Finn McCool And A Little Lightroom Magic

One of the most famous tourist destinations in Ireland is The Giant’s Causeway, a fantastic basalt formation stretching into the North Atlantic in County Antrim in Northern Ireland. It’s a fascinating sight, and we were able to spend a few hours there on the second day of our 15 Day Circle Ireland Tour.

Like most tourist sites, it can be frustrating to photograph, particularly for those like me who prefer to take “people-less” photographs. Of course, a few people can give a place a sense of scale or character. But too many people just make a beautiful place look busy.

We’ve had the ability to remove people from photographs for years, but the recent versions of Lightroom include a “Distraction Removal” function that handles reflections (with mixed success), people and dust spots. I tried it out on these photographs and found it to be quite useful. I did hang on to both versions, however, because while I don’t need to adhere to photojournalism standards I still like to capture a place the way it “really looked.”

So who is Finn McCool? There are various versions of the story, but I found this short version on the Ireland Before You Die website:

The story of Finn MacCool and the Giant’s Causeway goes something like this:

Northern Ireland was once home to a giant called Finn MacCool. When another giant, Benandonner from Scotland, threatened the Emerald Isle, MacCool – in a fit of rage – tore up the Antrim landscape and flung its pieces towards the sea.

The result was a pathway from land to sea for Finn MacCool to reach his nemesis: Benandonner. The tables turned, however, when MacCool realised the absolute might of Benandonner.

Retreating in haste, MacCool’s savvy wife came up with the ingenious idea of disguising him as a baby. When Benandonner finally arrived and saw this humongous infant, he was overwhelmed with fear: if that is the size of the child, how large is the giant Finn MacCool himself, he thought.

Flooded with horror, Benandonner made a swift exit from the Emerald Isle, destroying as much of the Giant’s Causeway path as he could along the way in a bid to put as much distance between himself and the powerful Finn MacCool.

What we see today is said to be what is left of the path that once the giants walked between Ireland and Scotland. And there you have it: the story of Finn MacCool and the Giant’s Causeway.

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On another note, we’re off again soon on our next adventure. Since I’ve found that the traffic on this blog drops off considerably when I don’t post anything (imagine that!) I’ve queued up a few single image posts for while we’re away. I’ll have more Ireland photos and stories when we return, plus a whole new batch of photos from this side of the pond.