As well as going hiking yesterday, I went out for an hour up a big hill or little Mt, in Hollywood Co Wicklow on Thursday.
At the top, I came across a bronze chair, with some Teddies on it, so when I got home I Googled what it was about, this is what I found.

On the summit of Slievecorragh is one of the more curious memorials that you will find anywhere in Ireland. It is the chair that climbers of this hill have commented on. There is a man’s silver ring slipped over one of the support bars, and the name ‘Dan Clancy’ is engraved into the top of the back of the chair. The chair and the teddy are facing west over the plains of Kildare. For the walker it is an object of curiosity, and offers a comfortable seat to take a rest and enjoy the views. It is made of bronze, and someone clearly went to a lot of trouble to bring it all the way up the hill. It would have been easy to leave the hill and move on to other things and forget about the curious chair and the lonely teddy on Slievecorragh. But it stayed in my mind and I wanted to find out more.

I discovered that Dan Clancy grew up on the side of Slievecorragh. Dan and his many siblings spent many happy childhood days there, and often went up in the evening to watch the sun set as they discussed all the things that children do. Dan eventually grew up and moved to New York. Whenever he returned to Wicklow he would climb Slievecorragh with his brothers and sisters where they spent many hours in conversation, just as they had done as children. Their special connection with this hill and each other was reaffirmed each time they enjoyed watching the sunset from its summit once again.

Dan became terminally ill with cancer in New York. One of his brothers, Andrew who is a Sculptor, spent a lot of time with him in New York in his final months. They talked about their childhood and Andrew frankly discussed with Dan how he would like to commemorate him in some way. The idea of the chair was born. It was based on an old chair that both men remembered as boys in the corner of their kitchen, and it symbolised a warm and happy childhood spent growing up on the slopes of Slievecorragh. From an old photograph Andrew had a wooden model of the chair made, and he used this to cast the bronze chair that we see on Slievecorragh today. Dan passed away on 4th February 2004 at the age of 31. A few months later Dan’s family and friends gathered on Slievecorragh to bring the chair to the summit and set it into the ground. Since then, each year on the anniversary of Dan’s death, his family gather once more to climb the hill and remember Dan Clancy.

This is the story of the little green chair on Slievecorragh. So if you ever find yourself up there, you now know the story behind the curious chair and the teddy that have sat there watching the sun set night after night for many years now

This is the chair,
which has a few more teddies on it now.


IMGP1946ed1sm by dr.shutter, on Flickr

And a few more


IMGP2202ed21sm by dr.shutter, on Flickr


IMGP2182ed1sm by dr.shutter, on Flickr


IMGP2181ed1sm by dr.shutter, on Flickr


IMGP2043ed1sm by dr.shutter, on Flickr


IMGP1991ed2sm by dr.shutter, on Flickr


IMGP1978ed1sm by dr.shutter, on Flickr


IMGP1975ed1sm by dr.shutter, on Flickr

The pentax 15-30mm is a savage lens, id buy it again if i could afford it. Weight be damned
There is a sigma 15-30mm
Irix 15mm
Samyang 20mm (some sample shots in my threads, ) haven't tried out starbursts yet.
Fa 20mm

What dfa 200 mm have you got ? Da *200mm ?

I like your thinking around not bringing everything, I need to practice that one too.

In the last 2, which are 10 shot pano's the sun has dropped behind the central mountain top, so as you'd expect all the foreground is or was nearly black, to me it looks unnatural to lift the foreground too much as it couldn't be naturally lit, I know it all depends on ones own taste, and it's great to get the feedback.
I might 're edit and see what I get. 👍👍👍

Cheers guys,
#4 Is the one I had to walk down the mountain for, that was with a 10 stop filter, didn't seem to be any colour cast
Everything was kind of dark anyway apart from the skies, I was in the middle of a valley for some where the mountains were blocking the light, and under trees in others where they were blocking the light,
I might upload a few large jpegs so ye can have a play and see how ye would edit,

Cheers
Derek

As i posted earlier in the pointless thread, here are a few shots from my hike, including the one that I had to go down and back up with the tripod for. ( it wont be to everyone's taste)
K1 + samyangs 20mm, 35mm and 135mm


glen12spsm1 by dr.shutter, on Flickr


IMGP2266ed1sm by dr.shutter, on Flickr


IMGP2239ed1sm by dr.shutter, on Flickr


IMGP2215ed2sm by dr.shutter, on Flickr


IMGP2177ed1sm by dr.shutter, on Flickr


IMGP2165ed1sm by dr.shutter, on Flickr


IMGP2076ed2sm by dr.shutter, on Flickr


IMGP2002edsm by dr.shutter, on Flickr


IMGP1992ed1sm by dr.shutter, on Flickr

Cheers guys, I was kind of going for a dark mood as it was pretty dark anyway,
to be honest, the foreground on these were nearly black, and I just didnt like the look of lifting more, I have no doubt that the sensor would give more, I will give it a go.
Genuinely your thoughts and observations are appreciated and I will act on them and see how they look
Thanks again

Derek

I was supposed to bring my better half to Ikea today, had the time beeped off from fire brigade and was all set to go, but she changed her mind. Seeing as I had the time off, I gathered up my gear and ventured out for a drive in the rain and a hike.
Destination was the Wicklow gap, glendalough.
I had never done the hike to the top before, luckily when I arrived the rain stopped but there was still plenty of low laying cloud.
Left the tripod in the car as I didn't think I'd need it. First mistake, brought a hoody and a jacket, 2nd mistake.
Boy it was a slog, my smart watch thinks I claimed 80 flights of stairs, feels like it.
Brought the k1, siggy 70-200 Sammys, 20, 35 and 135mm,and a few other bits and bobs.

Even with the 20mm some of the vistas were too big and needed a 12 shot pano to frame it.
I must say I did enjoy the hike and the day spent shooting just primes.
About half way down I spotted a nice spot that would require a tripod
So down to the car and then the long slog back up.
I haven't looked at Any of the shots yet, but boy did I enjoy my day out.
Photos will follow once I get them edited.

And, no chance I'm handing my k1 over to any of my lot