Tag Archives: Belfast

Beautiful Ulster, Belfast, Photo-Essay, Travel

No.2 Royal Avenue: A Community Hub in Belfast

No.2 Royal Avenue

I was wandering about Belfast City Centre, with the Fujifilm X-T50, and quite honestly, I was tired! It had been a busy week, and the old heart arrhythmia was playing up. I needed somewhere to sit down for a few minutes. It was then I came across No.2 Royal Avenue and being a public building, owned by Belfast City Council, I wandered in to see what was inside. It’s an open space inside, with lots of seating and a cafe, and a library and a piano, which someone was playing, – very nicely too. I took a seat, wondering how long it would be until someone came and asked me why I was there… But it didn’t happen.

The building, described by the City Council as an ‘Indoor Park,’ is for everyone to enjoy, and all are welcome. I sat inside the building for around 20 minutes, just to get my breath back, and rest my legs, and it was while I sat there that I noticed this truly magnificent dome, and as you’d expect, it was just asking to be photographed. (I did ask one of the staff members for permission – and they were most obliging, – there’s no problem with photos inside the building, so long as no-one else objects).

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Beautiful Ulster, Belfast, History, Travel

The Watson: Part of Belfast’s Unique Architectural Heritage

“The Watson”

Another gem of Belfast’s architectural heritage, this Grade B1 listed, triangular building (known locally as ‘the smoothing iron’) in Little Donegal Street, Belfast, was once the premises of Robert Watson’s furniture manufacturing company, suppliers of beds to the Royal family, and whose beds were installed in many luxury liners built in Harland and Wolff, the Belfast shipyard, including the Titanic.  The building was designed by William J Fennel and built between 1898 and 1907, originally known as ‘Library House.’

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Belfast, Documentary, Streetscapes

Sacrifice and Bravery: World War I Tribute at Mount Vernon

In the heart of Mount Vernon estate, a powerful mural stands as a poignant reminder of sacrifice and bravery.

This tribute honours the fallen heroes of the 1st World War, especially those who served in the 36th Ulster Division. A story of courage, loss, and remembrance, echoing the voices of those who gave everything for our freedom.

Let us never forget.

Captured with the Fujifilm X-T50

Beautiful Ulster, Belfast, Landscapes, Travel

Exploring Squire’s Hill and Cave Hill Country Park

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. 

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Belfast, Documentary, Photo-Essay, Reportage, Streetscapes, Travel

Belfast ‘Troubles Tourism.’

One of the growth sectors, it seems, in Northern Ireland, at least since the so-called ‘ceasefires’ of the 1990’s has been ‘Troubles Tourism,’ where visitors to the city are given guided tours of relics of the troubled past pf the region. You can book a ‘Troubles Taxi Tour’ from around £75. Hotels, travel and holiday companies and cruise ships are including Troubles Tourism in their itinerary offerings. Visitors take open-top buses, coaches, bicycles and walking tours, looking at the locations of riots, bombings and shooting, photographing political murals and of course visiting the infamous Belfast ‘PEACE LINES’

The Peace Line at Northumberland Street,,- a wall that has divided the unionist Shankill Road from the nationalist Falls Road for around 50 years. It’s still there and still needed 27 years after the ‘Belfast/Good Friday Agreement.’ The gates are closed during hours of darkness. 
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Beautiful Ulster, Belfast, Black & White, Documentary, Photo-Essay, Streetscapes, Travel

Exploring Belfast: A Day Trip Guide

July 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! 

Antrim Railway Station
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Photo-Technique

ADOX ISO100 Film

I’ve just run a roll of ADOX Black and White film (ISO100) through my Nikon F100 camera. I’ve never used Adox film before, in fact I’ve never even heard of it! I ordered two rolls, one rated at ISO100, and one at ISO50 from Stuck in Film.

German precision and style in the shadow of Belfast’s famous heavy industry, the old Harland and Wolff cranes that overlook the city. Photographed with the Nikon F100 on Adox ISO100 and developed in Atomal for 10 minutes.
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Belfast, Black & White, Reportage, Streetscapes

East Belfast Bonfire

It was bonfire season in East Belfast, – early July, so an opportunity to make an image of kids building a pyre, with the famous Belfast cranes in the background.

Newtownards Road, Belfast.

This image was made with the Nikon F100 camera on Rollei RPX25 film, processed in FD10 for 5 minutes, and scanned for digital viewing. Digital processing in Lightroom using one of my favourite presets.

Beautiful Ulster, Belfast, Black & White

Middlepath Street, Belfast

The murals on the overpass at the end of the Sydenham ByPass, and adjacent to and viewed from Middlepath Street.

Photographed with a Fujifilm X-T5, simultaneously in Acros black and white film simulation, and in RAW. The RAW image was processed in colour, and in Photoshop overlaid with the monochrome image; a mask applied, and the mural colours revealed with the brush.

I’d intended it to be in monochrome only, but the result was drab, – and that street corner is brightened greatly by the colour on the walls, – so I went for a compromise, – a monochrome image with a splash of colour. In the early digital era, that technique was frowned upon as ‘cliched!’ But sometimes it just works.

Fujifilm X-T5, with 50mm with Nikon manual focus lens, f/5.6 @ 1.125th sec on ISO500