Twenty Five Years
of Island Images - February 2000 - 2024
    
    
    
    
    
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2/2/25
Yesterday (and today,
depending on your sources!) was the ancient Pagan
festival of Imbolc, which (in common with so many) was later 'Christianised'
into St Bridget's Day. It lies about mid way between the Winter Solstice
and Spring Equinox and celebrates the goddess Brigid, also the first signs
of spring and the start of the traditional lambing season for farmers.
I what has become a bit of a tradition for me, I visited Braddan Old Church,
to photograph the snowdrops flowering.
Panasonic FZ82 &
Insta360 Ace Pro 1/2/25
    
    
    
After my visit to the
Old Braddan Church, I headed west to a site with a connection to St Bridget,
the keeil located just to the north of the village of Crosby. The
keeil is one of more than 200 of these keeils on the island, dating from
before the 12th century and later superseded by churches big enough for
a congregation.
The keeil is located
in a farm field but access is permitted as son as there is no damage to
crops or livestock. I used the mini drone!
DJI Mini 4 Pro
1/2/25
   
5/2/25
A few days ago I finally
replaced my Galaxy A71 phone that I've been using for the past four years.
I'd specifically bought that one for its photographic capabilities but
for several reasons needed to replace it. There's a new Galaxy S25 Ultra
just about to be released, so I hunted around around and managed to find
a new S24, the current model at almost half price. I've yet to work
out exactly how the four (or maybe five!) lenses work as Samsung have tried
to make it transparent to the user, but on Monday afternoon I needed to
be in Douglas for an appointment so afterwards went out to Douglas Head
and the Marine Drive to test it. The S24 seems to combine using different
lenses with digital zoom seamlessly, so I'll try and add the (35 mm equivalent)
details to the pics, from the Exif data. This isn't a 'technical
review' of the cameras, as the pictures have had the usual website processing,
being resized, cropped and adjusted as required.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
3/2/25
    
    
    
    
    
6/2/25
Yesterday was a lovely
day, weather wise, and we drove down to The Sound Cafe for a very nice
lunch before have a stroll around later. I took the mini drone and
shot most of these pictures with it, the ground level ones were from my
phone.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
& DJI Mini 4 Pro 5/2/25
    
   
   
7/2/25
I normally try to avoid
boring you guys with pictures from the same location taken too close together,
but yesterday afternoon I was back at Whitestrand Beach and took a series
of phone pictures that I rather liked, so here's a selection!
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
6/2/25
    
    
   
8/2/25
After walking back to
the car from Whitestrand Beach, I was heading home via Peel, but thought
that the late afternoon light was looking good on the castle so stopped
for some aerial and ground level pictures.
DJI Mini 4 & Samsung
Galaxy S24 Ultra 6/2/25
    
    
10/2/25
I have two currently
active DJI drones for aerial photography and although I mainly use the
smaller Mini 4, I like to make sure to fly the larger Air 2S regularly
as well, both to keep it active and to keep 'current' on the different
software app I use to fly it with (Litchi). As I hadn't flown it
for a month I decided to take it out yesterday morning for a flight from
close to the ancient settlement at The Braaid. This is historically
a very important site as it shows the merging of two different cultures
on the island, the older Celtic one represented by the roundhouse and the
Norse invaders/settlers who preferred longhouses. The weather was
unfortunately not great for photography, being dull and overcast where
I was flying, and a lot of haze for more distant views.
DJI Air 2S 9/2/25
   
11/2/25
On Sunday afternoon
we had a trip out and headed north as that's where the better weather seemed
to be. We stopped at Maughold Church and had a wander around the
graveyard, where I always seem to find something new and interesting to
see. The current church dates back to around 1000 - 1100 AD although
has been much altered and modified over time, the last being in the early
1900s. The site was established as a monastery around 600 AD and
there are three ancient keeil sites still visible within the churchyard.
We were that late in the afternoon and the lighting from the low sun was
superb.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
9/2/25
    
    
    
  
We travelled home via
Ramsey and Sulby Glen and I had a quick stop in Ramsey to shoot these two
pictures at the South Beach. I still find it incredulous that our
government even entertained the idea that this lovely unspoiled beach could
be 'reclaimed' by a greedy developer to build expensive houses and a marina.
Any sensible government
would just have said no, the beach belongs to the people and is not available
for money making private enterprises.
 
12/2/25
I've added an new item
to the 2025 Index Page. It's a table of the months of the year and
the link takes you to the newest 'full' set of that month's pictures.
So 'January' takes you to Jan 2025, but the following months take you to
the relevant month in 2024, with the exception of April, which takes you
to 2022.
13/2/25
This set of photographs
was totally unplanned! I was going to be taking Georgie down to town
late afternoon (after dark) and had considered going on to the power station
to try some night photos there with the new phone camera. However,
after I dropped her off I managed to get in the wrong lane and ended up
by the Sea Terminal and decided on a change of venue for the pictures,
concentrating on the harbour area and the corner of Douglas nearby.
To say that I was impressed with the camera performance would be an understatement,
I'm amazed! The pics have hardly any editing, some cropping, straightening
and a bit of perspective correction on a few of the building ones is about
all I've done post shooting. Taken using the 'Night' mode, some braced
on handy structures, others just hand held.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
12/2/25
    
    
    
    
   
16/2/25
I should really have
uploaded these pictures yesterday, but only came across them this morning!
We had been down to Douglas for some shopping, but I took advantage to
get these pictures of a very high tide and rough seas from a safe location
close to the Sea Terminal. There has been a lot of comment here over
the winter about the 'Manxman' not being able to sail in bad conditions,
but on the day it managed with no problems!
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
14/2/25
   
The weather recently
has been cold, dull and grey, with poor visibility and not very encouraging
for photography. However yesterday morning my good friend and fellow
photographer Peter Killey informed me that there were blue skies and sunshine
where he was in Ballaugh, so after lunch I headed through the murk over
the hills to that area. I arrived just in time to catch the last
of the sun and managed to get a couple of drone flights in, the first in
the area of the Killane River and then heading onwards to Jurby Airfield.
Looking at the map there seemed to be some interesting open water areas
by the river and I hoped to capture them.
DJI Mini 4 Pro 15/2/25
   
After the Killane River
aerial photographs I headed the short distance northwards to Jurby Airfield,
hoping for two flights from different areas around the airfield.
It was constructed in the late 1930s as a training base for bomber crews
in the build up of the RAF to combat the rise of fascism in Nazi Germany.
The airfield remained in military use into the 1950s and then came into
use as a diversion airfield when Ronaldsway was 'fogged out' in the south.
The last time it had any extensive aviation use was in the early 2000s,
when a series of air shows were organized there. It is now almost
exclusively devoted to motor sports events. One think to be aware of when
flying here is the 'Drone Exclusion Zone' around the prison and I was pleased
to see the DJI software come up with a warning.
DJI Mini 4 Pro 15/2/25
  
 
17/2/25
During my first flight
at Jurby Airfield, the sun had vanished behind cloud and the low haze seemed
to be intensifying, so I abandoned the idea of a second flight and headed
instead to the nearby Jurby Church, interesting in its own right but with
lots more local history information on display inside.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
15/2/25
    
    
    
 
I've tried to reproduce
the aerial pictures displayed in the church, although I may not 100% spot
on as I don't have a record of the image numbers that I supplied to The
Friends of Jurby church for the prints. Taken on two days in July 2022,
I've added an extra one as it shows the three different churchyard areas.
DJI Mini 2 & Air
2S
   
18/2/25
On the way back home
from Jurby on Saturday I noticed an interesting looking tree at the side
of the road and stopped for a closer look on foot. I ended up wandering
around for a while, unfortunately Tholt-y-Will Glen is closed due to damaged
trees from the storm last month and the scenic northern section paths have
been closed for probably 20 years now following a similar storm, with the
damage never repaired. I presume that they have just been abandoned,
which is a shame as it's a lovely area, I must try exploring on another
day! Nearly all of these pictures were taken using the phone cameras
'Pro' mode, where apart from the fixed aperture on the cameras, you can
manually adjust most of the other settings. I still didn't get it
quite right, more practice needed!
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
15/2/25
    
    
    
19/2/25
We haven't seen any
sun for a few days now, with the skies overcast and a bitingly cold easterly
wind blowing, so it was a pleasant surprise to see it yesterday afternoon
from the car park as we left Tesco's by the Railway Station. I took
a quick picture and then stopped on the way home for a few from Port Jack.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
18/2/25
   
22/2/25
After a few days of
really poor weather, with rain, fog and gales, in the last two afternoons
things have improved and given some nice skies around sunset.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
20/2/25 & 21/2/25
 
23/2/25
After quite a spell
of poor weather, the forecast for yesterday showed a sunny day with relatively
light winds, so I was determined to get some photography in. My first
location was at Rushen Abbey, in the village of Ballasalla, which can present
its own problems for drone flying as it is very close to the airport, so
normally subject to ATC clearance. However, due to ongoing shortages
of trained air traffic controllers (since around 2020 at least) the airport
and air traffic control is closing at regular intervals during the day,
when the Controlled Airspace is disestablished. One such period at
present is between 11:00 and 11:35 so I planned my flight for this time.
I arrived in plenty of time so took a stroll along the the Monks Bridge,
a packhorse bridge dating from the 12th Century. The abbey was founded
in 1134 with the Abbey Church being finished by 1257. It was destroyed
in the 16th Century by King Henry VIII, who also confiscated the abbeys
wealth.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
& DJI Mini 4 Pro 22/2/25
    
    
  
After leaving Ballasalla,
I had planned to stop for another aerial shoot, over the Plains of Heaven
from the top of Lherghy Cripperty. The term 'Plains of Heaven' refers
to the central valley of the island with the hills rising beyond and supposedly
inspired painter John Martin for his work
displayed in the Tate Gallery. However, when I arrived there
it was much too windy at that exposed spot for flying a mini drone, so
I had to be content with ground level photography.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
22/2/25
   
24/2/25
Wanting to make the
most of the sunny day and relatively light winds, on Saturday afternoon
we drove over to Peel, mainly to view the 'Moon in the Cathedral' but we
also had a general stroll around the town and up the to headland.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
22/2/25
    
    
    
    
Back home in time to
catch the sunset!
26/2/25
With the weather being
nice again yesterday, I took the opportunity for a trip out in the afternoon
and for a walk starting by St Sanctain's church in Santon parish. Interestingly,
on the 1870 Ordnance Survey map, the church is named as St Anne's - apparently
a clerical error! The present church dates from the 1700s although
the exact date varies between publications, Originally there would have
been a keeil on the site, extended and rebuilt several time over the years.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
25/2/25
    
    
    
    
28/2/25
Yesterday morning the
conditions came right for some aerial photography of Castletown.
What I was wanting was a sunny morning, light winds and a high tide to
fill the harbour, and these all needed to be in the 'window' of 11:00 to
11:35 when the airport and ATC were closed! (and associated airspace disestablished).
The airport and airspace
closure times are published, but I also confirm that they are closed by
radio.
DJI Mini 4 Pro
27/2/25
    
   
1/3/25
Quite a big selection
for the last posting of February pictures and just like the ones I took
at Castletown in the morning, the afternoon pictures were also tide dependant!
For Castletown I needed a high tide to fill the harbour, but in the afternoon
I wanted to walk through the caves at Lhiannag that are totally submerged
at high tides. The path down to the beach has been deteriorating
for some time and there is one location where a small landslip has almost
severed it, although it's possible to get past if you're reasonably athletic!
I used the phone camera for ground level pictures but also took the drone
for some aerial shots. Met two lovely boys on the way!
Just to reiterate, it's
very dangerous to walk through the caves without a full understanding of
the tide times as the beach at the far end becomes totally cut off.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
& DJI Mini 4 Pro 27/2/25
    
    
    
Some aerial photography
with the mini drone.
    
    
After the flying there
was time for a leisurely mooch around on the beach, looking at some of
the amazing pebbles that you find by the sea.
    
    
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