The Divis and Black mountains offer Panoramic city and mountain views all from a wildlife-rich landscape. The summit offers stunning views of the Belfast city skyline right around to Slieve Croob and the Mourne Mountains It’s an interesting challenge to identify some of the iconic buildings and structures from the elevation.
The walking trails follow a range of stone track, boardwalks and even through the heath. There are a number of well signposted trials so the area has something for every level of walker.
The park contains the peaks of Divis Mountain, Black Mountain, Mount Gilbert and Armstrongs Hill. On a clear day, there are views of Strangford Lough, Scrabo tower and Carrickfergus. The Mournes , Slieve Croob and Sperrin hills are also visible.
The image below includes, Harland and Wolff, the Titanic museum and Belfast city centre. You may need to zoom in to see the city detail.
24mm wide angle lens
It’s been a few months since I ventured out with a camera. The 24mm f1.4 is a versatile lens but it wasn’t the best choice for shooting the Belfast city skyline from a distance. The 70-200mm would have been better for reach and compression but the weight was an effort too far. The f/1.4 offers a really shallow depth of field, this can create a stunning bokeh but it’s lost without foreground detail.
Lens Choice is a Challenge
Having too many options can be a bad thing. My first ever camera was a film camera with a single 50mm lens. There was as simplicity of a single focal length that meant all that was left was capturing a scene creatively. The 24mm lens is too wide especially when capturing the concepts of size, scale and space. It was essential to add something to the foreground for there to be even the chance of something interesting.
Processing : Lightroom Preset
I created a number of Lightroom Presets for these images. The Lightroom presets offer a softer, more film like feel to the images with adjustments to light, black and colour render. I might make them available if there is interest.
If you haven’t ventured up Divis and Black Mountain it is well worth the visit for the view of Belfast alone.
Links
Divis and Black Mountain
Lightroom Presets
Photography eBooks
Northern Ireland Photographs
