michael linehan photography

I entered my second national Irish Photographic Federation competition at the weekend, which was the national nature competition, and won the best colour print with my photograph of a mink taken on a frosty morning along the bank of the Grand Canal near Prosperous, Co. Kildare.

It was quite a dull and a very cold morning when I took the photo. The canal was mostly frozen and the mink was working his way along the edge. I had my camera (300mm lens + 1.4 extender) on a tripod which had a geared head. There was not enough light to hand hold, so I pre-focused the camera at a spot on the bank. I was lucky that the mink popped his head up briefly and I got two photos, only one of which was sharp.

The overcast conditions worked as otherwise I don’t think I would have been able to manage the contrast if it had been a bright morning.

For other winners on the day see: http://irishphoto.ie/index.php/2013/03/nature-2013-winners/

Frosted Mink

I took these while sitting comfortably in my conservatory, which I now consider to be my 5-star hide.

Had another great day whale watching off Waterford yesterday, this time with skipper Brendan Glody from Dunmore East. There was plenty of activity, especially in the afternoon. And in flat calm conditions we saw gannets diving just yards from the boat, hundreds of seals, porpoise, common dolphin, fin whales and one humpback. I didn’t get any great photos really, but got great views, especially of the one solitary humpback whale. This is a new humpback whale for Ireland (just recorded by the IWDG on Monday 23rd Jan).

Probably my best photos on the day were of Martin Colfer’s boat as he was also bringing people whale watching.

I love seeing fields full of straw bales in August/September, and this year I decided to try to get some photographs. So, I got up early one morning before the local farmer was out with his shotgun and got some photos.

These are ten a penny shots, but I like them all the same.