2nd June
Some aerial photography
yesterday morning looking at the coastline just to the north east of Ronaldsway
Airport, at Santon Gorge and Port Soldrick. The use of the word 'Port'
is not in it's modern sense and just shows somewhere that boats could be
launched from a beach. The place name ending 'ick' also shows that
a landing area has Norse origins. Flying in the vicinity of the airport
was conducted while the airport was closed under agreed procedures with
the IOM CAA and Air Traffic Control. More details are in the May
2020 section. DJI Phantom 4 Pro 1/6/20
3rd June
Another visit to the
Wildlife Park yesterday morning. The park is now open every day,
but with visitor numbers limited. However it's easy to book an arrival
slot online via the Wildlife
Park Website. The Mangrove Cafe is open and I can confirm that
their Mangrove Burgers are delicious! Nikon D7100 2/6/20
7th June
After the recent calm
and very warm weather, it changed dramatically overnight from Tuesday to
Wednesday with rain and strong winds hitting the island. These pictures
were taken from my windows on Tuesday morning and evening. Panasonic
TZ72 & TZ200 3/6/20
Yesterday afternoon
the winds had started to calm down and I went for a walk in Tholt-y-Will
plantation, visiting two Tholtans within the plantation and one just outside.
it. I don't think that I chose the best part of the island to walk
in though, as I was almost in the clouds while the sun seemed to be shining
elsewhere!
Panasonic TZ200 6/6/20
9th June
Some lovely wild flowers
growing on a vacant plot of land at White Hoe, Douglas, photographed yesterday
afternoon. Panasonic TZ200 8/6/20
13th June
Some pictures taken
on a visit to The Sound yesterday afternoon. Rather dull and it started
raining when we arrived there, but some nice flowers to
brighten things up a
bit. Panasonic TZ200 12/6/20
15th June
A bit of aerial photography
at the Derby Castle end of Douglas Promenade where the new Douglas Bay
Horse Tramway building has been completed and handed over, although with
no trams at the present. It's a replica of the second Horse Tramway
building, before the second story was added.
DJI Spark 14/6/20
Isle of Man Desktop
Backgrounds!
There's a big new section
now in Island Images - Aerial Desktop Backgrounds. It's a project
I started working on quite a while back, just for my own use on the computer
I use for photo and webpage editing but when I returned to it recently
I though why not share? I've started by working with the aerial pictures
I took in 2017 and so far I've gone from January to August. You can
just browse through the pictures which are larger than usual and give a
good impression of the island through the seasons, but if you want to try
one as a background for your computer screen click on the 'Save' button
and it will give you a 1920x1080 picture that you can set as a Desktop
Background. Full information is on the webpage and it may well not
work if you screen is a different resolution.
Island
Images Aerial Desktop Backgrounds - 2017
The pictures below are
just thumbnail examples and aren't linked, use the link above to go to
the index page
16th June
Some more aerial photography
from Sunday, this time taken at Port Wallberry on a walk along the Marine
Drive. DJI Spark 14/6/20
17th June
A first post lock down
meal out with a visit to Milntown House,
strolling around the colourful gardens before a lovely lunch in the cafe
there.
Panasonic TZ200 16/6/20
18th June
A celebration of the
wild orchids currently blooming in the meadows of the Close Sartfield nature
reserve in Ballaugh Curragh.
Pictures taken on Tuesday
afternoon. Panasonic TZ200 16/6/20
19th June
A rather dull afternoon
yesterday, all of the first set of pictures here are 'HDR' renditions from
five original exposure bracketed shots taken of the same scene, then combined
on the computer. I regularly use this technique to avoid burned out
skies and bright buildings, but aim to produce a natural colour final image.
With most of these however, I've gone for a more dramatic finish.
Locations are Laxey and Ramsey. Panasonic TZ200 18/6/20
The following flower
pictures were just shot as single images.
Desktop Background
Update
I've just finished uploaded
the final 15 Aerial Desktop Backgrounds, making a total of 80 available,
all from 2017
Island
Images Aerial Desktop Backgrounds - 2017
The pictures below are
just thumbnail examples and aren't linked, use the link above to go to
the index page
22nd June
Not really the sort
of weather you either expect or hope for in the middle of June, strong
winds, low cloud and heavy rain from time to time! Anyway, some pictures
take on a visit to Niarbyl this afternoon. Nikon D7100 22/6/20
23rd June - More
Desktop Backgrounds!
Following on from the
Aerial Desktop backgrounds recently uploaded, I though that I would try
some of the islands Railways.
The first batch is of
40 backgrounds from photos taken between 1990 and 2005.
Isle
of Man Railway Desktop Backgrounds
The thumbnails are just
for illustrative purposes, use the link above them to go to the page.
25th June
A few pictures shot
at Douglas Harbour around mid-day yesterday in sunny and warm weather.
Panasonic TZ200 24/6/20
26th June
Some aerial photography
from yesterday morning, initially in the Onchan Head and Harbour area.
For those not in the know, Onchan Harbour is another of the little bays
we have here where fishing boats were probably once pulled up onto the
stony beach. Later it was developed as a tourist attraction with
a road down to the beach and a little theatre on the sloped behind where
shows were put on for holidaymakers. Today the 'road' is a narrow
and overgrown pathway.
DJI Phantom 4 Pro
25/6/20
27th June
Some more aerial photographs
from a second mission on Thursday morning, this time centred on the Howstrake
area of the east coast,
between Onchan and Groudle.
DJI Phantom 4 Pro 25/6/20
28th June
I seemed to have had
a busy day photography wise on Thursday! After the two aerial photo
sessions in the morning, I took a walk in the afternoon from Mountain Box
across the hills to visit the tholtan of Ballamish, which is high up on
the eastern slopes of Sulby Glen, at around 750 ft above sea level.
I'd only been there once before, walking up the very steep slopes from
the glen, so I though I'd try the longer but hopefully easier route from
the Mountain Road. It wasn't quite as easy as I'd expected with a
lot of rough walking through knee high heather and ascents/descents of
over 800 ft according to the GPS. Ground and aerial pictures.
Panasonic TZ200 &
DJI Spark (2020 pictures). Panasonic FZ150 for the 2012 panorama
from Mount Karrin on the other side of the glen.
30th June
On Thursday night the
island was hit by thunderstorms, that started at around dusk and lasted
for several hours. These pictures were taken just before.
Panasonic TZ200 25/6/20
A visit to the Wildlife
Park on Friday afternoon. The park is now fully open and no bookings
are required.
Nikon D7100 26/6/20
As we were leaving the
Wildlife Park, we observed this interesting refraction effect from the
sun.
After a longish mainly
dry and warm spell, we had a lot of rain over the last few days so I set
out yesterday to have a look at a few waterfalls.
Nikon D7100 29/6/20
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