As I am writing this blog post, it could not be any more different to this time last year weather wise. It is windy and overcast with light rain or drizzle. Last year I was getting ready for what would become a beautiful period of weather in Ireland though in no way could I have had anticipated how special the month was going to become for me. August 2022 holds a very special place in my heart for numerous reasons that I will be delving into this post so relax, take a seat and maybe have some biscuits because this will be a long and very personal post.
Day by day
The first day of August 2022 started off appropriately, it was calm with good sunshine. However, there was family facing problems down in Wexford so my mother set off to help and I tagged along as I had not been to Wexford in more than a decade despite it being only two counties away from Dublin. On the way, it started to cloud over ahead of rain on the way from the west. There was all kinds of cloud formations including one big starship lenticular cloud spotted, some kelvin helmholtz and asperitas. By the time we got to Wexford, it was completely clouded over and it started to rain. Nonetheless, I still put up my recently purchased DJI Mini 3 Pro from the harbour to get some quick shots of the area. It had no problems whatsoever but if only that sunshine I woke up to was still there.
A few quieter days was followed by putting up the drone again to catch a sunset which I walked to a local park for on the 5th. It was not spectacular but there was some nice colour to be had and with summer skies generally being on the hazy side, got to take what you can get.
The fine spell and heatwave
Then… it all began. A calm evening enjoyed in Dublin City with some lovely light on the 6th followed by a journey on the Commuter to Balbriggan on the 7th. A fine summer weekend making the most of the sunshine but it was to get better. Got to meet a photographer I had been meaning to see for ages too at the Bremore Castle market by the name of Gerry Canning, check out his work on Instagram!
On the 8th, my father and I had set out to Ireland’s Eye for the day from Howth Harbour using Islandferries. As a kid, I would often spend time with my father in his apartment living in Beaumont at the time and heading off to Dublin City walking down Henry Street. As I grew a few years older, it was clear we were growing apart. We didn’t spend time together like we had used to – part of the reason was I became even more lazy and refused to go out but I think the main reason is one most can relate to and that is, as you get older, you naturally tend to talk or go out with your family less. I know many can relate to me in how they wish they could go back to older times and spend more moments with their family. I am very lucky to still have a father and so after what had seemed like years of no outings with him, this day 8th August 2022 arrived. We bonded well both flying our drones capturing the beauty of the landscape and me teaching him how to use it as I had been flying for months whilst this was his first time. Of course, we tried our best not to disturb nature and always respected others in the process. The thing is, I don’t think my father realises just how much I appreciate moments like this.
I headed to Dún Laoghaire Harbour for the sunset on the 9th. It was a beautiful calm evening with gorgeous sunset colours afterward of light cirrus clouds illuminating in purple. The perfect excuse to fly the drone.
After the sunset, I did not get much sleep and went for sunrise the very next morning on the 10th. I decided on Sandymount as it was dead calm and reflections would be brilliant I would have thought. I had never done Sandymount for a sunrise before so my mother kindly drove me out. It was very calm, hardly a cloud and I could not believe what I was about to witness. There was no cloud which would usually be required to see the sky light up apart from volcanic emissions causing volcanic sunsets (purple glows in a clear sky) but the crepuscular rays beamed up high into the sky over Howth before the sun had risen. They were very bright. Crepuscular rays are normally faint and usually only spotted if you’re deliberately looking for them but these were unreal. These were the brightest crepuscular rays I’ve known since September 2019 and they occurred at dawn too whilst that one was sunset. I ran down the strand after to try and get the sunrise over the Baily Lighthouse, it wasn’t perfectly lined up as I was somewhat off with my estimates when it was lower down but I will take it especially for a first time. There was a beautiful full moonrise but I had to babysit that evening.
The best part of the spell and month was still to come though. This was the 11th. Oh the 11th, where do I begin? Okay let’s start from the morning as that makes sense to yeah? I got up for another sunrise and yet again it was very clear with hardly a cloud in the sky. I set out for the Forty Foot as I had not done a sunrise there before. What’s the point of doing the same location again and again? My mother kindly assisted again driving me down – she is a superstar! If I were to go by taxi, it would probably cost me at least 120 euro to get there and back just for a sunrise! As we were driving down, I seen a bright white glow to the north. I was like ah here, that can’t be noctilucent clouds… it’s August 11th, it’s way too late. They were noctilucent clouds, an absolutely brilliant display of them too at that. 2022 had been a poor season for them so this was a complete surprise as well as them being so late and during a heatwave! I had to stop off to capture them, stopped off on the causeway at North Bull Island. Not the best location and the tide was out so no reflections but nonetheless, better than nothing! As they faded and sunrise time was quickly coming, got back in the car and raced to Sandycove. Got there and it was still 15 minutes ’til sunrise. Place was very quiet with only a few swimmers. There was a lovely faint purple glow on the clear sky. Suddenly the sunrise appeared over the sea and there was a large influx of people arriving to do the swimrise. Met a few new friends whilst there too. On the way home, stopped off at St. Anne’s Park to get some reflections as they looked perfect at the duck pond. This is not the end of the 11th yet.
The 11th was also the evening of the supermoon rise so even though I had missed the 10th moonrise, this was my shot at something special. I planned my shot of getting the moonrise over the Muglins Lighthouse from Dún Laoghaire East Pier. This was a composition I had attempted the preceding August in 2021 but from the rocks behind Bullock Harbour in Dalkey and my alignment was a bit off. Whilst waiting, I caught a few quick shots of the sunset though nothing too special. It was still lovely to see. I set up my tripod with my DSLR and the moon bazooka 600mm lens with my Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra phone recording a time lapse on another tripod testing out the waters on its low light capability. Unlike 2021, my alignment was completely bang on this time and I got it sitting right on top of the lighthouse. My jaw dropped over how perfect it was. I felt like I struck gold. It seems everybody had gotten their shots that evening, there were so many gorgeous moonscape shots. I don’t recall seeing such a beautiful moonrise in my years capturing since 2019 and there have been crackers such as September 2019 and May 2021! That concludes the 11th, what a day that was. Up there with my favourite days ever, so much had happened and I did not even mention how wonderful the day itself was with the unbroken sunshine and mid 20s temperatures!
I got to spend even more bonding time with my father as we set out on the boat for the day to Dalkey Island courtesy of Ken the Ferryman from Coliemore Harbour. A lot of what happened on the 8th also applies here and it was another beautiful clear sunny day although a bit windier this time with spring tides. What more can I say?
The temperatures were about to peak in Ireland with a new national August max temperature record set in County Laois. I wanted to get out of Dublin. I said I’ll go to where temperatures are expected to peak just so I can say to people I was in the hottest location on the hottest August day on record. That did not happen. I woke up too late to get the bus to Kilkenny and family did not fancy going there so I stayed in Dublin and went to Skerries instead enjoying yet another beautiful day of unbroken sunshine for the final time until sunset when at last it clouded over ushering in a change with the air destabilising.
There was a great sunrise on the 14th I missed with more vivid crepuscular rays but from clouds rather than clear skies this time. There was thunderstorms expected later that day to the southeast of the country. I headed to my usual spot – Howth Summit – on the night of the 14th. Ian Carruthers and Anthony Lynch – both brilliant photographers and two people I look up to heavily for inspiration – joined me. We captured some lightning strikes including a few cloud to ground ones but vast majority of activity had died off by the time it was nearing Dublin and went offshore which was not great for compositions. It was a bit of a flop all things considered but I am very used to thunderstorm disappointments living in Dublin – until May 2023 came that is…
I had a week break from photography as the weather became more unsettled for a period of time but I did not mind, I had been constant for more than a week. Meanwhile, I used this down time instead to study for my driver theory test. Driving will be of vital importance to me as a photographer if I want to get out for sunrises, storm and snow chase or even get a job as you would have to be very on to go. I last attempted my driver theory test all the way back in May 2017 so this was a long time coming. I just felt for a long time I was not able or ready for it. I put the head down and studied hard. I had my test booked for 17th August. Went in, double and triple checked my answers. I passed! I was so delighted and I could finally start my driving lessons though appointments would not be available until January 2023 and I am currently waiting on my driving test appointment date when writing this blog post.
On the 21st, the family including myself went on a long day out to the north. In fact, we set off to the Giant’s Causeway in County Antrim. This would be the first time I have been there since 2009. So this is one hell of a nostalgic trip, on top of learning about the legends of Fionn Mac Cumhaill back in those days in primary school. We got good weather to go along with it and it was nice to be there but couldn’t stay around for sunset which will have been much better for photos as there’s less harsh light and better colour. Stopped off at the Titanic Quarter, Belfast for sunset on the way home which there wasn’t much of a sunset. Nonetheless, the reflections were great!
There were a couple of brilliant sunrise and sunset skies during the rest of August – most notably the sunset on the 24th, sunrise on the 27th which I only got to see from my window and the sunrise on the 30th which I completely missed. I got to bond more time with my father once more on the 29th where we just went to Balscadden Bay in Howth to enjoy the sunshine. Later that day, I also went to the local Father Collins Park.
That concludes my memories of August 2022. A month that I’m very thankful for with all the great memories it provided me with. It is a contender for the best month in my lifetime. The difference the outdoors makes to the mind and mental health cannot be understated and the weather was a huge player in that being a possibility. I had waited years for August to provide the goods, it’s usually my least favourite months as it’s the month my best friend, my nanny, had died and the constant thoughts were on summer ending, returning to school etc. In fact, 26th August 2022 was 10 years on from when she had died which of course I still think about day after day. August 2022 showed me how good the month can be on a very rare occasion in Ireland and it left a big smile on my face.