Over the Clouds
28th March 2009
The past weeks it seems I have been all over the place. From Wicklow to Carlow to Mayo and back to Clare. A selection of the images made are now in the New Images section. At times it started to feel like real work.
The weather was very kind to me, in fact at times it was too good. The days I spent in Mayo revisiting some beloved places can only be described as glorious. Light winds and not a cloud in the sky.
For landscape photography however it can't get any worse. Blue skies are a nightmare for me, I love the drama of cloud laden skies and the shafts of light fighting their way through. And Doolough beneath the threatening Mweelrea Mountains and Sheeffry Hills, bathed in sunshine under a blue sky, somehow doesn't really work. I made some images anyway and spent the rest of the day on a beach.
The most memorable moment of these past weeks happened one early morning halfway up Crough Patrick. When I started my ascent I didn't expect much. Fog and low clouds were hanging over Clew Bay and the sunrise I had hoped for did not happen.
However half way up Ireland's holy mountain sunlight struck my face. Turning around a one in a million view met my eyes. I had climbed above the fog and clouds and got my sunrise after all. Clew bay was hidden beneath a carpet of clouds and the summits of the Nephin Beg Range in the distance illuminated by the rising sun. These are the moments a landscape photographer lives for. Needless to say I didn't make it up Crough Patrick this morning. I stayed right where I stood, admiring the view, making pictures and being happy and thankful to be there.
The weather was very kind to me, in fact at times it was too good. The days I spent in Mayo revisiting some beloved places can only be described as glorious. Light winds and not a cloud in the sky.
For landscape photography however it can't get any worse. Blue skies are a nightmare for me, I love the drama of cloud laden skies and the shafts of light fighting their way through. And Doolough beneath the threatening Mweelrea Mountains and Sheeffry Hills, bathed in sunshine under a blue sky, somehow doesn't really work. I made some images anyway and spent the rest of the day on a beach.
The most memorable moment of these past weeks happened one early morning halfway up Crough Patrick. When I started my ascent I didn't expect much. Fog and low clouds were hanging over Clew Bay and the sunrise I had hoped for did not happen.
However half way up Ireland's holy mountain sunlight struck my face. Turning around a one in a million view met my eyes. I had climbed above the fog and clouds and got my sunrise after all. Clew bay was hidden beneath a carpet of clouds and the summits of the Nephin Beg Range in the distance illuminated by the rising sun. These are the moments a landscape photographer lives for. Needless to say I didn't make it up Crough Patrick this morning. I stayed right where I stood, admiring the view, making pictures and being happy and thankful to be there.
