Category Archives: Beautiful Ulster

Beautiful Ulster, Co. Down, Ireland, Travel

Angus Rock Lighthouse

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.

Beautiful Ulster, Black & White, Co. Antrim, Ireland, Photo-Essay, Travel

Same Portrush – Different PerspecTive

We walked through Portrush this afternoon, and then drove out through Bushmills to have afternoon coffee at the fabulous BOTHY COFFEE cafe at White Park Bay. Iv’e spent so much time with a camera in Portrush, so I wanted to get some different shots, something fresh and original from a familiar location. Here’s a few of my efforts…

The Liverpool Supporter’s Back Alley/.

I looked down this entry and noticed a Liverpool FC flag hanging from a window, giving a tiny splash colour to an otherwise bland scene.

Continue reading Same Portrush – Different PerspecTive →
Beautiful Ulster, Co. Down

Floral Depth of Field

Flowers in a (Depth of) Field!

This flower is blooming along the side of the Moneyreagh Road and the traffic goes by at 69mph (or more) so even on the calmest if evenings, like this evening, these flowers sway with the tailwind of every vehicle that passes. Trying to keep them in focus on a manual focus lens was a real challenge, but I still liked the sense of perspective that the shallow depth of field gives.

On the computer screen the image almost looks three dimensional.

Beautiful Ulster, Co. Down

Ballywalter, Co.Down

Ballywalter today for work purposes, and while I waited for an appointment time, I went down to the harbour with the Fujifilm X-T2 fitted with a Nikkor 37-70mm f/3.5 lens, and a Nikkor 100-300mm lens.   It was a strange day, windy and overcast, but with bright spots appearing through the threatening clouds.

Ballywalter Hyper-Real

First stop was to look at an old boat that I saw parked on the road down toward the slipway. Continue reading Ballywalter, Co.Down →

Beautiful Ulster, Co. Down, Lockdown Logs, Still Life

The Lockdown Logs #47

The Lockdown Logs

Dateline: May 18th 2020

Tulips at Crossnacreevy.

These white Tulips are growing in a flower bed beside the post box at Crossnacreevy, so when I stopped to post some letters, I grabbed the camera and made a series of exposures of the flowers.  I wanted to use a wide aperture to remove the distracting background, and it was good that I did, for the tulips were moving slightly in the wind, and I needed quite a fast shutter speed.  The big tulip is in focus, but with so little actual texture in the flower itself, it was difficult to assess the focus in-camera, but in LightroomI was able to see the tiny specks of dust on the petals.

Fujifilm X-T30, F=200mm, f/4.8, 1/1000th sec on ISO1250

Tulips

 

Beautiful Ulster, Co. Down, History, Ireland

Glasker Mill

Glasker Old Mill is on the road between Loughbrickland and Rathfriland in Co. Down.  The likelihood is that the mill was once part of the extensive Irish Linen industry which thrived in that area in the 19th and early 20th Century.

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I photographed it with my ‘baby’ – the Fujifilm X-T30 camera, fitted with the 18-55mm kit lens.

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Just a little further down the road is a beautiful old phone box, set against an unattractive brick wall.

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Thankfully, this is not a problem…

Telephone box_2

Beautiful Ulster, Co. Down

Stormy Newcastle, Co.Down

What a wind!

Newcastle Co.Down is a favourite of mine, with it’s beautiful setting; the scenery that inspired Percy French to write his famous song, “Where the Mountains of Mourne Sweep Down to the Sea.”  He might not have found it just so inspiring today, for the wind was blowing a gale, and the seas were rough – the mountains overcast and dark.

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In this image I was trying to show the darkness of the mountains against the stormy sea.  Shot in Acros Black and White, F=18mm, f/16 @ 1/40th sec ISO400

I had the Fujifilm X-T30, with a standard zoom, the 18-55mm f/2.8-4.  I love using this camera, for it’s small, but with a powerful processing engine.  For this walk I kept the camera on ISO400, with the film simulation mode set to Acros Black and White and shooting simultaneous Jpegs and RAW.

Continue reading Stormy Newcastle, Co.Down →