Amazing light doesn’t happen that often, however when it does, it helps to be on location, ready with your camera to take the shot, and on this occasion not only was I on location, I was at a stunning location on the Coast of Clare, Ireland, full of incredible rock formations, like a sweet shot of compositions perhaps?

Originally I was planning on heading to Donegal for a few days of photography and was aiming to meet up with some good friends to share the adventure, craic and locations, however last minute these plans were cancelled so I needed a plan B. Plan B on this occasion was going to be the incredible area of the Clare Coast. I needed a couple of images more to complete my location guide, plus where better to write about the places, than right in the middle of them, so I packed my van, took enough food for a few days and hit the road.

I planned to start at the top and work my way back down, this was I was getting closer to base with each spot I visited, and the first location on my list was Black Head, which sits right on the Atlantic edge of the Burren National Park. The Burren is a location that features in my guide and I already had images from there, so as I passed through, taking in the stunning views around every corner, I could see an amazing storm cell in the distance. My immediate thoughts were whether it going to be in the right position for my destination, A small lone lighthouse on the edge of Ireland, aptly named Black Head Lighthouse.

As I drove along the stunning road, with the Atlantic to my right and the Burren to my left, my excitement grew and grew, the storm cell was dark and foreboding, all I needed now was to find parking. After what seemed like an age I finally found a parking spot, and it couldn’t have been more convenient. it was right at the access gate to the lighthouse, meaning I wouldn’t have any long walk/hike to get into the position. Arriving it seems just in time I was able to quickly set up my camera and fire off a few shots before the cloud moved off inland and out of my composition. What followed after this was incredible.

It’s a well-known theory in landscape photography that the best light comes after rain, however, for me the best light came after the cloud cell moved on and the sun broke through. To the north, the sky remained dark, and moody and looked like it was going to dump gallons of rain in an instant, so I positioned myself as quickly as I could to capture some stunning shots of this bright white lighthouse with the dark sky behind.

Even as I reviewed the images on the back of my camera, I knew they were going to be special, and was excited even that this early stage to take a look at them on my computer, however, the day wasn’t done yet, there was another surprise or two waiting for me.

It’s not often I ask for the sun to go behind clouds, however, today was one of those days, as I had spotted a composition earlier which would favour no direct light, as I would be shooting directly into the sun. The terrain of the Burren is quite unique, limestone rocks, scarred with incredible lines and shapes, each one different to the next. I had spotted a V-shaped formation which worked well with the lighthouse, I needed the sun to be hidden to allow me to expose the shot correctly, however, in the end, I got something better.

There were no clouds now, so I opted to try and use the lighthouse itself as the blocker, and placed my camera down low to the ground, which was thankfully in the shadow of the lighthouse, as I composed my shot, I could see the sunlight coming right through the top of the lighthouse and directly through the revolving light, so quickly I changed to f16, to get a Sunstar in the shot, and right as it crested the edge of the light I fired off the shot. BOOM I had the Sunstar captured

After both great light opportunities, I was on a high and as the evening drew to a close I would have been happy with what I had already photographed, however, the day wasn’t done yet, and the sun would make another brief appearance with some light rays and would also shine its light off in the distance, so quickly swapping to my telephoto lens I was able to grab one last shot, before turning my attention back to the imminent sunset.

A promising gap in the horizon became the next time focus, and as I watched with trepidation, I could see a slight blush of red, before the handbrake of most landscape photographers’ fun arrived. A bank of dark clouds on the western horizon, and swallowed up all the chances of a final push of light and rather than call it a day, I popped on my 10-stop filter and went for a 3-minute exposure to try and capture the cloud movement

That was it, we were done, however, It didn’t matter, I was already after getting some of the best light I’ve had in a long time and couldn’t wait to see the shots.

You can see the images I managed to capture in the gallery below or watch the adventure on the Youtube video from Sunday at 5 pm