Dunfanaghy Bay

The village of Dunfanaghy is fairly remote by anyone's standards, sitting as it does at almost the extreme North-Western Tip of Ireland.   It's a popular tourist spot, though, as it's surrounded by miles of unspoilt sandy beaches, as well as the Bay:

The tide was well out when we were there.  Same details as before (Pan F+, HC-110 on MG Classic paper).

Directly behind where I was standing while taking this shot was a large hotel...empty and derelict, which is rather sad.  You would think it should be possible to make money from a hotel in a place like this - with views like this - but clearly the numbers didn't add up.  It looked like it had been lying vacant for a number of years, so it's not just a Covid thing.  There are a lot of static caravan sites around this part of Donegal and I know they are popular with families, who come and stay for the whole summer.  While these big caravans/not-so-mobile homes aren't particularly cheap any more they do make sense for families - you just couldn't afford to put a family up in a hotel for the summer months at the prices they charge nowadays.  A lot of people just make the caravan their regular summer holiday...for life.  It's easy to understand why - can you imagine the stress of all that airport stuff with a clatter of weans in tow, as they say round here.  

Church on a hill

This rather quaint little church sits, appropriately enough, in the village of Churchill in County Donegal. It is not a big place. There’s a couple of pubs (obviously - we are in Ireland), one which doubles up as a tea-room and a takeaway. The other doubles up as a Funeral Parlour, which is rather amusing. I wonder how many drinkers have ended up ‘taking the short-cut next door’ after a few too many Guinness.

Churchill, on Pan F+ 50, via the 'Blad and the 50mm FLE, developed in HC-110 (1:79, 9.5minutes) and printed on Ilford MG Classic fibre paper.  Ilford describe this film as slow speed, high contrast with exceptionally fine grain.  They're not wrong - I had real trouble finding any grain to focus on.  This is only the second time I've used Pan F+.  It is higher contrast than FP4+, that's also true and while it does offer rather nice-looking negatives I don't think the higher contrast will suit every occasion.  I've one roll of it left so I'll get another chance to explore its possibilities.  I think it might end up being a film that I keep a stock of and use for particular lighting conditions and scenes but I need a bit (or a lot) more experience of it before deciding.  Another thing about Pan F+ is that Ilford recommend development as soon as possible after shooting and no longer than 3 months.  That shouldn't cause me too many problems as I don't generally keep films in the Hasselblad for that long - well, you've only 12 shots to play with and it's usually not too hard to get through a film in a couple of outings.  35mm is a different game.  Last time in Oxford I forgot to take a spare film with me (left it in the hotel room) so I found myself buying a single roll of HP5+ in Boots on Cornmarket Street.  I was pleased they stocked it but less pleased at the price - £7.99 for 36 exposures.  Mind you, I can't remember the last time I bought a film over the counter as usually I bulk-load from 30m reels, so I can't complain too much.  But weeks later the film is still inside the OM-4ti, in spite of me trying to shoot as indiscriminately as I can :)  

Getting back to Donegal I don’t think I noticed a shop in the village, although I wouldn’t be surprised if one of the pubs sells a few groceries and essentials on the side.  That's not unusual in Irish villages, where one building can serve many purposes.  Apart from a few houses that’s about it for Churchill. Quite lovely, it is.

Dún na nGall

My wife and I are just back from a couple of days in the Fort of the Strangers, Dún na nGall, or Donegal if you prefer.  It was a very pleasant little break and the weather was kind to us.  I took the Hasselblad and almost got through a couple of rolls but it wasn't the photographic adventure I had hoped it would be.  I had high expectations of capturing some of the dramatic scenery but it didn't really work out.  Largely because there weren't that many places to pull over and stop the car.  That sounds a bit lame but the Donegal roads are very narrow and the locals drive like, well, locals (i.e., too fast), so stopping really wasn't an option.  Plus a few times when we aimed for a specific site of interest we were thwarted by other things - like very small car parks which were absolutely full, so we had little option other than to keep on moving.  After that happened a couple of times we just decided to enjoy the trip with our eyes and I put the film wasting on the backburner.  I guess it being Easter week it was bound to be busy but I hadn't figured on it being quite as bad as it was.  Bloody tourists, eh?

Anyway, I'm off shortly to develop a roll of Pan F+ and we shall see what emerges from the Photo-flo.  Hopefully something worth showing.  In the meantime, here's a pretty awful print from that film that I found in the OM-1 a while back.  A timely reminder, I guess, that summer is on the way. 

From a couple of summers ago, on Portstewart Prom, where the doggies get ice-cream too.  It was a pretty horrible negative, on old Tri-X that someone gave me.  On Ilford Cooltone RC paper, which did a reasonable job of rescuing something from it.  Only just, mind you.

More staring at machinery

Another couple from way back - 1979, in the pits at the North West 200.   The sticker on the back of the bikes would indicate these were the mounts of Roger Marshall, who was a very successful rider back in the 70s and 80s.  A multiple British Champion, no less.  A quick search shows that he is still very much on the scene - rider-coach and Ambassador for Yamaha.  I'm pleased about that - there were a lot of road racers that didn't live very long.  It's still a mad sport to be in - I can hardly bear to watch it any more, given the speeds they get up to on normal roads.  The bigger bikes are hitting 200mph as they come up from Portstewart - just as they pass the end of our road they are braking heavily to negotiate a 90-degree corner.   The corners are what separates the top riders from the also-rans - you can see who is in attack mode and who is just hoping to get round the corner in one piece.  They're all mad, of course - just some a little bit crazier than others.

Motorbikes! And a Mr Whippy ice cream van lurking in the background.

These were taken on old Kodak 5060 film, which according to the Internet is Panatomic-X film, rated at a heady 32asa.  It was withdrawn in 1987.  Goodness knows why I thought that would be the perfect film for sports photography but the negs seem in good shape - both these printed around grade 2, on Foma 133 fibre paper.

Getting in close for this shot.

Pity I cut off the tops of the heads but 43 years ago I was more interested in the bikes than the people.  The haircuts made me smile - in those days most boys had their hair cut by mother.  Hair salons were strictly for women.  My grandfather and uncle cut each other's hair - using proper clippers - but my brother and I had the old 'pudding basin' cut from our mum until we got to Uni and could do our own thing.  I remember the brother's first return home from Uni, at Christmas time.  He had his hair in a wavy perm...What the heck, bro?! 

Summer of 1977

 A short visit back to the Archives.  (Subtext: I must get out more and finish those films lurking in my cameras.  Excuse: I've been busy!  Missy home from Uni.  Stepson moving house).

So...as you might recall if you were listening carefully, last week I took some prints along to show at the Club's Members Night.  The theme I chose was 'People' and the prints I showed included some from way back, when I was a spotty youth - including some you might have seen before (here, and here).   They reminded me that I had some others that had never seen the light of day...until now, that is! as yesterday morning I had a rummage in some old neg files, dug them out and printed them on the delicious Foma MG Classic 133 Velvet fibre paper.

The lads with their miniature steam engines and what have you.  On HP5.  I didn't note the developer but it was probably Paterson Acutol or something and the negs were good 'uns - they printed easily around Grade 2. I like yer man's pockets on his trews.

These two date from the summer of 1977.  I would have been 14 at the time and I know it was summer as there's no way this sort of event would have been held at any other time in this part of the world.  It was an opportunity for anyone and everyone with an interest in mechanical things and radio controlled toys (cars, boats, etc) to come along and show off what they had.  Toys is almost definitely not the correct term, given the seriousness of the whole thing but it was the days before iPhones and things and as we all know, even big boys need their toys...or cameras, in my case :)

I have to admit I wouldn't mind a play with some of these myself...

The Watcher

The Holy Trinity Church in the parish of Ramoan and Culfeightrin sits in the Diamond, Ballycastle.  It once was the Chapel of Ease for a single family - Boyd - but was given to the Church of Ireland in the 1950s, presumably when the Boyd estate was broken up.  I've always thought it a lovely little building and so I snapped it up a couple of weeks ago.  It's not a great shot, this one, but what makes is the guy in the car.  He was stopped waiting for something or someone when he spied me with the Hasselblad.  I thought to myself OK once he realises what I'm up to he'll either move off or at least stop watching me, but no...he just sat there and watched, and watched, and watched.  So in the end I thought Right, we'll make the shot and you'll be in it, mate.  So here he is, the Star of the Show:

The Diamond, Ballycastle.  Actually when I look closely at the guy, I think his gaze might be just off to the left of me, so perhaps there's something even more interesting than a guy with a Hasselblad going on in Ballycastle that day. (Though I can’t for the life of me think what that might be). On FP4, Ilford Cooltone paper. 

Brave Souls

 The two ladies in this shot must be well used to bathing in the Atlantic, as this was one very cold day and they had only swimsuits on.  I doff my cap to them.  It's been a few years since I was in the water and even in mid-summer it is, shall we say, somewhat challenging.  Fair play to them, as they say in these parts.

Yes this is another print from the fogged Fomapan 400 film, hence the banding.  What a shame, eh? Even though the neg was very low in contrast, due to the fogging, I like the way Fomapan 400 has captured the scene, so I might invest in some more of that particular film. On the Hasselblad, 150mm lens, on Cooltone RC paper.

Way in the distance you can just about make out Donegal/Inishowen Peninsula.  If all goes well, that's where my wife and I will be in a couple of weeks, for a short break.  Missy will be home for Easter so we're taking the opportunity of having a cat-sitter.  Fingers crossed we'll get there but these days you can't rely too much on things going to plan, as my stepson and his fiancé Clare have been finding out - they both tested positive for you-know-what at the beginning of last week - the first members of our family to catch the virus.  Clare (yes, this Clare) had a weak positive test and shrugged it off - and she is unvaccinated. My stepson is doubly vaccinated and fit as a fiddle but is having real difficulty getting rid of it - he's still testing positive a week after his symptoms started and is complaining of shortness of breath.  The virus takes a different path in everyone, it seems.  

I'm still cautious when going out and wear an FFP2 mask when grocery shopping (about the only time you'll find me in a shop of any description) but I'm in the minority.  Numbers are very high here in Northern Ireland at the minute but almost no-one is masking up.  The only good thing is that few people are hospitalised with it, so this particular strain seems to be highly infectious but maybe not so severe.  I suspect it will get me eventually and I'm not looking forward to that day - I've reduced lung capacity anyway, due to ankylosing spondylitis and so things could get a bit sticky.  I intend to remain cautious when I'm out for the foreseeable, trips to Donegal notwithstanding. 

Out on a limb

The new viewing platforms at Magheracross outside Portrush.  I wasn't too sure about them at first, and I'm none to confident on them myself but when I saw this guy looking out to sea I thought it was worth wasting a shot on:

Magheracross Viewing Platform, with Portrush somewhere in the murky background.  It was a windy morning and the sea was pretty rough, as you can see. The platforms are embedded in the cliff rock, in case you were wondering. Hasselblad/100mm lens, on Fomapan 400, printed on Ilford Cooltone RC paper. 

The banding on the print is down to a bit of a disaster in the darkroom, as I was loading the film.  I must have had my eyes close in the dark and failed to notice that I hadn't closed the door properly - it had swung open and of course it had to be on the brightest, sunniest morning we'd had for months.  The curtain that I have inside the door helped but when I was finished loading the reel I opened my eyes and to my horror realised the darkroom wasn't exactly dark.  Too late, of course - the whole film was fogged and the outer few frames lost completely.  I was surprised I was able to print anything at all - and the banding isn't that noticeable in the print but it's never going to be 'on the wall' quality, which is a pity as the shot was a good 'un.