In 2018, Translink introduced a new bus service using stylized articulated buses called Gliders.
The short version is that the Gliders are buses that look and sound like trams (complete with LUAS Citadis like ‘bong bong’ warning signals), but operate on the road.
While Kris and I were walking around Belfast last week, I made of number of photos of the stylish Gliders on the move through the city streets.
I have to admit, that while I’ve photographed the Gliders, I still haven’t traveled on one.
Kris and I walked around the corner from the Europa Hotel in Belfast to make these views looking down from Durham Street on to the NI Railways platforms at Great Victoria Street Station.
This shows the station in transition. The new Belfast Transportation Hub is under construction in the background. See:
Exposed with a 24-70mm Nikkor zoom lens set at 70mm.Exposed with a 24-70mm Nikkor zoom lens.For this photo I used an adpater to attach my vintage manual focus, Nikkor f2.5 105mm prime lens to my Nikon Z6 mirrorless digital camera. This classic lens offers a lightweight telephoot travel option. It can be used on both my film and digital Nikons. Although focusing manually takes practice, the lens is extremely sharp and works well on the Z6 body.
Last week Kris and I visited Titanic Belfast. This museum tells the story of Belfast, its role in ship building, and the most famous ship built there—the ill-fated Titanic.
The musuem is housed in an unusual-shaped purpose-built building.
I made a variety of photos of the building and its stories.
Five years ago, photographers Stephen Hirsch, Denis McCabe and I visited the cliffs at Downhill, Co. Derry in Northern Ireland to photograph NI Railways running along the beach.
These cliffs offer one of the most spectacular views of the railway in Ireland.
I made this image using my FujiFilm XT1.
This morning, I interpreted the Fuji camera RAW file using Adobe Lightroom for presentation here.
NI Railways had a minimalist presence in Derry, Northern Ireland when I visited there on 5 April 2002.
The railway station consisted of a 1960s-era bus shelter style building and a single platform serving two tracks, situated flush with the River Foyle.
I made these photos while boarding an NIR 80-class railcar bound for Belfast.
My camera was a rugged Contax G2 Rangefinder fitted with 45mm Zeiss Planar lens and loaded with Kodak Tri-X black & white film. I used a red filter to alter the black & white tonality and boost contrast.
For me the film’s contrast and stark spring lighting was well-suited to the minimalist railway infrastructure.
