Giant's Causeway



I finally got some film developed from a trip to Northern Ireland. We went to the Giant's Causeway which, geology fans, is part of the Thulean Plateau. Word is that it's going to sink soon, due to sea level rises caused by global warming, so get there quick if you want to see it and keep your feet dry.

Some hexagonal basaltic columns. Clearly man made, possibly by the Phoenicians.

As is standard at World Heritage sites, we spent the majority of our time in the gift shop and the queue for the bogs, and paid scant regard to the actual rocks. This is partly due to the fact that they were a) largely obscured by packs of rabid foreigners, who seemed intent on breaking pieces off, and b) it's a bloody long walk down the hill from the car park to the Causeway. There is a bus, but it's only for the weak - hence was rammed with jabbering Italians and wide-eyed Americans.

Bronach, giving the Causeway a glamorous edge.

The film I used was Velvia 50, which I would like to say publicly is a damn fine film. Sharp as razors and über vivid colours. And to my surprise, Peak Imaging have done a passable job of scanning it. It's not the best film for skin tones, making them a tad reddish, but selective editing with the GIMP makes a bit of a difference. The picture of Bronach above used the onboard flash of my EOS 5 to provide a bit of fill and underexpose the background. When I say it like that it almost sounds as if that's what I meant to do.

Immigrants battling their way into Europe. There was an armed standoff, but after a tense gunfight the interlopers were sent packing.


Apparently this bloke's idea of a hot date is to drag his girlfriend to some 65 million year old rocks and spend the whole time checking the football results on his phone.

Another close up. Ooh, hexagonal.

Not on the Giant's Causeway. A flower in Bronach's garden. An illustration of the awesome colours you get from Velvia.

Next time I'll show you another side of Northern Ireland; some war murals from Belfast. I bet you can't wait.