It's not often that I share my Instagram shots on the photoblog here, but I'm quite pleased with the effect here. The stone face is above a doorway on Belfast's Ormeau Avenue. I thought it would be good to take the shot from below looking up. After I took the shot, I used Instagram's Inkwell filter to make it monochrome and a touch of a tilt-shift effect to set the focus on the face in the center.

Named after its architect, Charles Lanyon, the Lanyon Building is the focal center of Queen's University.

Lanyon's work is scattered all over Northern Ireland. You travel to the North Coast, and the magnificent Glendun Viaduct is his work. As was the coast road round to Larne. Before that route opened up, that part of County Antrim was pretty remote and wild. Some say it still is.

The Palm House in Botanic Gardens was Lanyon's design. He was the man who planted 1,500 trees on the Frosses Road to build a road between Ballymoney and Ballymena.

This is the statue of Sir William Whitla that graces the side of the Whitla Hall at Queen's University of Belfast.

For me, Whitla's name is inextricably linked to Queen’s - Whitla Hall was the first place I went to when I was matriculating (I think), I’ve taken exams there, and it was where I eventually received my degree in 1999.

I bet if you’ve been to Queen’s, you’ve probably never paid much attention to Whitla. So, in the interests of research, here’s very thorough biography of the man.

Here's another shot taken down at the Thompson Graving Dock in Belfast. In this picture, we're looking back toward the city and one of the Harland and Wolff cranes towers over some of the modern office buildings that encircle the old dock.

Just like the last image, I desaturated most of the picture, leaving the yellow of the crane (later fixed up using levels). I created a new layer and painted down the reflection of the puddle using a soft brush and a rainbow of colours. There are other ways to achieve this, but I wanted to do it manually.

The Pump House at the Thompson Graving Dock in Belfast. The Titanic was built here almost a century ago, and the area - interestingly - has a mix of old ship building scenery around it, but with a growing number of modern office buildings surrounding it.

It think it's interesting to see the old industrial era of Belfast mixed in with the emerging technology and service businesses that are now starting to thrive in the city.