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The sun had long disappeared into the Atlantic ocean when I took this photo of a sea arch at the tip of Loop Head on the west coast of Ireland, and the scene had turned into a flatly lit monotone of greys and blacks - at least to my eyes it had anyway.

One of the truly amazing things about digital photography is the ability of the camera's sensor to pull detail and colour out of a scene during a long exposure in low light conditions that just doesn't register to human vision.

Add in the movement of the sea and the crash of the waves on the shore and what looks like a very unpromising scene can yield real beauty and mood when captured on a silicon wafer.

My wife Liz waits in the gloom as I take just one more 30 second exposure before tearing myself away from such a wonderful place and head back to our holiday cottage for a welcome cup of coffee.