Can you ever tire of photographing a river? I now have a whole folder of images from the Lower Bann, that majestic river that flows from Lough Neagh out into the Atlantic Ocean at Coleraine.
Many of them are made from the western side of the river, accessed by The Fisherman’s Walk, and on those occasions I have looked across the Bann to a small jetty, about half a mile or so upriver, on the other bank.
Introducing another of my eclectic camera collection, – meet the iconic Agfa Karat 36, a strut-folding 35mm camera.
This cute little camera is no lightweight, not in performance, and not in bodyweight! Made of metal, the camera was German produced and made to last! It made its first appearance around 1935, and was discontinued in the 1950s. The original Karats used a specially fitting film cartridge, but from 1948 the design changed allowing the camera to use standard 35mm film cassettes. Mine is the latter.
Continue reading The Agfa Karat 36It must have been around 2005 when I visited the home of Belfast artist Denis Johnston and viewed some of his paintings. Denis lives in Belfast and was a member of the same church as me at that time, and so I would have visited him on occasions, but on this particular visit he showed me some of the art he had showed on display in an exhibition. The imagery was stunning, with amazing technique and beautiful scenery. Yet my eye was continually drawn to one particular painting, and I couldn’t resist expressing my admiration for it. It wasn’t a beautiful landscape or an amazing sunset or mists rolling across a lake, – it was a small section of Regent Street in Newtownards, with a pedestrian crossing and a big dark shadow, and some old, and entirely unremarkable buildings. Thousands of people must walk past it every week. Yet I couldn’t take my eyes off it! Why? Just because it made me feel that I was right there! It had a ‘sense of place!’ It told me about the place, gave me a sense of ‘belonging’ to it, drew my mind visually into the picture.
Here it is:-
Continue reading Capturing a Sense of PlaceThe popularity of running as a leisure activity is growing exponentially. And runners seem to actually like being photographed.
I’ve been photographing these athletes for around five years now, and I use the Fujifilm X-T5, with a 100-300mm lens. I open the lens aperture to its fullest extent, which at 300mm is around f5.6, which reduces the depth of field and give a nice bokeh effect in the background. I set the shutter speed to 1/500th sec to freeze the movement, and that usually means an ISO of 1600 or thereabouts, – depending on the light quality, of course.
Continue reading Athletics – Have a go!Vest Pocket Kodak Model B (1925-1934)
Yet one more of my personal vintage camera collection…
These tiny folding bed cameras had a unique feature – the “Autographic Back,” perhaps the first primitive version of a data-back! There was a slot in the back of the camera, that could be opened by the photographer, to allow them to write the date of exposure on the back of the film.
Continue reading The Kodak Vest Pocket CameraYet another in my occasional series featuring cameras in my rather eclectic collection! This time it’s the MicroPress 4×5 Large Format Press Camera,
Another one of my antique camera collection. The MicroPress 4×5 Large Format camera from around 1950. It’s hard to believe this monster was designed for use by press photographers on location. The images, though were high definition and amazing quality. Photographed under studio lights with the slightly less antique Fujifilm X-T3. More images…
Continue reading The MicroPress Lg Format CameraCall it ‘Formals’ or a ‘Prom’ – but it’s the professional photos that make it memorable.
Tonight the mobile studio was on the road visiting the lovely Edenmore Golf And Country Club at Magheralin for School Formals – with full studio setup and on-site printing.
Situated at the edge of the Bann Estuary in County Londonderry, this quaint abandoned cottage was built around 1600, by fishermen who trawled the waters for the salmon who travel up the Bann.
I’ve shot a couple of birds in the Ballymena area recently.
I spotted this goose on Sat 8th February 2025 when I was helping with the photos at the Parkrun held weekly at Ecos Park. Try clicking this link to see the Parkrun photos:
On a smaller scale,
This wily old bird sits on the barrier at Tannaghmore Service area, on the A26 road between Antrim and Ballymena, and stares at motorists eating in their cars, knowing that eventually someone will cave in and give it a morsel or two.
(Ok, I’m not an ornithologist, so I’ve been informed it’s a Rook, or whatever!)
But I do know it was photographed with the Fujifilm X-T5, F=300mm, f/5 @ 1/500th sec on ISO400/
The Tannaghmore Crow
This wily old bird sits on the barrier at Tannaghmore Service area, on the A26 road between Antrim and Ballymena, and stares at motorists eating in their cars, knowing that eventually someone will cave in and give it a morsel or two.
(Ok, I’m not an ornithologist, so I don’t know if it’s a crow, or a Jackdaw, or a Rook, or whatever!)
But I do know it was photographed with the Fujifilm X-T5, F=300mm, f/5 @ 1/500th sec on ISO400
Portraits2Go.co.uk 