The last 24 hours haven’t looked much like summer. Driving rain and strong winds have battered the west coast non-stop. If it keeps up, it might put as much of a damper on Race Week as the recession.
I drove around to the other side of Galway Bay – to the Clare towns of Fanore and Doolin – to get a better look at the rough seas. Some of the waves crashing onto the shore near Doolin were the biggest I have ever seen.
It wasn’t great for photography – the air was filled with spray even when the rain stopped. The picture above was taken just north of Doolin quay [bigger version here]. I’m not sure how high the spray went, but to give you an idea of scale, the rectangular boulders to the right of the ‘explosion’ are between 1 and 2 metres high.
I was using a Canon 40D with a Canon 100-400mm zoom lens [so that I could stand a safe distance away]. The camera was set to high-speed mode which allowed me to photograph the sequence of images below [it is also a very easy way to go through memory cards].
With waves like that one can begin to understand why the West of Ireland is as rugged as it is!! Absolutely gorgeous….your shot and the west coast of Ireland!
Hi John,
that’s a terrific shot. My favourite shots of breaking water were all taken with a film camera in Doolin – it’s one of my favourite places for white water shooting really.
I’ve changed web URLs by the way. New home and all that.