Glens of Antrim and Glenariff

The forecast on Monday was for clear weather with some sunshine, one of the few days this month to be rain free! and since there had been so much rain the previous few days, I though it would be a good idea to go up to Glenariff forest to get some shots of the waterfalls in full flow.



The glens themselves sit in a massive valley carved out by a glacier some 10,000 years ago, providing s wonderfully dense and varied landscape containing forest, waterfalls and rivers. There were two waterfalls in particular that I wanted to photograph, Ess-na-Crub and Ess-na-Laragh.

The last time I was here it never crossed my mind to bring wellies so that I could get up close and personal with the waterfalls, so this time I cam prepared! However by the time I walked down into the valley towards Ess-na-Crub I soon realised that entering the river was completely out of the question. There had been so much rain the previous few days that the water volume coming over the falls had probably doubled in volume, raising the water level enormously and producing so much spray and mist that photography was out of the question.
It was quite a sight though and the heavy rain did have the advantage of making the many smaller and normally unnoticed waterfalls quite spectacular!



Ess-na-Laragh was also more spectacular than usual and again the water levels and spray were way higher than normal meaning that entering the river was again out of the question, although I did manage to get a few shots from the walkway.



If you have never been to the Glens of Antrim or Glenariff then I highly recommend that you do. It is one of the most outstanding areas of natural beauty in Northern Ireland and well worth a visit. you won't be disappointed!

Historical Belfast City

I've been living in Northern Ireland for nearly six years now and have worked quite a few of them in Belfast, although for some reason I've never actually taken any photos in or around this amazing city until now.



I guess it's because like most people who have something worth seeing right on their doorstep, they never actually get round to doing it because they can do it anytime they like! It was the same when I lived in Scotland. I was only a 40 mile drive from Loch Lommond but very rarely went there. Now that I'm living in Northern Ireland I wish I had made more of an effort to visit parts of Scotland like Loch Lommond when I was there.



Belfast is a city steeped in amazing history and one place that is really worth a visit is the titanic quarter, where the ill-fated titanic was built.(titanic dock and pump house shown above) This area is also home to the famous giant Harland and Wolff cranes which are fondly named "Samson and Goliath". These cranes dominate the skyline and can be seen from most parts of the city. Of course this area also still operates as a port today so some places are out of bounds to the general public and to photography as I found out when I tried to take some shots of the large operating cranes unloading the ships!



Now that I have been around the dock area its given me a taste to explore more of Belfast city, so if you have somewhere close by that you regularly think of visiting but never do, go and make a point of doing it and get out there now.