All posts by Bob McEvoy

Freelance Photographer.
Photo-Essay, Photo-Technique, Streetscapes, Training, Travel

Capturing a Sense of Place

It 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:-

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Athletics and Sports, Black & White, Fun Shots, Photo-Technique

Athletics – Have a go!

The 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.

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Photo-Technique

The Kodak Vest Pocket Camera

Vest Pocket Kodak Model B (1925-1934)

Yet one more of my personal vintage camera collection…

The ‘Vest Pocket Camera’

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.

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Photo-Technique, Studio

The MicroPress Lg Format Camera

Yet 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…

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Co. Antrim

The Ballymena Birds

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:

https://www.facebook.com/100064392203516/posts/pfbid0CgwSJiuiR9kBHoXGjjypcuNsDg82EJWzyM7MrZqmHjhhcmSyf5FeRE7TiVm8WSNJl/?app=fbl

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/

Beautiful Ulster, Co. Antrim

The Tannaghmore Crow

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

Beautiful Ulster, Black & White, Co. Antrim, Co.Londonderry, Photo-Essay, Photo-Technique, Travel

Kodak T-Max 100

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…

Atlantic Circle, Portstewart.
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Beautiful Ulster, Black & White, Co.Londonderry, Ireland, Travel

River Bann at Coleraine

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).

R. Bann, Kodak T-Max 100, Nikon F100, f/11 @ 1/60th sec.
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