The Lesson Ireland Taught Me about Landscape Photography

In September, I visited Ireland for two weeks to explore County Donegal. During that time, Ireland taught me an essential lesson about landscape photography I want to share with you.

With our cell phones, we have countless tools that help us predict the perfect conditions for a photo shoot, and they are always at our fingertips. It makes travel photography a lot easier. These little helpers show us where and when the sun rises and sets, the Milky Way's position, the moon's phase, and much more. They also provide weather predictions, and apps like Viewfindr tell us when and where to photograph a glowing sky. These forecasts usually have probabilities attached to them, and luck is still involved in getting to the right place at the right time.

However, avoid getting too comfortable using those tools. If you trust those technical aids too much, you will also miss photo opportunities. And in a country like Ireland, which has notoriously unpredictable weather, this is especially true. There, you can get four seasons in one day, and I found the weather predictions to be wrong about 75% of the time during my visit. And I'm talking about a relatively short prediction of at most 24 hours. I didn't plan for a longer time because I knew it wouldn't work from my previous visits to Ireland.

It's why I hadn't planned a trip around the whole island but instead focused on a relatively small area.

You’ve Got to Be In It to Win It

As usual for my visits to Ireland, I had to endure a lot of rain. Had I always trusted the forecast and what I saw outside the windows one or two hours before a photo shoot, I wouldn't have gone out taking photos most of the time.

But when you travel for photography, there's no excuse to stay inside. It's tempting, especially when it's cold and wet outside, and all forecasts have you believe there's zero chance of a glowing sky. It was the case during my first evening in Donegal when I drove to Muckross Head. Toward the west, there was a thick bank of clouds, and I didn't expect any exciting light that evening. And then this happened.

The light didn't last long, but I was ready to capture the glowing sky. In the following days, I wasn't that lucky. I was out most of the time, chasing the few gaps in the clouds the weather apps showed me. One morning, I waited nearly two hours for light illuminating Mullaghmore Castle. The chances for it to happen had been small, but I still tried. Ultimately, I didn't get the photo I envisioned, but a dark and moody blue-hour shot suited the scene very much.

The second week of my trip was very stormy. Winds up to 80 km/h brought spectacular conditions and a lot of rain to the coast. The evening I went to photograph a mountain range on the Fanad Peninsula, I was undecided if I should brave the storm. Looking at the different apps, I didn't see much chance of a glowing sky that evening. But there were gaps in the sky over the sea. So, hoping the wind would blow those toward my photo spot, I set out.

Although the hike was less than three kilometers, it wasn't easy to reach the viewpoint. The wind was ferocious up on the ridge. I started my hike three hours before sunset to increase my chance of catching some light that evening. It meant much time crouching behind rocks, hoping the sky would open.

Eventually, I was rewarded with a golden landscape under a stormy sky. The rain afterward felt like hail, and I got drenched on my way back to the car. But it's experiences like this that make landscape photography so exciting. Not knowing the outcome of a photo shoot, constantly battling that inner voice telling you to go home because nothing is going to happen, and then those rare moments when everything falls into place—this is what it's all about.

The lesson here is simple: head out as much as possible, and don't stay inside just because some apps tell you there won't be any spectacular light. You have to be in the game to win it. Don't remain on the sidelines. It can be challenging, especially when it's uncomfortable to head outside. Sometimes, I lose the battle against that inner voice and regret it afterward. But I never regret heading outside, even if I don't get a photo.

Conclusion

Had I trusted the forecasts during my time in Ireland, I would have headed to a pub rather than up a mountain or to the coast most of the time. And although Ireland has some great pubs, I prefer the experience of braving the elements and taking those photos. It's what made this trip so memorable for me. It's usually not the easy photo shoots I like to remember. It's the times when the outcome is uncertain that bring the biggest reward.