Walking Commentary
Manchester to Rome 2022
As a reflection seismologist, I spent four decades reducing sound echoes into visualisations of rock formations long buried from view.
As a photographer, I seek to capture incidents that might not otherwise be seen.
As a rambler, I try to emulate reflections: they leave no trace.
“The most important question we must ask ourselves is, ‘Are we being good ancestors?’”- Jonas Salk
One square kilometre of water bounded by some 1.5 million cubic metres of hewn rock, Dún Laoghaire Harbour was the the largest man-made harbour when the world popultion reached 1 billion.
We’ve just been for a walk down the east pier in Dun Laoghaire, something you probably realise we do very regularly these days. From the pier, we had been watching a sunlit ship emblazoned with Corsica Ferries and Sardinia Ferries leave Dublin port. Then, to our surprise, the ship turned somewhere beyond Howth and returned to port.
No matter what I read or see of the great monochrome photographers, whether it be Ansel Adams or Edward Weston or Michael Kenna or Edward Steichen or perhaps Donn McCullin or Vivian Maier, I don’t seem to learn enough to be satisfied with my own efforts. These people are some of the greatest proponents of their arts but sometimes their superb work undermines rather than inspires. I think these are normal but sometimes very frustrating limits on our aspirations. As I was taught when I had motorcycle racing aspirations, if you see someone in your mirror that wasn’t there last time you looked, give way, because they are better than you.
We met some people on the pier this morning and while talking, I noticed a few seabirds had come close enough to be identified. Great northern divers (or common loons) in winter plumage. It had rained so hard over the night that I decided not to bring a camera. I had guessed the light would be dull, that the storm would have caused the sea to raise sand from the sea floor and muddy the waters. And besides, it might have rained again.
We could see that the weather was the story this morning. One degree C yet bright which in a temperate oceanic climate often creates a steaming sea. So we went for a walk on Dun Laoghaire pier and took several photos of the fog affected views. I’m not a professional photographer but I’m passionate about photography so I was carrying a 600 mm lens just in case.
I particularly liked that the rowers were themselves taking photographs as they rowed through the steaming seas between the pier and The Muglins lighthouse. There was an ageless, painterly appearance with a technological twist. It was almost impossible to keep focus with the huge lens without a tripod so I set the aperture to f/18, the shutter to 1/1250 and let the ISO vary as the lighting changed.
[Read more…] about Fog Rises