Scrabo Fields
As the August sun bathes the fields leading up to Scrabo Tower in Newtownards, Co. Down, the round straw bales stand like golden sentinels, the product of the summer’s growth.
The bales reflect the warmth of the season and the beauty of rural life. Captured by the Fujifilm X-T50.
Squires Hill, Belfast, viewed from Cave Hill Country Park.
Today, Thursday 7th August 2025, I had a few minutes to snatch a packed lunch sandwich between appointments, and where better to stop en-route, than the Cave Hill Country Park.
After the quick lunch, I jumped out of the car to look at the stunning views across the city, and the surrounding countryside, a moment or two in a busy day, to soak in the stunning views of the Lagan estuary and the beautiful hills that cradle our city, from the Castlereagh and Holywood Hills in the south to the majestic Black Mountain range in the north It’s hard not to fall in love with this landscape.
Continue reading Exploring Squire’s Hill and Cave Hill Country ParkJuly 29th 2005
It was a reasonably good day, meteorologically, warm and not raining for a change, so I suggested a trip to Belfast might be a good way to put in the day, – after all, I’m meant to be resting this week… And with me went Janette, my long suffering wife, and the Nikon FM3a.
So we caught a train at Antrim Station. If you’ve visited here, and never used Northern Ireland Railways, you should put that right on your next visit. The trains are modern, clean, warm and safe, and best of all, they are mostly on time! Not bad from a state owned company!
Can you ever tire of photographing a river? I now have a whole folder of images from the Lower Bann, that majestic river that flows from Lough Neagh out into the Atlantic Ocean at Coleraine.
Many of them are made from the western side of the river, accessed by The Fisherman’s Walk, and on those occasions I have looked across the Bann to a small jetty, about half a mile or so upriver, on the other bank.
Situated at the edge of the Bann Estuary in County Londonderry, this quaint abandoned cottage was built around 1600, by fishermen who trawled the waters for the salmon who travel up the Bann.
The Tannaghmore Crow
This wily old bird sits on the barrier at Tannaghmore Service area, on the A26 road between Antrim and Ballymena, and stares at motorists eating in their cars, knowing that eventually someone will cave in and give it a morsel or two.
(Ok, I’m not an ornithologist, so I don’t know if it’s a crow, or a Jackdaw, or a Rook, or whatever!)
But I do know it was photographed with the Fujifilm X-T5, F=300mm, f/5 @ 1/500th sec on ISO400
Iv’e run my first roll of Kodak T-Max 100 film through my Nikon F100 camera, on a recent two night break on the North Coast of Northern Ireland – the world renowned ‘Causeway Coast.’ The scenery in this area is spectacular, but on a rainy November weekend, with a strong wind blowing in from the sea, cheesy tourism like images are scarce! But I managed a few black and white…
Well, we’ve been having a November break at the Royal Court Hotel, in Portrush, Co.Antrim – if you’ve never stayed there, make it a bucket-list destination! Right on the North Coast of N.Ireland, across the road from the majestic White Rocks Beach and a short drive from the world famous Giant’s Causeway – and they do a fantastic buffet at reasonable prices… along with an a la carte menu for the foodies..
Needless to say I had a camera to hand – the Nikon F100. loaded with Kodak T-Max 100, a film I’ve never used before. I developed the road for 9 minutes at 20 degrees in FD10. More photos to follow, but for now, here’s a couple of shots from Coleraine (Janette likes to visit the nearby major town for the superb shopping).
Summer fell on a Friday in Northern Ireland this year (2024). It was Friday the 30th August, – just at the very end of what the Met Office call “Meteorological Summer.” The rest of ‘Meteorological Summer’ was a complete wash-out, more or less. But today, the sun was shining, the wind had absented itself, and little fluffy white clouds drifted lazily across an azure sky. Why can’t it always be like this?
I was in Newtownards, Co.Down for the morning, and driving over Carrowreagh Hill from Dundonald to Holywood, – to access the M2 thus avoiding the traffic jams on the Newtownards Road, Belfast. I stopped in a small lay-by to place something in the boot of the car, when I noticed this small, twisted bush across the road. Taking my camera from the car, and my life in my hands as I avoided the would-be rally drivers, I managed to get a few exposures, with our historic Scrabo Tower in the distant background.
Carrowreagh Road, Dundonald – with Scrabo in the background. Photographed in glorious sunshine with the Fujifilm X-T5 camera and a f/2 7Artisans manual focus lens. Acros film simulation with digital red filter.
Ok, I know people must be bored looking at posts featuring images of Newcastle, Co.Down, but I never tire of visiting the town, and photographing its scenic setting, where mountains meet the sea, or as the songwriter Percy French would have said, “Where the Mountains of Mourne Sweep Down To The Sea.” Here’s the view that may have inspired the words of the famous song, an image of those very mountains, doing exactly that…
Portraits2Go.co.uk 