Photography Tours
Expert Guidance
Photography Workshops
See Ireland with a Creative Eye
What Is A Photo Tour?
What is a photo tour and is it different to a photography workshop? This is a question we get asked a lot. There is no real difference but simply, a tour is more focused on seeing the place with a photographic emphasis while a workshop is specifically designed to concentrate on one or more aspects of your photographic technique, equipment or composition. Both tour and workshop are interchangeable and there is a degree of overlap.
Because we tailor each tour to suit your needs, we choose the appropriate locations and times to maximise your time in Ireland and help you to improve your photography.
If you would like to know more about our photography workshops in Ireland please contact us here and join an Irish photographer for a day in your favourite part of Ireland.
Don't forget that we offer Gift Vouchers for Christmas and all year round for birthdays and other occasions. A photography gift voucher entitles the holder to the same benefits as a direct booking: one-to-one photography tuition, a choice of locations in Dublin, Wicklow and the rest of Ireland, morning or evening photography workshops, follow-on advice and critique on images. To buy a Panoramic Ireland Photography Gift Voucher for a friend, relation or even for yourself please follow this link or Contact Us.
Find out more about our Dublin Photo Tours here, for our Northern Ireland photo tours click here and Galway and rest of Ireland you can find out more here.
What makes Ireland so special? Perhaps it is the landscapes, the history, the people or a combination of all of these that bring 7 million visitors every year to this little island.
Dublin is the capital of Ireland and the chief city on the island, Belfast is the second largest, and the chief city of Northern Ireland. The island has two currencies and two governments but there no border controls between the north and south; indeed it is quite easy to drive from one side to the other without knowing it.
It is true, in Ireland it rains a bit (isn't that why it's so green?) but don't let that put you off because it doesn't rain as much as you think. With some good luck there will be fine weather during your visit. The best months to visit are April, May, June and September. The days are long, the weather is often perfect and it isn't high season. Is there any better place to be than driving along a country road somewhere in Ireland on a warm, sunny day?
Ireland makes a perfect location to improve your photography or to enhance your image collection. Contact us today to learn more about our bespoke tour options.
Panoramic Ireland (that's me) Meets Irish President Michael D. Higgins
Here I am (just so you know that I am actually a real person) meeting Irish President Michael D. Higgins at the Festival Interceltique du Lorient in France.
Image of the Month
Summer 2023
The west of Ireland, boats on lakeside sandy beach between mountains on a sunny day.
For 2023 take one of Panoramic Ireland's private photography tours in Ireland from Belfast to Cork to Dublin to Galway - perfect for avoiding the large crowds and finding scenic seascapes, landscapes and cityscapes to photograph. Bookable now for 2023 and beyond.
Find out more by going to the Contact page.
Seven Essential Places to Photograph in Ireland
- Dublin - home to Guinness, Croke Park and The Book of Kells; you can't miss Dublin, a city that has improved over the past 10 years.
- Wicklow - mountainous and empty yet less than an hour from Dublin, Wicklow is home to the most famous hermitage in Ireland at Glendalough.
- Belfast & the Antrim Coast - the land of myths and legends, saints and scholars, Northern Ireland has some of the finest landscape photography. The stunning landscapes are now easy for all to see, Game of Thrones has added to that appeal.
- Dingle - the furthest west that you can get in Ireland, and a peninsula that has as more pubs than you could ever visit. Visually stunning.
- The Burren - a unique geological landscape, The Burren is home to arctic, alpine and mediterranean plants.
- Connemara - rugged and wild, full of bogs, sea and sky as well as a few ponies of distinction.
- Donegal - the most northerly county in Ireland, the Atlantic coastline is second to none in Ireland with the sea cliffs of Slieve League and miles-long sandy beaches.
Have a look at the blog section of the site for more stories, events and information on the places mentioned here.
Enjoy the site, we hope you learn something and when you come to visit us here in Ireland/ Why not book a photography tour with us, learn something about the real Ireland and learn how to make better images.
LATEST POSTS FROM OUR BLOG
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Ride a Stage of the 2025 Tour de France from Albertville to La Plagne in the French Alps - L'Étape du Tour
Written by Darren McLoughlin
Irishman and International travel photographer in search of the best bits of Ireland. Leading photography tours and experiences in Ireland.
Contributor to New York Times / Sunday Times / Irish Times / Echtra Echtra and Eonmusic
Cancer survivor.
Ask me about travel in Ireland or about photography in Ireland.
**UPDATE** Registration has now closed, but you can find tickets through official tour operators or ride for charity, more information here: https://www.letapedutourdefrance.com/en/village/tour-operators
As a keen cyclist, like many Irish people, and someone who enjoys photographing cycling races (from the Tour of Ireland to the Tour de France), the opportunity to partake in one of the world's most famous cycling events is tempting, tickets for L'Étape du Tour go on sale 6th of November 2024.
The Étape du Tour is held every year, on closed roads covering one of the Tour du France's most challenging stages, with 16,000 participants taking to the scenic French roads with all the support of the real thing which follows a few days later. This is professional level organisation.
This is a non-professional cyclist's opportunity to ride as if part of the Grande Boucle.
You don't need to be a competitive cyclist, anyone who is fit enough can take part and you don't need to be a KOM rider, this event is doable with a good level of fitness.
For 2025, the Étape du Tour starts in Albertville, home to the Winter Olympics in 1992 and finishes in La Plagne, famous for skiing and the world's most popular ski resort in 2014.
But, in the heat of the French summer in July, skiing will take second place as La Plagne sees the arrival of 16,000 cyclists from all over the world, followed a few days later by hundreds of the world's top professional cyclists.
It will be the last mountain stage for the 2025 TdF but and it will be challenging for the professionals but on the 21st of July there will be a lot of sore legs in La Plagne, as it marks its fifth time hosting the Tour de France.
Interestingly, La Plagne will also host a SUPER8 mountain biking race on the 11th to 13th July, making it a cycling hotspot for 2025.
Leaving Albertville (355m) the Étape du Tour will cross some of the most famous mountain passes in France, the Col des Saisies (1,650m) which sees a 13.7km long climb at average gradient of 6.4%; before the descent to Beaufort at 724m followed by the tough climb to the Col du Pré at 1,748m with 12.6km of roads at a whopping 7.7% average gradient, which reaches 11.3% maximum. The Cormet de Roselend takes riders to 1,968 metres above sea level, dropping again to 806m ahead of the long (19.1km) climb to La Plagne at 2,052m with an average gradient of 7.2%! All that over 131km of Savoie tarmac.
What is it: L'Étape du Tour de France - a closed road, full stage of the world's most famous cycling race, the Tour de France run a few days before the professionals take on the stage
When is it: Sunday 20th of July 2025, 131km and 4,500m of ascent to finish at La Plagne
How to find out more (and only place to buy tickets/register unless booking with a tour operator or riding for charity): https://www.letapedutourdefrance.com/en/the-race/how-to-register
Hurry though, tickets go on sale on Wednesday November 6th 2024 at 16:00 and will likely sell out quickly - within a few hours.
- Ride a Stage of the 2025 Tour de France from Albertville to La Plagne in the French Alps - L'Étape du Tour
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- Ride a Stage of the 2025 Tour de France from Albertville to La Plagne in the French Alps - L'Étape du Tour
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Therapy? Bring Troublegum to the Olympia Theatre, Dublin Halloween 2024
Written by Darren McLoughlin
Irishman and International travel photographer in search of the best bits of Ireland. Leading photography tours and experiences in Ireland.
Contributor to New York Times / Sunday Times / Irish Times / Echtra Echtra and Eonmusic
Cancer survivor.
Ask me about travel in Ireland or about photography in Ireland.
Antrim rockers Therapy? sold out Dublin's iconic Olympia Theatre on Dame Street on Halloween night, while thousands gathered for the ghost parade on O'Connell Street.
Playing their iconic Troublegum album in full the band brought their usual energy to the scenic, and famous, interior of the Olympia to start their European tour on the 30th anniversary of its release.
This was my third time photographing Therapy?, both previous occasions in Belfast, this the first time in Dublin.
- Therapy? Bring Troublegum to the Olympia Theatre, Dublin Halloween 2024
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- Therapy? Bring Troublegum to the Olympia Theatre, Dublin Halloween 2024
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New Feature First Look - Lightroom - Edit in External / Third Party Photo Editor
Written by Darren McLoughlin
Irishman and International travel photographer in search of the best bits of Ireland. Leading photography tours and experiences in Ireland.
Contributor to New York Times / Sunday Times / Irish Times / Echtra Echtra and Eonmusic
Cancer survivor.
Ask me about travel in Ireland or about photography in Ireland.
Here we take a look at a new feature in October 2024's Adobe Lightroom (formerly known as Lightroom CC - I know it's confusing) - How to Edit in third party / external applications in Lightroom so not in one of Adobe's products such as Photoshop.
This process has been made a little easier now, so here are the steps.
As you can see here, I'm interested in editing this image of Ireland's largest sea arch Great Pollet which has strong partial lighting across its face.
Now let's say you're not a Photoshop user but you do use Lightroom, you also use a non-Adobe photo editing application such as Affinity Photo.
In Lightroom, right click on the image and choose Edit in > Browse...
Then choose your app, here I have chosen Affinity's Photo.exe.
A dialog opens up, showing how to proceed; (1)make your edits in Photo (my chosen app), keeping Lightroom open in background, (2) Save your work in Photo then (3) Return to Lightroom.
Here I make my edits in Affinity Photo, let's say using the healing brish tool to remove dust spots. Then File > Save.
After the application, in this case Affinity Photo, opens, the Lightroom dialog changed to (1) Be sure your photo is saved and (2) Choose Finish and of course there is a Finish button to click to ensure the image is brought back into Lightroom. So I click Finish here after having already saved in Affinity Photo in the previous step.
The file now appears in Adobe Lightroom's filmstrip, seen here alongside the original RAW file, in this case as a TIF.
After having edited in your app, it will now appear as an option in future when you Right Click > Edit in > ...
I usually write about Adobe Lightroom Classic but if you're a regular reader here on Panoramic Ireland you will probably have seen my recent articles on Adobe Bridge, Lightroom and Photoshop.
Why not join me to learn how to photograph, use software and create images and stories that matter in Ireland's fine countryside.
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The Green Road, Weaving Through the Irish Landscape
Written by Darren McLoughlin
Irishman and International travel photographer in search of the best bits of Ireland. Leading photography tours and experiences in Ireland.
Contributor to New York Times / Sunday Times / Irish Times / Echtra Echtra and Eonmusic
Cancer survivor.
Ask me about travel in Ireland or about photography in Ireland.
The green roads or lanes of Ireland are impressive but can often be quite hard to find.
They are unlike other small country roads in Ireland, they don't have a metalled surface, they weave between fields through the Irish landscape but often have become disused or paved over. These green roads often would have been routes between townlands, forming part of the cultural landscape of Ireland.
Today they are important for wildlife, with hedgerows providing wildlife cover, berries and seeds for winter and with limited traffic - usually walkers, cows and horses are the only passers-by now.
Green roads give character to an area and provide a link to our past as well as being incredibly scenic.
Tags: green road green lane irish countryside landscape landscape photography landscape photography workshops ireland landscape photography in irelandRead more... -
A First Look at Adobe Bridge 2025 - Quick Actions - Remove Background - Cows in a Field
Written by Darren McLoughlin
Irishman and International travel photographer in search of the best bits of Ireland. Leading photography tours and experiences in Ireland.
Contributor to New York Times / Sunday Times / Irish Times / Echtra Echtra and Eonmusic
Cancer survivor.
Ask me about travel in Ireland or about photography in Ireland.
Adobe has released a raft of updates to Bridge, Lightroom, Photoshop and Camera Raw in recent weeks.
Here, a first look at Quick Actions in Adobe Bridge.
Bridge is interesting software, it's really for those who don't use Lightroom Classic, sitting between Lr and Ps, it allows for image management and editing using Camera Raw.
But it does have useful functionality, and the new Quick Actions will come in handy at times.
Here, I try a Quick Action to Remove Background in the above image with one movement - drag the image to the flyout panel.
The Quick Actions flyout window opens, and works away - this as you can see is powered by Adobe Express.
You are then left with the image with background removed, two options are possible here - Download the image to your computer or Open in Adobe Express.
The latter will open Adobe Express in your web browser where more functionality is possible such as adding the image to animations and videos. Subscribe to stay informed when I make a post on this very thing.
Here I have just decided to download, it's then possible to import the file into Lightroom or use in Photoshop.
You can of course remove the background, or inversely the subjects such as these cows, in other ways such as using Photoshop but this method using Adobe Bridge is quick and easy.
Here it has done a fine job of identifying all of the cows, including those sitting down and those in the background, removing everything else. Impressive, I would say.
Find out more about how to photograph, how to edit in software by subscribing to updates from panoramicireland.com