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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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Scenic Drives: Driving the Vee, One of the Most Scenic Roads in Ireland
Written by Darren McLoughlinIrishman 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.
Written on Monday, 09 December 2024 00:45 in Guide
Deep in the heart of Ireland lies County Tipperary, a beautiful and scenic place with lush green countryside and prominent mountains including the Galtees and Ireland's highest inland mountain, Galtymore.
Here in the south of the county lies the Vee, a twisty mountain pass forming a scenic drive between Cahir, the Golden Vale of South Tipperary and Lismore in West Waterford.
This is a an area, off the usual track, with views all around and stopping places to admire the stupendous views.
Captured here on a sunny day with blue sky and white cloud in spring.
Here is my YouTube video of this fine journey through the Tipperary countryside, up to the Vee and to the viewpoint over Bay Lough, close to the Tipperary / Waterford border.
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Stone Walls of Ireland Inscribed onto UNESCO List of Protected Intangible Cultural World Heritage
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.
Written on Sunday, 08 December 2024 01:06 in Guide Read more...
Finally, Ireland's famous stone walls have been added to UNESCO's list of protected heritage world practices.
In 2018 France, Switzerland, Spain, Greece, Slovenia, Croatia, Italy and Cyprus were all inscribed onto the list.
Strangely, Ireland wasn't included despite the prevalence, both geographically across the island of Ireland, and historically through time from the neolithic Cedide Fields through to modern field boundaries that vary by region from Connemara to the Mournes of County Down.
The Céide Fields of County Mayo have some of the oldest field systems on the planet, fields bounded by stone walls dating back 6,000 years.
I've written about stone walls before here on Panoramic Ireland, but this is the first time that Irish stone walls have gained international prominence.
It's interesting that intangible cultural practices include customs, traditions, crafts, games and practices that are part of people's lives and identities both individually and wider communities, and are passed on from generation to generation.
Yet surely a stone wall is tangible, a physical structure which is of course touchable, viewable and part of the wider community.
Anyway, the ancient Irish, and modern, landscapes are filled with traditional Irish culture and adding Ireland to this list will undoubtedly help in the realisation that stone walls are more than just a scenic addition to the Irish landscape, they are an integral part of Ireland.
Panoramic Ireland has built many stone walls over the years and enjoyed every single minute.
But more importantly, Panoramic Ireland is continuing to photograph Irish landscapes such as stone walls.
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Red Sky at Night, Shepherd's Delight - Snow in Ireland Ahead of Storm Bert
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.
Written on Friday, 22 November 2024 00:58 in Guide
The question is always: Does it snow in Ireland? Well, there aren't many days in the year when Ireland has snow, really only a few in a typical year and November is an unusual month to have a wee bit of the white stuff.
2024 has seen somewhat of a good dusting over the west and south of Ireland as well as the north. Actually, as is usual for Ireland, above 300 metres above sea level but there has been widespread disruption in places even lower.
Here, a snow-dusted landscape scene with a bright pink-orange sky behind, indicating according to time honoured tradition, the old phrase (red sky at night, shepherd's delight) that a good day tomorrow will follow, even if only tomorrow - ahead of Storm Bert set to hit Ireland this weekend.
Whether there is snow or not, Ireland is a scenic and at times magical place to photograph. Join one of Panoramic Ireland's photography workshops and tours in Dublin, Wicklow, Antrim, Connemara, Donegal and beyond to find scenes like these.
Panoramic Ireland's tours and workshops run all year round, when it's snowing like here in November or when it's roasting hot in July.
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Early Morning Quiraing, View of SH Vega from the Isle of Skye
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.
Written on Tuesday, 19 November 2024 21:04 in Guide Read more...
It was an early start, here on location already at 05:05 on 06/06. A still morning, high on the Quiraing, a landslip ridge on the north end of the famously beautiful Scottish Isle of Skye. Awaiting the sunrise
I was in Scotland to photograph puffins and landscapes and on this morning I photographed in the blue hour light, a stormy purple at this moment, rather than the classic view of this location as I wanted to save that for the golden hour
Imagine my surprise when a ship should enter view out on the Atlantic, I recognised her shape and sure enough, after a quick Google search I found that Swan Hellenic's SH Vega was indeed in Skye at that time.
I had been on board the small polar class cruise ship last year when she made her first visit to Dublin and Ireland. At that time I said "I hope to see her again soon." And here, now in Skye photographing in the most scenic of scenes.
The view along the ridge was spectacular, I can only imagine how this scene looked from one of the 76 staterooms on board the ship; seeing the Quiraing slowly lighting up with the clearing sky and shadows across the rocky ridge.
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Snow in the Forecast for Ireland, November 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.
Written on Monday, 18 November 2024 15:43 in Guide
After an unusually warm start to November this year temperatures are taking a nosedive this week with colder than usual weather on the way for Ireland.
Snowfall accumulations are forecast for the northern half of Ireland and our northerly neighbours in Scotland have already had much more in the way of snow over high ground due to the presence of an artic airmass bringing cold air down from the north pole.
We might get a chance to venture into the wild mountains covered in white.
Join me to photograph in the Irish mountains during winter 2024-2025.
Workshops and tours are available Monday to Sunday Sunrise to Sunset and are suitable for beginners to advanced photographers.
To find out more see the various booking pages on the site or simply, contact me to send a message of enquiry.
We might not get snow but we'll get great images!
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A Blue Sky Over Sand Dunes in Ireland, Find Me On Bluesky Social Media
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.
Written on Thursday, 14 November 2024 14:04 in Guide
It has been a strange year, 2024. A lot has happened over the past number of months, not least the opening up of new social media site Bluesky.
I have at last joined, along with millions of others - a number which is growing daily.
Anyway, here is my account https://bsky.app/profile/travelimages.bsky.social so if you're there stop by and say hello.
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How a Cormorant Takes Off From Water, Phalacrocorax carbo in Connemara, Ireland
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.
Written on Tuesday, 12 November 2024 20:34 in Guide
Cormorants are large seabirds well adapted to swimming and diving. You'll often see them floating, almost submerged on the sea, a river or a lake or standing on rocks with wings outstretched drying.
Broigheall is the Irish name and Phalacrocorax carbo is the latin name for these birds which are found extensively throughout Ireland.
Easy to confuse with shags, usually cormorants will have a white patch, as seen in the image above, around the thigh and also cormorants are more likely to be found inland even at lake and river sites.
Shags have a steeper forehead rising from the bill which is marked by a crest of feathers and almost always in Ireland remain coastal.
If you are wondering how seabirds get airborne, here's an interesting sequence from the west of Ireland.
Here, a lone cormorant taking off from the calm surface of a lake in Connemara, County Galway, Ireland shows that it is basically running on water, you can see the splashes of water kicked up by those webbed feet as its wings begin to generate lift.
Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo taking off on a lake in Ireland, running on water Quite a sight, a fine sunny summer's day and the sounds of wildlife all around.
Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo taking off on a lake in Ireland, running on water 
Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo taking off on a lake in Ireland, running on water Finally airborne.
Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo airborne at the lake, Connemara Join me, Panoramic Ireland, to photograph in the Irish countryside with guidance on locations and how to photograph in different scenes and scenarios. Now taking bookings for 2025.
