Category Archives: Beautiful Ulster

Beautiful Ulster, Co. Down

Photo-Essay: Dundrum, Co. Down

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On a warm sunny winter day in December, Janette and I visited Dundrum Castle, and took a wee walk around the town.  I took with me my ‘twins’ – the two Nikon D610 dSLRs one with a 24-120mm f/4 lens, and the other with a 80-210 f/2.8 lens.  Before I started I metered the ambient light at f/14 @ 1/100 th sec on ISO100. Because the day was so bright and sunny, the 24-120 lens was fitted with a circular polarising filter which reduced light by around 2 stops

Here’s some of the images.

We started at the ‘Belfast Road’ side of the town, parked in the small car park and wandered along the street.   Continue reading Photo-Essay: Dundrum, Co. Down →

Beautiful Ulster, Black & White, Co. Down, Ireland, Landscapes, Photo-Essay, Uncategorized

Photo-Essay ‘Scrabo’

On Saturday 1st October, I went for a walk up to Scrabo Tower, on the outskirts of Newtownards.  This landmark has towered over much of my life, living and working around the Ards area.  The tower was built in 1857, 540 ft above sea-level, as a memorial to the 3rd Marquess of Londonderry, Viscount castlereagh, Charles Stewart.    The tower is situated in a country park, close to Scrabo Golf Club, and is approached by car only as far as the golf club entrance, then by foot up a steep path to the summit.  Thankfully, there are resting places on the ascent!

Being October, the road up to tower ran beside fields that had just been baled, – which provided my image of the day, and set the scene for my exploration of the towers surroundings.

scrabo_01

Continue reading Photo-Essay ‘Scrabo’ →

Beautiful Ulster, Belfast, Co. Down

Review time!

Sometimes it’s a good practice to look back at image one has made over the years, – with a critical eye!  Here’s a few I’ve been mulling over recently:-

IMG_3920

This image of the Playhouse Theatre, Derry/Londonderry was part of a commercial commission.  The brief was to show the effect of the lights on the wall opposite the Theatre.

Binnion

This simple image of Slieve Bunion, in Co Down, part of the ‘Mountains of Mourne’ range has been one of my very best sellers!  I’ve sold this image in framed prints, magnets, even mugs!

Landscape 1

This image of Ballycopeland Windmill in Co. Down is a real quirk, as anyone who knows it would realise!  It is of course, heavily photoshopped, to show the sun rising in the North!  Just for a wee change.

And finally, for this selection, an image that’s just a little more personal…

Dereliction 3

This image of Janette’s parent’s old kitchen, after they’d moved out of the farmhouse, was part of an exhibition at the Curve Gallery, Belfast.  I called it ‘Dereliction.’

Beautiful Ulster, Black & White

#Coleraine in the Rain!

A day-off trip in the train to the town of Coleraine, Co. Londonderry – a town I haven’t visited for a few years.  The town was always bustling with shoppers, and busy retail outlets but the economic slump seems to have taken its toll, for lots of shops are vacant. Still the big department stores are still trading and still serving great lunches. Here’s my rainy-day shot of the town centre. Taken using the Hueless App, looking towards the Diamond from St Patrick’s Church. img_3169-1

Beautiful Ulster, Belfast, Black & White, Co. Antrim, Co. Armagh, Co. Down, Ireland, Landscapes

Framed Gallery Prints #Irish Art for Sale

Announcement!

Excitement!  Just in time for the Christmas Gift Season, Bob has introduced a series of Black and White Giclee Prints, high quality, Black and White Images featuring iconic but lesser known Irish Scenes and Landscapes – available as Mounted Prints – ideal for shipping abroad – or as Framed Prints.

Dark Hedges
Dark Hedges, Armoy

Limited Editions – there are only 120 of each of these prints available for sale, each one signed, numbered and dated by the photographer.  Check out the order page here:

http://www.BobMcEvoy.co.uk/irish-art-limited-edition-prints/

 

 

Beautiful Ulster, Black & White, Co. Antrim

I Wish I Was In #Carrickfergus…

I visited Carrickfergus on Saturday, 10th October, on a grey overcast, but warm morning, to wander around the castle with my Nikon F/100 camera and a roll of Ilford Delta ISO100 film.

The town was very quiet for a Saturday morning – I wonder is it like this all the time?  There were very few people about.  The seas were calm, and the harbour quiet.  Here’s few monochrome images from the day (and a couple of colour intruders)…

Beautiful Ulster, Black & White, Co. Down, Landscapes

#Comber, Co.Down

A Walk in Comber…

Photography should never just be a profession or occupation.  It should be a passion – for when the photographer loses the passion for image-making, just for the sheer joy of making an image, it is time to put the camera on eBay.

There is great satisfaction in going to a town or village or landmark or area, and just making images for no other reason than to make images!  When I indulge my passion for photography, I like to use film, to shoot with my Nikon F100, and to shoot in Black and White.  I like to develop those images in chemicals myself, at home, at the kitchen sink, using methods I learned many years ago.

Last week, I took a walk through Comber, our nearest town, just 5 minutes  from Ballygowan, and shot a couple of rolls of film. Continue reading #Comber, Co.Down →

Beautiful Ulster, Belfast, Black & White, Co. Antrim, Landscapes, Photo-Essay

Photo-Essay – A Walk in the Park.

A Walk in the Park, Down Memory Lane

On Friday 12th September 2015, between appointments, I took a stroll through Alexandra Park, in north Belfast. It was a poignant, nostalgic break in an otherwise mundane day, for I hadn’t gone to this park to exercise my legs, but to exercise my memory. My grandparents, Bob and Jeannie Kirk had lived in this park, in the gardener’s house, in the late 1950’s and early 60’s. Bob Kirk had been the foreman gardener at Glenbank Park in Ligoneil (where I was born) and his move to Alexandra Park as forman gardener would have been seen as a promotion. He took up residence in the Park Lodge, and remained there until retirement in 1965. While they lived there, I spent many happy days and evenings with them, travelling over by bus, down the Falls Road, and catching the No.77 Belfast Corporation Bus, (That famous bus route that wound through the streets of Belfast from the Gasworks to the Waterworks) alighting at the Waterworks.

Continue reading Photo-Essay – A Walk in the Park. →