Nocturnes

An Searrach (The Foal) is a sea stack just outside Dingle Harbour. Visible from the Conor Pass, I'd been meaning to find a good vantage point for it since I first saw it some years ago. Just recently while returning from business in Dingle town shortly after sunset, and in miserable weather I found this spot. Made with a long lens over 30 seconds, I believe it captures the mood of the scene very well.

A lone figure lights the way to the monastery on the peak of Skellig Michael on a calm night.

Being mainly famous for its 6th century monastery, the dramatic island of Skellig Michael also boasts two lighthouses built in 1830. This image was made of the lower lighthouse from the road to the upper (which was discontinued and abandoned in 1870).
Made shortly after moonrise, the image shows the light in its new guise. Just a couple of weeks before this image was made, the old fresnel lantern was decommissioned and a modern LED lantern mounted on the balcony. In a large print, this new light can be seen illuminated. It has great advantages in cost of operation, but unfortunately means that the rest of the lighthouse complex is surplus to requirements and will be closed up. The end of an era, but on this trip I was fortunate enough to enjoy the hospitality of the lighthouse for possibly the last time ever.
This is one of my favourite images of recent times. I love the line of the road leading down to the light, and even more the evidence of nature's relentless assault in the cracked and damaged walls, and the overgrown road itself.

We don't get much in the way of thunderstorms in Ireland, and when one does arrive it's usually pretty mild. On this evening, however, I experienced a storm that seemed stronger than anything I'd encountered while living for 10 years in the American mid-west.
Once things calmed down enough to permit photography, I grabbed the camera and this is the result. I love the dark tones and the way the lightning has lit the underside of the clouds.

Night photography is one of my favourite pursuits. This image, made about thirty minutes after sunset looks out over the Glantrasna Valley on the Kerry side of the Beara peninsula.
I made a couple of photographs here, but something was missing. So I waited until a car was about to come into view and then started this two minute exposure. The resulting light trail of its headlights follows the curve of the road and links the left and right sides of this image.

This view of Tory Island Lighthouse was made late in the evening, some time after sunset.
It was a hazy evening and I noticed that the beam of light from the lantern was very well defined as it swept across the island. I put on my headlamp, grabbed the camera and tripod and walked out halfway to the lighthouse, where I could get an uninterrupted view of it.
This is the composition I decided upon, a relatively wide view of the scene, and a long exposure to show the beam on both sides of the tower as it swept around its arc.
To prevent the lantern itself from becoming overexposed, I had to cover the lens with my hand every time the light passed over my position.

Noctilucent clouds are a rare sight. Only visible when the sun is below the horizon, they are the highest altitude clouds on earth, right on the edge of space. One evening in June 2014, there was a particularly beautiful display which I captured near my home in Ballingeary.