Belfast – Page 3

May 12, 2015May 12, 2015

Belfast Marathon

Belfast Marathon is held on May Day and is always popular with about 17,500 people taking part and many more turning out to offer support. The event started at the City Hall and ended at Ormeau Park. The official charity for 2015 was marie Curie cancer Care.

The winner was Joel Kositany 02:19:36 and the female winner was Berhan Gebrehmichael 02:40:57. I have the utmost respect for anyone taking part in a marathon because I get tired driving 26 miles in a car!

Unfortunately I wasn’t at the start or finish, but I’ve included some photographs from the route. There are a few more on my Photoshelter site Belfast Marathon 2015. If you’re in one of the photographs and you want a copy contact me and I’ll send you a low res version. This is on the understanding that it is for personal use only.

Click on an image to enlarge.

March 28, 2015

Titanic Building

The Titanic Signature Building is built at the top of the slipways where Titanic and her sister ships were launched and has become the place to visit in Titanic Quarter or indeed Belfast.

I have photographed the building in daylight as have thousands of other people but on a recent clear evening on my way home from the city I took some photographs. The area is reasonably well lit, but to complicate the issue, with different types of lighting. This is why the area in front of the building is tinted yellow while the building itself isn’t. Our eyes and brain adjust this without us even being aware of it but the camera doesn’t. I could fix it in post processing but I’m reluctant to do it with images such as these and so I’ve left them just as the camera saw them.

Click on an image to enlarge.

March 9, 2015

Killing time

Recently I had some time to kill while my wife was shopping in Belfast city centre. On these occasions I usually bring my little Sony RX100. This easily fits in a coat pocket and I use the time to take some images of Belfast for stock as well as for possible printing but mostly on days such as this I like to take photographs for myself.

All cities are the same in presenting endless opportunities for interesting photographs. In street photography I find the difficulty is seeing these opportunities forming and being ready to record them at the optimum moment rather than realising when the moment has passed that you’ve missed it and should have seen it coming as it was obvious with hindsight. Hat off to the guys that do it. Sometimes I try my hand at it and I enjoy it but I rarely get it right.

I came across this in Lower garfield Street outside Aether and Echo, the bar and restaurant. It was unexpected so I took a quick photograph. I can remember the time in belfast when sights such as this were unthinkable with the city streets deserted after 6.00pm. Unfortunately there are always bins in Lower garfield Street which don’t add much to photographs like this but bins often make images suitable for stock.

Garfield Street, Belfast — Garfield Street

When you take time to look for these signs you begin to realise how many famous people have been born, lived or worked in Belfast.

Banks are often in the news so I like to have photographs of them on file.

I knew there was something different about James Street South restaurant this so I took a photograph. It was only later that I realised that the sign itself had been changed.

February 1, 2015February 1, 2015

Reflections

The windows in Post office building in Tomb Street, Belfast are reflective and depending on the time of day and the light can present scope for interesting images. Sometimes when viewed from the Lagan Weir footbridge the shipyard cranes, Samson and Goliath, are reflected in the glass, although this also depends on the position of the cranes as well as the time of day and light.

The first image below shows the Custom House and the building known as The Boat reflected in the glass. I spent some time changing position and angles but couldn’t get it quite right. This image was about the best, made that bit more interesting by the people walking by. Shortly after this photograph I realised how cold it was in the shadows of surrounding buildings and went for a walk to warm up

Click on an image to enlarge.

It was fortunate that I didn’t plan photographs from the Lagan Weir Footbridge as it was closed. I think I read that it was being replaced by a newer, better, bigger five million pound bridge.

I used to take photographs of The Big Fish every time I walked past. I don’t do this any more but decided I would do it today. I’m always tempted to clone out those distracting lamps behind it but I never have.

Belfast street signs have the name of the quarter they are in along with the quarter symbol. Some are now a bit battered and when I see a good one I photograph it. Should I have cloned out the plastic fork and cigarette butt?

January 21, 2015January 21, 2015

January Belfast

This photograph is of Donegall Place, Belfast on a dull, rainy January afternoon. Before Christmas this area was bustling with shoppers.

Retailers say that January is usually a quiet month as people recover financially from the Christmas spendfest and this image would tend to support that theory. The cold wet weather hardly helps.

Click on the image to enlarge.