Photo Challenges

Gold Country Drives – Barns

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During our little drive through the Gold Country it is easy to come across barn after barn after barn.  I stopped by and took a few photos of them hoping to give you a sense of the area.  I have always been fond of barns since we have had many of them through the years on properties homesteaded by my ancestors.  Here are a few we stumbled upon that make me wonder what might be inside of them.

Submitted as part of Jennifer’s One Word Photo Challenge.

For other posts in and around the Gold Country please click here.

Sacramento Train Museum in Old Sacramento – Train Nerds Rejoice

/ Bulldog Travels / 22 Comments

A young friend of mine expressed some interest in learning photography recently.  I was going to take her to my backyard and teach her some basics about her camera.  But, instead, another random opportunity presented itself.  Mike’s Camera Shop in downtown Sacramento hosted a free photography meetup at the Sacramento Train Museum.  I couldn’t think of a less interesting place to take a 12 year old girl so we headed out with promises that it would be a great place to practice her skills.  It turned out we both had a blast taking photos of “creepy manikins”, welds, train wheels, cattle guards, old luggage, and to be honest things I don’t even know the name of.  I considered it a success because my young friend took hundreds of photos and never got tired of looking at the details of cool old trains.  She left boasting terms like depth of field, manual focus, and shutter speed.  A highlight for me was watching her lay on the floor in order to get a cool shot with a “fuzzy background” as she called it.  (Good photographers always get on the ground in my book!)  We rewarded ourselves with an ice cream cone and a walk through Old Sacramento!

Train nerds rejoice.  (You know who you are.)  I took far more photos of train details than I care to admit.  I hope you enjoy!

I consider this to be an “odd” subject to photograph so I am happy to submit the post to Cee’s Odd Ball Challenge!

Cee’s Odd Ball Challenge – Ireland Edition

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Odd ball items can be found anywhere.  But, here is a collection of photos I don’t think I have shared yet.  Check out the off ball side of Ireland for Cee’s photo challenge!

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Random Donkey Carving in Antrim

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Guinness in Baby Bottles Sign

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Jail art seen through a cell door at Kilmainham Gaol

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More Irish Donkeys

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Waterless Boats in Galway

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Large Building full of “stuffed” animals.  This deer lived a long time ago and was massive!

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Animal Graveyard at Powerscourt Gardens

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Animal Graveyard at Powerscourt Gardens

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Strange Stones at Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland

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Guinness Street Art in Dublin

 

To see some of my other photo challenges click here.

Dark Hedges – Ballycastle Northern Ireland

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While motoring through a place I often find myself looking for interesting places to “stop along the way.”  I scheduled a lot of driving in our most recent Ireland trip and needed a break to get out and stretch.  Andrew with Have Bag, Will Travel suggested visiting Dark Hedges if I happen to be in the area.  It seems this location is one of many Game of Thrones filming locations in the area.

Well, with a slight detour, we traveled through Ballycastle, Northern Ireland and took a stop at the Hedges.  Gracehill House is a Georgian Mansion built by the Stuart family in the 18th century.  Beech Trees were planted along the approach to the house as a way to impress visitors.

The trees are mesmerizing and stunning in a simplistic sort of way.  No grand gardens were required here.  Just magical and seriously impressive trees growing over one another begging people to walk down their path.

I have always been drawn to tree lines driveways in Ireland, the American South, and anywhere the home owners have the patience and forethought to plant something they may not have the lifespan to fully enjoy.  I am grateful for the Stuarts to think of me, who might, two hundred years later still enjoy the spoils of their efforts.

I’m not kidding when I say I was so taken by this place we barely noticed the actual Georgian Mansion the trees led visitors to.

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The Dark Hedges are located along Bregagh Road, near Gracehill Golf Club, off the A147, approximately 2.5 miles from the village of Stranocum heading north.
*I also submit this entry to Cee’s Which Way Challenge!

Irish Peat & Bog Men – Cee’s Odd Ball Photo Challenge

/ Bulldog Travels / 14 Comments

As part of Cee’s Odd Ball Photo Challenge for this week I am taking the opportunity to show you what Irish Peat or turf from their bogs looks like.  I took these photos at the Hill View House Farmhouse Bed and Breakfast in Tulla, County Clare Ireland.  The owners of the Farmhouse enjoyed spending the day with their neighbors and their children cutting peat which is decayed organic matter used to fuel fires.  She mentioned that originally it was done out of necessity due to the expense of gas and wood to heat their home.  But, now she says they do it for community and to teach their children of their history.  I hope this Irish Peat/Turf will warm your in box on a hot California afternoon.

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Irish Peat/Turf

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Irish Peat/Turf

At the Irish Museum of Archaeology in Dublin visitors can view Bog men that have been recovered from various Peat Bog locations throughout Ireland.  They are remarkably maintained considering their age, 400-200 BC due to the natural mummification process culminating from a lack of oxygen and a combination of specific chemicals found in the bogs.  The bog people are in various states of condition considering how they were found with heavy equipment or by hand in the bogs.

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Clonycavan Man

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Old Croghan Man

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To read more about my shenanigans in Ireland please click here…

“Calling all Selfies!” Bulldogtravels Self Portrait Photo Challenge

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In an exercise to test some settings on my camera the other night I was forced to take photos of myself which I do not particularly care for.  No one else was around for me to abuse.  Once I had achieved what I had set out to test on my camera I started fooling around with filters in Lightroom.  Several hours later these efforts led me to think that, of all of the challenges I have seen and participated on in WordPress, I had not seen any for Self Portraits or Black and White Self Portraits.

So, readers, I challenge you to post self portraits of yourself!  Just please link or ping back to this post so I can have the benefit of seeing them.  Be as creative as you want.  If your self portrait is a photo of your feet or your kneecaps I am fine with that.  If it is you bending in a backbreaking yoga pose then so be it.  If you use a fancy camera or your cell phone I don’t judge.  (Selfie sticks are welcome here even if they aren’t in Disneyland anymore!)  If you use filters or don’t use filters I don’t care.  If your interpretation of a self portrait is a photo of your dog or your Dahlia then hey, ok, whatever!  I will see the humor in it.

If your self portrait happens to be in a great and interesting travel location that would be even better!  Just have fun with it and let me know how it turns out!  Happy selfie taking!

My attempt at a Selfie…yup that’s a vintage video camera I am using to cover most of my face! 😉

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Cee’s B&W Challenge

These Boots are Made for Walking

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The great blog Where’s My Backpack came up with a fun and unusual Travel Theme of Feet!  One could go all over the place with this theme…my feet, animal feet, statute feet, furniture feet, feats of strength…this gives me an excuse to display some of the random photos I have taken while trekking around…

One thing is for sure.  Apparently, I have nothing better to do than to take photos of my feet while wandering through the world! I suppose these photos tell a story of their own separate from those that were taken directly of the attraction I was visiting.  🙂

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Relaxing in Mendocino

Spring Flower Hiking in the California Sierras

Resting at the top of one of the temples of Tikal

Cooling off in Phoenix

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Boonie Crashing at the Arch of Labna in the Yucatan

Searching for Water in California

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Hot Chili and Cool Cars in Rocklin, California

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Mendocino Mushroom Festival

Hiking in El Dorado National Forest

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Standard Beach apparel – Doran Beach

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Giant’s Causeway, Northern Ireland

Cee’s Black and White Challenge – Irish Fairy Tree, Hill of Tara

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Ireland is full of Fairy Trees or Wishing Trees.  Even for non-believers the Irish won’t often tempt fate by cutting down or messing with a single tree in a field or misfortune could visit.  People will often leave an item tied to the tree as a symbol of their wish or desire.  I came across many of these trees, the most compelling being those with baby bottles, shoes, and ribbons hanging from them.  I hope these trees bring their visitor’s peace.

Fairy Tree at the Hill of Tara, Ireland

Fairy Tree at the Hill of Tara, Ireland

Click here to see more wonderful Black and White Trees in Cee’s Challenge.

Cee’s Odd Ball Challenge – Kylemore Abbey, Ireland

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I am still sifting through photos from my recent trip to Ireland.  Cee’s Odd Ball Challenge presented a fine time to bring out and highlight the attached photo.  Kylemore Abbey is a jewel of Ireland.  The abbey and grounds are nothing short of spectacular.  One can explore the abbey, walled gardens, and mountain and lake hikes.  Beyond the small church on the grounds is this odd ball sculpture.  It is said that one must stand in the palm of the hand and throw a rock backwards.  If the rock makes it beyond a large boulder then the thrower will benefit from good luck!  I feel like I have good luck from just seeing this strange hand fighting its way from the earth.  Can you imagine stumbling upon this alone in the dark?  I hope you enjoy this photo as much as I do.

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