Fun Photo Friday: De Barra's Pub - Clonakilty - Ireland

De Barra's in Clonakilty, Ireland

Fun Photo Friday: One of our stops on the Ireland trip was to the town of Clonakilty. Not knowing anything about it, we stumbled into De Barra's pub to grab a pint. After walking around and seeing all the signed photos of very big musicians who had visited and performed there, we learned that Noel Redding (bassist for The Jimi Hendrix Experience) was from the town. He had great relationships with a number of performers, and would coax them into playing at the pub. Noel was a regular Friday night performer at the pub.

More fun: I also found and sent a photo of Billy Idol at the pub to my friend, John Diaz, who is best friends with Billy. He shared the photo with Billy, who told John something along the lines of "I remember that place."

Cliffs of Moher - County Clare - Ireland

Here's another shot of the Cliffs of Moher from our trip to Ireland in 2014. An absolutely fantastic place to visit!

Newgrange - County Meath - Ireland

This is from our trip to Ireland in 2014. On our last full day, we decided to take a tour from Dublin to this 5,000 year old large circular mound surrounded by stones. The fact that this thing was built before the pyramids, and before Stonehenge, really is what entieced us to go. What is cool about Newgrange besides how old it is? It was apparently built to welcome the new year at the Winter Solstice. According to the tour information, every year (when the sun is not blocked by clouds, of course):

At dawn, from December 19th to 23rd, a narrow beam of light penetrates the roof-box and reaches the floor of the chamber, gradually extending to the rear of the chamber. As the sun rises higher, the beam widens within the chamber so that the whole room becomes dramatically illuminated. This event lasts for 17 minutes, beginning around 9am.

They have a free lottery every year, where a small number of people are chosen to be able to experience this event.  We got to go inside and check it out, and they have a simulation of the light inside the chamber, so it was very cool to see.

Newgrange can be found in the Boyne Valley of County Meath, about an hour's drive from Dublin.

Fun Photo Friday: Scene from Foggy Friday Morning

Natural Picture Window - Bryce Canyon National Park - Utah

Since I'm posting on consecutive days this week (forgot to post on the holiday Monday), I'm sticking with Bryce Canyon. So, here's another shot from that beautiful National Park.

Rocky Top - Bryce Canyon National Park - Utah

The rock formations are just wild to see from a distance, or up close, and contrast the forest that also drapes Bryce Canyon. The multiple colors in the sandstone effectively change color throughout the day, as the sun and/or clouds cast shadows throughout the park. It is a very cool place to visit, any time of year, so add it to your bucket list!

Fun Photo Friday: The Cloud

Here's this week's Fun Photo Friday shot. I don't know why I felt compelled to post this shot, other than I was thinking about how much more drama is introduced into photos when there are clouds of any type in the scene. So, I like clouds in my landscape photography. So there.

Half Dome - Washburn Point - Yosemite National Park - California

Here's a shot of Half Dome taken about an hour before sunset from Washburn Point at beautiful Yosemite National Park. Washburn Point is near the top of the drive to Glacier Point. You can also get there by hiking.

Expedition Boat to Hubbard Glacier - Alaska

In 2009, Darcy and I took our first full 2-week vacation together. It was our 10th Wedding Anniversary, so we wanted to take a big trip, and we decided on Alaska. I've written and posted pictures from our Alaska trip many times. My parents recently stated that they are planning to go in 2017, and we are very tempted to try to join them, as it is such an incredible place. That discussion took me back to working on some more of the photos from that trip, including this one. The first day at sea, the ship pulled into Yakutat Bay so that we could see Hubbard Glacier. Part of the ship's crew were able to take an expedition boat up close to the glacier. We stayed for about an hour, and got to see it calve a few times, causing waves that rocked the cruise ship, so I suppose that's why the expedition boat didn't go any closer. It was an awesome experience.

Fun Photo Friday: GoPro Shot from the balcony - Lake Tahoe - Nevada

Here's this week's Fun Photo Friday shot taken from the balcony overlooking the forest and Lake Tahoe. Taken with #gopro.

More Storm on the Horizon - Cardiff By The Sea - California

The start of this El Nino season got me looking at some of my beach photos that I took during storms, and I found this one to surface for today's shot.

Snowy Terrain - Gardnerville - Nevada

On our trip home last week, I stopped the car when we drove into Gardnerville so I could shoot this one. It was a cold, but beautiful day. I believe that is Job's Peak in the background.