Sunrise, Thornhill Strand

EFA-171

Thornhill Strand County Mayo croagh patrick black and white photo

“All undulate.”

– SJ Mannion

I took this photo of Thornhill Strand in County Mayo just after sunrise on a November morning. You can see Croagh Patrick in the background. Normally I process sunrise and sunset photos into colour images because of the beautiful hues at that time of the day, plus the sky usually has a low contrast, which is more suitable to colour processing. However this image was destined to be a black and white image. I love dune grasses. I love it the way they gracefully move in the wind and it was quite windy on this particular morning. I wanted to bring out the contrast between the grass and shadows, so black and white would be ideal to achieve that. I photographed the sun with a starburst just as it peeked over the mountain and started to illuminate the grass. It was a beautiful peaceful moment and afterward I went back to the B&B for a hearty breakfast.

– Enda Cavanagh