I’ve photographed the Dolmen at Loughinisland before, including around a decade ago, when I shot a wedding scene there, but when passing by from a nearby job, I couldn’t resist stopping for a quick snap or two. It was 17th January, temperature was just above freezing, and bright winter light from a low sun was casting long dark shadows and frost still on the ground, at 11am, in the shadow areas.
I took the Fujifilm X-T4 up to the dolmen with me, and three lenses, a standard zoom, a 300mm zoom and a Lensbaby.
Nestling in the countryside between Bushmills and Coleraine is this lovely church building. I photographed it on 31st December 2021 with the Fujifilm X-T4.
31st December 2021 was the warmest New Year’s Even since records began, with some parts of Northern Ireland reaching 14 degrees Celsius. That’s warm for this part of the world! People were getting out and about, and no more so that at Portstewart, on the North Coast.
This is Ballymartin Road, Templepatrick,Co.Antrim, around 6pm this evening. I was travelling along the road, on my way to speak at Templepatrick Reformed Church, and as I turned right, I habitually, looked in my mirror (remember, – Mirror, Signal, Manoeuvre). It was then I noticed that the deep red sunset was reflecting on the rain soaked road. I can’t resist a shot like this, and I had the Fujifilm X-T3 in the boot.
I pulled over to the side and got out of the car to frame the shot, when suddenly a kind gentleman from the house at the side of the road appeared in the vewfinder, – out to find out if I was in some trouble! After all, it’s not often a car suddenly stops and a man stands out in the pouring rain!
Fujifilm X-T3, F=22mm, f/4 @ 1/250th sec on ISO800
A wee dander with Janette and young Jude, around the Titanic Quarter in Belfast on a beautiful afternoon, on Thursday 21st October. I also had with me the Fujifilm X-t4! Permanently moored in the dock there is the old HMS Caroline. This iconic ship has been docked here for 90 years now, used as the training centre for the RNVR.
Saturday 9th October was the date for the Bob and Bert’s 10K and 5K race in North Down, or more specifically in Groomsport and Bangor. Here’s a few shots.
IF YOU WERE TAKING PART – CHECK THE ON-LINE GALLERY TO SEE IF YOUR PHOTO IS THERE – HERE’S THE LINK! You’ll need to enter your email address for entry.
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IF YOU WERE TAKING PART – CHECK THE ON-LINE GALLERY TO SEE IF YOUR PHOTO IS THERE – HERE’S THE LINK!
Some photos from Portrush’s big charity running event sponsored by Bob & Bert’s – the well known local coffee shop – (They do a fantastic Caesar salad…) on Friday 3rd September 2021.
The race was held around 7.30pm, so by the time the runners were getting back to the starting point the light was falling significantly, necessitating a high ISO. Most were shot at ISO3200 on the Fujifilm X-T4
This week in Northern Ireland saw yet another political agenda being promoted and furthered by the skilful use of photography. To say that ‘the camera never lies‘ is no longer true in the age of digital manipulation, but was it ever? The simple shifting of the photographer’s position can change the perspective of the viewer, flatten distance, and be used to make a political point.
In Northern Ireland, the building of a bonfire, and the lighting of the fire on the 11th July is a tradition, long held among certain sections of the Unionist or Loyalist community. It is an expression of loyalist culture. When I was a boy, back the 60s and 70s, little bonfires were made in each street, no more than little piles of planks and scrap. But the local authorities tried to regulate the tradition. The street bonfires left a mess that needed to be cleaned up, and sometimes caused damage to properties. Often the materials that were burned were far from helpful in controlling pollution; tyres were often burned, pouring out toxic smoke into the air. To solve these problems, some councils began to offer grants to buy pallets, which would burn more cleanly, on condition that the street bonfires were replaced with centralised pyres, and pollutants excluded. This led to pyres like this one in Newtownards:
Fujifilm X-T4, F=25mm, f/14 @ 1/125th Sec on ISO250
It was this massive bonfire that became the subject of a media scam, fuelled by deceptive photography. Apparently this bonfire in Newtownards was built RIGHT BESIDE THE LOCAL FIRE STATION! An image was produced to prove the point, The media picked up on the story immediately, – radio programmes, a Twitter storm, newspaper articles, with the collective might of the left lining up to demand that the bonfire be dismantled and removed.
On 9th July 2021 I reproduced the photograph which caused the ‘offence’ – an image showing the ‘alleged’ juxtaposition of the pyre and the fire station.
Fujifilm X-T4, F=33mm, f/13 @ 1/125th sec, on ISO250
It looks authentic. There’s no Photoshop manipulation, the image is ‘as shot.’ But what has happened is that camera position is flattening the distance between the bonfire and the Fire Station. It is deliberately deceptive, and it set the local news agenda for a whole morning, before some locals pointed out that the distance between the fire and the station is considerable, with a stretch of waste ground and a four lane road between! Still, the Left got a whole morning of free publicity and a chance to pour more odium on the working class loyalist community of the town.
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