too.

The following summer Karina brought the children to Ring for an afternoon to visit us. While playing in the garden they came across the stone slab covering the burial spot. Himself was gardening at the time and they asked him why it was there. He told them that Gypsy was buried beneath it. He thought no more about it and carried on gardening but the pair were amazed. They ran into their mother with the great news that they knew where Heaven was. It was in Maurice and cha cha Mary's (they are half Polish) house in Ring.

That's all very fine though until grandma or someone else dies and all of a sudden I could become the grim reaper.

These photographs were taken in the garden in Ring on a cold February afternoon last week. They were taken with an old lens i got a present of. It's a Tamrom 28mm 2.5 Adaptall lens. It doesn't communicate with the camera so it only has manual focus which is fine if you have good eyesight. The lovely thing about the 2.5 aperture is that it throws the background out of focus and gives fab bokeh effect.

Crocus

Camera settings - Camera Canon 70D, lens Tamron 28mm. exp 1/800sec, f2.5, ISO 100

Camera settings - Camera Canon 70D, lens Tamron 28mm, exp 1,250sec, f2.5, ISO 200

Camera settings - Camera Canon 70D, Lens Tamron 28mm, exp 1/160sec, f2.5, ISO 200

Camera settings - Canon 70D, lens Tamron 28mm, exp 1/1600, f2.5, ISO 200

Fig tree

Camera settings - Camera Canon 70D, lens Tamron 28mm, Exp 1/1000 sec, f2.5, ISO 100

Honey Suckle

Camera settings - Camera Canon 70D, lens Tamron 28mm, exp 1/500sec, f2.5, ISO 100

Camera settings - Camera Canon 70D, lens Tamron 28mm, exp 1/1000, f2.5, ISO 100

Camera settings - Camera Canon 70D, lens Tamron 28mm, exp 1/3200 sec, f2.5, ISO 100

Primrose

Camera settings - Camera Canon 70D lens Tamron 28mm, exp 1/800 sec, f2.5, ISO 200

Lismore, a day in the life of the travelling Kidneys

Myself and himself don't often do touristy trips. We have a holiday home in Ring Co. Waterford and we are lucky to be living in Cobh, one of the most beautiful scenic towns in Ireland so where would you be going?

With a hobby like photography one needs fresh material so one got himself to accompany her to Lismore,  Co. Waterford for a trip this summer. Off we went in the truck with Bonnie, our Collie. She comes everywhere with us. We're like a pair of Eco-Warriors with our hound. All we are short is a bit of rope around her neck instead of a lead. If you want to meet Bonnie here's the link to my blog post about her  http://mfkidneyphotography.blogspot.ie/2014/09/bonnie-gift-that-keeps-on-giving.html

We viewed the magnificent Castle and visited the graveyard (as you do) and wandered the streets looking for a book shop(for himself). It is a beautiful historic town to be fair. We were looking for a suitable spot to have lunch,  a place where we could park our dog and sit outside but there was no such place.
We stood outside The Rustic Cafe looking in the window and I thought I'd be cheeky and go in and ask if they had seating  out the back where I could take my dog.
There were 2 ladies working away behind the counter and one of them  turned to me mischievously and said, "that's an awful thing to call your husband".

They were a lovely pair, a right double act. They were delighted with Bonnie. We sat outside in the yard with our dog and had a lovely feed of homemade soup and brown bread. There was eating and drinking in it. Bonnie got a dish of water and a few scraps from the kitchen.
It's very important to make sure himself isn't hungry when i'm in photographer mode. He needs all his strength for carrying my camera gear.

 Camera Settings, Camera Canon 70D, Lens Canon 18-135mm@18mm, Exp 1/1250sec, f3.5, ISO 100

Camera Settings, Camera Canon 70D, Lens Canon 18-135mm@18mm, exp 1/125 sec, f4.5, ISO100

 Camera Settings, Camera Canon 70D, Lens 18-135mm@18mm, exp 1/100sec, f4, ISO100

Camera Settings, Camera Canon 70D, Lens Tamron 10-24mm@10mm, exp 1/250sec, f22, ISO100

 Camera Settings, Camera Canon 70D, Lens Tamron 10-24mm@12mm, exp 1/400sec, f4, ISO 100

Camera Settings, Canon 70D, Lens 18-135mm@38mm, exp 1/125sec, f13, ISO100

Mad Cows

I haven't been here for a while. I had a lovely holiday and a break from all things technical and the internet, which I missed only slightly.
I did get to take lots of photos and got a bit done on a body of work I'm thinking about and dreaming about and planning. If it ever get's finished I'll share it with you at some stage.

This is about cow's. I love looking at cattle, they are such peaceful creatures most of the time. I have had a few hairy experiences with them though. Once, while walking through a field with himself and the dog, the cattle were up the hill at a fair distance minding their own business. Then one started walking down towards us and i got a little nervous. Himself said don't run what ever you do. Next her friend followed suit and before long all their friends were trotting towards us. Well i took off, it was everyman and dog for himself as far as i was concerned. I made it to a clump of trees with himself following I might add and scrambled through a barbed wire fence ripping my jeans in the process but i didn't care. I had survived being trampled.
On another occasion I was visiting the ruin of my Great grandfather's house in Mullinasole, Co. Donegal when the local cattle got very inquisitive and surrounded the house. As there was no door on the ruin or windows for that matter I was freaking out more than a little. Himself had a stick and proceeded to warn them off while we scurried again for safety. Our old dog was chased around the ruin by these mad beasts but thankfully got to us in time before she was trampled.

These are some photos i took recently in Ring Co Waterford of the local beasts. Ring cattle are friendly enough. They graze an area known locally as the Connigear and are well used to people passing by. These were taken nearer to Helvic and thankfully these beasts were behind walls and i was safely positioned on the road.

 Camera settings Lens used, Tamron 10-24mm@24mm, exposure 1/100sec, f32, ISO100 

Camera settings Lens used Tamron 10-24mm@24mm, exposure 1/100sec, f9, ISO100

Camera Settings Lens used Tamron 10-24mm@16mm, exposure 1/100sec, f25, ISO 100