Slemish Mountain is in Co.Antrim, to the east of the town of Ballymena. Traditionally, it is said to be the first Irish home of St Patrick, who tended sheep as a slave boy on its slopes.Slemish (Slieve Mish) is around 1500 feet above the surrounding plain, and is visible for many miles around.
Let’s face it – landscape photography is not for me! Successful landscapes seem to involve lots of early mornings, long arduous climbs to the top of mountains, hours of patient waiting for the sun to be at exactly the right point in the sky, or for the tide to turn… All much too energetic!
But I do find cityscapes to be intriguing, – I like the Belfast skyline when I’m passing through the city, and wandering the streets with a camera, making images of historical buildings, churches, dereliction, narrow entries and architecture can be really worthwhile and fulfilling.
Driving along the Portaferry Road, Newtownards this morning in nice clear Autumnal light, so I stopped for a few minutes (I couldn’t spend any more time) and pointed the Fujifiln X-T2 across the mud-flats (tide was out) towards Scrabo Tower.
Janette and me went for a wee drive up to Castlerock today, and out to visit the Mussenden Temple, Downhill Demesne and Beach. It was a bright sunny November morning, cold and with an invigorating wind! Great day for photography though.
Ballymartin Road runs from the A57 Templepatrick Road to the Ballypalady Road, in Newtownabbey, and crosses the NIR trainline from Belfast to Antrim by way of a remote controlled level crossing. It’s a single track line and trains cross the road every 30 minutes or so. I first crossed it around 10 years ago, when I visited a bride’s home for photographs on her wedding day, but more recently a road closure forced me to travel along this minor road again. I was reminded about the derelict building that sits at the side of the tracks, now covered in very professional looking graffitti. It has chimneys and loos like it may once have been someone’s home – perhaps that of a railway worker? At the time I made a mental note to pay it a visit again when next in the area.
I took the Fujifilm X-T2. It was a cloudy enough October day and the light required an ISO around 800. Here’s some of the images.
This one’s my ‘Image of the Day…’
F/16 @ 1/60th Sec on ISO800, focal length 16mm.
Antrim is the county town of its eponymous county. It’s Antrim, Antrim! So good they named it twice! 22 miles from Belfast, Antrim lies along the banks of the ‘Six Mile Water’ and on the shores of Lough Neagh, the largest freshwater lake in the British Isles.
The town’s history goes right back to just 30 years after the dewath of St Patrick, when, in 495, a Gaelic – speaking settlement of monks grew around the presnt site of the Antrim Round Tower. Continue reading Antrim, Antrim…
I’ve often driven along the M2 between Antrim and Templepatrick, and wondered about the little church, nestling up in the trees above the moterway. Today my curiosity got the better of me, and on the way home from a wedding I drove up to the church to get a closer look. It’s St John’s Church of Ireland, and it sits amidst a churchyard with some very ancient graves and tombs. Continue reading St John’s Church, Donegore
The famous ‘Frosses Trees’ (original spelling ‘Frocess’) on the road between Ballymena and Ballymoney. The road runs through boggy ground,
and the Pine trees were planted in 1840 on the instructions of Sir Charles Lanyon (architect and civil engineer) so that their roots would join under the road to provide support… Continue reading The Frocess
Why did the Mushroom go to the party? Because he’s a FUNGHI! This little toadstool is called Gus, (Because he’s really such a fun Gus!). Gus, or Gussy as he is known to his friends, has bravely beaten the odds and grown up to daylight between two heavy railway sleepers that form steps in our garden. Image made with the Fujifilm X-T2, with 200 mm lens.
Sadly his party-going days are numbered, for he’ll be uprooted in case one of our grandchildren thinks he might be edible! Continue reading The Fun Guy!
A wee evening walk with the wife and the Fujifilm X-T2 along the pier at Donaghadee, Co.Down, and some photos with the Lensbaby. 
Here’s our most famous and most photographed lighthouse, given the Lensbaby treatment, with the Lensbaby Composer Pro with Sweet Optic 50. Continue reading Donaghadee and RNLI
