MINNOWBURN/NED’S MEADOW/GIANT’S RING

I decided to try and make the most of a sunny Bank Holiday Monday by heading out to Minnowburn to try and get some Sunset photos. It was all Trial and Error, but I thought i’d give it a go.

Having been frustrated at Lisnabreeny Hill earlier in the month, I decided to leave that location for a while, and try Minnowburn when the opportunity next arrived.

It had felt like a mostly lazy Bank Holiday Monday for me, despite cycling to Comber in the morning. The rest of the day was spent lazing around the house.

My previous attempts at photographing Sunset have been Trial and (mostly) Error, working out what works and what doesn’t work.

I know you have to be there about an hour and a half before to catch the magic. With Sunrise set for around 9.42pm, I had to make sure I was there for around 8.15pm.

Thankfully, Minnowburn is a straight drive for me.

From the Car Park at Minnowburn, I walked up to Giant’s Ring through Ned’s Meadow.

I wasn’t the only one about, there was quite a few people out for a walk.

The reason I parked at Minnowburn is that there is signage at Giant’s Ring Car Park to say it closed at 9pm, and I didn’t want to get locked in.

Although, as I reached Giant’s Ring on foot just before 9pm, there was still quite a few cars parked there.

Usually, when I go to Giant’s Ring, I like to wander about and get lost. With the amount of daylight decreasing with each minute, that probably wasn’t the best idea, so I decided to stick with what I know.

As I made my way back to Minnowburn, the Sunset was at it’s most spectacular. After all that walking about, I would have been better off staying where I was.

That meant I had to try and powerwalk through Ned’s Meadow to get the Sunset shots.

Despite missing the most spectacular part of the Sunset, I still managed to get some nice photos. It was a very worthwhile visit.

I’ll hope to try and get some photos again from Lisnabreeny Hill before the Summer is out. I might even venture out and try North Down Coastal Walk as the sun goes down.

Photo Album

BELFAST SNOW – MARCH 2023

Classic Belfast. Get something nice but by the time you get to take advantage of it, it’s a bit crap.

There was snow threatened and hyped, but by Thursday afternoon it hadn’t materialised.

Then, on Thursday teatime, it appeared.

That meant I would have to be getting up early on Friday morning to get out and get some photos.

Which is what I did. Not too early, but early enough to give me fifteen to twenty minutes to get out and get photos before work.

The best thing about snow at this time of year is that you have more daylight on offer in which to photograph.

Whenever there is snow, I have my routes planned. Thanks to Covid, there are three possible routes for me.

There is working in the office, working from home and off. The last one is the best. Unfortunately for me, I was working in the office, so I went for that route.

My first visit was to City Hospital Train Station, to get some arty photos of the platforms and tracks.

From there, I headed to Belfast City Hall. The gates were closed so I had to make do with some long range shots through the gates.

Then I headed to The Big Fish. That was my snow adventures done with as it melted by the time I got out for lunch.

Hopefully, the next time it snows, it will be a bit better, longer lasting and at a more convenient time.

Photo Album

Belfast Snow March 2018

Belfast Snow December 2017

BRIGHTON SUNRISE

As sure as the sun sets, it will rise again.

So, up early, bit of time to kill, I made the short walk from my hotel to Brighton Beach to get some Sunrise photos.

Well, the tail end of it. I wasn’t up early enough to witness the start of it.

Arriving at the bottom of Queen Street, there was a nice glow, especially when I pointed my camera towards Regency Square.

From there, I headed to Brighton Pier.

The noise the sea was making was rather therapeutic and relaxing, even if the sea itself was not.

If I lived in Brighton, i’d probably spent every day photographing Sunrise and Sunset at Brighton Beach.

Photo Album

BRIGHTON SUNSET – FEBRUARY 2023

You know me, I love to get some Sunset photos if I get the opportunity to do so,

It’s a lot more preferable to Sunrise as I don’t have to get up early.

The last time I was in Brighton, I went to Brighton Beach to get some Sunset photos. It turned out I wasn’t the only one. There was a bit of a crowd of people turning up to observe it.

There was even some people taking advantage of the free deck chair on offer to have a relaxed view of it from Brighton Pier.

To be honest, if I lived in Brighton, i’d probably do this every night.

The last time I visited Brighton, I got some Sunset photos by starting from Regency Square, where the i360 is and walking to Brighton Pier.

This time, I went the opposite route.

Next time, I might start from Hove.

It wasn’t as spectacular as last time, but it was still a joy to witness. Enjoy the photos.

Photo Album

Brighton Sunsets – November 2021

2022 IN PICTURES – DECEMBER (SO FAR ….)

December began with a trip to Windsor Park to see Linfield take on Carrick Rangers.

That was then followed by a tip to Telegraph Building to see Blossoms in concert.

A spell of frost descended on Belfast, but now snow. I was all psyched up for snow photos, for nothing.

There was then a football free weekend for me, with Linfield in Scotland.

The following weekend, I headed to Ulster Hall to see Ash in concert, followed by Linfield’s home match against Dungannon Swifts.

As you will have noticed, there is still a week of the month left.

What I have planned is Bangor v Dunmurry Rec, Glentoran v Linfield, a walk up Cavehill and possibly Lisnabreeny Hill.

Here’s to more phototaking in 2023 and beyond.

Linfield v Carrick Rangers

Blossoms live at Telegraph Building

Blossoms live at Telegraph Building Photo Album

Ash live at Ulster Hall

Ash live at Ulster Hall Photo Album

Linfield v Dungannon Swifts

2022 IN PICTURES – SEPTEMBER

September began with a trip to Ballymena to see Linfield get their season back on track with a 4-0 win at Ballymena.

Football then took a break for a bit, but I was back on the road, and visiting a new ground as Linfield travelled to Moyola Park in the League Cup.

More travelling followed, not as far, three days later as Linfield faced Crusaders at Seaview.

Having a football free Saturday, I got up early for a long overdue trip to Giant’s Ring to get some photos as the sun was coming up.

Two days later, was an unexpected Public Holiday, so I headed on the North Down Coastal Path, starting at Helen’s Bay for a change, making my way to Bangor West. I think.

On the following Saturday morning, I made a long overdue return to Belvoir Park Forest before heading to Windsor Park at teatime to see Northern Ireland face Kosovo.

My final adventure of the month was a first concert since June, to The Odyssey to see George Ezra.

Ballymena United v Linfield

Moyola Park v Linfield

Crusaders v Linfield

Giant’s Ring/Terrace Hill Gardens/Minnowburn

Giant’s Ring/Terrace Hill Gardens/Minnowburn Photo Album

North Down Coastal Path

North Down Coastal Path Photo Album

Belvoir Park Forest

Belvoir Park Forest Photo Album

Northern Ireland v Kosovo

Northern Ireland v Kosovo Photo Album

George Ezra live at The Odyssey

George Ezra live at The Odyssey Photo Album

2022 IN PICTURES – MAY

May began with a trip to North Street to take in the Hit The North Street Art Festival, getting photos of the pieces of artwork as they were created, and then the finished artwork.

The following weekend, I treated myself to a trip to Scotland, spending most my time in Edinburgh, getting photos of Street Art (of course) and walking up Arthur’s Seat and going for a stroll in Colinton.

It would have been rude not to go to a football match, Livingston v St Johnstone being my match of choice before a day trip to Glasgow saw me get more Street Art photos and visit Cathkin Park, an abandoned football stadium.

Towards the end of the month, it was all about Friday nights, first of all winning a ticket to see Ulster v Sharks.

Then, the last Friday of the month, I went to see Queen (well, half of Queen, but it was still so good) at The Odyssey.

Hit The North

Hit The North Photo Album

Hit The North Aftermath

Edinburgh Street Art

Edinburgh Street Art Photo Album

Livingston v St Johnstone

Livingston v St Johnstone Photo Album

Glasgow Street Art

Glasgow Street Art Photo Album

Cathkin Park

Cathkin Park Photo Album

Arthur’s Seat

Arthur’s Seat Photo Album

Colinton

Colinton Photo Album

Ulster v Sharks

Ulster v Sharks Photo Album

Queen + Adam Lambert live at The Odyssey

Queen + Adam Lambert live at The Odyssey Photo Album





2022 IN PICTURES – APRIL

April began with a football free Saturday, so I headed to Scrabo Country Park, got lucky with the weather and got lots of nice photos.

The rest of the month was all about football, the next two weekends saw me attend Linfield’s matches against Cliftonville and Glentoran.

With two Public Holidays for Easter, I decided to go for walks up Cregagh Glen and then up Cavehill.

That was then followed by Linfield’s matches against Crusaders, Larne and Coleraine.

Just hours after seeing Linfield winning the League against Coleraine, I headed to Custom House Square to see Echo and the Bunnymen, my first concert of 2022.

Scrabo Country Park

Scrabo Country Park Photo Album

Cliftonville v Linfield

Linfield v Glentoran

Cregagh Glen/Lisnabreeny Hill

Cregagh Glen/Lisnabreeny Hill Photo Album

Cavehill

Cavehill Photo Album

Crusaders v Linfield

Linfield v Larne

Linfield v Coleraine

Linfield v Coleraine Photo Album

Echo and the Bunnymen live at Custom Hosue Square

Echo and the Bunnymen live at Custom House Square Photo Album

2022 IN PICTURES – FEBRUARY

February was all about football, taking in four Linfield matches, two of which were against Larne.

The other two were against Glentoran and Portadown.

Larne v Linfield

Linfield v Larne

Glentoran v Linfield

Linfield v Portadown

2022 IN PICTURES – JANUARY

2022 began with a trip to Dungannon on New Year’s Day to see Linfield win 6-1 at Stangmore Park.

On the Bank Holiday Monday that followed, I could have had a lie-in, but I decided to head up Cavehill instead.

I then visited a new football stadium for the first time, very exciting, going to see Harland and Wolff Welders take on Annagh United at Blanchflower Park, which had opened a few months earlier, this was my first chance to visit this ground.

The rest of the month, was Linfield matches, against Larne, Ballymena United, Glenavon, Cliftonville and Coleraine.

Dungannon Swifts v Linfield

Cavehill

Cavehill Photo Album

Harland and Wolff Welders v Annagh United

Harland and Wolff Welders v Annagh United Photo Album

Larne v Linfield

Linfield v Ballymena United

Linfield v Glenavon

Cliftonville v Linfield

Coleraine v Linfield