The Student

 Here she is again, that student person:

Miss, in a pleasant amount of soft focus.  i.e., blurry, since I was hand-holding the 'Blad at some ridiculous speed on account of the fact I had FP4+ loaded and we were indoors.  Silly me. On Foma 133 paper.  Actually this isn't the shot I wanted to print but it was first thing this morning (print is still in the tray, as you can see) and I wasn't quite thinking straight.  

This summer has gone in a flash.  It's hard to believe in a couple of weeks we'll be taking her back across the water for the start of her second year at Uni.  In the meantime we've so much to do - including an overnight in Rathlin Island, which I'm very much looking forward to.  We tried to go earlier in the summer but what few places there are on the island were fully booked.  Unfortunately the puffins and other sea-birds have left the island so when the last boat leaves late afternoon it'll be just Miss and I, what locals live on the island and a few visitors.  And the seals, of course.  Can't wait.

Seagulls

These gulls (Black-headed, I think) were surfing the wind currents quite spectacularly the other day on Portstewart Prom:

Life on The Prom, via Hasselblad/HP5/Foma133

They seemed to be doing it for fun, or maybe to hone their skills, as they would take themselves off and into the currents and then just hang there.  I'd do the same if I could.

Deadwood

This last month has seen a lot of changes around our house.  And a lot of noise.  We finally took the decision to take some major trees down.  It was a shame, as they were big old things doing their bit for the planet but they were all diseased - some with Ash dieback, which is affecting all the Ash trees apparently, and some just rotten.  We didn't realise how bad they were until they came down - it was a bit of a shock to see the main trunks of several of them were completely hollow.  Given the fact they were close to the house it has been the right decision - our winter storms could easily have felled them, with potentially disastrous results. 

Deadwood, 2022.  Nikon F2, Vivitar Series 1 35-85; HP5+ on Foma 133 paper.

The place looks bare now - some 60-plus years of growth taken back.  We left some of the younger trees, which will probably do better now there is less competition for light and water.  And we'll have to plant something to replace the felled ones, though what that will be hasn't been decided yet.  The big issue now is how to get the wood into small enough pieces to fit in our wood-burning stove.  I keep reading articles about how wood-burning stoves emit a lot of small particle pollution although the recent DEFRA communique suggests that they don't actually emit as much as previously thought.  Given that our only other source of heat is oil (kerosene) I think burning the wood is OK.  

Belfast Botanic Gardens

 An impromptu trip to Belfast on Saturday, to accommodate Young Miss's wishes.  I had a couple of hours to kill as she went about her business, so a walk around with a camera seemed the only sensible thing to do.  I had to dodge the showers, mind you, but I found a rather pleasant place to stay dry - the Palm House in the Botanic Gardens:

Entrance to the Palm House, Belfast Botanic Gardens.  Nikon F2/50mm, HP5+ on Foma 133

The Palm House was built in the Victorian era and it is a rather impressive structure, with a large dome.  It's a bit of Tardis in reverse, though - it seems a lot smaller inside than it appears from outside.  Perhaps that's to do with the fact that it's packed with all sorts of lovely (and exotic) plants.  Either way, it's a very agreeable building to walk around.

Not quite sure what the 'plant man' is supposed to be doing.  Looks like he's taking a golf swing but I doubt that's the intention.  Probably he's meant to be digging or something else suitably botanical. 

Morelli's

The name Morelli is synonymous with Portstewart Prom - it's the place for your ice creams, knickerbocker glories and much more. As the signage in the shot below indicates, the Morelli story began over 100 years and if you are interested in reading more about the how these Italian immigrants made good, click here.  In the interests of equality, I should point out there are other options for ice cream and food on the Prom.  I was going to write that there is little else along the Prom these days but as I think about it, there is still a butcher, pharmacy, sweet/beach shop, gift shop, shoe shop as well as a couple of fashion outlets and bars.  And probably other places I've overlooked.  And naturally there are a few estate agencies as well - obvious given the astronomical rises in price property in the area has seen in recent years.  But there must be at least a dozen cafes now, most now with pavement licences.  Mind you, I'm not sure that the competition has lowered prices or raised standards in most of these establishments but maybe that's just me being a grumpy old git (again).   Anyway, enough banter - the shot: 

I've said before that the 'Blad is a good street camera, since you are looking down into the prism with the camera at waist level rather than eye level, so it doesn't look so confrontational.  Sure wasn't I just taking a shot of the famous Morelli's and didn't it just happen these two happened by at precisely the moment I pulled the trigger.  It wasn't like I was standing there for a while waiting for someone to come along...honest, guv ;)  Same details as before (FP4, HC-110 on Foma 133).

Woofer

 I thought this was a rather nice looking hound on Portstewart Prom, so I asked the owner if I could take a shot.  He waved his assent so I started to frame the shot.  I had to wait a while, though, until the two elderly ladies came up into the shot.  It look longer than I thought and I'm sure the guy was sitting thinking 'What the heck is he doing?'  Finally I got the shot and lifted my head, to find half-a-dozen people behind me, waiting patiently for me to finish.  Ooops! People can be very polite at times...

Woofer on the Prom, 2022.  FP4+ on the 'Blad/50mm, Foma 133.

You can see the gentrification of the Prom going on in the background.  Very expensive apartments down by the harbour and then a major new development just getting started.  It's the same at the other end.  Eventually all the older buildings will go and it will be end-to-end apartments, with cafes on the ground floor.  I think that was the second time this summer I've been down to Portstewart (which is only about a mile from where I live).  I had to nip down last Saturday morning to get some medications for mother and I made sure I was there at 9am, when the Pharmacy opened.  It made no difference - the place was already bunged with cars and folk.  I know it’s a good hunting ground for street shots but you have to be in the mood. Saturday morning I couldn't get away quick enough.  Roll on September when the visitors and second-home owners go back from whence they came.

The Double-bluff

What to do when you want to take a photograph of your daughter when she's not too keen on having her photograph taken - that was my dilemma the other day on Portstewart Prom.  So I convinced her to stand innocuously in front of me and said 'Make it look like I'm taking your photograph, but actually I want to photograph the people sitting in the cafe behind you'.  She thought that was very clever and I did feel a little guilty about the fact that (unknowingly) she was actually the main subject.  But not that guilty.  Missy is changing so much these days - gone is the school kid of recent years and now she looks every bit the Uni Student, so I want to keep photographing her as much as I can.

The Student, 2022.  Red Hot Chili Peppers t-shirt and Mango Smoothie in hand.  She saw the group recently in Dublin and was well impressed.  So was I, even though I wasn't there.  Most of them are around my age, or slightly older.  
FP4+ on the 'Blad/50mm.  Foma 133 paper.