The old village pump at Crossgar, Co.Down. This rotary pump was installed around 1870, over the site of an existing well. The wall behind the cast iron pump rises into an arch, from which villagers could suspend a bucket to draw water from the former well. When the pump was installed, the arch was bricked up.
Lislea Mission Hall, in the townland of Lislea, between Portglenone and Kilrea. Now long abandoned and disused, it has been boarded up, and become overgrown and is slowly crumbling away. Once would have been a meeting place for worship to groups of local resident, farmers and their friends, and their children.
St Andrews Church (Church of Ireland) Balligan, near Ballywalter, Co.Down, on a bleak midwinter day.
Built in 1704, the church became famous for choral recitals and classical music, and was a popular venue. Choral Evensong was held on two Sundays each month until fairly recently.
Continue reading Balligan ChurchIn September, 2023 I visited the Belfast Book Fair, held this year in Methodist College (Methody) at Stranmillis. There was little in interest this year, by way of books, (mostly Irish history etc), but there were a couple of dealers selling antique postcards, and I spent quite a time trawling through them – with no intention of buying, of course, (some of these antique postcards can be rather expensive), despite the enthusiastic sales techniques of one of the vendors, who mistook my prolonged browsing for a potential sale. I was looking for photographic inspiration! Actually, I was sorry I hadn’t taken a notebook and pen!
Continue reading Feehogue Terrace, RandalstownAnother one of my varied collection of cameras, it’s the…
I was in Belfast today, and driving slowly past this litter bin, I caught a glimpse of the poppy wreath on top of the bin. A poignant reminder perhaps tat nothing in this life lasts forever, not even our acts of remembrance.
For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. Ecclesiastes 9:5
I stopped the car, and photographed it with the Fujifilm X-T5 camera.
There’s a common question asked, “Which camera is best for…” Add your own circumstances! Yesterday I was faced with a stark choice. I was at a country churchyard around dusk, and there was a magnificent sky behind the silhouetted church building and trees. I wanted that image! So here it is:-
So, what’s the answer to the conundrum? Which camera is best for a shot like this? The answer is…
Whatever camera you have with you!
In this case, just an iPhone 12!
CAVE HILL, BELFAST, from Hightown Road.
Image made with a Nikon FG20 using Ilford Delta 3200, pulled to ISO1600. f=34mm, f/16 @ 1/500th sec.
A good film choice for a wintery day, although this image was made during weak sunshine.
This is a fast (by film standards) film, which accounts for its grainy appearance. In the developing tank, I split the processing time between 1600ISO and 3200ISO, giving it 10 mins 30 secs in Fotospeed FD10, mixed at 1/9 at 20deg, then 1 minute stop bath in 20 deg. water, 2 mins in hypo-clear and 10 mins wash.
It’s the first time I’ve used this film, and I must admit I expected more contrast in the scanned image, but, there’s another film loaded, and I’ll try again.
The River Crossing’ – a sculpture by Jane Hart, manufactured as part of a set by Danbury Mint in the 1990’s.
Photo made under studio flash, – two reflector umbrellas, placed directly above the item. Camera was a Nikon Df, with a Tampon 28-70mm f/2.8 portrait lens. Because this lens has a shallow depth of field, (it’s designed to be a portrait lens). I selected a tiny aperture, just f/22 with a focal length of 70mm, to produce sharpness throughout the image. For reciprocity, that required an ISO of 1600.
The shutter speed under studio flash is of little importance, for the flash duration more or less determines the exposure time,
(…so long as it’s under 1/250th sec – or the shutter will be faster than the flash and will obscure part of the image, and to slow a shutter speed will admit ambient light, which can be useful when using flash outdoors, or for fill-in, but not usually in studio, where the flash would usually be the only source of light).
So shutter speed for this image was 1/125th sec.
The Better Half wanted to take a phone call, just as we drove through the village of Gracehill, near Ballymena, Co.Antrim, so because the rural phone networks are patchy, I parked the car in the street and jumped out with the Fujifilm X-T30. This served two purposes, for it meant I was able to get a quick shot of the beautiful village green, with its historic Moravian Church, nestling in autumnal colours, and at the same time, avoid having to listen to one side of her phone call.
Here’s the quick shot…
For more information on the historic village of Gracehill, click this link: https://gracehillvillage.org
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