Co. Antrim, Photo-Technique

Aliens have Invaded Ballymena…

A flying saucer has landed in Ballymena!

It has been rumoured that this alien spacecraft has travelled through millions of galaxies, and has landed in Ballymena to share in the hospitality and generosity of the local inhabitants!

Wellington Church
Wellington Church

No, wait!  It’s all a big mistake.  It’s not a spacecraft after all!  It’s a Presbyterian Church!  Yes, Wellington Church – with its remarkable new building is now a landmark feature in the town.  I captured this Monochrome image on my way back from a wedding at Galgorm last week using my Nikon F100 film camera, loaded with Ilford FP5 ISO400 B&W film, f/11 @ 1/250th sec.

It was processed for 8 minutes in Fotospeed FD10, washed and fixed for 10 minutes, then washed for 10 minutes.  Scanned into Photoshop for layer balance and contrast adjustment, and addition of border.  There you are!

Go buy yourself a real camera and use film!

Having said all of that – one does have to wonder why a church needs such powerful thruster rockets?

Flying Church
Flying Church
Reportage

Migrant Woman

‘Migrant Mother‘ was the title of a celebrated image made by Dorothea Lange in America in 1935 (or thereabouts)  Lange was appalled by the poverty she found among immigrant people in rural USA.  She said, (Cited on the ‘Photo-quotes’ website)

I am trying here to say something about the despised, the defeated, the alienated. About death and disaster, about the wounded, the crippled, the helpless, the rootless, the dislocated. About finality. About the last ditch.[1]

Migrant Woman - Lange
Migrant Woman – Lange

Challenged by Lange’s words, I set about creating a similar image, among the migrant community of Belfast – with less success, I found, – for some migrant people simply don’t want a camera pointed at them, even after a financial bribe.  I found this old Roma woman begging in Botanic Avenue, and her pose was a reluctant one, to say the least!

Romanian
Roma Woman in Belfast

Reluctant or not – she’s a pitiful sight.  I hope she spent the money wisely.

[1] http://www.photoquotes.com/ShowQuotes.aspx?id=146&name=Lange,Dorothea

Co. Down, Reportage

A Different Kind of Pony! #Millisle

My visit to Newcastle, Co. Down last week produced a vintage image – a child on a little miniature pony, being gently led along the beach by the pony owner and the child’s mother – a very traditional sea-side scene.

It reminded me of another Pony on the Beach image I made around 5 years ago, when we lived at Millisle, and the beach was just across the road from our living room.  It was a grainy Black and White image of a traditional ‘trotting pony’ being exercised on the sand, shot on the Nikon F100, on Ilford ISO1600 film.  I looked out the negative and scanned it at 300 DPI, and here’s the result, after just a tweak or two in Photo-shop:-

Pony-Trotting at Millisle
Pony-Trotting at Millisle

I haven’t a clue who the person in the image is!

Scotland

Le Vendeur de Vin

No, it’s not Paris, it’s Edinburgh, the Paris of the North!  Back again to 2004, and the Continental Market on the streets of Scotland’s capital.  This French Market Stall is doing what the French seem to do best – export their wine!

The Wine Vendor's Stall
The Wine Vendor’s Stall

Photo-Nerd stuff: Nikon D70 Camera, (6 mp DSLR) f/3.5 @ 1/30th sec on ISO400.  Focal Length 44mm.

News and Commentary, Reportage

Folicularly-enhanced Orangemen!

I couldn’t resist this shot.

Walking away from a parade I noticed this gentleman walking in front of me.  The look (even from behind) is so incongruous, that it was begging for a photograph.  The media and popular perception of members of the Orange Order is as stuffy, staid, conservative, old men.  This man just blows those impressions right out of the water!

Orangeman1

Here’s the techie stuff:

Nikon D700, 1/250th sec @ f/2.8 on ISO400.  Lens at 70mm

 

Co. Antrim, Photo-Technique, Still Life

Bushmills Advertising Project

When I was studying for my HND Photography, one of the modules was Advertising Photography.  As part of the project, we had to select a well known company and create three adverting images that could be presented to that company.  I chose the famous ‘Old Bushmills’ Irish Whisky Distillery.  I researched their existing and previous advertising campaigns, and asked them how they wanted their product to be recognised – what was their unique selling point.  One of their brand images seemed to be the age of the old distillery – It was established early in the seventeenth century.   Continue reading Bushmills Advertising Project →

England, Landscapes

Cumbrian Highlights!

Name these Beauty Spots!

Ok, so most things in Cumbria are high!  But if anyone can name this mountain I’d be grateful.  I captured this shot on a warm April afternoon a few years ago.  I love panoramas, and this shot lent itself so well to that format.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

On the same visit to the Lake District, I drove off the road into a car park, to find a picturesque bridge.  Here it is, captured on an Olympic Pen digital camera:-

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Again, if anyone can put a name to the bridge or the river…

Go back

Your message has been sent

No prizes though!

Beautiful Ulster, Co. Down

Scrabo Tower

Scrabo Tower is one of the most photographed landmarks in Northern Ireland – pictured here from the Holywood Hills, Scrabo towers over the town of Newtownards, Co. Down.

£175 Framed in UK Only
£175 Framed in UK Only

Available in a limited edition Giclee Print ready for framing (only 15 copies, numbered and signed by Bob) approx 18 inches by 10, for just £125 GBP for YOU to frame, or £175 framed by us.  Prices includes shipping, but framed print only available in UK & Ireland- .

Email for more information.

Commercial and Family Photographer