The Edge of the World

Loop Head feels timeless. This is a picture I took just near the lighthouse there, and felt completely small against the sheer scale of the landscape. While the blues and greens of the Wild Atlantic Way are famous, I decided to strip the colour away for this shot.

When you look at it in black and white, you stop looking at the pretty scenery and start seeing the raw texture of the place. It really highlights those incredible horizontal lines running through the rock.

Here is a fascinating bit of geology for you: those distinct layers you see in the cliff face are actually compressed sandstone and shale, formed over 300 million years ago during the Carboniferous period. Back then, this area was a tropical river delta! It’s wild to think that these rugged, battered cliffs started life in a tropical climate.