A bit of a longer blog post this time, so grab yourself a cuppa and settle down … ok, since I rediscovered film photo 5 years ago, it’s been a little goal of mine to photograph the iconic Giant’s Causeway. So this year myself and my wife took a few days off and headed up to Northern Ireland.
After a quick investigation, it became clear that the beautiful costal town of Ballycastle would be an ideal base, for us to work our way out-and-back to all the sights – Giants Causeway, Kinbane Castle, Ballintoy Harbour (Game of Thrones fame), Dunserverick Castle, and Cushendun Caves. In addition, we decided to spend a day visiting the historic city of Derry, steeped in history.
From a photography perspective, I decided to keep things simple, by using my little Canon EOS 300V (with a 24-85mm zoom lens) and bringing a few rolls of FujiColor C200 film. That would cover situations where I couldn’t physically back up, and needed a wide 24mm, while also being good for locations where I couldn’t get any closer.
Cliffs and Castles
The drive along the Causeway coast is simply beautiful – around every bend in the road (B15 and B147) we encountered breath-taking sights. These ranged from rugged headlands, to small coves, hidden dips, beautiful vantage points, and more surprisingly, a lot of old castles!
From a photography perspective, I had to be very mindful of exposure compensation, as seascapes changed often, sometimes featuring bright grey jutting edifices topped with scraggy tufts of grass, to dark sombre monoliths sliding into the north Atlantic Ocean. Leaving my EOS 300V film camera on ‘auto’ was not going to be an option 😉
I have to say that the views at Dunserverick Castle were amazing, and I’m glad we explored beyond the usual vantage point, and rambled down the trail into the middle of the castle ruins, to really appreciate the scale.
Star Of The Show
After getting a good handle of the roads & terrain, it looked like day #3 was going to be the best chance of visiting The Giant’s Causeway … as rain was to occur on the days either side.
This UNESCO world heritage site, is known for its 40,000+ hexagonal shaped columns, formed over 50 million years ago by volcanic activity. It’s also steeped in local folklore of giants building a pathway between Ireland and Scotland, and the rivalry between them, so it’s a must-see!
That all said, have a closer look at my film photograph below … look very carefully … what do you see?
Hopefully you noticed a few things …
- The iconic hexagon shape rocks are wet and filled with water …
- People are hastily holding coats over their heads, like something unexpected happened …
- Everybody is wearing rain coats, the type that are light and easy to put on in a hurry …
As soon as we got down to the Giant’s Causeway itself, a torrent of rain fell … it quite literally poured out of the heavens. The rocks became absolutely treacherous to walk back on, especially the darker rocks, which were super-slippy. People were scattering all around us, but in slow motion, so they didn’t fall.
I got 2 x film photos, that was it – one landscape and one portrait … and counted my lucky stars that myself and my wife escaped without any broken limbs. Definitely the most memorable visit ever! 😂
Fly Your Kite
On one of the days we decided to hit the road and visit Portstewart & Coleraine, and by luck we stumbled upon a super-sized kite event at Castlerock Beach, never in my life have I seen such a fantastic assortment of kites, of such enormity!
As you can imagine, it was a lot of fun grabbing photos while simultaneously enjoying the spectacle.
A happy benefit of this route, was that Mussenden Temple was not too far away, and we enjoyed a ramble along the beach, with its towering library of 1785 looking down at us from the cliff face.
I know the sky is a bit grey & lifeless, but as an interesting side note, I ended up painting this particular Mussenden scene in watercolours later in the year, when I attended an advanced water colour course in Kilkenny.
Cute Coves & Cottages
A great thing about having Ballycastle as the pivot point for day excursions is that there’s so much choice. We were able to visit the very picturesque villages of Cushendall and Cushendun, while also making a trip back up to Ballintoy Harbour (of Games Of Thrones fame) with it’s Giant’s Causeway type rock formations within easy reach.
On the winding road out of Ballintoy, there’s a beautiful white church, which made for a lovely impromptu backdrop when I stopped the car to photograph some farming activity occurring on the green patchwork quilt of land in front of it. It was a tough image to get right, with me switching my Canon EOS 300V from aperture priority, to manual mode to slot in the best aperture & shutter speed.
Looking at the image now, it always amazes me how much detail FujiColor C200 is able to capture: my humble 3000px wide scan (from my good friends at PrintPoint in Limerick) reveals that the little grey farmhouse immediately to the left of the white church has 3 windows on the upper floor, and a large blue door on the ground floor. For “consumer” film used on a “consumer” camera, using a “consumer” zoom lens, this is seriously impressive!
Historic Derry
To round out what was already an amazing and eye-opening excursion with a few rolls film, we made an exciting day trip to Derry city. This is the second largest city in Northern Ireland, famous for it’s intact city walls that were built between 1613 and 1619, which played a crucial role in a 105 day siege that took place back in 1689.
A ramble through Derry city, along these massive walls (sometimes 8m / 26 feet wide) is absolutely fascinating – the city is a melting pot of different architectural eras, with 20+ large canons dotted along the route.
BTW: the amount of cafes and varied, delicious food on offer was excellent, and this proved to be a highlight.
Epilogue
As you can gather from the sights & experiences above, our “wee” (a local phrase for ‘small’) excursion along the Causeway Route and beyond was simply fantastic. This part of the island of Ireland quite literally has something for everyone, and I can’t recommend it enough … and that’s even before you bring along a camera🤩
Until my next blog, keep shooting film ! Paul
