A couple of likely lads

When in Ballymoney a couple of weeks ago I was loitering about waiting for my wife to finish browsing the numerous charity shops in the town.  There was a large sign that had appeared which I thought might make a decent photograph.  It was advertising a summer drive-in Evangelical Service and I walked around it a few times trying out various angles.  Before I could snap it up I got accosted by a couple of likely lads who looked like they spend most days kicking about the toon with not much on their agenda.  I'm always a tad wary since I'm obviously not very mobile and I'm carrying an expensive camera  (Hasselblad on this occasion.  I'm using two hiking poles to get about these days as my hip is not in great shape at the moment).  They seemed pleasant enough but very interested in my camera and where I was from but once I informed them I used to be Chair of the Ballymoney Photographic Club and they knew I was relatively local we all relaxed a bit.  Well, I relaxed a bit - I think they just wanted someone to talk to for a while other than each other. They wanted to know if I'd ever heard of Corfield cameras, which used to be manufactured in the town.  Duh...of course I know about Corfield cameras!  I don't have any but that's probably an oversight on my part.  Plus, the prices they go for these days means it ain't pocket money. Corfield weren't exclusive to Ballymoney as they were made in Wolverhampton prior to coming to Ballymoney but still, it's pretty cool to have had cameras manufactured just down the road from where you grew up.  And pretty good ones at that. This article is a good read if you've 10 minutes to spare and want to know more about very talented Sir Kenneth Corfield and his cameras. 

And as usual I'm getting distracted.  Nearly forgot to show you the masterpiece of the lads:

A couple of young fellows in Ballymoney, immortalised for ever on film and now on this place. They were standing in front of an arty mural of some sort, in case you were wondering.  Not too many of those around Ballymoney, it's fair to say.  FP4+ in RO9, Foma 313 paper.

Celtic Cross at the Loughan

Along the banks of the River Bann to the South of Coleraine lies the parish of Kildollagh in the townland of Loughan.  Sometimes referred to as Fish Loughan, on account, I guess, of the salmon that used to be in plentiful supply in the Bann.  St Paul's Church of Ireland sits next to a small graveyard which seemed worthy of a visit with an old film camera a couple of weeks ago.  It was pleasant enough to walk around but the Church was closed and there wasn't a whole lot that caught my eye in the graveyard.  The light was flat and hazy, which probably didn't help.  This was the pick of the bunch:

Celtic Cross at the Loughan, 2021.  Hasselblad/FP4/RO9 on Foma 313 paper.

From memory the name on the memorial was Lyle and I think he had been the minister there, which probably accounted for the rather impressive design and size of the monument - most likely crowdfunded by the parishioners, who must have held him in high esteem.  I should have taken a phone snap of the inscription but when I'm juggling a Hasselblad in one hand, a walking stick in the other and with a spot-meter hanging around my neck I don't always have the wherewithal to fish in my pocket for my phone in order to document what I'm snapping.  I was hoping to get the information I needed from a bit of 'desktop research' but this one proved a little elusive.  I'm sure the information is out there but a lot of these genealogy&gravestone sites have cottoned on the fact that they can charge big bucks for their records.  (Update: after another look I came across a Rev John Lyle 1817-1912 associated with St Paul's at the Loughan). When I started out researching my family tree I did stump up for a few of the paid sites but once I had got back a few generations on both my mother's and father's side it seemed that finding out more would be a real challenge - and inversely proportional to the time spent on the whole project.  So I shelved it.  As it stands, I got back to the early 19th Century and am just shy of 600 people in our family tree (which includes my wife's family as well my own). I found it very rewarding to research the family tree and I got to talk to my mother about people no longer with us, which was really good…helping her to dig deep into her memory cells. Plus a few family ‘mysteries’ were solved along the way. I guess every family has those…

More bands

 Some more prints from the 12th July Parades in Coleraine last week.  All taken on the Nikon F2a with 85mm lens on HP5+ developed in HC-110 and printed on Foma 313 paper, should you care about such things.  I know from various FB groups that a lot of people do, but while I usually add such details on here, it's mainly for my own benefit as a record of what I was using when.  With regard to a photograph, I have little interest in what camera/film/developer/paper was used.  In the online groups there's too much fascination with the what and not enough on the why, in my view.

Sons of Ulster Flute Band, Portrush

The young man above is looking very deep in thought - or perhaps very bored, I can't quite decide.  Perhaps he's thinking I'd rather be on the beach than traipsing around town in this gear on a day like this.  From the look of the guy on the big drum I'd say this was one of the louder bands on the scene.

Old and not-so-old.

I like the way this shot turned out - everyone has such different facial expressions.  It was pretty warm this year and this not-so-young man at the front was doing well, especially given the uniforms.  Usually there are one or more cars that follow the walkers and anyone struggling gets a ride to 'the field'.  The field, in case you don't know, is where the bands and walkers end up at the end of the parade.  There would be tea and sandwiches and one or more guys on a makeshift stage and a microphone/PA system to keep folk entertained with suitable rousing speeches and perhaps the odd sermon or three.  Then they would walk back through the town, usually on a shorter route, before dispersing on coaches to their home Orange Hall.  Younger members might then enjoy a shandy or two in the evening...

Loughanreagh Accordion Band

The piano-accordion bands are generally comprised of older members, or alternatively they might be all-ladies bands.  Either way, the sound they make is most pleasant to my ears.  I'd imagine it takes a bit of skill to work these hand instruments, since the two hands are doing different things - there's a shortened keyboard on one side and buttons on the other.  Don't ask me what the buttons do - I haven't a clue.

12th of July

Ok so it’s the 19th, or the 18th of July as I start to write this post but the 12th is the subject of our photographs this week. The 12th of July is the date of the largest of the Orangemen and Women’s annual parades here in Northern Ireland.  Also to be found in parts of the South, Scotland, Canada and probably other places too.  Things were a tad subdued this year due to Covid restrictions but most large towns held some sort of parade, although much smaller than usual. Here in Coleraine there were just a dozen or so band from the local area. The parades up and down the country have been documented photographically for decades and by far better photographers than me but still, they are an pretty unique event and usually a good hunting ground for interesting shots.  Not so long ago there were pretty ugly scenes as objections to the usual, 'time-honoured' routes were challenged by local residents but these days routes are approved (or not) by an independent Parades Commission and by and large they pass off peacefully.  People either support them or don't...or go to the beach instead.  

I decided on the Nikon F2 and 85mm lens. I figured if the F2 could handle Vietnam then it would cope OK with Coleraine on the 12th of July.  But I’d forgotten how difficult it is to manually focus on a moving object. I hardly every photograph anything moving these days - with the exception of people the odd time I feel like doing some street photography. In hindsight I might have been better off with the N80 auto-focus but that would have meant reading the manual so I could ensure I was using the correct focus point and aperture priority metering etc.  I prefer cameras that I can pick up and use - just give me aperture and shutter speed control and a release button and I'm a happy man.  Normally when I'm shooting 35mm I'll take an incident reading with a small handheld Sekonic L-308 light meter and that'll do me for the day.  If the sun comes out or goes behind a cloud, or if I'm shooting something backlit then generally I'll compensate manually, unless there's a dramatic shift in light levels in which case I'll whip out the Sekonic again.  If I'm out with the Hasselblad or the pinhole then I'll usually take a larger Sekonic L-508, spot-meter for the highlights (or the shadows) in the scene and set the exposure appropriately.  With the F2 I ended up using f/8, pre-focussing, waiting for the walkers to come into the shot…and hoping for the best. For the most part it worked out OK.   

12th July parade in Coleraine, 2021.  Nikon F2/HP5+/HC-110 on Foma 313 paper.

The 85mm was just about perfect for getting close to the action, capturing some of the faces as well as the bigger picture.  The young man carrying the flag at the front of this band was pretty smartly turned out and has a deadly serious face on him but the guy some way behind on the big drum provides the perfect foil - you can tell from his walk he's battering the living daylights out of it.

Pride of the Bann, Coleraine. 

As far as I know (and I'm no expert here) each band is affiliated to and walks in front of an Orange Lodge.  Some bands are musically more accomplished than others, I think it's fair to say.  There are flute bands, pipe bands and accordion bands.  I like the accordion bands best - they're a bit easier on the ears.  Pride of the Bann, above, describe themselves as a 'Blood and Thunder' band - previously bands like that would have been called Kick-the-Pope bands but I guess that's a tad un-PC these days.  On the banners in the background belonging to the Lodge you can see two different impressions of King Billy, aka William of Orange or plain old William III, King of England, Ireland and Scotland from 1689 to 1702.  1690 was the important year as far as the Orange Lodges are concerned, when William and his forces defeated the Catholic James II at the Battle of the Boyne just North of Dublin.  I suspect even King William would have struggled to believe he'd still be being immortalised in banners all over Ulster some 300 years later.  Incredibly, some years he even manages to put in an appearance at the Parade, resplendent in full uniform, complete with black flowing locks and mounted on his white horse.  Funny old world, innit?

Camus old church and graveyard

Just outside Coleraine and only a little way along from the Iron Age settlement of Mountsandel lies Camus old church and graveyard.  Locally pronounced Cams, by the way. Around about 580AD it was the location of a monastic settlement and overlooks the River Bann.  Close by was a significant crossing point before the first wooden bridge was constructed in the town itself. There's nothing left of the old monastery but there are quite a few old gravestones, dating back to the early 19th Century.  My fellow film shooter David and I had a very interesting walkabout there a couple of weeks ago.  The light wasn't great - hazy summer sun but from time to time the cloud lifted and that provided an opportunity for a couple of shots.  This was the best of the bunch and shows the remains of a High Cross dedicated to the memory of Saint Comgall, who founded the original monastery.

Remains of the High Cross at Camus, Coleraine.  Hasselblad/50mm/FP4+ in RO9.  Printed on Foma 313 paper.

It’s a striking thing and sits just inside the entrance to the graveyard. The original cross was broken at some stage and what was left was used as a gate post until around 1905 when its value was realised and it was relocated to its present position.  It’s carved from red sandstone and apparently has scenes of the baptism of Jesus, the Ark and the murder of Abel.  I wonder where the sandstone came from and I also wonder who carved it, all those years ago. 

The other thing of interest in the graveyard is a bullaun stone.  A what, I hear you ask?  Bullaun stones are stones with a natural indentation in them which, apparently, never dries out.  It is said to have magical properties and in older times they were used as fonts for baptism.  This particular stone was, I’m told, highly regarded and used as a place of pilgrimage until the late Victorian period.  All this I learned after our visit but I did happen upon the stone when I was there and it certainly made me stop and look.  It's not a big thing but what caught my eye was the fact that the indentation was indeed very damp - and this has been an exceedingly warm, dry period here in the Liberties. I thought it strange at the time.  Make of that what you will.

I was happy with this shot and the subsequent print.  I spent a bit of time walking around the cross trying to get the best angle.  I wanted to get some of the old gravestones behind whilst trying to get some of the carving detail on the cross itself.  I used a light green filter, so the grass appears a little lighter that usual.  In the darkroom I burned in the left and right corners at the bottom of the print where the clover is, to balance out the darkness of the yew trees at the top of the print.  As I look at it now, I think I could burn in the right edge a little as well - both to hold the eye in the centre and again to balance out the left side. 

A day for sitting...and street photography

The last couple of weeks have been really quite warm in and around the North East Liberties of Coleraine, although near the coast where we live there have been days when a cooling sea mist has appeared.  That's  both good and bad, but go inland a couple of miles and it's been full sun - and hotter than I ever remember it being here.  Nothing like California or Nevada or the West Coast of Canada are currently experiencing, thank goodness, but still, for this part of the world things have been bordering on the 'uncomfortably hot'.  That's high-70s, in case you were wondering.  Don't laugh - I know, it's pretty pathetic.  

My wife fancied a wee trip to Ballymoney last week - and why not, eh?  Ballymoney, aka Cow Town, is a grand wee place and the people are as straight as they come and friendly with it.  While my wife did the Charity Shops I dandered up and down with the 'Blad, a 50mm wide-angle lens and some FP4+ inside.  The Hasselblad is, I think, a pretty good street camera, in spite of it's size and weight.  It's a slower shooting camera than a 35mm and so often I'm stood framing a shot for a length of time, while people wander into and out of the shot.  Maybe since I'm looking down into the camera rather than directly at them (as you would with most 35mm cameras) they feel less intimidated.  Not that it mattered in this shot, since the main subjects had their back to me...

Ballymoney on a warm day in July 2021.  Hasselblad, 50mm Distagon, FP4 in RO9 on Foma 313 paper.

You can tell it was warm - folk were sitting down.  I had to wait a while until I got a break in the traffic to get this car-free shot - Ballymoney can be a busy wee place.  The guy on the bench in the background just makes this shot, I think - plus the fact that there is no-one walking around.

It makes me smile to myself when I see older guys with their sports coat/blazer on, like the gentleman on the left of the bench.  When I was a lad most adult men wore a shirt with a collar, tie and tweed jacket 365 days of the year and the jacket was very rarely off them, no matter what the weather was like.  That was certainly the case for my grandfather and uncle, who dressed like that even on days we went fishing.  The last time I wore a jacket and tie was when I was working and I can say with some confidence I will rarely do so again - weddings and funerals perhaps, otherwise, no - these days I feel much more comfortable in less formal gear.  

Same old

Same old place again, The Herring Pond in Portstewart.  Not that I've ever seen any herring there, mind you - but then I'm not in the water as much these days ;) 

This one shows the natural breakwater formed by the rock formations, which is why it's quite a safe (ish) place for swimming and snorkeling.  You might spot the metal steps on the left of the shot - the handrail on which you can balance atop and execute a perfect swallow dive into the water, to the gasps and admiration of onlookers, should you so desire...

The Herring Pond, via the Blad/FP4+/RO9.  On Foma 313 paper.

I used a 10 stop ND filter on the 50mm Distagon, which gave me about an 8-second exposure, hence the fluffy waves & clouds.  The other thing to remark on is how the lower rocks are almost white by comparison to the higher foreground ones - due, I presume, to being constantly washed by the salt water of the Atlantic.

Where we go

Not the best shot of my Fellow Film Shooter David but it shows the sort of place we end up on our weekly outings...down by Portstewart last week, looking out over the Atlantic.  That's a big ol' Pentacon Six he has on his tripod...East German thing made from the 60s to the early 90s.  It's a heavy beast, at 1.7kg without a lens.  A quirk of the loading system is that you can get 13 frames from a roll of 120 film - so that's a nice bonus.  Or, it means you've even one more shot to take to finish the film, which of course you always want to do when you get to the last couple of frames...

David at Portstewart, 2021.  'Blad, 50mm, FP4 in RO9, on Foma 313 paper.

It might not look it but this is one of the safer places to go when you want a seascape.  We're a good bit up from sea level and unless there's a really big storm on the main risk is from the wind rocking your tripod.  You get fishermen (fisherpeople?) who go right down to the lowest rocks before casting out and I think they are taking a hell of a risk.  As I think I wrote about before, when I was young our parents were friends with people who had a house very close to the sea in Portstewart.  One day the lady of the house was watching 3 people fishing from the rocks in front of her house and in the blink of an eye they were gone, taken by a freak wave.  She and her family had to move house as every time she looked out of her window it reminded her of the tragedy.  I get the attraction of the sea but it sure demands a lot of respect.  

The Continental

We hoofed around a lot on our recent trip to Belfast.  Too much, actually, as both my wife and I suffered for it when we got home.  We didn't have our city legs on.  As we walked down Great Victoria Street we stopped for a rest at a bus stop by this Gentleman's Hairdressers.  I had the Yashica T4 in my hand but unfortunately not ready to shoot, 'cos I missed the shot I really wanted.  The Yashica has a hard protective shield over the lens, which you have to manually open by a slider on the top of the camera before you can shoot.  Just before the girl you see here walked past two very hairy gentlemen passed by - that would have been the better shot.  But by the time I opened the lens they were gone.  In the end this shot was OK. It looks like she's holding her nose as she's passing but I think she's simply adjusting her mask:

Belfast, June 2021.  On HP5+, ID-11 printed on MGV deluxe paper.

The Continental is about a hundred yards or so away from what used to be the World's Most Bombed Hotel, as the sign in the foyer of The Europa proudly stated.   Back in the 70s it was a favourite target of those that had nothing better to do than cause destruction and mayhem.  As was one of the two pubs opposite.  Only one of the pubs, note.  The story goes that the other one paid up and was left alone.  Presumably the owners of The Europa chose not to pay up either. 

Nowadays The Europa is as safe as any other hotel, as indeed is the whole of Belfast.  Thank goodness. My parents tell me they used to take my brother and I to the Royal Opera House (next door to the Europa) when we were kids but once The Troubles started that put paid to day trips to Belfast.  Or anywhere, really.  Our parents did what most others did - stayed at home.  We simply didn't go out to the theatre, cinema or restaurants.  I can't say I noticed anything strange growing up but then we lived in the country, well away from the hotspots of violence.  Coleraine did get a couple of bombs (one which killed six people) but generally we escaped fairly lightly compared to other areas.  Still, come 18 I couldn't wait to get out and my parents were not unhappy to see both my brother and I head off to Uni in England.

It feels good to be able to walk about the streets of Belfast without having to think about security issues.  Gone are the checkpoints where soldiers would check your bags before letting you through.  The city is buzzing now with bars and restaurants around every corner and there were lots of people about, even on a weekday afternoon.  But when we came home both my wife and I said we'd not be in a rush to go back.  The air quality was poor compared to where we live.  And the noise!  We're just not used to city life any more.  Give me a not-too-busy beach or a forest trail to walk along and I'm happy.  See?  Easily pleased, me...