Night time in Randalstown, and the ‘Old Congregation’ Presbyterian Church stands aglow, a beacon of warmth and hope. Captured with my Fujifilm X-T50, this moment is a gentle reminder that even in the darkest times, light and love can shine through.
May we all find the love and light of Christ in our hearts this Christmas.
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).
Continue reading No.2 Royal Avenue: A Community Hub in BelfastCaught a moment of calm, just off the hustle and bustle of Belfast’s busy Royal Avenue, a homeless street person, lost in the pages of a book, challenges our perceptions, reminding us that not everyone in those circumstances is there because of illiteracy or wasted opportunities, or substance addiction. For the photographer, such stories can be found everywhere, even in the most unexpected places.
The Fujifilm X-T50 captured this seemingly contradictory slice of life.
Continue reading Street Stories: A Book in the Chaos of BelfastI don’t NEED another camera. I really don’t, and I keep telling myself that, but it never seems to work! When the Fujifilm X-T50 mirrorless digital camera came along in June 2024, it just tugged at my heartstrings so much, I knew that one day my resolve would weaken… So, I’ve got one, despite the fact that I’ve already got an X-T3 and an X-T5. (And of course, a half dozen or more film cameras). Overkill, some might say. My self-justification for the purchase, and I suppose, my excuse to finally yield to the temptation came when the price of a new X-T50 camera body dropped from £1299 to £1149.
Scrabo Fields
As the August sun bathes the fields leading up to Scrabo Tower in Newtownards, Co. Down, the round straw bales stand like golden sentinels, the product of the summer’s growth.
The bales reflect the warmth of the season and the beauty of rural life. Captured by the Fujifilm X-T50.
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’
Portraits2Go.co.uk 