I’ve this thing about cars. I’m not by any means a ‘petrolhead’ – after all, I drive a Skoda! But I’ve been photographing cars commercially for about 15 years, but I’ve always been glad to get those jobs done and get away home, or back to the studio for some real photography! But there is no studio anymore, and I’ve been reading a book called ‘Autofocus – The Car in Photography.’ It’s pretty inspiring! I’ve taken an interest in getting car images just for fun, my ‘On the Move Project.’ Ive been sitting in the passenger seat, with the camera, on continuous focus, and looking for interesting vehicles out and about. I’ll share more of these images from time to time.
Anyway, I found this Mini One sitting at traffic lights in Belfast. I underexposed by two stops, darkening the background significantly and keeping the brake lights looking realistic. Normal exposure would have rendered the red lights unrealistically bright. In photoshop I duplicated the layer and raised the exposure in the bottom layer by 2stops, added a layer mask to the upper layer and then painted the car in at normal exposure. Except the lights of course!
One of the great advantages of the Fujifilm X-T4, and the unique selling point, as far as I was concerned, was the IBIS feature. It works a treat! So, to combine it with the continuous focus mode, I sat in the passenger seat, with the camera, while Janette was driving.
Ok, so there’s some of our roads here that no amount of digital technology could cope with! Bumps, potholes, bends, (and sharp gear shifts… LOL) all take their toll on the image stability! So, when we got onto a reasonably straight road, I fixed the focus on a few other vehicles on the road, and made some images!
Shooting into the midday sun is never a great idea but the waves and the dark Mournes were irresistible today.
The image was captured today on Murlough Beach, a National Trust property, between Dundrum and Newcastle, Co.Down. The tallest peak is Slieve Donard, part of the Mourne Mountains range.
Shot on the Fujifilm X-T4, F=30mm f/20 @ 1/125th sec on ISO160.
Between Carryduff and Lisburn, with views across Belfast and the Lagan Valley lies the hamlet of Drumbo, with its historic Round Tower, now situated the graveyard of the Drumbo Presbyterian Church.
The tower is one of the oldest monastic monuments in Ireland, dating from around the early medieval period. It was around in AD1130 when records show that it was plundered by one Connor McLochlin.
Why is Ardglass in a Jamjar? I’ve no idea! But I’ve heard that expression used by my late grandparents, back in the 1960’s. It was made famous by Van Morrison, the singer/sngwriter, who immortalised it in his song ‘Coney Island.’
…On and on, over the hill to Ardglass In the jam jar, autumn sunshine, magnificent And all shining through Stop off at Ardglass for a couple of jars of Mussels and some potted herrings in case We get famished before dinner…
Van Morrison (who I understand had a significant birthday yesterday) wrote a song called ‘Coney Island’ in which he mentions ‘the Lecale District.’ It’s that broad area that stretches along the Co.Down coastline between Killyleagh and Killough, and includes towns like Downpatrick, Shrigley, Strangford, and Ardglass. locale is (like Strangford and the Ards Peninsula), a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.’ – so it’s no wonder that when Van Morrison made his meandering car journey through it, he would wish that it could be like this all the time!
Fujifilm X-T30, F=21mm, f/5.6 @ 1/180th sec on ISO400
One of those outstandingly beautiful areas is the little hamlet of Kilclief, perched right on the edge of ‘the Narrows’ that bottle-neck of unpredictable tidal water at the mouth of Strangford Lough. Kilclief has an old castle, (Caislean Cill Cléithe) a state supported monument, a ‘tower-house’ built around the years 1412-1441, by one John Sely, the Bishop of Down, later defrocked for living at this castle with a married woman who went by the unusual name of Lettice Savage!
Angus Rock Lighthouse sited in the Narrows between Lecale and the Ards Peninnsula. Built as a day guide only, the light was added in 1980, and later became solar powered. It can be photographed from Kilclief, but you need a longish lens. This image was made with a 300mm Nikon lens on a Fujifilm X-T30, so probably the equivalent of approx 500mm on a full-frame/35mm camera.
The camera was supported on a monopod (My granddaughter Chloe calls it my ‘giant selfie stick’). Here’s the boring stuff: F=300mm, f/5.6 @ 1/180th sec on ISO400.
Personally, I like the ‘minimalist’ look of the image.
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