Wednesday May 8th

I'd been studying this little valley on maps for over a year, trying to get my bearings on where everything is in relation to everything else, particularly Mt. Errigal. The picture in my head had everything much more spread out. But it was all quite compact and intimate with the mountain or The Glen as a background in just about every scene. It was just a stretch of the legs from one photo op to another. If only the light gods would give me favor. The first morning the sky was pretty flat so I went over to the abandoned village of Glenthornan, just across the lough. 

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Then I grabbed a shot of The Church of The Sacred Heart, an active Catholic Church.

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Then I drove (I wasn't in need of a stretch of the legs) back over to The Glen where there is an abandoned church which needed its picture taken. I could at least check out some compositions. The gorse was in full riot so that helped.

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_8506926 By this time I figured my companions were up and ready to do something so I had a little day trip in mind with a good cloudy day subject. Just a thirty minute drive over to the coast was a shipwreck that the locals have dubbed "Bad Eddie". It has been there for fifty years now and the elements have done their work. But baring any massive storms it might be around a few more years. 

_8506954 _8506978 _8506996  Leaving there we took the scenic route down the coast to Dungloe and scouted up some lunch at  McCaffertys pub.

_8507018 There was a cool bridge right next door, built in 1762.

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After lunch we continued down the coast road and this was some seriously spectacular scenery. The one lane road hugs the cliffs making it a great scenic drive. This was typical of Ireland's coast from Galway all the way around to Derry. Not many people, empty beaches, heart stopping scenery, just waiting patiently for us to come and see it. The rain came and went and I didn't want to stop for mediocre light so I don't have much to show you
I did get this of a Napoleon era watch tower. You can see how flat the sky is.

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And this out the car window.

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And on the way back we had to stop for this little cottage.

_8507086-Edit As we rolled back into Dunlewy we started seeing holes in the overcast. The light gods had finally taken pity on me so I hustled back to the spots I'd already scouted. All of the pictures below were taken within thirty minutes.

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_8507056 _8507186 _8507199 My hopes that the clouds would totally break up for sunset did not come to pass. The overcast closed back up by then. I was hoping to get a better image of Mt Errigal before we left this magical place but I would make another try in the morning.

Thursday May 9th

As usual I got up and out early. The sky showed promise but the sun would be rising behind the mountain, not the most desirable arrangement. But you won't know if you don't try so I went down across Lough Dunlewy hoping to get some reflections of the mountain. But there was too much wind on the water for that. Here's what I wound up with. 

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Then I tried to smooth out the water with a long exposure. This one was 60 seconds.

_8507263-Edit-Edit-Edit It looked like some of the morning light was getting into The Glen so I decamped back over there. Soooo so handy having everything close. 

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One more shot of The Glen before we headed west. Rumors that I had to be dragged kicking and screaming out of Dunlewy have been greatly exaggerated. I assure you it was nothing worse than the usual whining and sniveling. 

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