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Continue reading GraduationsThis swan enjoys having a conversation with motorists. This lady was his second new friend while I was watching him and I suspect he may want to share her coffee.
I shot the swan using the Fujifilm X-T4 using the Acros film simulation.
Talk about the Ugly Duckling? Here’s the prototype, surely the ugliest egg in the world!
I photographed the egg over a saucepan, with the Fujifilm X-T4, and a Fujinon 16-80mm f/4 lens.
F=80mm, f/8, Q 1/30th sec, on ISO 3200.
Easy enough for me, I chose f/8 to get a decent depth of field for the close-up, but because the light was low at the time, I chose a slow shutter speed, and a high ISO. Neither of these extremes are a problem to the X-T4, – its in-body image stabilisation, lens stabilisation, and fantastic sensor make slow shutter speeds and high ISO’s as easy as boiling an egg.
Not so easy for the hen though! Passing this ugly spheroid must have brought screams of pain. The egg, however, was delicious!
Between Dundrum and Newcastle, Co.Down is this ancient Dolmen, a strange stone structure that stands out against the skyline.
It is generally supposed that these stone structures mark burial grounds, probably from around 3000-4000 BC. Who built them, or how they were built is a mystery, it seems, but they occur all over Western Europe. Notice how the heaven top rock seems to fit into ‘sockets’ on the supporting rocks, and marvel at ancient engineering skills! To visit the Dolmen take the A2 road from Dundrum to Newcastle, and on reaching Murlough Nature Reserve turn onto Old Road, The Dolmen is on the left. Be aware though, that the tomb is sited on private land, which often is sowed out in crops, and to cross over to the monument would be trespass. It’s wise to take a medium range zoom lens if you want to photograph the Dolmen, and work from the road verge.
I visited the Dolmen on a bright afternoon, so conditions for photography were not optimal. I had to overexpose by around 2 stops to bring out some detail in the stones, which left the sky overexposed. I’d no tripod with me, so no opportunity for a series of shots for HDR processing.
The images above was made with the Fujifilm X-T2, F=180mm, f/8 @ 1/250th sec on ISO250.
Between Carryduff and Lisburn, with views across Belfast and the Lagan Valley lies the hamlet of Drumbo, with its historic Round Tower, now situated the graveyard of the Drumbo Presbyterian Church.
The tower is one of the oldest monastic monuments in Ireland, dating from around the early medieval period. It was around in AD1130 when records show that it was plundered by one Connor McLochlin.
Continue reading Drumbo Round Tower
Part of the Belfast and County Down Railway line from Downpatrick to Ardglass opened in 1892 and closed 16th January 1950.
Now only sheep can wait on the ghostly platform, for trains that never come.
Why is Ardglass in a Jamjar? I’ve no idea! But I’ve heard that expression used by my late grandparents, back in the 1960’s. It was made famous by Van Morrison, the singer/sngwriter, who immortalised it in his song ‘Coney Island.’
…On and on, over the hill to Ardglass
Van Morrison
In the jam jar, autumn sunshine, magnificent
And all shining through Stop off at Ardglass for a couple of jars of
Mussels and some potted herrings in case
We get famished before dinner…
Van Morrison (who I understand had a significant birthday yesterday) wrote a song called ‘Coney Island’ in which he mentions ‘the Lecale District.’ It’s that broad area that stretches along the Co.Down coastline between Killyleagh and Killough, and includes towns like Downpatrick, Shrigley, Strangford, and Ardglass. locale is (like Strangford and the Ards Peninsula), a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.’ – so it’s no wonder that when Van Morrison made his meandering car journey through it, he would wish that it could be like this all the time!
One of those outstandingly beautiful areas is the little hamlet of Kilclief, perched right on the edge of ‘the Narrows’ that bottle-neck of unpredictable tidal water at the mouth of Strangford Lough. Kilclief has an old castle, (Caislean Cill Cléithe) a state supported monument, a ‘tower-house’ built around the years 1412-1441, by one John Sely, the Bishop of Down, later defrocked for living at this castle with a married woman who went by the unusual name of Lettice Savage!
Continue reading The Lecale District #1Newcastle Co.Down.
The recent storm (Ellen, I think) caused flooding in the seaside town of Newcastle as the Shimna River burst through its banks. The Shimna rises in the Mournes and meanders through forested areas on the sides of the hills. Wood swept down by the torrential currents ended up in the Irish Sea and washed up on the beach.
The dark hills in the background are the Mourne Mountains of Percy French fame, sweeping musically down to the sea. I like this image because of its contrasts, its light and shade, the textures of the driftwood and the deep shadow of the hills.
Fujifilm X-T2, F=18mm, f/6.4 @ 1/125th sec on ISO800.
The driftwood is quite bright – after all, it’s been washed clean by the sea, so I exposed for the wood, which cast the mountains into deep shadow, an effect I rather liked!
Angus Rock Lighthouse sited in the Narrows between Lecale and the Ards Peninnsula. Built as a day guide only, the light was added in 1980, and later became solar powered. It can be photographed from Kilclief, but you need a longish lens. This image was made with a 300mm Nikon lens on a Fujifilm X-T30, so probably the equivalent of approx 500mm on a full-frame/35mm camera.
The camera was supported on a monopod (My granddaughter Chloe calls it my ‘giant selfie stick’). Here’s the boring stuff: F=300mm, f/5.6 @ 1/180th sec on ISO400.
Personally, I like the ‘minimalist’ look of the image.
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