written by Abby Corrigan and Brian Bell
The first outing of the new club year began with a visit to Dundrum Bay and Seaforde Butterfly House. These two locations present a beautiful scenic offering, completely unique to one another - so they made a great combined choice for the group.
Attracting the Raw Photographic members to Dundrum Bay was an abandoned WW-II vessel, which rests freely in the quaint surroundings. Thought to have arrived in the bay following a storm, the boat has been part of the local scenery for over a decade. It’s decaying oak structure creates a cultured subject offering a mix of textures, colours and above all, a sense of mystery.
As we travelled towards the bay we spotted a fantastic opportunity to capture the Mourne mountains against the dry white sky and amidst some low wondering clouds - we chased the picture, but by the time most of us got set up the clouds had moved on. Luckily though, Eleish managed to capture with the lens the beauty that we saw with our eyes.
A little while later we arrived at Dundrum Bay and discovered that, due to health and safety reasons, the shipwreck was being prepped for removal and had been moved to the other side of the bay - the only way to it was via the metal ladders at the far side of the bay. This new information caused a bit of a stir, with some members tempted to trespass through the back garden of an unknown local - but don’t worry, we managed to pull them back! As the group created mémoires of the vessel in its last remaining month in the bay, in typical Northern Irish fashion the rain came on. As most of the group decided to call it quits, one of our members took advantage of the free space to bag the shot he wanted - good on you James!
Next stop of the day was Seaforde Gardens and Butterfly House, and before we dispersed with our cameras in hand, we stopped for lunch in the cafe - where they set up a mean curry flavour sausage roll. After lunch, we set off to the butterfly house where we were greeted with the owner. Interestingly, she told us that she buys in batches of chrysalis at 100 each week and that the butterfly house has approximately 200 butterflies at any one time. As we entered the enclosed home of fluttering wings, we found them a little reserved - the owner advised us later that a sunny day was best to capture their open wings, as the heat encourages them to rest with their wings open to absorb body heat. Most members worked hand held to capture their images, with Eleish opting for the tripod and, after around two hours of chasing butterflies, the group packed up on route back to Lisburn.
The day was enjoyed by all and the club adventurers excitedly shared their photos with the members that were unable to attend later that evening - check out their captures below.