Category Archives: Co. Antrim

Beautiful Ulster, Co. Antrim, Landscapes, Travel

Dunluce Sunset

On Thursday, 25th July 2024, Janette and I were travelling along the road between Bushmills and Portrush, in Co.Antrim – the fabulous Causeway Coast, that makes our wee country one of the most scenic destinations in the world. As we approached the ruins of Dunluce Castle, – perched on top of a rocky outcrop, – I saw the possibility of a silhouette, and pulled over, parking the car on the white lines, and walked over to the side of the road,

The sun was setting over the Atlantic Ocean, away to my right, but the sky was red, and the castle mostly in shadow. I set the Fujifilm X-T5 to f/5 @ 1/100th second on ISO 250. I usually shoot on Acros Film Simulation, and RAW simultaneously, so I had the RAW file to colour process in Lightroom.

Black & White, Co. Antrim, Photo-Technique

Fujifilm Neopan Acros Black and White Film,

I’ve been trying out a new-to-me Nikkor lens on the Nikon D100, using Fujifilm Neopan Acros Black and White film, – old stock dated July 2013. I’ve never developed Acros myself before, (although Acros Film Simulation is one of my favourite shooting modes on the Fujifilm digital cameras).
I have to say, I really like this film. It has a beautifully soft grain, and gives great depths of contrast on the digital scanner.

Continue reading Fujifilm Neopan Acros Black and White Film, →
Black & White, Co. Antrim, Fun Shots, Photo-Essay, Reportage

Music at Randalstown Festival

I spent an hour at the annual Randalstown Community Festival, an event aimed at bringing the community together in the town centre, for a night of free open air entertainment and fun, with cuddly animals and funfair rides for the kids, a mini-market selling novelties and food, and a stage featuring local artists.

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Beautiful Ulster, Co. Antrim, Fun Shots, Photo-Essay

Lisburn, Co.Antrim, – and a strange encounter…

So, there was me, taking a stroll through the beautiful city centre of Lisburn (there’s a joke – boarded up shops and empty buildings – the place looks decrepit, a shadow of its former self). I got up to Castle Street, where once stood the Co-Op supermarket, and the big NIE electricity showroom, and Frederick Thomas Prams and Nursery Goods, and I noticed that amid the dereliction, there were ridiculous balls of some sort strung across the street. I decided to make an image – this is it – mediocre enough, like Lisburn itself.

All that makes it interesting is what happened next. 

Continue reading Lisburn, Co.Antrim, – and a strange encounter… →
Beautiful Ulster, Black & White, Co. Antrim, Photo-Essay

Crosskeys Inn

The Crosskeys Inn is a traditional thatched building in Co.Antrim, sited between Randalstown and Portglenone, north of Lough Neagh.

Photographed here with a Fujifilm X-T30 camera, F= 21mm, f/4 @ 1/1250th sec on ISO640. If the shutter speed seems a little fast for a static building – I agree! I’d just managed to capture a shot of a motorcycle and sidecar roaring by!

Beautiful Ulster, Co. Antrim, Fun Shots

Ballymena Sunset

Ballymena, the ‘Middle Town’ in Co.Antrim, is known for its shopping streets and its churches, and its friendly people… But tropical sunsets, – in January? Yet here’s the sight that caught my eye as I turned the car into Ballymena Showgrounds car-park on Monday 29th January 2024…

Such a stunning sight deserved to be photographed, even if the only camera I had with me (apart from my black and white loaded film camera) was an iPhone 12.