The Tree in Black & White

After posting The Tree today my friend and co-worker Priya mentioned that The Tree may look good in Black  & White. So I tried it and this is what I came up with. What do you think?

The Tree

So I am not a tree or plant expert by any means, so please don't ask me what type of tree or vine or whatever this is, as i won't be able to tell you. All I do know is, that while I was walking around the gardens at Muckross House in Ireland this one really caught me eye for it's strange growth pattern. As much as I don't have green fingers I love walking around gardens. I find them beautiful, fascinating and when done right a work of art all at the same time.

O'Brien's Tower

O'Brien's Tower is located at the highest point on the Cliff's of Moher overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. The cliffs rise just over 700 feet from the Atlantic to the tower location and provide a spectacular view out over the ocean and the Aran Islands. The tower was built in 1835 by Sir Cornellius O'Brien as an observation tower for the tourists that visited the cliffs at that time. This photograph was taken about 90 minutes before sunset and is another HDR image combining 3 differently exposed photographs.

The Queen's Guard

The Queen's Guard is the name given to the infantry contingent that is charged with guarding the royal residences in London. The Tower of London, where this photograph was taken, is also classified as a royal residence. I am in awe of these guards because I don't understand the will power these men have to stand and not be distracted for so long. In fact on one visit to Edinburgh Castle in Scotland on a bitterly cold day, my ex-wife decided to see if the old adage that a true Scotsman wears nothing under his kilt is true. She knelt down in front of the guard and waited for him to begin his march, which he did every 5 minutes or so and when he lifted his leg to begin the march she pronounced him a true Scotsman.

This photograph was taken outside of the Jewel House, home of the Crown Jewels at the Tower of London. The Jewel House is a pretty amazing place, unfortunately they do not allow photographs inside so I cannot show all those gold crowns encrusted with dazzling rubies, diamonds and other expensive stones. I find it  amazing that the jewels on display are the real crowns and jewels used by the Royal family. At first I had to wonder if they were just replicas, but everything I have read says they are real and my mum told me that when she visited the jewels a notice said that a particular item was missing because it was currently in ceremonial use.

Doolin Cave

One place to add to your list of things to do if you ever make it to the Cliffs of Moher is a tour of Doolin Cave. The tour starts in the village of Doolin with a 5 minute bus ride to the cave entrance. When you arrive at the cave a tour guide will give you a brief history of the cave before leading you down a flight of stairs made up of 125 steps, just remember you have to climb back up those steps. You will be lead through a tunnel into a totally dark cavern. When you arrive in the cavern the guide will turn on the lights and you will be confronted by what can only be described as a natural chandelier hanging from the ceiling. This formation, made up of calcium carbonate and other minerals is 1.5 million years old, 23 feet in length and weighs 10.5 tons. This amazing natural wonder was discovered in 1952 by two nineteen year olds who crawled on their hands and knees and sometimes on their bellies, for over 4 hours following the path of the stream through the hill side. The passage that they crawled through was no bigger than 24 inches tall and sometimes a lot smaller. As you walk through to the main cavern the guide will show you their original path and it makes me claustrophobic just thinking about it. By the time they reached the main cavern their lights had gone out, so they had no idea what it contained. The following day they brought the whole team back and when they reached the cavern and lit it up they discovered this enormous stalactite. This stalactite is recognised as being the longest in the Northern hemisphere. Click here to see a photograph of how the stalactite is made up of what appears to be sheets and is not a solid block. Click here to see a photograph that shows the size of the cavern that the stalactite is in.

The Burnet Rose

The Burren as I mentioned previously is a 135 square mile limestone plateau in County Clare, Ireland. When you are there it looks like one of the most inhospitable places you could ever imagine and I'm sure that during the winter months it probably is. The strange thing about places like this, just like the Grand Canyon they are spectacularly beautiful. Amongst all the cracked limestone, flowers and plants grow like the one above. This one I found, growing all on it's own while walking back from the portal dolmen. It just looked too colorful in such a grey bleak surrounding that I just needed to photograph it. So I laid prone on the ground about 12 inches from the flower and took this photograph. I got some strange looks from the bus loads of tourists walking past me, but I read once that when photographing flowers you should get down to their level to get that unique photograph. By the way as the title says this is a Burnet Rose, which is not just native to the Burren, it just likes to live in hardy, limestone conditions..

Golf and My Friend PJ

So yesterday afternoon I got to go out and play some golf, one of my other hobbies. I went to a very pretty course in Temecula called Redhawk. This photograph is of the green at the 8th hole. I didn't play so well on this hole hitting my first ball into the water and eventually scoring a 5 on a par 3 hole. Like most of the hobbies I get into I cannot do them by half measures and golf was no exception. I took lessons, bought good equipment, learnt how to build my own clubs and slowly I get better. Golf is a game that teaches you patience and humility, because just as you think you've worked out how to play it, the golf gods will come and you'll feel like you have never held a golf club in your life. Personally I never really had much desire to play golf, then about 4 years ago a very good friend called PJ got me to go out and play. PJ sadly passed away in February and we never got to play all the courses that we had plans to play at. We even wanted to travel to Scotland to play some of the famous courses from the home of golf. I miss PJ though as he was my golf buddy, it's just not the same without him. Every time I play, at some point in the round I'll think of PJ and wish he was there, enjoying the weather, the frustrations, the laughs, the bad shots and always the good shots.

Grand Canyon

There's really not much you can say about the Grand Canyon because it really just says it all itself. When I lived in England and had never seen the west coast of the USA, the Grand Canyon just seemed like a big hole in the ground that Evil Knievel once wanted to jump over but wasn't allowed to. And then you you go there and you just stand in awe at the most amazing view that you could never comprhend until you are there in the flesh looking for yourself. Admittedly it's still just a big hole in the ground, but it's one that tells you a story in picture form. I've been to the South Rim twice now and both times I had trouble taking photographs, it's just such a difficult place to get a photograph to do justice to it's beauty and wonder. Out of all the photographs I have taken there this is one of my best and even this required some work with Topaz Adjust to really stand out.

My Dad's Birthday

So the main reason for going to England this year was the fact that my dad was celerbrating his 70th birthday. Anyone that knows me well knows that if I want something I just go and buy it, so buying Christmas or birthday presents for me tends to be tough. Well guess what, I got that from somewhere and that would be from my dad. Buying for him has it's issues, but my sisters husband came up with  the idea of doing a tour of Arsenal Football Club's stadium. My dad has been a life long supporter of Arsenal following in the footsteps of my grandfather and it was inevitable that I would be a lifelong follower too. So on my dad's birthday, my nephew Josh and myself took my dad on a tour with Arsenal legend Charlie George. It was a fun afternoon that took us into the Directors Box (where this photo was taken from), down into the changing rooms and onto the pitch. Charlie George was a great tour guide, with a fun sense of humor and gave great insight into the club. It was an amazing day out and great to give my dad a gift that was kind of unique.

Telephone Exchange

Dover Castle in Kent is a place that I had visited many years ago, but never knew until my trip back to England in June that there was a whole section that I had never seen. I had heard of the wartime tunnels built into the White Cliffs of Dover, but never knew that you could go for a tour inside of them. The tour takes you around the main areas of the tunnels showing you the barracks, kitchen, hospital, operating theatre, planning room, generator and radio room and the room pictured above the telephone exchange. The tunnels are about 4 miles in length and were constructed during the Napoleonic War as an underground barracks 50 feet below the cliff top. During that war they housed more than 2000 men. The tunnels were eventually abandoned  for over 100 years until they were converted in WWII to an air raid shelter, before becoming a naval headquarters. Admiral Ramsey directed Operation Dynamo (the evacuation of Dunkirk) from here. Rumour has it that Admiral Ramsey and Prime Minister Churchill met to discuss this operation in secret in the generator room where no one else could hear them, hence the name Operation Dynamo. We were not allowed to take photographs on the tour so this was the only one I could sneak when the tour guide was not looking.