The Royal Black Institution in Comber 2011

Black Preceptories from Belfast held their annual demonstration in Comber Co Down this year and provided the opportunity for some event photography.  For this shoot I decided to station myself in Comber Square rather then move around the town or to visit the demonstration field.

All images were captured using a 70-200mm lens, so most of the shots are quite tight and fill the frame.  Only two of the images are cropped the rest are as shot.  The challenge was to look for character shots!  Please do feel free to leave critical feedback.

North Belfast Banner Parade

North Belfast Orange Hall organised a banner parade on Friday 19 August. It is an opportunity to show off banners to the local community. Around seven banners were paraded accompanied by two marching bands.

The weather was very overcast and with shortening day light hours the lighting conditions were not that great. However the following images were captured by using increased ISO setting and with the help of a flash unit.

Afterwards tea and sandwiches were available to all in the hall, where I noticed an unusual banner hanging in the stair well of the hall depicting HMS Belfast, currently moored in the River Thames, London. These old banners are often painted to a much higher standard than new banners.

An evening at Dan Winter's Cottage

This is our second visit to Dan Winter's Cottage, but on this occasion it was to photograph an evening with a private lodge, the Cross of Saint Patrick, who were quests of Hilda Winter for the evening.  Proceedings were quite informal and consisted of a tour of the cottage, an informal talk about the cottage and the area and a social evening with supper being served.

In May this year I visited to undertake a series of photographs to show what the interior of Dan Wanter's Cottage has to offer the visitor, on this occasion it was quite different in that the cottage came alive when it was filled with people.

Hilda Winter with Ivan Castles (Worshipful Master of the lodge) and Gordon Lucy (Chaplain)

Lodge members and friends

The second cottage in family ownership, sadly not open to the public.

Anne Smyth signing Orange Ballots

Hilda presenting a certificate marking our visit.

Florence Court, County Fermanagh

A day trip to Enniskillen to meet up with friends provided a good opportunity to visit Florence Court; the ancestral home of the Cole family for over 250 years. The successive Earls of Enniskillen maintained the property until 1954 when ownership passed from the family to the National Trust.

It is an ideal location for photography with the stately house, formal gardens, landscaped grounds and wooded walks. The following series of photographs merely provide a picture story of what was a very pleasant afternoon.

Markethill Lambeg Drumming

The last Friday of July marks the annual Lambeg drumming competition in the Co Armagh town of Markethill. Recently a friend of mine said that this competition is an experience that everyone should experience once in their life. With the shear noise levels I now understand why he said just once.

Through traffic in the town is stopped for the evening and crowds gather to view the spectacle. You will not see any other venue where there are so many Lambeg drums gathered together in one place, and all playing at the same time. Arriving at 6pm, I left by 8.30pm, my ears not being able to take any more!

The following images, I hope, will give an impression of how seriously the competitors take this event. For those interested in the technical details, I was using a D3 with on camera flash and a 24-70mm f2.8 lens.

The whole evening is very much taken up with old friends  catching up on news, tightening drum skins and entering into the playing area.  Judges listen carefully for the right tone and beat, although the casual onlooker would be unable to distinguish the difference.  However the local fish and chip shop did a roaring trade!