Iv’e run my first roll of Kodak T-Max 100 film through my Nikon F100 camera, on a recent two night break on the North Coast of Northern Ireland – the world renowned ‘Causeway Coast.’ The scenery in this area is spectacular, but on a rainy November weekend, with a strong wind blowing in from the sea, cheesy tourism like images are scarce! But I managed a few black and white…
Well, we’ve been having a November break at the Royal Court Hotel, in Portrush, Co.Antrim – if you’ve never stayed there, make it a bucket-list destination! Right on the North Coast of N.Ireland, across the road from the majestic White Rocks Beach and a short drive from the world famous Giant’s Causeway – and they do a fantastic buffet at reasonable prices… along with an a la carte menu for the foodies..
Needless to say I had a camera to hand – the Nikon F100. loaded with Kodak T-Max 100, a film I’ve never used before. I developed the road for 9 minutes at 20 degrees in FD10. More photos to follow, but for now, here’s a couple of shots from Coleraine (Janette likes to visit the nearby major town for the superb shopping).
Look! It’s Dougal the Old English Sheepdog from the Magic Roundabout, trotting along the forest path and getting himself all dirty. I shot him with a Fujifilm X-T5.
(Don’t worry – Florence and Mr Zebedee weren’t around, so they didn’t see it happening. I think I’ve got away with it.)
I realise most of you are too young to know what I’m on about! lol
I’ve just run a roll of ADOX Black and White film (ISO100) through my Nikon F100 camera. I’ve never used Adox film before, in fact I’ve never even heard of it! I ordered two rolls, one rated at ISO100, and one at ISO50 from Stuck in Film.
Summer fell on a Friday in Northern Ireland this year (2024). It was Friday the 30th August, – just at the very end of what the Met Office call “Meteorological Summer.” The rest of ‘Meteorological Summer’ was a complete wash-out, more or less. But today, the sun was shining, the wind had absented itself, and little fluffy white clouds drifted lazily across an azure sky. Why can’t it always be like this?
I was in Newtownards, Co.Down for the morning, and driving over Carrowreagh Hill from Dundonald to Holywood, – to access the M2 thus avoiding the traffic jams on the Newtownards Road, Belfast. I stopped in a small lay-by to place something in the boot of the car, when I noticed this small, twisted bush across the road. Taking my camera from the car, and my life in my hands as I avoided the would-be rally drivers, I managed to get a few exposures, with our historic Scrabo Tower in the distant background.
Carrowreagh Road, Dundonald – with Scrabo in the background. Photographed in glorious sunshine with the Fujifilm X-T5 camera and a f/2 7Artisans manual focus lens. Acros film simulation with digital red filter.
St Matthew’s Roman Catholic Church, Bryson Street, – situated just off the Newtownards Road, in loyalist Ballymacarret, – East Belfast.
I deliberately picked out the flag in colour. (I’d followed my usual practice of shooting in RAW/B&W Jpeg)
The Ulster flag, flying outside the church, and the wire fence between the road and the grounds perfectly illustrate the divisions and tensions that exist between the two communities that live in the area.
No sweat! An athlete finds the going relatively easy, as she smiles her way to the finish line.
I’ve been photographing so much black and white material recently, and experimenting with various film stocks and developing solutions, that I thought I might have been neglecting my lovely Fujifilm X-T5 a little. So, in case it was feeling a little neglected, I made it two nice measures of espresso.
Needless to say, after I’d showed the coffee to the camera, and made a few images, I felt compelled to drink the stuff. It would be rude not to. Or, as I remarked to my Much Better Half, when she asked me what on earth I was doing, “One cannot simply MAKE coffee, – one MUST photograph it!”
Ok, I know people must be bored looking at posts featuring images of Newcastle, Co.Down, but I never tire of visiting the town, and photographing its scenic setting, where mountains meet the sea, or as the songwriter Percy French would have said, “Where the Mountains of Mourne Sweep Down To The Sea.” Here’s the view that may have inspired the words of the famous song, an image of those very mountains, doing exactly that…
Glenarm is a picturesque coastal village and conservation area located on the beautiful Antrim Coast Road, – that tourist gem stretching from larne to Ballycastle and the world famous Giant’s Causeway. We visited the town for an afternoon on a sunny day in August 2024 (One of the very few sunny days this summer) and found it well endowed with visitors, especially families with small children, paddling in the sea, and enjoying the sand and the ice-cream band.
Glenarm sits in a peaceful bay, surrounded by a forest to one side and the North Channel on the other.
Continue reading Glenarm, Co.Antrim
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