First Blog Attempt! Snowy Antrim Coast
13th January 2011
Hey folks, dunno how many will read this but hopefully there will be a few. It's been a crazy Christmas weather wise and I tried to get out as often as possible to capture shots of the Artic conditions. Lisa and I spent the weekend before Christmas on the North Antrim coast at our favourite spot, Portballintrae. Our drive up involved following a snow plough around Ballymena before being abandoned by the plough around Cloughmills. Strangely the further north we went the less snow we encountered and as we passed through Bushmills it was more like a heavy frost. However as we settled down to watch Home Alone on Friday evening the weather closed in and we has 6inches of the stuff by morning. We headed down to the beach to snap a few shots before heading to the pub for a pint of Guinness and watch the rugby.
Barbed wire wrapped around a post by the shoreline in Portballintrae. Image was shot with a Nikon D200 with a 50mm prime lens. f/1.8, Iso 100, 1/1250s.
To keep the animals under control the fence goes the whole way to the low tide mark. The still weather and blue skies made for an interesting shot. Image was shot with a Nikon D200 with a 50mm prime lens. f/1.8, Iso 100, 1/1500s.
I decided I was up for the challenge of driving down the Antrim Coast road on the Sunday rather than the boring inland route. The follow photos were taken on the journey home.
The first stop on the skating rink home was at Whitepark Bay. I had a go at taking panoramic images for the first time and found Photoshop CS3 excellent at stitching the image together. Images were shot with a Nikon D200 with a 18-105mm lens. f/3.5, Iso 100, 1/640s.
Just around the corner from Whitepark Bay is the scenic seaside village of Ballintoy. This is a very common shot of the church above the harbour with Rathlin Island in the background. I have taken the shot before in the height of the summer but the weather and light gave the scene a whole new atmosphere. Image was shot with a Nikon D200 with a 18-105mm lens. f/5.3, Iso 100, 1/250s.
Through the seaside resort of Ballycastle and up into the Antrim Plateau. This shot was taken at the top of Cushleake Mountain, the highest point the road reaches before it winds down into the Glens of Antrim. We were lucky as we passed to see the sunlight burst out from behind a cloud. The snow, light and terrain painted the pictures, all we had to do was try to capture it! Image was shot with a Nikon D200 with a 18-105mm lens. f/3.8, Iso 100, 1/1000s.
The Antrim Coast road finally reaches the coast at Cushendall. This small town nestles in red bay at the heart of the glens. On the drive south out of the town sits Red Bay Castle, we got caught in another snow storm here. Image was shot with a Nikon D200 with a 18-105mm lens. f/4, Iso 100, 1/60s.
Image was shot with a Nikon D200 with a 18-105mm lens. f/4.5, Iso 100, 1/80s.
Finally as we approached home I decided to go for one more challenge and brave the Glenoe waterfall. This little village hadn't seen a gritter all weekend and our brave little Ford Ka skipped through the snow to reach this scenic spot. Getting out again was a lot tougher! Image was shot with a Nikon D200 with a 18-105mm lens. f/18, Iso 100, 0.5s.
SO that was our little adventure. I got lots more shots over Christmas around the Carrickfergus and Newtownabbey area but we didn't again venture so far from home during the icey spell. Will add the new images soon!
Barbed wire wrapped around a post by the shoreline in Portballintrae. Image was shot with a Nikon D200 with a 50mm prime lens. f/1.8, Iso 100, 1/1250s.
To keep the animals under control the fence goes the whole way to the low tide mark. The still weather and blue skies made for an interesting shot. Image was shot with a Nikon D200 with a 50mm prime lens. f/1.8, Iso 100, 1/1500s.
I decided I was up for the challenge of driving down the Antrim Coast road on the Sunday rather than the boring inland route. The follow photos were taken on the journey home.
The first stop on the skating rink home was at Whitepark Bay. I had a go at taking panoramic images for the first time and found Photoshop CS3 excellent at stitching the image together. Images were shot with a Nikon D200 with a 18-105mm lens. f/3.5, Iso 100, 1/640s.
Just around the corner from Whitepark Bay is the scenic seaside village of Ballintoy. This is a very common shot of the church above the harbour with Rathlin Island in the background. I have taken the shot before in the height of the summer but the weather and light gave the scene a whole new atmosphere. Image was shot with a Nikon D200 with a 18-105mm lens. f/5.3, Iso 100, 1/250s.
Through the seaside resort of Ballycastle and up into the Antrim Plateau. This shot was taken at the top of Cushleake Mountain, the highest point the road reaches before it winds down into the Glens of Antrim. We were lucky as we passed to see the sunlight burst out from behind a cloud. The snow, light and terrain painted the pictures, all we had to do was try to capture it! Image was shot with a Nikon D200 with a 18-105mm lens. f/3.8, Iso 100, 1/1000s.
The Antrim Coast road finally reaches the coast at Cushendall. This small town nestles in red bay at the heart of the glens. On the drive south out of the town sits Red Bay Castle, we got caught in another snow storm here. Image was shot with a Nikon D200 with a 18-105mm lens. f/4, Iso 100, 1/60s.
Image was shot with a Nikon D200 with a 18-105mm lens. f/4.5, Iso 100, 1/80s.
Finally as we approached home I decided to go for one more challenge and brave the Glenoe waterfall. This little village hadn't seen a gritter all weekend and our brave little Ford Ka skipped through the snow to reach this scenic spot. Getting out again was a lot tougher! Image was shot with a Nikon D200 with a 18-105mm lens. f/18, Iso 100, 0.5s.
SO that was our little adventure. I got lots more shots over Christmas around the Carrickfergus and Newtownabbey area but we didn't again venture so far from home during the icey spell. Will add the new images soon!