Tim (my son) who is a coffee aficionado, bought me some ’38 Coffee’ whole beans for Christmas. I’d duped him into thinking I was getting a brand new professional Gaggia from Santa, and he kindly thought that I’d need some beans for the big day – and of course to make him a decent cup of Americano. I was lying, of course – a serious breach of ethics, and one of those conscience riddled challenges that we all face from time to time.
One of the simple pleasures of life on a dull December afternoon, with the bad news of another impending lockdown, and Christmas restrictions – a nice cup of S.D.Bell’s ‘Natural Leaf Tea,’ freshly brewed; golden brown and full of flavour.
S.D Bell’s are Ireland’s oldest independent tea merchant and coffee roaster. Established in Belfast in 1887, the firm continues to supply the finest teas and coffees from around the world. You can order on-line from them. Just click: https://sdbellsteacoffee.com
There’s no doubt that an image like this will never be considered ‘beauutiful.’ It’s the inside of the cab of a huge mechanical shovel, the end used in quarries to lift tons of stone and gravel and load it into lorries.
I made the image, along with others, interior and exterior, as part of a commission for a commercial client, so it won’t ever be hanging on anyone’s wall!
Yet beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and photography, unlike some other disciplines is entirely subjective. What one person thinks is attractive and beautiful, will be repulsive to another. When I’d finished the commission, and sent off the completed images, this one still stuck out as interesting, if not exactly pretty. I like the almost ‘three dimensional’ aspect of the image, created by the juxtaposition of the levers and the screen, leading the eye in a convergence toward the starter key. The depth of field that blurs the image of other vehicles outside helps to keep the eye from straying outside the cab.
Fujifilm X-T4, F=55mm, f/5 @ 1/60th on ISO1600.
This BMW 330i I photographed for a client today reminded me of Boris Johnston’s recent attempt at creating a new cuddly green image!
Unlike Boris, this sleek stylish beauty really is efficient and fast paced, 138mpg, 0-62 in 5.9 seconds, and buying it new will set you back a mere £40K or thereabouts.
It’s encouraging to drive along a road and see some inspirational words on a wall. In Belfast, it makes a nice change from some of the darker, paramilitary or terrorist inspired murals. Ant when you are ‘getting on a bit’ like me, this wall on the Newtownards Road is particularly appropriate – a good incentive to keep going!
This area of Belfast is known as ‘Ballymacarrett’ – an ancient townland name, and the home of many of the old Belfast industries, most notably the famous Harland and Wolff Shipyard, Short Brothers aircraft factory, the Belfast Rope Works and the Scirocco Works.
The mural features everything that is good about East Belfast, its community and renown, including CS Lewis, born in East Belfast. Also included are a ballerina, Belfast City Hall, and a group of children playing in the street, a boy releasing a dove, symbolising peace.
The main text on the mural is:
Back in September, 2020, Janette and I did a drive around the Lecale District, an area of outstanding natural beauty, not too far from where we live in Co.Down. I did three blog posts about that area, and in the first of those pieces, https://bobmcevoy.co.uk/2020/09/01/the-lecale-district-1/ I mentioned Van Morrison’s song, “Coney Island.” (Is it really a song?), in which Mr Morrison, one of our native sons, mentions many of the local places of interest in this part of Northen Ireland. But one of the lines of the song intrigued me. For Mr Morrison writes of driving through Shrigley to take photographs before he travelled on down to Killyleagh.
Continue reading Shrigley, Van Morrison and that Clock!I was sitting in the passenger seat of Janette’s car, crossing the M3 bridge in Belfast, with the Fujifilm X-T4 in my lap, when this track maintenance vehicle crossed the railway bridge which runs parallel to the road. A quick adjustment or two, and thanks to the X-T4’s in-body image stabilisation and continual autofocus, and I got this shot from that rare angle, a shot that would be impossible on foot!
So the only thing planned about this shot was the readiness of the camera!
F=55mm, f/5.6 @ 1/150th sec on ISO800
Around 2.30pm this afternoon, I was about to cross the Slaght Level Crossing, outside Ballymema, when this old trackside hut caught my eye, and I thought, “Ah ha! There’s an old trackside hut! Time to get the camera out.” I parked the car, and walked to a gate with a view of the track, and fitted a medium length zoom on the Fujifilm X-T4. (No, I wasn’t trespassing on the tracks.)
Fujifilm X-T4, F=200mm, f/4.8 @ 1/250th sec on ISO 1600.
I needed the faster shutter speed to steady the lens in the wind, – I should really have got the monopod out, lowered the shutter speed to 1/60th and the ISO to 400.
Actually, a few days down the track (see what I did there) and I decided to take away that ugly sign in Photoshp. It probably improves the image significantly!
I’ve been shooting with Fujifilm X-Series cameras since 2017 when I bought my first Fujifilm X-T2. I was immediately smitten. I’d been a Nikon user all my photographic life, completely loyal to the products of the Japanese giant. I’d begun in the ‘80’s with the FM2, and progressed through the Nikon D2x to the D750. I thought it would ever be so. But when I made my first few images with the Fuji X-T2 I was quickly convinced. It was the photographic equivalent of a Damascus road conversion. Since then I’ve been shooting (professionally and for fun) with the X-T2, X-T30 and X-T3. Everyone of them has been great. But when the X-T2 began to wobble a bit, I decided it was time for a change. I kept the X-T3, sold the X-T2 and X-T30 and with the equity, invested in the new X-T4.
So, what’s special about the X-T4? It’s just a little chunkier than its predecessors, and I’ve encased mine in a leather half-case, more for appearance than practicality, but it’s still an easy camera to hold, much more ‘grippable’ than the X-T2, and that’s important when you are clamouring in and out of vehicles.
Continue reading The Fujifilm X-T4 – Commendation & (Mild) CriticismI love work. I could watch people working all day! Sometimes, when I’m out and about I make images of people working – or at least giving some impression that they may be working!
Just for fun, here’s a few examples, made with the Fujifilm X-T4…
Portraits2Go.co.uk 