Galway Coast

On July 4 and 5 we stayed at the Connemara Coast Hotel just 10 minutes from Galway. The property is terrific, and as its name implies it's located right on the rocky North Atlantic coast. So each evening there found me out with my camera capturing the scenery.

Our first evening was pretty uniformly overcast.  There was an abundance of gray rocks, gray clouds and grayish-blue water, which led me inevitably to go with black and white for shots like this 2.5-second exposure of the tide coming in.

I also really wanted to bring out the texture and patterns in these rocks.  No beach here!

It wasn't all gloomy, though.  This seaweed was so vibrant it was nearly electric.

It's quite a rugged area.  Again, no sandy beach.  Just rocks, waves and some patches of grass eking out a living just about the high tide line.  I love areas like this that are so completely different from Colorado.

The following evening I had more favorable conditions at sunset -- enough break in the clouds for the sun to peek through and provide some gorgeous color.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: The show for a photographer does not end when the sun dips below the horizon.  When you stick around, you can often be rewarded with more stunning color and less contrast with the foreground.  So I wholeheartedly recommend it whenever you're out shooting at sunset.

I know this shot isn't that different from the previous one.  But I loved the cloud reflection in the tide pool of this one.

Then you get that glorious final burst -- that beautiful, fleeting blast of vivid hues that light up the whole sky, then quickly fade to dusk.

I'm absolutely delighted with the shots I got the second night here.  Talk about being in the right place at the right time!