Sustainable Architecture & Croagh Pat Photo

Photographer’s Note

Our next home exchange was located on the shore of Clew Bay and at the foot of Crough Patrick; about 5 miles from Westport in County Mayo. The owner/architect only designs sustainable housing. The difference between the 300 year old farmhouse and this house was amazing. Even though both houses had very thick walls, the farmhouse was always cold even with heating while this house was warm without heating in much more blustery weather.
Croagh Patrick derives its name from the Irish Cruach Phádraig ("St Patrick's mountain") although it is known locally as the Reek, In the Annals of Ulster entry for the year 1113, the mountain is named Cruachán Aigle ("eagle mountain").
Croagh Patrick (Crum Cru) has been a site of pilgrimage, especially at the summer solstice, since before the arrival of Celtic Christianity in the first century; possibly since before the arrival of the Celts. On "Reek Sunday", the last Sunday in July every year, over 25,000 pilgrims climb the mountain, many of whom climb barefoot.
At present it is named for Saint Patrick, who reputedly fasted on the summit of Croagh Patrick for forty days in the fifth century and built a church there. It is said that at the end of Saint Patrick's 40-day fast, he threw a silver bell down the side of the mountain, knocking the she-demon Corra from the sky and banishing all the snakes from Ireland.
A seam of gold was discovered in the mountain in the 1980's: overall grades of 14 grams (0.5 oz) of gold per tonne in at least 12 quartz veins, which could produce 700,000 t (770,000 short tons) of ore. Mayo County Council elected not to allow mining, deciding that the gold was "fine where it was".

Kielia, cherryripe, cunejo200, nels, xuaxo, feather, paura, ribeiroantonio, edytungkal, gunbud, ruisc_pt, josepmarin, Angshu, avene, pboehringer, robertosalguero, Didi, zmey has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Kielia (8735) 2008-08-14 6:28

Hi Pat,
thanks for showing the beauty of this place! Your composition is really amazing with the dynamics of the grass and the clouds. The colours are excellent! TfS!
Warm regards
Harriet

gildasjan (24143) 2008-08-14 6:33

Bonjour Pat
Du caractère et du contraste pour une atmosphère particulière dégagée par cette jolie composition.
Bonne journée
Cordialement
Gildas

cherryripe (19187) 2008-08-14 6:33

Hi Pat
Home exchanges sound like fun but nobody would want our flat at the moment with the outside renovations going on. Means getting woken up at 07:15 and as I right, the wall of my son's bedroom is being drilled.
This place looks so tranquille. I like the sharpness and light on the house and the wispy clouds against the polarized sky.
Regards
Nikki

baba_flies (8099) 2008-08-14 6:35

Home exchange? So you had someone in your house while you were in this one? I find this a wonderful idea and when people come from overseas I usually move to my father (our flat is not so big) and my father moves to his girl friend (and this makes him happy too). Some years ago my friends from Nova Scotia went to Australia for one year and another couple with their kids came to their house in Canada. They exchanged the house, the job and the car, the kids went to school there etc. Just crossed my mind. This is such a cute photo, and I love the tiny moon behind the house and how you have the grass in your foreground hiding the house just a little and somehow you feel right at home. So pretty, I love it. Barbara.

Gerrit (36287) 2008-08-14 7:04

Hi Pat,
excellent landscape picture. Beautiful light and layering.
Regards, Gerrit

cunejo200 (7243) 2008-08-14 7:08

Hello Pat,
It has been a while! Interesting to read about home exchange, that certainly opens the possibility of travel. A superb landscape composition with superb exposure and color management. My best regards, Danilo

nels (2455) 2008-08-14 7:29

hi pat, it looks so peaceful and tranquil, love the colours and formations of the clouds,
adrian
exchange holidays great idea

xuaxo (5835) 2008-08-14 8:08

Olá Pat
Just the house and the peaceful landscape would give a nice picture. But you chose a very good moment of light, sky and even the moon.
The mountain seems a little too blurred, especially on the edge with sky.
SAA
F.

izmirli (3285) 2008-08-14 8:15

merhaba dear pat
magnificent blue sky and clouds.magnificent colours and landscape.lovely house and composition.well done.
best regards.
gürkan akçakır.

feather (50154) 2008-08-14 8:27

It looks like a beautiful setting. I was admiring the beautiful clouds and spotted the moon. You framed the image well staggering the house and the mountain for balance. Excellent sharpness on the foreground grasses and the house. We can almost touch them. I was wondering if you used noise reduction on the mountain as I remember you saying you had inadvertently set a high ISO(?)
Kath

paura (39306) 2008-08-14 15:38

Pat,
Well done and nicely cropoed photo. A very crisp details and beautiful colors. Excellent.

Regards

Paulo

ribeiroantonio (21975) 2008-08-14 17:29

The house is very nice. The background of the house is dreamful but it is the sky that is the eye catch of this picture. So beautiful and so well captured. Even the moon is present. Well done.
Antonio

edytungkal (4519) 2008-08-14 19:05

This absolutely has a very nice combination details...a strange clouds formation but i like it, small moon over the house and beautiful landscape. Maybe just a little bit unsharpen in mountain side but over all you have a great compo on this one, well done Pat.
tfs

cheers
daniel

gunbud (28163) 2008-08-14 20:11

Hi Pat,
Must put a star on this one!
The sky is subperb as it highlghts the distant hills.
You manage the windy contiditons very well.
Twenty years ago I was in Ireland on a hike with my daughters, nephew and this type of landscape was their favorite memory.
Regards, Tom

skerdreux (2746) 2008-08-15 0:48

why to add blur to the background ? The picture is wonderfull except this very big problem of blur. sky could be amazing as the point of view but I really think blur does not improve the picture
Have a nice day
Sylvain

danos (33300) 2008-08-15 1:37

Hello Pat,
very nice shot of this beautiful and graphical place,with the lucky owners of the house to glad the nature.Excellent the colors and the light as the sharpness of the scene.The best i like is these pale colors,that looks like silk.Well done.

Have a nice day,Danos

jimkilgallon (0) 2008-08-15 3:59

Hello Pat
How did you like Mayo on the whole? A bit different to say Kerry or Donegal, but I love Mayo as I came here at least six times a year because the folks are from up the road in Ballina. So you visited Croagh Patrick which shows Clew Bay and the apparent 365 islands there. Did you get to climb this at all? Beautiful shot Pat, stunning clouds and sky with the a wonderful side view of the Mountain. Patrick himself would love this shot ;-). Westport is also a beautiful town, thanks for this wonderful image and bringing back some memories from when I went here. A fine note also.
Cheers
Jim

MarianneS (14426) 2008-08-15 13:38

Hello Pat,
A wonderful cloud which is perfectly combined with the little white house.
I like your composition, including a good foreground, very well detailed.
Regards,
Marianne

ruisc_pt (6209) 2008-08-15 14:41

Your post obliges me to write something about sustainability:
Thank you for this post ,.....
Indeed we need to think in R4 mode, i.e.:

R1
* reuse (“brownfield sites”): sustainable construction should in the first instance initiate preferential priority to the redevelopment of abandoned or derelict inner-city land, brownfield sites. This is opposed to developing agricultural land, or “greenfield” sites with the consequential loss of biodiversity, and increased pollution as a manifestation created through land-use change
R2

* recycle & reuse construction materials and products from demolition, unused or reclaimed buildings and waste materials. Among these are recycled glass for use as building sand and blast furnace slag as an aggregate in concrete, which would reduce the pressure on natural resources and diminish the dramatic impact of natural resource extraction on the biosphere. If virgin resources are regarded as the earth’s natural capital, water should also be included as a vital and precious resource, ripe for recycling as green, grey and black water recycling as a material consideration

R3

* renewable energy resources: the increased use of biomass for heating and hot water, solar thermal hot-water collectors and photovoltaic cells linked to the national grid and combined heat systems, would all provide long-term renewable energy sources

R4
* replenish: to aid biodiversity, the built environment should be designed to take account of and encourage biodiversity, in order to aid and develop flora and fauna conservation strategies.

TFS
R (ui)

dkeus31 (26365) 2008-08-16 9:47

Hi Pat,
a nice composition, but I do not like blurred background as it is for me the nicest part of the picture, not the foreground plants.
regards
didier

devimeuxbe (56370) 2008-08-16 10:25

Hi Pat
This is an amazing picture.
The cloud in the sky is very nice. It give a good relief to this landscape
Well done
BErtrand

TopGeo (22231) 2008-08-16 11:08

Hi Pat,
Excellent shot a magnificent blue sky and clouds very clear! Wonderful composition with house in the peaceful landscape! I like these work well done
Compliments
Geo

josepmarin (34107) 2008-08-17 4:08

Hi Pat,
Besides the magnificent sustainable architecture that we see in your capture, which more attracts our look is the beauty of the blue sky very well polarized, its decoration with a few clouds that seem to be painted on it, and the presence of the moon, which they creates a nice contrast with the landscape and the mountains in BG.
Good work accompanied with a good note.
HLJ
Josep
PS: Your commentary of the photo of my grandson is very nice.

Bluejeans (33081) 2008-08-17 14:45

Ola Pat ,
Que linda paisagem este primeiro ficou fantástico os detalhes ficaram perfeitos , gostei do fundo desfocado com a lua no horizonte , boa cores, o céu ficou lindo , parabéns!!
Um abraço Gonçalo

Angshu (34119) 2008-08-17 21:55

Hello Pat
The wispy clouds are excellent! The sight of the moon (so typically in your shot, moon being your favourite) is lovely. Is this the house where you were staying? Like the FG with the tall grasses. I presumed you used Noise reduction on the hill in the BG & then saw the thread with Kath. A beautiful place...well captured!
Best Regards
Angshu

avene (11140) 2008-08-19 8:51

I cannot really decide whether I like the blurr or not. on the one hand, it definitely focuses attention on the house. on the other hand it feels a bit unreal since now the house looks more like a cut-out. but I lean towards liking it :) the sky is fabulous, and the tiny moon is a hidden treasure, no question about that.

best,
Kristine

pboehringer (770) 2008-08-19 9:57

Pat,
I'm really quite puzzled looking into your most recent posts. All of them are lacking in sharpness. This one here is actually the better one but with a DOF that gives me the impression that you used a shallow one. Is it just the low f/ that is giving you that kind of blurr, are you having troubles with the new lens or is it a new workflow in your PP? I really don't know it, but it is a problem. There you have it, my honest, as always, opinion.
Peter

robertosalguero (110) 2008-08-23 23:09

Hi Pat,

I have been away from this site too long and missed good images in your gallery. The feather like clouds add a nice element to this image. I think it breaks the sky nicely and creating a more interesting background. The image is sharp and the colours look good. This is definitely a beautiful part of the world. Thanks Pat :-)

Roberto

Didi (36452) 2008-09-04 10:03

Hi Pat
Peoples who living there are lucky away from disturbing towns.
The place looks great.
Strange background; did you used Neatimage ?
Cheers.

zmey (7282) 2008-09-09 6:49

hello pat!

wonderful sky and the composition is very nice too, especially wtith that textured grass in the foreground. i agree with peter though: something is off in terms of sharpness. the blur on the mountains does not look natural. i am not convinced the lense is to blame though: the house and the grass seem razor sharp. neither i do believe that wide aperture is the reason: the blur starts right on the far edge of the house's roof... did you try to blur out the background in PP here?

warm regards,
kristaps

pablominto (41372) 2008-09-22 0:35

Hello Pat,

This is a fine composition, showing this attractive piece of architecture in the impressive setting!
The grass in front sets the mood and the lack of trees tells about a rather rough climate...
The fine veil of clouds adds attention value!

Greetings,
Pablo -

J_Burke (19) 2008-09-30 13:47

Hi Pat,

Thank you for your comments. I've enjoyed looking through your photo's and this one especially is very striking. The sky looks amazing and I like the contrast between the foreground and background. You've captured a very peacefull atmosphere perfectly,TFS.

James