A Moody Day on an Incredible Beach: Newcastle, Co. Down
We were recently heading to Belfast for a meeting, and because the road from Dublin to Belfast can be a bit boring and monotonous (it’s just one long motorway), my wife and I decided to take the coastal route instead. So, we turned off at Newry and first stopped at Warrenpoint for Lunch, before heading on to Newcastle. I had never taken this route before, and I was quite impressed by the scenery. But it was coming into Newcastle that really blew me away.
Newcastle Co. Down, is a popular coastal town in Northern Ireland, nestled in the foothills of the Mourne Mountains. It’s often used as a basecamp for hikers heading up the mountains, but it was the beach that caught my attention. As you round the point and approach the town from the south, you are quite high up, and you can see the rolling strand heading out into the distance. On this day, it was quite breezy, and so there was a strong surf out at sea, with incredible rolling waves that seemed to stretch off into the horizon. This wind was blowing up sea spray, and it appeared like a fog bank in the distance. On top of that, there was a low cloud hanging over the mountain and the forest on the hillside, looking like something out of a Scandinavian Noir movie.
Bear in mind, this was the middle of Summer! The combination of all these factors led to some tricky lighting to shoot in, but also some incredibly moody scenes. Because the wind was quite strong, there weren’t that many people out on the beach, but the few brave souls dotted about only added to the tableau.
I love it when you come across situations like this that you weren’t expecting. It’s one of the joys of photography and why you should always bring your camera with you. And the funny thing was, I hadn’t planned on taking mine on this trip. I was just planning to travel light and take my compact camera and my Osmo Pocket, but in the end, my wife convinced me to bring my big camera too. I was glad I did.
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