Sunset at Portsalon Beach #1

I spent a week there in June with a good friend, chasing light, dodging showers, and embracing the full Atlantic lottery of conditions. Rain was never far away. But neither was beauty. Portsalon has long been a favourite of mine. I’ve photographed this stretch of sand many times over the years and still find myself surprised by it. The curve of the shoreline, the openness of the bay, the way the Fanad Peninsula sits low and calm on the horizon. It’s generous ground for a camera.

We visited this beach at both sunrise and sunset during the week. This frame comes from an evening when the mood settled into something unusually gentle. What caught my eye were the angular shapes carved into the sand by the retreating tide. That clean edge between wet and dry felt almost architectural. Behind it, the hills were catching the last soft light from the sun sinking somewhere over my shoulder.

The whole scene felt unhurried. I set up for an eight minute exposure, letting the sea dissolve into a smooth wash. Even the lone cloud above the horizon stretched itself thin during the exposure, becoming less an object and more a brushstroke across the sky. There was no drama to chase. Just quiet structure.

When I came to process the image I kept that restraint. A muted palette, soft transitions, no heavy hand. The sand carries the texture. Everything else steps back. For me, that balance between form and calm is what the evening felt like, and it feels fitting that my return to photographing in Ireland would begin with something so understated.

Sometimes going back isn’t about rediscovering spectacle. It’s about rediscovering stillness.

You can find more images from Donegal in my Spirit of Ireland portfolio or in my Seascapes & Shorelines portfolio.