Nature as you probably already know is incredible, it can constantly surprise us and as much as we would like to think it is predictable, it still surprises us daily. Today I was in the right place at the right time to experience one of the best few hours of the year so far.
Read MoreAs a seascape photographer, I love nothing more than to immerse myself in a coastline and see what wonders from the deep emerge. The motion of the water, the uniqueness of every wave and of course the sounds, smells and feelings that the sea produces are some of the things that keep me coming back for more.
Today however I was going to be heading to a beach and not once getting even remotely near the water, instead, I would venture less than 50 meters from the dunes and have my camera pointing down for 99% of the shoot. What would make me do this?
Read MoreAmazing 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?
Read MoreThe ocean has for many years been a strong draw for me, its the changing conditions, the rawness of the coastline and the uniqueness of each wave that brings me back time after time, Today was different however as I was going to be visiting a beach with very little wave action, no coastline other than the clear beach and conditions that Ive not photographed before and looked like they wouldn’t be changing much
Read MoreI was back once again to the same location I was at the night before, however this time the conditions didn’t resemble the conditions I had previously, the sky was dark and foreboding, the waves were crashing strongly on the beach, the rocks I had photographed the evening before being gently lapped by the waves, were now in the middle of a bombardment of powerful waves, so, of course, these had to once again be my subjects for photographs.
Read MoreSwitching now to portrait orientation, I placed these rocks on the right of the frame, the left side would be left clear for an incoming wave to arrive and fill it with its movement, both inwards and again as it flowed out. it was at this time, unbeknown to me, that my technology decided to fail me, My wireless microphone stopped, which meant I now had no audio for my video. As I spoke so elegantly and fluidly, I had no idea that all of this was now going to be lost, nonetheless, I was here for photography after all, and I was glad I was, the scene was getting better and better as time went on.
Read MoreHave you ever experienced this? A Sunday afternoon, you wanted to head somewhere for photography but couldn’t decide where to go, even though you knew you had many options available?
Read MoreAfter being almost frozen solid on the cliffs in Achill, myself and Diarmuid decided that we would hit the road, come back inland and visit a location that he hadn’t been to before, Pine Island which sits on Derryclare Lough, in the heart of Connemara. Travelling in the dark towards our location I let Diarmuid lead the way, he had sat nav after all, so what could go wrong?
Read MoreSleep that evening was a strange one, I had wrapped up well for the imminently chilling conditions, however, I woke a number of times during the night, not because of the cold directly, but instead because I was too warm. I didn’t want to remove the layers I had on as it was in fact very cold outside, -5 is what my phone told me and the thermometer in the van was reading 0 degrees, best stay as warm as I could I decided.
Read MoreAwaking at 6 am it was clear that we need not rush to wake up, we had thick clouds all around and there was no chance of light breaking through onto this incredible beach below. From our vantage point, we could see far off into the distance also; unfortunately, this wasn’t going to reveal any gaps in the cloud either. A late start was the plan now, so we cooked off breakfast with an incredible view, had a warm cuppa and chilled out.
Read MoreThis was my first time ever visiting this location and immediately upon arrival, I knew that it was going to be a special place to photograph.
Arriving at the new car park and parking up the van myself and Dave started the walk along the path that runs through one of the oldest woods in Ireland, Tomies wood has some of the finest specimens of ancient oak, and each of them is full of character and of course many stories no doubt
Read MoreTime for me to head off on my next trip in my van and one of the big advantages that I now have is to be able to head away somewhere the night before, scope out a location based on the conditions and then settle down for the evening. Previously it meant that I would have to go to bed early, set my alarm for the middle of the night or very early morning at best and head off down the road, taking of course the travel time into account before arriving at my destination and ultimately racing against time before the sun would pop up to greet the day. Additionally, with this method, I would have to contend with the conditions that presented themselves to me upon arrival. As we all know weather apps can be great at predicting conditions, however, they can only do just that, predict. and more often than not checking an app the night before doesn’t always match what happens in reality.
Read MoreWithin days of getting my van I was itching to head off on my first adventure, I had been planning an EPIC road trip with Diarmuid, however unfortunately last minute he couldn’t go, so rather than stay put I decided to go on a mini adventure of my own and headed off down the road East to a location that always delivers in terms of photography. The Copper Coast in Waterford.
Read MoreI’ve got a van, yes my very own camper van, which I feel is going really help my photography opportunities and also of course shots and content for you.
Read MoreWaterfall photography can be very rewarding however there is something that I recommend you try that will blow your mind! It’s normally a pretty straightforward task of putting on the wide angle lens and capturing the bigger scene however by sticking only to your telephoto lens you can capture many scenes within the scene. This approach will catapult your photography skills and ability to find more intimate compositions not only for this shoot but also for many others!
Read MoreIt’s my first trip out of 2023 and what an adventure is In-store. Myself and Diarmuid are in Co.Clare and while we were expecting some rough conditions what we got was like something out of a movie !! The wind, waves & light in this episode are fantastic and I do my best to take you on the adventure with me all the while battling tonnes of sea spray and what felt like 60 mph winds !! Strap yourself in, this is a wild one
Read MoreEach year I like to take a look back and see what I have learned or more so what it has taught me, and 2022 was no different to previous years in that it taught me loads. It’s always a good idea to close out each year as it kind of act’s like an envelope of sorts and seals all the memories into
Read MoreAs we began our final day of this trip we were all filled with excitement heading to photograph one of the icons of icons the dark hedges. Now it may not have been a seascape location however it certainly was a location that was personally on my list to photograph having first seen an image of this many years ago by a photographer Peter Cox as one of the images he featured in his calendar, I had want to visit here right from that moment, firstly to experience it and secondly to get my own shot of it.
Read MoreWe pick up the story now in the late morning, Richard Watson has arrived to join the shenanigans and we are off for more exploring and adventure. Richard is a local photographer who I was luckily to have as a guest on my podcast in 2022 ( The Irish Photography Podcast ) to discuss a multi year project that he had created called Mourne. Richard had given himself a goal during covid to go up to the Mourne mountains many times during all types of weather and conditions to create a fantastic time-lapse compilation of this stunning mountain range as it changed through each season, He went there in the snow, camped overnight, lost a few tents along the way due to the strong winds and in the end came back with what can only be described as a masterpiece and a fabulous snippet of time well spent chasing the light and conditions. I will link to his work below but for now let’s continue with the story.
Read MoreAccording to legend, the columns are the remains of a causeway built by a giant. The story goes that the Irish giant Fionn mac Cumhaill (Finn MacCool), from the Fenian Cycle of Gaelic mythology, was challenged to a fight by the Scottish giant Benandonner. Fionn accepted the challenge and built the causeway across the North Channel so that the two could meet. In one version of the story, Fionn defeats Benandonner. In another, Fionn hides from Benandonner when he realises that his foe is much bigger than he is. Fionn's wife, Sadhbh, disguises Fionn as a baby and tucks him in a cradle. When Benandonner sees the size of the "baby", he reckons that its father, Fionn, must be a giant among giants. He flees back to Scotland in fright, destroying the causeway behind him so that Fionn would be unable to chase him down.Across the sea, there are identical basalt columns (a part of the same ancient lava flow) at Fingal's Cave on the Scottish isle of Staffa, and it is possible that the story was influenced by this.
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