“The pursuit, even of the best things, ought to be calm and tranquil.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero
This image was taken from Downhill Strand to the west of the Mussenden Temple during a glorious sunrise, last September. Athena Carey and I were finalising our recon of the area for our Light, Land and Sea Causeway Coast Photo Tours, and a couple other exciting things we have in the pipeline for the area. Standing on the beach looking up at the temple I decided to concentrate on the shape of the building as it sat imposingly on the cliffs edge. This scene was just asking me to photograph the temple and cliffs as silhouettes against the striking cloud filled sky. The tide was receding at this stage exposing gorgeous patterns on the sand, lit beautifully by the sun which was still low on the horizon. The final piece was to wait for the cloud around the temple to lighten a little and send a shaft of soft light through the window. Choosing an exposure time of 15 seconds helped to build up some additional density in the clouds and texture on the strand.
Mussenden Temple is a small circular building located on cliffs near Castlerock in Derry, in Northern Ireland. Built in 1785, it forms part of the estate of Frederick Augustus Hervey, the 4th Earl of Bristol, Bishop of Derry. It was built as a library and modelled from the Temple of Vesta in Italy, and is dedicated to the memory of Hervey’s cousin Frideswide Mussenden. It is part of the National Trust property of Downhill Estate & Mussenden Temple, the grounds encompassing Mussenden Temple, and its manor house (Downhill Castle). The Temple offers views westwards over Downhill Strand towards Magilligan Point and County Donegal and to the east Castlerock beach towards Portstewart, Portrush and Fair Head. [source: wiki]
