Dun Briste, Downpatrick head Co. Mayo.
I have often driven through Ballycastle Co Mayo and looked out at this magnificent sea stack but never had the time to go and see it so the other day I decided it was time. Its called Dun Briste, which means broken fort. I’m not sure if its got anything to do with the promintory fort on the cliffs themselves. Its estimated to be 50 meters in height and stands 80 meters off shore.
The light on that day wasn’t great and it was blowing a gale on shore so I was out early this morning (5 am!) and the light was beautiful. The location is so spectacular but if you suffer from vertigo it might be a little nerve racking! This was one of the first shots I took, I have a couple of others that I will process and put up in the near future.
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About briancooney123
HOW I GOT HERE
Of course, I wasn’t always a full time photographer. I spent a lot of time in the corporate world. I had a job which paid well, but just didn’t excite me.
I remember the day when I had had enough. Enough of selling myself short, enough of dreaming too small, enough of doing what others expected of me. I had put away my dreams and told myself I would get back to them later, but somehow there always seemed to be something else that had to get done first.
A friend of mine had recommended I take the NLP Business Practitioners course, and although I was really busy, I decided to do it. During that time, I began to imagine the different paths my life could take from here. While I had a hazy picture of what this other life might look like, I had a clear picture of where my current life was going if I didn’t change.
It was a scary moment, a bit like standing on the edge of a cliff deciding whether to jump into the great unknown or stay on the cliff, safe but trapped. I jumped.
The transition to the life I wanted was challenging
The transition to the life I wanted was challenging but I would never go back. After that day I resolved to do what I love, to follow my bliss. Picking up a camera after several years away, I found that many things had changed, the digital age had arrived. In the intervening years, I was too busy to pay any attention to my photography, and occasionally when I took something I really liked, I would think “how do some photographs seem so captivating and others leave me completely cold?”
I knew this is what I was meant to do
Somehow though, I knew this is what I was meant to do. I dedicated myself to learning everything I could about being a photographer. I took many, many courses and I read every book I could get my hands on, I still do.
Since then, I have dedicated myself to helping other creative photographers achieve the results they want. And what a journey it has been. Last year I qualified as a coach. My main area of interest is creativity and helping others to express their vision.
WHAT I BELIEVE
Along the way, I’ve learnt that there are no rules. Experiment, explore, play. My advice is to make your art from your heart, not for the praise or the money.
Lighten up. It’s important to take your photography seriously, but it's a mistake to take yourself too seriously. Finally, you get what you want when you never, ever give up so enjoy every minute of it and just do it!
Brian Cooney's photography blog. 
more photographs !
Soon!
Absolutely breathtaking. It doesn’t even look real…and that’s a compliment!
🙂
Thank you! I know what you mean too, it’s like a space ship!
Amazing!
It’s like a spaceship of awesome is what it is. Really, such an incredible image
Bonjour Brian,
Congrats for the supurb photo. I’m in awe.
I live in France(I read that you were too until recently) . Your photo of Downpatrick head is “parfaite”/perfect in b& w.
Cheers!
Merci! vous êtes très gentilles!
Reblogged this on Voices and Visions.
great stuff. I suspect it would be possible to make a project of this subject last the rest of your life – but don’t make the last shot of your life this subject, sounds a pretty hairy spot that you photograph from, especially in a high wind perhaps?
Awesome pic, love it.
amazing picture
beautiful! it looks like Old Man of Hoy
Very nice!
Awesome. Well done!
Magical 🙂
Beautiful photo, congrats on being featured on freshly pressed!
Nice shot.
A truly, truly stunning photograph. That’s all I have to say about that.
This is absolutely amazing! I should drive downthere sometime soon 🙂
Extraordinarily beautiful!
Excelente fotografía
Gorgeous shot.
Gorgeous shot! You are right. The light is wonderful. I’m half Irish, my best half actually, and live in midwestern USA.
Thanks for your comment! Have you ever visited? Couldn’t get a better time with the exchange rate!
This may be one of the most intriguing pictures I’ve seen in quite a while. Would love to use it in my book. Amazing work. 🙂
Reblogged this on WorldTour OutdoorExperience and commented:
Incredible photography. Well Job
Yowza! How long was the exposure?
That’s incredible! I had to take a second look because I didn’t think it was real at first. Cheers to you!
Stunning photo! I like the black and white effect which creates an interesting atmosphere.
This is beautiful! I’m part Irish and finally got to visit last year. I’m in love with the country, and before I noticed the location written below it, I knew it had to be Ireland! It’s breathtaking! Wonderful job. (I agree with the above comment that it doesn’t look real – that is how perfect it is!)
Thank you! We are so lucky to live in such a beautiful country and I am pleased that you fell in love with it!
Lovely stuff!
Astounding. I thought half of it was a reflection, until I looked longer. I’m trying to imagine the cataclysmic event that left this in its wake. (Shiver.) I hope you do put up more photos!
One of the most amazing photos I’ve ever seen!
Absolutely stunning! I’m breathless. Beautiful photograph.
Breathtaking. II’s love to see what you could do with th Twelve Apostles in Australia.
Gorgeous! This scene looks like it could have been the inspiration for the album artwork for the band Yes.
Absolutely amazing!
Absolutely fantastic shot. Kudos! I’m curious as to what shutter speed you used. Due to the atmospheric definition, I’m guessing on the slow side (?)
Thank you! To answer both yourself and Frank, it’s taken at ISO 400, F8.0 for 240 seconds. Not too long but long enough for a nice effect on the water. Although I think there are two things that make it that little bit extra special; 1 the dawn light which is coming from the left hand side and is nice and soft and golden. 2 the foam on the water was in a beautiful leading line the leads the eye out through the picture to the horizon.
Terrific!
Wow! :O Great shot!
An amazing picture –
http://katieraspberry.wordpress.com/
MontrealDSL
This is absolutely incredible.
Wow, that really looks like something from another planet, well done!
Wow! What an amazing photograph. You must be a very skilfull photographer to capture such an atmospheric image. Quite out of this worl.
I am an avid fantasy reader and it is amazing just how much fantastical stuff is right here on our own Earth. Wish I could travel more to see it all.
One of the most beautiful photos I have ever seen! Good job. 🙂
I’m not often drawn to monochrome images, but this is truly stunning – the patterns, textures and gorgeous range of tones you have achieved are to be applauded. Beautiful work.
Thank you Cindy you are very generous in your comment!
Amazing!!
Great eye! B&W gives it a wonderful feel.
Oh my gosh, this is stunning! I’m looking forward to looking at more of your photos.
This image is pure grace, and the monochromatic contrasts and tones help push the majesty of this spot. Thanks for allowing us to see one of Mother Nature’s gems, Sally
Breathtaking! A sense of unreality!
We love your photographs!
Reblogged this on Beauty is free and commented:
My goodness, so beautiful!
This absolutely, exquisitely, gorgeous. Seriously well done.
This is just spectacular. And–in my case–inspiring. I can’t even tell how much of it is above water and how much is below. -.-
Great job!
=)
Superb photo.
Fabulous shot.
I’ve got vertigo issues but still want to see it! Looks beautiful!
hands down one of the top 5 photos I’ve ever seen 🙂
Thank you!
You are really good at photography, Im really interested in photography too so I thought if you could visit my blog and give some advices about photography if you dont mind
This is the address of my blog : http://www.planetdeema.com
Thank you Deema! Your blog is wonderful, keep it up. My advice for your photography is simple; keep taking photographs!
Breathtaking Indeed! Makes Me Wanna Go There:)
I’m not adding anything new but this pic is really amazing =)
Stunning image – thanks very, very much for sharing!
Words cannot express what you have captured here – you are a true artist. Congrats on being FP. Cheers to you (I wanna be you when I grow up!).
Agree with the all the comments above. Really a wonderful image.
Great combination of feeling ethereal and solid at the same time. For some reason my brain keeps trying to tell me it’s a reflection 🙂
Stunning!
Wow.
Wow! I was in Downpatrick a few months ago studying abroad. This is a wonderful reminder. Thanks, Brian!
It’s gorgeous! I wish I could take pictures like this!
nice pic…
Great image… Congrats!
I wish I could reblog your post… could you adjust your preferences?
Sure but I see others have reblogged it? I’ll have a look in the morning. Thanks for your comments.
Done… thanks! my bad.
Magnificent! Looks like a suspended castle in the air.
Wonderful photograph. The ambiguity – ultra-realistic vs. abstract – really keeps the viewers attention!
There are no words left which haven’t been used already. All this “amazing”, “breathtaking” and “stunning” just don’t do it justice. First I thought it’s reflecting in the water, but hey, it’s not. It really IS that tall! What can I say… I’m out of words.
Thank you !
Al, I can say is thank you so much!
That doesn’t look real.
Reblogged this on @bikegypsy and commented:
Beautiful!
Gorgeous. Moody, atmospheric and elegant.
Stunning shot. Just stunning. No words. Which is what a remarkable photograph is all about.
Just when I think I’ve seen all the amazing and surreal environments of the world (in photographs, at least), someone comes along and shows me something new. Thank you, this is an amazing sight. Hope I can see it myself someday.
This is amazing. I thought it was CGI. 🙂
Aside from the fact that the image is sharpened, it’s bloody brilliant!
Hey Nick, thanks for your comment but for the record it is not sharpened and the processing is minimal like all my images.
Really? Man, I swore it’s been sharpened. I stand corrected. Truly beautiful!
Thank you Nick!
WOW! just, wow! what a great photo!
Oh my, such a wonderful photo. I love the sharpness of the stone’s reflection. How’d you do that? Nice one!
has an unearthly fantasy feel to it, as if it could only be imagined. beautiful!
WOW! amazing photo!
Love the long exposure an choice of b/w. I got to know…what country was this shot???
Thank you. Ireland.
That is one of the most amazing sites I have ever seen! Yet another reason to visit my ancestral homeland!
Well Scott you would receive a warm welcome! We will have next years photo tours up on the web soon too if you would like a guide!
Truly beautiful!
Nice. I think i’ll build my evil citadel there.
Thanks fr your comment Joe. Plenty of unemployed builders in Ireland at the moment so you could do it on a shoe string too….
the effort of getting up at 5 am was all worth it. i thought the lower part of the rock is a reflection of the upper part. when i look at it once more, it’s not. or it is? dunno. it looks surreal!
I absolutely love photography! And, this has really inspired me to get outside (I prefer outside photography to in) and start taking some photos. Now, for all you people out there with an amazing story to share (and I’ll save you the time of reading a long description, you can see that on my blog), have a look at my blog, I’m trying out a new idea of collecting stories from all sorts of interesting people: http://pragmaticallyeccentric.wordpress.com/share-your-story/
Don’t worry, it’s no spam, I’m just a 15 year-old girl in need of a Summer project and with a love of stories, I’d like to read them as much as the next person. So, I’m building a collection (or hoping to). Please, just take a look. Thank you.
Eerily breathtaking! . . . Has such a surreal look to it!
http://arabianmusings.wordpress.com/
Thank you, your blog looks interesting too. I’ll have a browse later!
Stunning Shot. Just love it.
Such great photos! I love the perspective!!
Very beautiful., nothing like it here.
surreal…it feels like a dream….awesome photography!
how long was the exposure set on?
What a breathtaking photo, amazing! Congrats on being Freshly Pressed!
That is one of the most magnificent pictures I’ve ever seen on WordPress. Well done.
What a stunning shot! I love your use of B&W, it really makes the photo magical.
Awsome pic.
I wait for the day that I can take shots like that.
Keep up the good work.
Wow – that’s beautiful! Thanks so much for posting!
Beautiful photograph!
Amazing! Keep up the good work! 😀
Incredible photo.
really nice, thanks for sharing!
Wow, beautiful photo.
STUNNING & SURREAL!!!
Fantastic blog and stunning shot. I am in awe of this x
You are fantastic!
I cannot wait to see the other photo’s 🙂
Stunning shot!
This is super gorgeous!
Amazing picture. Thanks for sharing it.
http://jimeblogs.wordpress.com/ the photographs are simply amazing
Wow~~Wow!!!!!!!!!
I would love to be on top there for a while then parachute off
i’m not sure i’d be able to handle the location… thank you for letting me live vicariously through you 😉 absolutely stunning image!
It looks like some sort of fortress… super breathtaking. 🙂
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Very cool:)
simply amazing! thx for sharing!
Beautiful! x
Reblogged this on amirfatih and commented:
That’s incredible! I had to take a second look because I didn’t think it was real at first. Cheers to you!
Thank you for you very kind comment!
wow!
Wow! So inspiring! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for posting this awesome image, truly breath taking!
Thanks for sharing this beautiful photo, what a moving picture.
Thank you!
Remarkable. Getting up early that day met you with great rewards. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you!
Reblogged this on Faisca2014's Blog and commented:
powerful and beatiful picture. Love it !!!!!!