April 2020
Welcome to a new month
in Island Images and a new direction for the page. While restrictions
on movements are in place due to the Covid-19 virus, I'm unable to get
out and about as much as I would like to take new pictures. Therefore
my plan is to search back through my photo archives from 2000 to 2019 and
provide a selection of older but re-edited pictures most days on the site.
I hope you enjoy them and than
normal service can be resumed as soon as possible.
1st April
Today's selection all
comes from April 2003. Camera used then was a Fuji Finepix 4900
    
    
2nd April
I had been thinking
of going back to the year 2000 for today's offering, but then I was reminded
by Facebook that seven years ago today I posted some pictures of a snowfall
affecting the west coast of the island on the 1st April. Pictures
taken from Peel Hill with a Panasonic FZ150 1/4/13.
    
3rd April
For today's offering
I have gone back to April 2000, the year I bought my first digital camera
capable of reasonable resolution. It was a Fuji MX1700 Zoom and produced
pictures 1280 x 1024 pixels, hardly wonderful by today's standards, but
adequate for producing web sized images and that was really where the present
Island Images website started from. I think I was still in 'film
mode' and didn't take too many pictures - storage cards were also expensive!
    
4th April
Today's April comes
from 2007, when on the first of the month it appears that I took a stroll
around Laxey on a sunny morning. Starting at the beach and walking
up to the north cape and down to the harbour breakwater before heading
back via 'new' Laxey.
I was using my first
DSLR camera, a Nikon D70 and also experimenting with pictures for stitching
panoramas.
    
    
 
Bonus picture!
I had been thinking of including some of my early aerial photography, but
looking at my logbooks and digital pictures, it seems that I only took
the camera up with me on one April flight and most of the (few) pictures
are a rather poor quality, so not enough for a whole selection.
This is about the best
one, taken from Piper Archer G-BUMP, passing Ramsey heading north in 2001.
Camera was a Fuji Finepix 4900 Zoom.
5th April
A wider selection of
pictures today, taken at various locations around the island during April
2009.
Camera was a Nikon D80,
with one picture (the first sunset) using a Fuji Finepix S7000
    
    
6th April
Today's selection of
pictures come from April 2011. Cameras used vary from the Nikon P100,
a 'bridge' camera that I never really liked that much, to the Nikon D80
DSLR, with the last one by a Panasonic TZ10 compact camera. I was
very impressed by the TZ10 and I'm now on my third incarnation of the breed!
    
  
7th April
Today's picture were
all taken on the same day in 2013, the 8th of April. We were taking
a good friend from the USA around to various locations. Sharon had
been to the island in the past and this time was visiting with her sister
Mary. Sharon has been a supporter of Island Images for many years
now and has painted many island scenes, often based on my photographs!
For a long time I had a gallery of her pictures on the website but in common
with a few other sections is was removed for re-working some years ago.
Unfortunately it seems that I didn't ever get around to doing the work,
but I've reinstated it now, with a few minor modifications to update it.
I'm afraid that you can't navigate directly between the pictures at the
moment.
Camera used for the
pictures below was the Panasonic FZ150 bridge camera.
    
   
A few pictures from
Sharon's Gallery
    
8th April
Going back to April
2001 today. Again, as in many of my earlier 'digital' years, not
a huge selection to choose from so they come from various locations around
the island. I notice that I had moved on from the rather limited
MX-1700 with its 1.5Mp resolution, to a Fuji 4900 Zoom with 2.4 Mb and
a six times zoom!
    
    
9th April
When I was approaching
retirement from Air Traffic Control in 2014, I became aware of radio controlled
'Drones' that could carry a camera, and thought that one would extend my
island photo taking abilities. So after considering the options and
studying the Air Navigation Order to find out the legal position of aerial
operations, in November 2014 I became the proud owner of a DJI Phantom
2 Vision +. It was a fairly steep learning curve but by April 2015
when these pictures were taken I had clocked up around ten hours of flying
experience and was starting to understand how to both fly the aircraft
and take pictures!
    
    
As a result of producing
these early aerial pictures of the island in Island Images, I was approached
by Loaghtan Books in mid 2016
with a view to producing a small soft back book of Isle of Man Aerial pictures.
After researching the legal aspects (I didn't then have a commercial flying
permission) we went ahead and after considering various potential titles
'Mann
with Altitude' was published in October 2016. Copies are still
available from Loaghtan and
other booksellers.
10th April
Today should have seen
the start of the 2020 'Rush Hour on the Railways' event, the first special
event of the season on the island's railways. In common with many
such events around the world, this year's has been cancelled, so I thought
that for today's photo archive offering I would give you some pictures
from the first day of the 2015 'Rush Hour'. There are more pictures
including subsequent days Here.
Camera used was a Nikon
D7100, which is still my main DSLR.
    
    
11th April
Going back to a more
general selection of pictures for today, taken in April 2005. Reviewing
these older photos, it seems that I often stopped to take pictures on my
journeys to and from work, more often on the way home when I didn't have
the time constraints of getting in for a shift start!
Camera for these shots
was a Fuji Finepix S7000
    
    
Having mentioned that
I often took pictures on the way to or from work I thought I'd include
a couple of pictures taken in the 'office' at Ronaldsway, my work home
from 1990 until we moved to the new control tower in 2010. I think
these desks were some of the nicest I ever used. Modern ones such
as in the new tower tend to remind me of telephone call centres!
The building dated from 1944 although the visual control room was more
modern, installed in 1960.
 
12th April - Easter
Sunday
I'm not a religious
person, but I do like some of the architecture and history associated with
religious buildings. So as it's Easter Sunday in the western Christian
calendar, I present a selection of churches and religious sites from around
the island. The pictures are taken from 2001 right up to last month
but, unlike the other selections, are taken at various time of the year.
    
    
    
13th April
A small general picture
selection today, this time from April 2010. I had just bought my
first Pansonic compact camera, a TZ10 and most of the pictures here were
taken with that, although the first one is with the Nikon D80 DSLR.
    
    
14th April
In 2014 on the 1st of
April I set out for a walk in the hills from Mountain Box, initially over
the moorland then droppnig down into Glen Auldyn.
Camera used for these
pictures was a Panasonic FZ72 'bridge camera'.
    
    
15th April
Going back to the start
of April 2004 for today's pictures. The second five are all at Douglas
inner harbour before the marina was constructed there.
Camera used was a Fuji
Finepx S602 Zoom.
    
    
16th April
A visit to Port St Mary
on the 1st of April 2006. A bit of a cloudy day, but with a very
high tide. Camera used was a Nikon D70 DSLR.
    
17th April
Today's picture selection
comes from 2012, when I took a walk from the Brandywell Road to the summit
of Beinn-y-Phott, then across to Carraghan.
Camera used was the
Panasonic FZ150 'bridge camera'
    
    
   
18th April
Today I've gone back
ten years from yesterday's selection, to 2002. One of the problems
I've found when compiling these collections is that we often seemed to
make trips off the island in April, in this year we visited relations in
Scotland and two locations in England, so not so many IOM pictures to choose
from!
Camera used was a Fuji
Finepix 4900 Zoom.
    
Cashtal-yn-Ard (Castle
of the Heights) is an ancient Neolithic burial site in the hills above
Port Cornaa. It was constructed around 2000BC as a chambered cairn
although only the lower supporting stones are still in place. It
is a beautiful location with great views in all directions.
   
 
19th April
On this day in 2008
I set out to see if it was possible to walk right around Sulby Reservoir.
It was, but for most of the distance there is no defined footpath, so you
are walking across rough moorland and finding you own way. Also the
reservoir has four distinct 'arms' with deep gullies where rivers feed
into it, so you need to find ways of crossing them. The sheep generally
know, so following sheep tracks often works! Camera was a Nikon D80
DSLR.
    
    
    
20th April
One of the advantages
of working shifts at an airport control tower is that you get to see some
amazing sunrises and sunsets while at work. I haven't been in that
position for well over five years now and certainly don't miss getting
out of bed at a silly time for an 06:00 start at Ronaldsway, but here is
a short set of pictures I took in April 2014. Camera was a Panasonic
FZ72 'bridge camera'. The aircraft pictures are from different dates.
   
 
21st April
Today's picture selection
was taken on a visit to Ramsey in April 2013. Camera used was a Panasonic
FZ150.
    
   
22nd April
Just five pictures this
morning, from April 2008. I had left work after an 'early go' afternoon
shift and was surprised to see a steam train at Ballasalla station heading
towards Douglas. I'm presuming that it had been a photographic 'special'
and managed to catch up with it a few times on the way back.
Camera was a Nikon D80
DSLR
    
23rd April
As I've mentioned before,
we often seemed to do trips away from the island during April, should in
fact be away right now. 2018 was no exception, being away in Lanzarote,
Canary Islands, for the majority of the month. However we were just
back in time for these aerial pictures at The Bungalow.
Camera platform used
was a DJI Spark.
    
  
24th April
For today's pictures
I have taken the year 2015 and all the pictures in this April selection
are based on Douglas Bay and the Head.
    
   
25th April
Today pictures come
from April 2003 and have a theme - Beaches. Camera was a Fuji Finepix
4900 Zoom.
  
    
   
26th April
A walk in a glen this
morning! Tholt-y-Will Glen, to be precise, back in April 2001.
At that time there were extensive footpaths around the glen, with lots
of bridges over the Sulby River and contributory streams, but a few years
later a big storm caused lots of damage to plantations in the area and
the paths in the northern section of the glen have never reopened.
Camera was a Fuji Finepx 4900 Zoom.
    
    
27th April
A bit of an indulgence
for today's pictures - it's aeroplane day! The intention had
been to put up twenty pictures, one for each April from 2000 until 2019,
but it was scuppered when I realised that due to travels I didn't have
any IOM April aircraft for the last few years! So instead I've doubled
up and selected two pictures from the first four years and ended in 2015.
There are lots more aircraft pictures from the 1990s onwards in Island
Images Aircraft.
    
    
    
    
28th April
A nice walk for today,
pictures were taken back in April 2009. Starting from the beach at
Port Cornaa and walking up through the woodlands to Ballaglass Glen, past
the old 'Bellite' explosives works. Camera was the Nikon D80 DSLR.
    
    
29th April
Another beach visit
for today, this time in 2009 to Lady Port, a small beach on the west coast
between Peel and Kirkmichael. Not the easiest to get down to with
a steep climb of around 300 ft down and back up. It's also important
to know the tides here, as the southern part of the beach is cut off at
high tide.
Camera used was a Nikon
D80 DSLR.
    
    
30th April
So, it's the last day
of April and the end of my search for pictures from my photo archives.
At the start of the month I wasn't sure that I could manage it, but I've
put a new selection up on each day of the month, ending up with a record
310 new pages, just pipping last May's! With some of the restrictions
now lifted I'm able to go out for new pictures so from tomorrow I'll be
going back to up to date pictures, starting with some that I've already
taken this month but held over until the end of my 'retro month'.
For the last set of pictures let's take a trip up Snaefell on the Mountain
Railway in 2015. Camera was a Panasonic TZ60 compact.
    
   
  
FlyBe
Many of you will be
aware of the recent untimely demise of airline FlyBe, who had served the
Isle of Man for many years. As I'm typing this I should have been at Manchester
via one of their flights, although it would in fact have been cancelled
for other reasons. I have produced a gallery of pictures I've taken
of their operations at Ronaldsway, from Jersey European when I arrived
here in 1990, until the end of FlyBe operations last month. Despite
the grumbles we will indeed miss them and I feel most sorry for the airline
staff who seemed to have been badly let down over the last few years and
have now lost their jobs.
Jersey
European - British European - FlyBe - Virgin Connect(?) Gallery
     
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