Back Behind the Camera – A Return to Achill Island

There are some photography trips that stay with you because of the conditions, others because of the photographs you bring home, and then there are those that simply remind you why you enjoy photography in the first place. This trip to Achill Island definitely falls into the last category.

It had been my first photography outing since April. Although I had still been producing a weekly YouTube video during that time, I hadn't actually gone out purely to photograph for myself. Like many photographers who create content online, it's easy to find yourself thinking about the next upload, the next thumbnail or the next deadline before you've even unpacked your camera.

Over the past few years I've often told people not to photograph for an algorithm or because they feel they have to post something online. Instead, I encourage photographers to get out with their camera because they genuinely want to. Ironically, that's advice I also needed to remind myself of.

This trip wasn't about producing a particular video or trying to satisfy a schedule. It was simply about getting back outdoors with the camera, meeting up with friends and seeing what happened.

Our destination was County Mayo, with the first stop being Achill Island. The last time I visited Achill was back in 2023, shortly after buying the campervan. I remember that trip for one reason above all else; it was absolutely freezing. Despite the cold, I had always wanted to return because the coastline offers so many opportunities for landscape photography.

This visit felt very different before we'd even arrived.

Ireland had just experienced several weeks of unusually warm weather. Day after day brought blue skies and almost no cloud cover. While plenty of people enjoyed the sunshine, photographers were probably looking forward to something else entirely. Flat blue skies don't always make for the most interesting landscape photographs, especially along the coast.

Thankfully, by the time this trip arrived, the weather had started to change. Clouds were beginning to move back in, bringing with them the possibility of softer light and a little more atmosphere.

After meeting up with Bernard and Milo, we made our way towards Achill's Atlantic Drive. If you've never visited this part of Ireland, it's well worth adding to your list. The drive follows part of the coastline and provides access to several viewpoints looking across the Atlantic. It's an area that rewards anyone willing to slow down and spend some time exploring.

Our goal for the evening was a group of sea stacks overlooking the coastline.

One thing I never like doing is arriving just before sunset. Giving yourself time at a location makes a huge difference. You can walk around, test different compositions and understand how the light is changing without feeling rushed. It's amazing how often your favourite composition ends up being completely different from the one you first spotted.

When we arrived, the sky was still fairly clear. A few years ago I might have been disappointed by that, but I've learned that dramatic skies aren't everything. Good light can come in many forms.

As the evening progressed, the low sun began to light the sea stacks beautifully. The warm side light picked out the texture in the cliffs and created enough contrast to separate each stack from the background. It wasn't an explosive sunset, but it didn't need to be.

I spent time working several compositions rather than settling on just one. Sometimes moving only a few metres changes the relationship between the foreground and background completely. It's something I always encourage photographers to try instead of finding one composition and standing there for an hour.

Eventually I sent the drone up.

The aerial perspective transformed the scene. Looking down from above revealed the shape of the coastline in a way that simply isn't possible from ground level. The sea stacks became part of a much larger landscape, surrounded by cliffs, waves and the Atlantic stretching into the distance.

Drone photography shouldn't replace traditional landscape photography, but it can certainly complement it. Sometimes it allows you to tell the story of a location in a completely different way.

As the light faded and we packed away the cameras, I realised something.

The best part of the evening wasn't the drone photographs or the images on the back of the camera.

It was how relaxed the entire experience had been.

There was no pressure to create a certain type of image because I thought people expected it. I wasn't constantly thinking about editing timelines or video performance. I was simply enjoying being outdoors with a camera again.

Ironically, I think that's when many photographers produce their best work.

When you're fully engaged with the landscape instead of worrying about what happens afterwards, you notice more. You take your time. You experiment. You become more patient with changing light and you stop trying to force photographs that aren't there.

It's a mindset I want to carry into more of my photography going forward.

Photography is meant to be enjoyable. Of course, many of us have businesses, clients, deadlines and commitments, and those things are important. But if every outing becomes another job, it's easy to lose sight of why we picked up the camera in the first place.

This evening on Achill Island reminded me of something very simple.

Some of the most rewarding photography happens when nobody is asking you to create it.

You're simply there because you want to be.

And sometimes, that's exactly what both you and your photography need.