Black & White Wednesday

August 26, 2020August 23, 2020George McNeill 2 Comments

Going for gunpowder, another photograph from Castle Espie. On the way through the woods we passed the old gunpowder store. nothing would do but a look insider. Not sure if he found any and there was nothing on the evening news. So all good.

I normally post one photograph each week on B & W Wednesday but this week I am posting another from Castle Espie. A view across Strangford lough to Scrabo Tower. I meant to post this with another view across Strangford lough I posted a few weeks back.

Looking across Strangford lough to Scrabo Hill.

Some info below:

https://www.wwt.org.uk/wetland-centres/castle-espie

http://celtandkiwi.com/scrabo/

Thank you for dropping by.

George.

http://celtandkiwi.com/scrabo/

Black & White Wednesday

August 19, 2020August 16, 2020George McNeill Leave a comment

Another photograph from a trip to Castle Espie with my grandson Conor. This was taken where they have raised ponds planted out to suit different wildlife. Along the edges there are signage with drawings and the names of what lives in the ponds. So this is me getting a lesson on the newt tadpole that can be found in this pond.

Info: https://www.wwt.org.uk/wetland-centres/castle-espie

Camera: Nikon D7200 with a Sigma 17 – 70 mm lens.

Data: Shot at f2.8, ISO 125 @ 1/1600 second and lens focal length 70 mm.

Thank you for visiting.

George.

Black & White Wednesday

July 22, 2020July 21, 2020George McNeill 2 Comments

This weeks photograph comes from Castle Espie on the shore for Strangford lough County down. It is part of the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust . Link below. After doing the wildfowl area it was into the Secret Swamp were my grandson informed me it’s where the swamp monsters live. So with a few near misses we make it through pass the wishing tree and into the woodland play ground. Along death defying log walks and through pipe tunnels into the safety of the walled fort, only the brave make it. I don’t think I would have made on my own….

The pipe tunnel where no man with a camera should go, only the little folk..

Castle Espie and WWT link: https://www.wwt.org.uk/wetland-centres/castle-espie#

Nikon D7200 with a Sigma 17-70 mm lens

Data: focal length 17 mm, f5 @ 1/60 sec ,ISO 500

Edited in Lightroom and finished in Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.

Thank you for visiting,

George.

Black & White Wednesday

July 15, 2020July 14, 2020George McNeill 2 Comments

This weeks photograph come from County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It was one of the Photo points (No.6) on the Irish photo rally 2020. (Link below) The idea is to ride and photograph your motorcycle at each of the given locations. You get to see parts of Ireland you would never dream for going to.

Picture info: Nikon D7200 camera, Sigma 17 – 70mm lens: 1/20sec @ f11 22mm and ISO 126

Irish Photo Rally 2020 info here: http://www.irishphotorally.ie/map

Thank you for visiting.

George.

Black and White Wednesday

July 1, 2020George McNeill 4 Comments

Todays photograph is from the old Lagan canal which runs from Belfast to Lisburn in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. This bridge is built from sandstone and locally called the high bridge and is still in use has the Ballyskeagh road cross’s it. It also give the bridge it’s name. Ballyskeagh bridge

This area is set in the Lagan Valley regional park, the path covers a distance of 14 miles and is also part of a 22 mile cycle route.

Photograph was taken on my mobile/cell phone and edited in Snapseed.

Thank you for visiting.

George.

Black & White Wednesday

May 20, 2020May 19, 2020George McNeill Leave a comment

My image this week is part of a Hawthorn tree. It was growing near the top of a hill and the rising sun was back lighting the young leaves. It makes a good colour image but my thoughts were the tones it would show in B&W. I’ll leave you to judge the image for yourself.

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Nikon D7200 with a Sigma C 150-600 mm lens.

Shot at f5 using the 150mm setting on the lens and ISO 800.

Feedback always welcome.

Stay safe.

George

Early Mornings

April 28, 2020April 28, 2020George McNeill 5 Comments

My how life has changed for most of us, restrictions, work closures and social distancing to name a few. So for the last six weeks I’ve been at home, fuel prices are down the weather is great but I can’t go anywhere. Travel restrictions are in force so traveling to the coast is not going to happen. I have been walking in my local area and get out for sunrise most morning. I walk in a local wood for a few hours and explore trails that take me away from the beaten path. I don’t carry my camera every morning but will use my mobile/cell to photograph sunrise’s and landscapes in the woods. I post to Instagram most days, link at the bottom of the page. So any photos on this blog are taken with my Nikon DSLR. The following where taken over a period of time.

This shot is across County Down with the Mourne mountains in the back ground.

The remains of a small hill farm for days long gone.

Been trying to find out more about this Cross on a distance hill. (most of this photos are shot with a telephoto lens which creates a compressed perspective). I have been told it was a site of a Mass rock. Link: Mass rock

Will be finding out more about this cross and I have to find if there is public access to it.

A cool frosty morning in this shot with frost lying on the fields in the foreground and the hills on the other side of Belfast in the background. A view around 25 miles away. The next shot is to the west and is of Scrabo Tower above the town of Newtownards in County Down. Again this would be around 25 mile away. Link: Scrabo

Given the warm weather we have been having and the cold nights we get the valley’s full with mist early morning and late evening.

Where I grew up in Ireland these mists were known has ghost mists due to the distortion effect on objects around you. If you saw somebody walk into the mist you would understand why….

Going to finish the landscape side with another old hill farm shot, this you can just see through a gap in the trees.

Next a few of the wild life I have managed to photograph on my walks.

A one legged Mistle Thrush. Link : Mistle Thrush

Dunnock: Dunnock

Chaffinch: Link Chaffinch

A young buck and doe deer.

These photographs are of Roe deer. I was lucky to get these shots has the first sight or smell of humans and they disappear . I still had my camera in hand has I make my out of the woods, just rounding a bend I spotted them feeding. I slowly pushed into the foliage beside me and stood still. Having a 150 – 600mm lens on the camera helped me get these shots.

I have a list of the birds and animals still to photograph, so my early morning walks will continue while work is suspended.

Thank you for joining me on my walk.

Stay safe and well.

George.

What’s happening on this site.

March 14, 2020George McNeill 9 Comments

Here we are in March 2020 and I’m writing the first blog post of the year. It’s been a busy couple of years here in my world. Had and have some plans for the site for the start of the year but I’m a little behind, now we have the Coronavirus ( COIID-19) spreading across the world. With every aspect of life effected some of my projects might have to be sidelined for awhile depending on travel restrictions.

So I have been out a few times with the camera around the coast here in Northern Ireland, so below are some for the birds wintering here.

Ringed plover.

Black headed Gull

Barred tailed Godwits

Little Egret

Brent Geese

These were all taken at Strangford lough. Here

Thank you for visiting and hope you enjoyed my images, please comment on this post.

George

An evening on Slieve Croob.

June 29, 2019George McNeill 12 Comments

It’s been a few years since i stood on the top of Slieve Croob, so with a warm dry evening I packed the camera and drove to the car park at the foot of the service road. This gives a short walk up a steep tarmac private road to the top just over a mile away. Some things never change has the winds increase and the temperature drops on the climb upward. With the evening still bright I took my first photographs near the top with views across the Dromara hills with the Mourne mountains in the background.

In the photograph above you can see the coastal town of Newcastle in County Down nested at the foot of the Mournes.

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With the evening rolling in you can see the start of an evening mist forming in the valley’s.

After a short climb up pass the communication masts you reach the top of Croob with it’s stone cairn and trig point.

The remains of the Cairn on the right and the trig point on the left being lit with the warn light of a setting sun.

I sat for a while in the lee of the cairn and enjoyed the silence and beauty has the sun set lower in the sky. Starting the walk back down I took a few more shots.