It all started with the lockdown in March. We were restricted to within 2km’s of our homes, but there is a small beach near our house and one of our neighbours has a kayak that she allowed me to borrow. I was ready to go sea kayaking in West Cork.
I ventured out into the bay a couple of time, and found that I although I really enjoyed sea kayaking, I didn’t really know what I was doing in terms of safety and technique.
I knew of Jim and Maria Kennedy and their company Atlantic Sea Kayaking from years ago when we had our café and photography gallery in Clonakilty, so when I wanted to find out about kayak training, they were the first people that came to mind.
Luckily, they had just started up their training sessions again when I called, so I booked onto a two-day level 2 introduction to kayaking course, in a sit-inside kayak rather than a sit-on-top kayak, which took place around Reen Pier between Union Hall and Castletownshend in West Cork.
We learnt how to monitor the weather and the tides, we learnt paddling forwards, backwards and sideways, we learnt how to get back into a kayak if you fall out and we had a fantastic two days on the water.
During one of our breaks, Maria mentioned that they were looking for some shots of their kayak tours to update their website and I said that I would love to do them. With so much work cancelled due to Covid, I was worried that I had forgotten how to use my cameras! So any opportunity to shoot was most welcome, and shooting from a boat on the ocean was even better!!
We were keeping an eye on the weather conditions, and the end of the first week of August looked perfect. On the Sunday afternoon, Atlantic Sea Kayaking had several different trips organized, so we got the opportunity to photograph the kayakers in double kayaks and the group leaders both on the shore preparing to head out and on the open sea and in the estuary.
I hope that these photographs show the epic seascapes of West Cork and fun and adventure that you can have kayaking on the ocean.
Click here to see my styled wedding shoot at Fernhill House Hotel
Click here to see my year of press photos for Network Ireland West Cork
Sea Kayaking in West Cork
