Sliabh na Callaighe - 30th May 2021

I was on the top of Sliabh na Callaighe (Mountain of the Witch) in County Meath, photographing the sunrise and fog. It was a beautiful morning, peace and tranquility surrounded me. As the sun rose, it transformed from the glorious orange hues of sunrise into more yellow and harsher tones. It was time to make that call, “do I stay, or do I go”, hmm anyone else singing a famous song by “The Clash”.

How often do we dismiss a scene because the light is no longer perfect? How many of us stick around after golden hour finishes? I’m guilty of this, when the tough gets going, I pack my bag and head off home. Now I have Billy Ocean singing in my ears. However, this particular morning I decided to stick it out, and I’m so glad I did.

The mist was lingering, but the light was changing rapidly. Golden hour had finished, but instead the light crept it’s way across the landscape in front of me defining the hills and trees, painting shadow and light as it rose. This particular tree caught my interest and how it stood alone overlooking the landscape, if trees could talk what would it tell us about the sunrises and sunsets that it had seen?

I couldn’t resist the beautiful layers, the light touching the trees in the distance and the cows highlighted in the meadow. Sometimes it’s worth sticking around just that little bit longer.

Canon 5Ds and EF70-200mm lens. Focal length was 100mm at f/11 and three bracketed shots were taken to ensure the shadows and highlights were controlled. These were blended in Affinity Photo and final adjustments made in Capture One.