May 2020
Welcome to the May 2020
section of Island Images. After last month's 'retro' selections of
pictures, we are (to a degree) back to normal selections for May.
Some of the island travel restrictions have been lifted enabling me to
take some new pictures for the site. The first few sets will in fact
be catching up, as I started to take some new pictures towards the end
of April, but wanted to continue with the older pictures until the end
of the month.
Aerial Photography
within 5 Km of Ronaldsway Airport
I'm hoping to include
several selection of aerial photographs taken within this area, so a bit
of explanation as to how this is allowable. There is a 'Restriction
of Flying Order' prohibiting the flying of drones within 5 kilometres of
Ronaldsway Airport. To be permitted to fly within this area requires
a specific permission from the IOM Civil Aviation Authority and then co-ordination
with Air Traffic Control for individual flights. Also, for DJI (and
probably other) drones, there is 'Geofencing' incorporated in the aircraft
operating system that prevents the drone from flying close to an airport.
For this to be unlocked by DJI requires all the specific permissions to
be presented to the company who will then issue the unlocking code.
More information on IOM Drone flying from the CAA is
Here and from DJI Here
All the flights are
in fact conducted when the airport is closed, with procedures in place
in case the airport opened for Air Ambulance or other flights.
1st May
A walk in the hills
above Injebreck and the West Baldwin valley, reaching the summit of Colden
at just over 1,500 ft above sea level before descending back down to join
'Governor Loch's Road' for a short distance then dropping down through
the plantation back to Injebreck Reservoir.
Panasonic TZ200 21/4/20
A second selection for
today, this time aerial pictures in the area of St Luke's church, which
sits on the ridge between the east and west Baldwin Valleys.
DJI Phantom 4 Pro 23/4/20
2nd May
Some aerial photography
taken on two dates towards the end of April near to Ronaldsway. It
was the first time that I'd done any drone flying here since the 5 Km 'Drone
Exclusion Zone' was mandated around the IOM Airport, so various steps had
to be undertaken before I could fly. More information on this is
above.
DJI Phantom 4 Pro 24/4/20
& 27/4/20
St Michael's Isle (Fort
Island) and Derbyhaven Bay
Santon Gorge
3rd May
Pictures from a walk
along the beach at Jurby Head towards the end of last month. Panasonic
TZ200 27/4/20
5th May
Aerial photography in
the Derbyhaven Bay area. DJI Phantom 4 Pro 3/5/20
6th May
Continuing the aerial
pictures and moving a little to the west to take a look at Castletown,
starting and finishing with panoramas.
DJI Phantom 4
Pro 3/5/20
7th May
Some more aerial pictures
from areas difficult to operate in when Ronaldsway Airport is open.
These are in the Pooil Vaaish area, on the edge of Bay ny Carrickey, within
the 5 Km Restricted Zone and underneath the final approach track to runway
08. DJI Phantom 4 Pro 4/5/20
8th May
Final bit of catching
up for the moment with the aerial pictures shot close to Ronaldsway.
These one are taken around Scarlett, just to the west of Castletown.
DJI Phantom 4 Pro 4/5/20
9th May
Beach-scapes from the
Jurby Head area a few days ago. Panasonic TZ200 4/5/20
10th May
Some pictures taken
on a walk in the Injebreck area recently. Panasonic TZ200 6/5/20
Some 'catching up' pictures
from the last day of April. I wasn't originally going to upload them
here but I sent them to my friend Stewart and he liked them and thought
that I should include them. A visit to Ballaglass Glen, it rained
almost the whole time I was there! Nikon D7100 30/4/20
11th May
Some more aerial photography
in the Ronaldsway Airport Restricted Zone, flown under the conditions mentioned
above. This time a couple of flights around the southern end of the
Langness peninsula. DJI Phantom 4 Pro 9/5/20
12th May
Final set of aerial
pictures from Saturday morning's flights, this time going back for another
look at the Derbyhaven Bay area. DJI Phantom 4 Pro 9/5/20
14th May
Pictures from a walk
in the hills yesterday afternoon, starting and finishing at Windy Corner.
Panasonic TZ200 & DJI Spark 13/5/20
A picture taken from
my window on Saturday evening. Panasonic TZ200 9/5/20
15th May
Another hill walk yesterday
afternoon, starting from the outskirts of St John's and walking up through
Slieau Whallian plantation to the summit of the hill. It has been
many years since I last did this walk and I'd forgotten how steep it is,
climbing around 700 ft from where I'd parked until reaching the top of
the plantation. After that the going is a bit easier to the top of Slieau
Whallian itself, only another 250 ft to climb! The summit is around
1,200 ft above sea level with great views.
Panasonic TZ200 14/5/20
16th May
A couple of older pictures
from the start of the month that I just came across plus one of the moon
as it was rising early on Friday morning. The moon one isn't the
greatest but in my defence it was taken at 04:40 with a handheld compact
camera! Panasonic TZ200 3/5/20 & 15/5/20
17th May
Yesterday afternoon
we had a stroll along the Marine Drive, walking northwards from Keristal
before returning. Here's a selection of pictures taken on the walk,
as mentioned before my plant identification isn't great! Panasonic
TZ200 16/5/20
21st May
I was inspired to try
this series of pictures by my sister Margaret asking about good monochrome
subjects and I think that old churches and graveyards are ideal. These
were shot yesterday at Braddan Old Church as normal colour digital pictures,
the post edited in Corel Paint Shop Pro 2020, mostly desaturated using
the 'Channels' filter and then the 'Vignette' effect to soften the edges
to a greater or lesser extent. Panasonic TZ200 20/5/20
23rd May
Pictures from another
walk along the Marine Drive on Thursday afternoon, starting from Keristal
and going all the way to Douglas Head before returning, a distance of around
six and a half miles. Many thanks to Beryl Quayle for pointing out
some interesting wildlife that we would otherwise have missed, unfortunately
I'd only taken the compact camera which wasn't the best tool for the job
at times. Panasonic TZ200 21/5/20
25th May
This set of pictures
was taken on Saturday afternoon, on a walk along Glen Rushen from the village
of Glen Maye. Panasonic TZ200 23/5/20
27th May
Something slightly different
today, four aerial panoramas taken yesterday afternoon. I was following
the old course of the Manx Northern Railway's line from St John's to Ramsey
between Kirkmichael and the Wildlife Park at Ballaugh Curragh, stopping
at four locations to shoot the panoramas. DJI Spark 26/5/20
29th May
After doing the aerial
photography on Tuesday, I happened to pass by Ballaugh Old Church, which
was looking very nice in the afternoon sunshine so I stopped for a few
pictures. Panasonic TZ200 26/5/20
After taking the pictures
of Ballaugh Old Church I had to go to Peel, where I took a couple of pictures
from the headland.
30th May
Taking advatage of the
nice weather and Ronaldsway Airport being closed for several hours each
morning for some more aerial photography around the Castletown and Balasalla
areas on Thursday morning. DJI Phantom 4 Pro 28/5/20
31st May
Trying some wild bird
photography from the Marine Drive late Thursday afternoon. Some of
the pictures aren't wonderful, but I've had to do some cropping as I really
don't have a big enough telephoto lens! Nikon D7100 28/5/20
The Curraghs Wildlife
Park has been closed recently but we were very pleased to be invited to
a 'try out' day on Friday prior to their limited re-opening on the following
day. The park is now open again to members ony (but you can join
for a very reasonable annual fee) and entry 'slots' need to be booked onlinevia
the 'Eventbrite' website before visiting to spread out visitor numbers.
Click this
link for details. Panasonic TZ200 29/5/20
After visiting the Wildlife
Park in the morning, we went to a cuple of locations in the Ballaugh Curragh
wetlands area in the afternoon.
Nikon D7100 29/5/20
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