Dunluce Castle is an iconic ruin that is situated on the coastal cliffs of County Antrim in Northern Ireland.

NOTE: Click on images to enlarge.

The precarious position of Dunluce Castle may be one of the reasons why it was abandoned early in the 17th century. Local legend states that in 1639 the kitchens along with some staff working there fell into the sea during a storm. However the ruins do incorporate a kitchen with an oven and fireplace, so it makes one wonder about the accuracy of legend.

As you begin your self-guided tour of Dunluce Castle you immediately appreciate how important building defensive structures were in days gone by. Battles between warring clans were commonplace.

From a photographic standpoint I found all kinds of complementing lines and angles to work into compositions.

The access bridge to Dunluce Castle provides a very strong leading line.

Dunluce Castle is comprised of the ruins of various buildings so you will find walkways that connect them. These can be used to good effect in compositions.

You can use partial walls to act as foreground elements. These can help create added depth in photographs.

Some archways still exist. These can be incorporated in ‘reveal’ types of compositions.

Viewing portals in the some of the walls provide opportunities to frame some of the cliffs and coastline elements.

I found the rugged terrain quite visually appealing. You’ll notice some brickwork included on the right hand side of the photograph above. This helps add some depth to the composition and guides a viewer’s eye towards the centre of the image.

Strong vertical lines can be found. These can make for some dramatic images.

Looking out over the rugged landscape it is easy to imagine pitched battles being waged against the Clan MacDonnell.

As you look up and down the coastline from the ruins of Dunluce Castle you are afforded some spectacular views.

Using a longer focal length can add some compression to photographs of the erosion along the sea cliffs. I find this creates a stronger feeling of immediacy.

If you visit Dunluce Castle I’d certainly suggest having a wide angle zoom lens in your kit bag. Many of my images were captured at 6.7mm (i.e. equivalent field-of-view 18mm).

If you enjoyed the photographs in this article you may want to check out our Images of Ireland eBook. This 209 page eBook features over 400 original photographs and is available for purchase and download at a cost of $12.99 CDN.

Technical Note:
Photographs were captured hand-held using camera gear as noted in the EXIF data. All images were produced from RAW files using my standard process.

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