1/1/25
A happy New Year to
all Island Images visitors, I hope that you will stay with me for some
more pictures in 2025!
In celebration of the
25 years of the website in it's current form, another selection covering
the full 25 years, this time from January.
Twenty Five Years
of Island Images - January 2000 - 2024
    
    
    
    
    
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2/1/25
A New Year's Day trip
down to the pretty village of Cregneash for a wander around in the afternoon.
During the summer months it can be busy with visitors, as a lot of the
cottages form part of the folk museum there, but in winter it's just the
residents and occasional visitors. Despite plenty of gaps in the
clouds, the sun refused to show its face until the final (Mull Hill) aerial
panorama where it just appeared as it was setting. On the ground
I missed it as it was behind Mull Hill!
Insta360 Ace Pro &
DJI AIr 2S 1/1/25
    
    
Taking the drone into
the air for a few aerial shots of the village and a couple of panoramas.
    
 
3/1/25
After taking the Cregneash
pictures, I headed around to the other side of Mull Hill, hoping to get
some nice pictures of the stone circle on the hill with a low sun giving
some long shadows from the stones. Ala, the sun declined to play
ball and I ended up taking these in some rather dull and flat light conditions.
For the aerial shots I was using the DJI Air 2S with DJI's own 'Fly' program
for control, which for some reason unknown to me restricts the format that
is output when shooting 360 degree panoramas. You either get to use
the JPEG panorama that is stitched within the drone at time of shooting,
or you can opt to use the set of RAW format pictures stored separately.
Maybe I have the wrong processing equipment but I've always been somewhat
disappointed with the end results of pictures shot in RAW. In theory it
gives one greater control over the end product, but my practical experience
is that I spend ages producing a worse end result!
Insta360 Ace Pro &
DJI Air 2S 1/1/25
   
    
 
4/1/25
After a slightly unsatisfying
experience on New Years Day, flying the DJI Air 2S using DJI's own 'Fly'
software, I wanted to try another flight using the 3rd party 'Litchi' program
and on Thursday morning the weather was ideal. After completing the
web pages for Mull Hill I still had an hour or so left before lunchtime,
so I popped up to the Injebreck area for a couple of flights, mainly to
compare ease of shooting 360 degree panoramas, but of course also did some
other shots!
DJI Air 2S 2/1/25
    
    
360 degree interactive
panoramas
 
 
A stitched linear panorama
5/1/25
Yesterday afternoon
we had a little scenic drive out and I took the Mini 4 drone along with
the intention of shooting a couple of panoramas at Ramsey and Peel. As
it turned out, it was raining at Ramsey so we extended further north to
the Point of Ayre where I shot these pictures with superb visibility but
very cold. After that we headed onwards to Peel but it was too dark
to fly by the time we reached there!
DJI Mini 4 Pro 4/1/25
   
   
 
  
7/1/25
Over the weekend we
had quite a lot of snow showers on the island. By yesterday morning
it had all melted at lower levels but I set out to try and get some pictures
of it still laying on the hills, ending up going to three locations.
Panasonic FZ82 6/1/25
    
    
As I was in the Injebreck
area I thought that I'd pop along and have a look at the waterfall!
Insta360 Ace Pro 6/1/25
    
8/1/25
On Monday afternoon
I took a trip down to The Sound hoping for some sunset photographs.
There was a bitterly cold wind blowing and I didn't spend much time outside
the car! I had a quick visit up to the Mull Hill stone circle and
a stop at Fort Island on the way home.
Panasonic FZ82 6/1/25
   
    
9/1/25
Yesterday morning I
revisited the Injebreck area, mainly to re-shoot the panoramas I did on
the 2nd, but this time with snow on the hills.
DJI Air 2S 8/1/25
    
    
   
10/1/25
Whenever I drive through
St John's in the dusk or darkness, I always like the way that the church
and Tynwald Hill are illuminated, so I've been wondering for a while if
I could capture it from the air. Yesterday afternoon I actually managed
to get around to attempting it and I'm quite pleased with the results!
In the end I made two flights, as it wasn't really dark enough when I first
arrive. The temperature was around 0c so between the flights I retreated
to the car to warm up a bit!
DJI Mini 4 Pro 9/1/25
    
 
    
  
16/1/25
On Tuesday afternoon
I had a stroll down the Dhoon Glen. It's around 600 ft drop from the car
park at the top to the beach, in only just over half a mile as measured
on the map. You notice it more on the way back up, although I was
pleased to do the return climb in only 20 minutes, think I used to manage
15 in earlier years! The glen is home to one of the island's most
spectacular waterfalls, although it's impossible to see it all at the same
time from the footpath, so I took the mini drone with me for some aerial
shots. I did another flight from down at the beach where there is
a fascinating sea cave only exposed at low tide.
DJI Osmo Pocket 3 &
DJI Mini 4 Pro 14/1/24
    
    
 
    
    
    
   
17/1/25
On Wednesday we were
in Ramsey for some shopping and I shot these pictures walking along the
harbour quayside.
Insta360 Ace Pro
15/1/25
    
18/1/25
When I was shooting
the aerial shots at the Dhoon Glen on Tuesday I also shot a short video.
At least I though I had, but when I came to look for it there was no sign!
Turned out it was a stupid error on my part but I wanted to test it out,
so on Thursday afternoon I headed to the north of the island to visit the
mysterious English Civil War Fort near St Judes. Not much is know
about why the fort was constructed there in the 17th Century by the Royalist
then Lord of Man, John Stanley, before he left with his army to fight for
the King in England. It was surrendered to Parliamentarians in 1651.
A typical 'island weather' day, cloudy and dull to the south of the mountains,
but as soon as I started dropping down towards Ramsey I emerged into a
lovely sunny afternoon in the north!
DJI Mini 4 Pro 16/1/25
    
This is the short video
that I shot, really just as a test, but might be of interest. No
sound.
19/1/25
On my travels around
the north of the island on Thursday afternoon I was passing by Ballaugh
Old Church at The Cronk, and was taken by the lovely warm sunlight filtering
through the trees and illuminating the building. I had a short stop
and took these pictures.
Insta360 Ace Pro
16/1/25
    
Unfortunately the church
is now kept locked for most of the time, but I was able to take the following
interior pictures in July 2023.
  
20/1/25
We were really just
passing by on the way home, but I took advantage of the location for a
couple of shots of the 'Ben my Chree' berthed in Douglas Harbour.
She's just returned from a charter operation sailing between Heysham and
Dublin while the Port of Holyhead was closed after storm damage, but without
any regular work for the Steam Packet her future here must be in doubt
again. It would be lovely to keep her as a standby vessel but probably
uneconomical to do so.
Insta360 Ace Pro
18/1/25
 
21/1/25
When I had checked the
weather at the weekend, looking at the forecast for the week ahead, it
seemed unlikely that I was going to get any drone flying in for a least
a week, due to any combination of low cloud, rained and then strong winds.
However, the low cloud and drizzle of yesterday morning lifted as lunchtime
approached, the wind dropped to nothing and breaks appeared in the clouds.
I wondered about getting some reflections of the clouds on water and selected
the nearby reservoirs as a likely location. The Clypse and Kerrowdhoo
reservoirs were constructed in the 18th century to supply drinking water
to the expanding town of Douglas, The Clypse in 1876 and The Kerrowdhoo
in 1893. No longer required for drinking water they are now used for recreational
purposes.
DJI Mini 4 Pro 20/1/25
    
    
   
  
22/1/25
When I was doing the
shots at The Clypse, I'd noticed the low cloud over the hills to the north
and wondered if I could get any interesting views from up there.
My first chosen spot, the junction of the Mountain and Beinn-y-Phott roads
was in thick cloud, so I drove west towards Brandywell and found a clear
spot on the ridge by the sheep pens. Although the wind was just a
light breeze at ground level, the patches of low cloud were constantly
changing and most of my time was taken up manoeuvring the drone around
them, taking pictures as I went. Eventually I found a big enough gap to
shoot a panorama, which takes a few minutes.
DJI Mini 4 Pro 20/1/25
    
  
23/1/25
When I thought last
weekend that, based on the weather forecasts, I wasn't going to get any
drone flying for over a week, I couldn't have been more wrong in the end!
I've actually managed to fly on three days in succession, OK it hasn't
been that sunny and there's been a lot of low cloud on the hills, but winds
have remained light and there are plenty of opportunities for interesting
pictures around the island. These pictures are from day two, when I went
to Sulby Reservoir to see if I could find more reflections. In the
end, although it was dead calm when I arrived, a light breeze started which
ruffled the water a bit.
DJI Mini 4 Pro 21/1/25
    
    
  
24/1/25
Day three of the drone
flying weather and I decided to head off to The Sloc for some pictures.
I had a stop on the way at Cronk-ny-Arrey-Laa for some pictures, but it
stayed rather overcast and cloudy unfortunately.
DJI Mini 4 Pro 22/1/25
    
 
After the first flight
I continued down The Sloc, intending to fly from close to The Stacks there,
but the light didn't look good from the road so I continued onwards Port
ST Mary and ended up going up to Mull Hill again, as the sun had emerged
from behind the clouds with about half an hour to sunset.
DJI Mini 4 Pro 22/1/25
    
28/1/25
The weather here has
been unimpressive over the past few days, I think we have had two named
storms pass through, the first of which was violent enough to generate
a Red Warning from the government. Yesterday afternoon I thought
that it might improve a bit so set out with the hope of getting some nice
pictures of the sun breaking through the grey clouds in the south of the
island. I did manage a short stroll on Gansey Beach between the rain
showers but that was it, as after there I went to Port St mary and then
The Sound, but if anything the rain just got heavier and I admitted defeat
and headed home!
Nikon D7100 27/1/25
   
29/1/25
After the disappointment
of Monday's rained off trip out, the weather yesterday was much brighter
with lots of sunshine. I hadn't really planned to go out but after
lunch decided that a trip to the beach might be nice, so headed for Whitestrand,
north of Peel. It was quite cold with a strong breeze so my usual
preferred beach wear of shorts (less if appropriate!) was substituted by
lined trousers, sweatshirt and jacket - and I still felt cold at times!
I do love a stroll along a nice beach, I find it very restful and therapeutic
just taking in the sounds and smells of the sea and pottering about looking
at pebbles and rocks at the edge of the sea.
Panasonic FZ82 28/1/25
    
    
    
    
   
31/1/25
Yesterday was a great
day for some aerial photography with the drone, so I set out in the afternoon,
eventually flying from three different locations. The first one was
Cashtal yn Ard, an ancient burial site on a hilltop above Port Cornaa.
In archaeological terms it's a Neolithic Long Cairn and dates back to around
2,000 to 3,000 BC (sources differ!). The stones remaining are just
the 'bare bones' of the original cairn, which was much disturbed by investigations
in the 1800s (AD!).
The site is too complex
for me to adequately describe adequately, so if you want more information
try Culture Vannin's page
Here.
DJI Mini 4 Pro 30/1/25
    
    
 
Hall Caine Airport
The second flying location
was somewhere I'd wanted to photograph from the air fow quite a while now,
it was the Isle of Man's second airport! Most people these days just
think of Ronaldsway as the Isle of Man airport and indeed it was the first
to be licensed in 1934, the following year it's rival was also licensed.
Named Hall Caine Airport' it was situated on the Ramsey to St Jude's road.
Although the aiport initially prospered, having a very busy year in 1936
it closed in 1937 although it re-opened briefly as a relief landing ground
for RAF Jurby in 1939. More information in my 1930s
ATC History pages.
 
   
1/2/25
The third and final
flying site on Thursday afternoon was at the former RAF Bride, in fact
located just south of the Point of Ayre. It was a WW2 Chain Home
radar station, one of three located on the island, the other two being
at Scarlet and Dalby. Constructed late in 1940 and operational until the
end of the war in 1945 and later removed, there were still substantial
remains when Paul Francis surveyed the site in the early 2000s for Manx
National Heritage. Unfortunately it appears that I have visited several
years too late as most of this historic site has now been totally destroyed
by gravel workings.
DJI Mini 4 Pro
30/1/25
    
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