DONEGAL photographers were highly successful in this year’s Love Your Coast awards.
On Friday, July 18, An Taisce’s Clean Coasts announced the winning photographers of the Love Your Coast photography competition.
Love Your Coast provides a powerful forum for Ireland’s most creative photographers to showcase our spectacular and beautiful coast and seas.
Four images in total taken across county Donegal placed in the top three finalists in the shortlist across the five categories.
Tom Ormond came in first place in the ‘Wildlife and the Coast’ category with his photo ‘Humpback Whale’ taken off Mullaghmore in Donegal Bay, a rare capture of these fascinating marine mammals at sunset.
“While on an afternoon boat trip in Donegal Bay last November I experienced this magical moment when a Humpback Whale tail fluked as the setting sun lit up the cliffs at Sliabh Liag in the distance,” Tom explained.
In the ‘Connecting with the Coast’ category, joint third place went to two photos taken by the Donegal Coast.
Tom Ormond with his photo entitled ‘Humpback Whale’, taken at Donegal Bay which came first in the Wildlife and the Coast category of the Clean Coasts Love Your Coast Photography Competition.
Darragh Gorman’s image ‘Play’, a perfectly timed shot of a surfer and their instructor playing in the surf at Rossnowlagh Beach in Donegal and Sasha Coen’s image ‘Out of my Depth’ showcasing a bright but blustery day at Sheephavens Bay in county Donegal.
Brendan Alexander came third place in the ‘Coastal Landscape’ category with his image ‘Milky Way over the Murder Hole’ taken at Murder Hole Beach in Donegal; the image captures a night sky featuring a milky way over the iconic Northwest beach.
This year over 560 photographers entered a total of 1,178 photos for a placement in the top three in one of five categories and their share of the €5,000 prize fund and for a shot at the coveted title of Photographer of the Year.
The five distinct categories this year focused on showcasing the interconnectedness of Ireland’s waterways and how people, place and nature all connect with our vital blue spaces, be it by the beach, lake, or river.
Two new categories were introduced this year to highlight this theme of Connection; Connecting with the Coast, and Source to Sea, alongside firm competition favourites of Coastal Landscape, Wildlife and The Coast, and Underwater.
The Love Your Coast photography competition aims to promote connection to Ireland’s coastal beauty and character, as captured through the lens of talented photographers who take part in the competition year after year.
An Taisce, Clean Coasts and the competition supporters congratulate all the winning and shortlisted photographers and thank them for being part of this year’s competition.
