Revisiting a Favourite Place - and Embracing the Weather

Each year, as summer draws to a close, I feel a strong urge to travel to the West Coast of Ireland.

This region is not only stunningly beautiful but also filled with cherished memories for me.

I don't visit the area as a photographer, as my photography skills wouldn't adequately capture the breathtaking landscapes here. However, I do come as someone who appreciates the beauty and enjoys photographing life along the Wild Atlantic Way.

The Wild Atlantic Way, at over 2600km in length, is considered to be one of the longest coastal routes in the world www.thewildatlanticway.com.

The driving, cycling and walking route stretches along the west coast of Ireland and is divided into 14 stages. Although I have visited most of the stages at some time, I tend to return most often to the Donegal Bay/Sligo area as I have short term access to a beautiful seaside home overlooking the wild Atlantic.

The house is situated in the small coastal village of Mullaghmore, Co. Sligo, a location that boasts a thriving harbour incorporating a historic 19^th century stone pier. The harbour serves as a popular base for sea angling, deep-sea fishing, sailing, diving and organised trips to nearby Inishmurray Island. Many tourists also visit the area for its magnificent clifftop drive providing stunning views over the Atlantic Ocean.

On the week of my visit the weather was very unsettled with mostly grey skies, drizzle alternating with persistent rain and a brisk wind, so getting any kind of decent images was particularly challenging. I used the time to experiment with some wide-angle photography on duller days, while also trying to take advantage of whatever good light there was on the rare occasions when the sun shone.

I did manage to get some images from the week. The images that worked best were not the regular type of landscape images – spectacular coastal vistas with dramatic waves. They were quieter, often overlooked, subjects.

They were detailed aspects of wider scenes.

They were examples of good contrast or interesting colour combinations.

They were quiet, everyday scenes that exist regardless of the flat, dull weather conditions.

They were the scenes that didn’t call out to be photographed but that had the potential to make compelling images.

The real challenge was to embrace the inclement weather and find something to photograph when nothing interesting was happening.

I was happy to accept the challenge and face the weather conditions that came my way.

There were no glorious sunrises or sunsets and no golden light highlighting my subjects.

However, the overcast, dreary conditions forced me to slow down, to think differently, to look more closely at what was around me and to find quieter, less obvious subjects that weren't shouting for attention.

I hope you like some of the images.