Darren McLoughlin

I’ve been doing a lot of landscapes recently, the kind of days when you take the tripod, spare batteries and ND filters, really plan the image and the scene, and wait it out. But in stormy weather that goes out the window. Tripods get blasted by the wind, gusts buffet the camera and lens, and filters get soaked by rain. On those days, in those conditions, the Atlantic offers a lot of potential — if you can avoid the ocean spray, that is. Here, in County Mayo, it was almost impossible to stand.

I was in Galway earlier this week and stopped at McSwiggan’s, one of the venues at the centre of this year’s Galway International Oyster Festival. McSwiggan’s — Guinness, oysters and chowder on the trail. The festival runs from Friday 25 to Sunday 27 September. Now in its 72nd year, it marks the opening of the native oyster season, which continues from September into April. The programme is spread through the city and a few places out along the bay.

Some of my favourite images come from stormy days on the Atlantic. There's a special feeling to standing on the edge of the wide ocean as cold winds whip off the crashing waves and you try to steady the camera, decide if it's worth using a tripod and keep everything clean and free from sea spray.