Last month I ventured off island but this time not to the mainland but to the island of Ireland, specifically Northern Ireland. I spent roughly half of my career as a public servant in Belfast and so have a huge amount of affection for Northern Ireland. Not so much now but back then, in the 1990s, many people had preconceived ideas of Northern Ireland, mostly drawn from harrowing television images or stark monochrome images in newspapers. Northern Ireland was a world of bombs, of doorstep shootings, of random sectarian massacres in bars or, at best, colourful and somewhat tribal murals painted onto gable ends of otherwise bleak housing estates in Belfast and Derry. As such, I used to enjoy inviting friends and family to stay with me and introduce them properly to Northern Ireland. Even on the journey from the airport to my house in North Down, their perception of Northern Ireland would begin to change (particularly in the days when most flights landed at Belfast International Airport rather than Belfast City Airport, now somewhat bizarrely named George Best Belfast City Airport). They would marvel at the green fields and at how Belfast is framed by hills on one side and by Belfast Lough on the other. That was just the beginning and within a couple of days I would have introduced them to the stunning coastline of County Antrim and the gentle Mountains of Mourne. They would leave with these pictorial memories but, more importantly, with memories of the hospitality, good nature and warm humour of the Northern Irish.
As you can probably tell, I'm a bit of a fan of Northern Ireland. As a former season ticket holder at Ravenhill, I couldn't resist attending the crunch Heineken Cup rugby match between Ulster and Biarritz, and combining the game with some landscape photography. And so I ventured up to the north Antrim coast the day before the game. The hire car, a Citroen tiny something or other, was a bit of a change from the Landy, and in fact I suspect it might have actually fit in the boot of the Defender. Nevertheless, it was very economical and a good job too as I spent most of the morning trying to chase the light along the coast road and always managing to be about three miles away from where it was at its best. Nevertheless, I persisted and finally at Dunseverick Castle managed to get some lovely winter sunlight on the ruins. It was early afternoon and checking my watch, I wondered whether to knock the photography on the head and head to Belfast for some retail therapy. I hesitated, looked at my battered old OS map and realised I was about ten minutes from the Giant's Causeway. I knew from previous visits and also a little bit of research using the fantastic software TPE (The Photographer's Ephemeris) that there might be the chance of some warm late afternoon sunlight on the hexagonal stones of the Causeway. Not knowing when I would next be back, I decided that the shops could wait and headed westward along the coast road.
As I arrived at the Giant's Causeway, the stones were indeed starting to take on a lovely warm glow from the sun as it began to set in the west. I began to indulge in my favourite passion, seascapes, playing around with different exposures to catch the waves and tidal surge. Then the sky suddenly darkened and I realised that it must be raining very close by as a rainbow suddenly appeared at exactly the right spot in my composition. A few shots were quickly fired off and even the intense hailstorm battering myself and my gear couldn't remove the broad grin from my face. This was one of those moments that landscape photographers dream about, being in exactly the right place at the right time and all the elements - tide, light, weather - falling into place. It doesn't happen often, but when it does it makes all those fruitless, frustrating hours in the field fade into insignificance.
As well as the photo of the Giant's Causeway and a mono of the lighthouse at Donaghadee, I have included a photograph of my previous workplace, taken several years ago, for old time's sake. By the way, Ulster beat Biarritz in a very tight game and are now in the quarter finals of the Heineken Cup for the first time since 1999. A perfect long weekend away really.......
0 comments:
Post a Comment