Ireland’s Rugged North Donegal and North Coast 7 days Photo Workshop

During our 3 days in Donegal with it’s diversity, there is so much to photograph. It’s famous lighthouses perched in places you could only dream of. The beaches and their beauty will take your breath away and it’s rugged cliffs, sea arches and stacks will leave you speechless. We haven’t even included the mountains, lakes, shipwrecks and castles…

On day three our aim for the morning will be to shoot the first rays of the sun at the Mussenden Temple. Mussenden manages to look both out of place and perfectly at home at the same time. We’ll find it perched on the edge of a steep cliff between Downhill and Castlerock, metres away from a sheer drop to the Atlantic 120ft below and backed by lush Northern Irish countryside. The view up and down the coast from Mussenden is nothing short of incredible, and we’ll spend plenty of time shooting the waves as they crash against the shore in the morning light. The afternoon and evening will be spent capturing two charming lighthouses. After Mussenden, we’ll leave our first hotel and drive towards Downings. On the way we will stop off at Stroove lighthouse, a black and white striped beacon overlooking a marvellous stretch of Irish shoreline. For our sunset shoot, the group will head to Fanad head lighthouse, which looks, for a lighthouse, pretty imperious as it stands before the crashing waves and a moody sky.

The Causeway Coast needs no introduction but here it is anyway. Let’s start with the Giants Causeway, a UNESCO World Heritage Site; with it’s 40,000 interlocking basalt columns and abundance of compositions is a photographers dream. Ready for more… The Causeway Coast boasts cliff tops, sea stacks, bothies, rope bridge and dramatic landscape. It’s easy to see why HBO opted to film Game of Thrones here, making the likes of Ballintoy Harbour, Dunluce Castle and The Dark Hedges world famous.

We will rise early in the morning and set out while it is still before to sunrise for the Dark Hedges. One of Northern Ireland’s most popular photography spots, the Dark Hedges are an alleyway of beech trees planted over 200 years ago. The branches lean over to reach their opposite neighbours, forming a tunnel of tangled limbs that looks like something out of a fairytale. In fact, the iconic avenue was used as a filming location for Game of Thrones, representing the King’s Road. The beech trees were originally planted to impress visitors to the Georgian mansion of Gracehill House, and it’s fair to say that they now draw admirers from all over the world. We will spend plenty of time shooting the Dark Hedges, before driving half an hour for an evening shoot on the coast at Dunluce castle. The castle is an iconic ruin sat atop a steep cliff and overlooking the Atlantic. If the weather holds, as it has been known to do in the castle’s 500-year history, it’s an enviable spot for a sunset photography session.

The adventure doesn’t end here just yet. We will spend our final night in North Dublin by the sea. When we arrive to our hotel we will check in to our hotel, get dinner and get set for one last sunset shoot at the lighthouse in the charming fishing village, Howth.

You will be dropped off at the airport for your flight home, which can be any time after 12 midday.