'Cause Pubs and Castles aren't Enough, a photo from Mayo, North

Photographer's Note

When photo-touring Ireland, it's amazing how too much of a good thing, like historic castles and picturesque pubs can eventually produce photo-fatigue. The first 10 castles are surely fascinating, but once the unfortunate 11th arrives no matter how fabulous, you may be thinking to yourself "Hmm, another castle, what am I going to do with this one." Or "How am I going to remember the names of all of these places".

Atlas, sometimes you need to mix it up and in that spirit I offer up a little flavor of the Georgian architecture in the coastal town of Westport in County Mayo on Ireland's western coast.

Westport's city centre is fairly small and if you walk any amount of it, you're bound to stumble upon this home with it's bright red wrought-iron fence and Georgian doorway cloaked in ivy.

Westport is a small quaint town of about 5000 people situated on the south-east corner of Clew Bay. It has the distinction of being one of the very few planned towns in the country and is known for its Georgian architecture.

Traditionally, people from Westport were known as "Coveys", a group with it's own dialect that was virtually unintelligible to outsiders.

My wife and I ended up spending a couple nights here as it made a good base for exploring the surrounding countryside. We spent each of our nights listening to music at Matt Molloy's, a pub owned by Matt Molloy of the Chieftans.

One of the nights featured a folk-guitarist with great range who answered a question I'd been pondering while touring Ireland. I'm a big fan of U2, yet I marveled at how I hadn't heard a single U2 song on the radio despite spending the majority of my vacation in the car. I was wondering if U2 was perhaps considered old hat or god forbid "your father's band". Perhaps the Irish didn't really care for U2 at all. Well that night when the musician played U2's "Bad", let's just say that nearly everyone in the pub (and the pub is made of 3 pubs actually) tried to pack into the rear pub so they could sing along. Question answered.

Regards,
Doug

feather, pboehringer, kermit350, gunbud, jwmunro, jean11-3, kmarscher, robertosalguero has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

aadilj (18080) 2007-08-29 21:42

I like the vibrant colour scheme in this one which is attractive, hot and pleasing, all at th same time. the stark red is superb. You hae a good idea to frame this, the pov is nice and the overall composition sure is lovely

eshirey (325) 2007-08-30 0:27

Ah, Britain. :) Great color and tight framing!

vedra (0) 2007-08-30 2:25

Hi Douglas,
Nice detail. I really like that bright red coloured fence and door - its vivacity must be encouraging for people living there when the weather gets cloudy and rainy.
From this point of view, the plant around the door makes this appear like entrance to the castle and not just to (I suppose) an ordinary house.
Nice notes, too.
Vedrana

feather (51128) 2007-08-30 5:30

I suppose when it boils down to it this is a picture of a door, but I wonder how many of us would compose such a simple subject in such an unusual and creative way. I love how you almost centred the corner of the railings and even though it is so close you chose your focal point with care. It's superfluous to mention how the stunning red catches the eye!
Kath

[2]

baba_flies (8829) 2007-08-30 6:27

Hello Doug! This can't be true, you left the "tour bus" to sit in the pub :) We want to know each detail from all the ruins you went through, especially no. 11 ... For me seeing a country is not only visiting "stone piles" (this too) but also experience how other people live, what they eat, how they spend their evenings. And you can't leave Ireland without exploring pub life. No way. Did you sing too, and good?

Very good composition I find, and I like how you chose to enter the photo with the railings as your foreground. The red is really strong, with plenty of power. I can find a lot of Ireland in your photo, very well done. Take care, Barbara.

[2]

pboehringer (770) 2007-08-30 14:54

Yes, Douglas! This is a brilliant composition ... I love it and quite unconverntional with the RED fence doing to opposite things - separating us of the main subject of this image and leading us to the main subject that is that, again RED, door in the background. All this contrast extremely well with the green ivy.
Your text is a real delight and I share the same feelings as Barbara pointed out in her critique.
Regards, Peter
P.S. I like your recent activity at TE. Good to see more coming out of your camera!

[2]

kermit350 (9012) 2007-08-30 15:04

Hello doug, I do not know what gives a simple song of U2 to the radio, but when this group comes to Brussels that made from the noise and crowd moves, for your red door with are style géorgien masked in ivy that is very aesthetic and is well with the image that I is made decorations Irish way, sincerely.............................Hello doug, je ne sais pas ce que donne une chanson de U2 simple à la radio, mais lorsque ce groupe vient à Bruxelles ça fait du bruit et les foules se déplace, pour ta porte rouge avec sont style géorgien masquées dans le lierre cela est très esthétique et est bien à l’image que je me fait des décorations façon irlandaise, bien amicalement

gunbud (34052) 2007-08-30 19:29

Hi Doug,
This simple composition with its compelling colors and lovely details is pefectely Ireland. The bright red, white and green sing. Your note was most informative an entertaining. Fantastic image from the land of the wee people.
Regards, Tom

jwmunro (286) 2007-08-31 12:08

Hello Doug -

Irish doors and gardens are a thing to behold. The door it seems is just the right size to add a distinctive blast of color to set off look-a-like builds from each other. This scene has taken color to a new level by making the approach railing the same color of the door. I like how you have framed this scene, from an angle, using the railing to lead us in and then using symmetry to frame off the door and the shrubbery. Well seen and captured. Bravo!

Thank you for sharing.

John

jean11-3 (2799) 2007-08-31 12:34

Hello Douglas, a different POV from the usual of doors and doorways.
Everything is sharp, the detail of the iron railings is wonderful.
Liked your title.It goes without saying that the red and green are extremely eye-catching!
TFS, regards Jean.

kmarscher (2887) 2007-09-01 6:47

Hi Doug,
Whenever the color red is in the shot, there is little to second-guess I've heard. Unusual door knob placement and the lush ivy makes the door pop. Nice compo where you took advantage of the speared railing to direct the eye. Understand the feeling of photo fatigue!! BTW, your website is pretty cool.
Regards,
Kathy

clic (11017) 2007-09-04 4:42

Hi Douglas
At first glance, a strong impression of privacy comes out of this colourful take; and then after sight jumps over the fence
to enjoy this romantic architecture and its luxuriant natural framing.
Best regards.
Robert

robertosalguero (196) 2007-09-05 0:28

Very elegant entrance and good contrast of colours. The door is quite a strong focal point in the image and is hard to take the eyes away from it. Good sharpness and saturation of colours. The image is very clear. Your note is very good. I had the same feeling when I was in Poland. I found either a beautiful church or a castle in every town I visited. Nice work Doug.

Roberto

kiks (11381) 2007-09-27 7:55

Hi Douglas,

the colours realy make this photo at my opinion. But also the POV you choose and crop make the lines interesting and well balanced. Great work.
TFS
KIks

Irvinix (78) 2007-10-03 10:06

Well captured! Nice colours, details and composition.

brevbrev14 (140) 2007-10-24 1:00

Hi Doug, i remember the wonderful coloured doors of U.K.
this composition is very good with a strong red that is eye-catching...
good also the green natural frame around the door..
ciao!
Valeria