Should we ever make/share photographs of children on the streets or public places without asking for their parents’ consent?
The question arises because of the photograph above. I was in the Guildhall Square in Londonderry, photographing the fountains, when this little girl ran right into the spaces between the water sprouts and began to dance about. (It was so unexpected that I didn’t even get time to refocus or adjust the camera to include her feet and legs.)
Love it or hate it, the Twelth of July celebrations are a huge part of the culture in Northern Ireland, and by and large they are synonymous with marching bands. Flute Bands in particular!
Ballygowan Presbyterian Church Hall.
Originally known as ‘The Olivet Home’ it was built to be an orphanage in 1886 by Alexander Orr Reid as a memorial to his only son who was killed in a shooting accident. It was purchased by Ballygowan Presbyterian Church in 1918 and used as a school and church hall. The inscription on the building is ‘The Time is Short’ – thought to be a reference to the death of one of the construction workers, who fell to his death from the roof. A white stone on the top of the tower marks the event.
Hillsborough is one of the trendy, affluent areas of Northern Ireland. Situated on the A1 between Dromore and Lisburn, Hillsborough boasts a fine park with a lake, historic buildings, a fort, and even a Royal Residence (Hillsborough Castle).
I visited the town for a ‘walk with a camera’ one morning recently, when the sun was shining and it was around 24 degress celsius. Here’s a few of the images…
Hillsborough Main Street.
I like the city’s skyline, and I’m ashamed at how many time I admire it from the comfort of a car! Today however, due to a convergence of coincidences, I happened to be in the front passenger seat of a car, with a camera in my hand, – so I wound down the window and took a few shots. Not easy, for there were quite a few other vehicles on the road at the same time. Continue reading Moving Experiences in Belfast!
Moira, historically in the County of Down, is served by NIR (Northern Ireland Railways), via a station around 1 mile outside the town, and actually situated in Co Antrim. The line is the Belfast to Portadown line, and Moira lies between Lisburn and Lurgan.
The station boasts a rather fine (although now disused) signal box and is the oldest station still in use on the NIR network, opened on 18 November 1841. Its hard to believer now that just as recently as 1945 the station was manned by a staff of 15 men, including the stationmaster, porters, signalmen etc. Now no-one works here at all.
A wee visit to Donegal, the northernmost couty of the Irish Republic, and a stop for lunch in Londonderry on the way left me with a little bit of time to make some photographs, using the Fujifilm X-T2. Here’s some of the images:-
If the aperture controls the amount of light that falls on the camera sensor/film, the shutter determines how long that light falls on the film/sensor. Choosing the correct shutter speed is important because:-
* It can freeze a moving subject.
* It can blur moving subjects.
* It can help reduce camera shake.
So, how can we use the shutter speed to best advantage?
On a wet Sunday afternoon, I spent an hour or so wandering about Gracehill. I’d driven through it many times, but never explored it on foot. The village is situated around two and a half miles from Ballymena, and was built in 1765 by Moravian Settlers.
If you want to make a photo into a line drawing here’s an easy and effective way to do it. (Just hold on… why would ANYONE want to do that? Lots of reasons, like making a colouring page for children, or creating artwork for a website…)
Here’s how I do it:-
