Church Bay’s Cosmic Cathedral

The Milky Way as seen from just above Church Bay, at Weaver Point, in Co. Cork. This was last night, a few minutes after the moon had set. Unfortunately, the centre of the galaxy was hidden behind a bank of clouds at the horizon. The forecast said there would be about 30% cloud, but thankfully it mostly didn’t cover most of the galaxy.

The best time to see the centre of the Milky Way again from Ireland will be in March 2026. However, you’ll still be able to shoot the less bright celestial arms once the moon has set for a good few weeks, probably.

I recommend using Sun Surveyor to plan a Milky Way shot. Photopills is good too, but the street view integration in Sun Surveyor is difficult to beat.


Apertureƒ/2.8
CameraILCE-7RM5
Focal length24mm
ISO6400
Shutter speed20s

Waves crash on rocks in a mist

Waves crash on rocks but all you see is a mist in this 4 second long exposure shot. That’s Roches Point Lighthouse in the background, of course, because this photo was taken in Church Bay last year.


Apertureƒ/8
CameraILCE-7M3
Focal length240mm
ISO100
Shutter speed4s

Please Recycle

Empty beer can on the rocky beach at Church Bay, Co. Cork.

Aperture ƒ/11
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/250s

Clinging Flowers

Flowers cling to the rocks in Church Bay, Co. Cork.

Post processing: curves, channel mixer, blurred layer and layer mask, lomo and unsharp mask.

Aperture ƒ/8
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/125s

Old Rope

Old rope tied to a rusty old screw embedded in weather beaten mortar at Church Bay near Crosshaven.

I used to dive off this rock about 10 years ago, mind you the tide was in whenever I did!

Aperture ƒ/10
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/200s