Despite assurances from all of the self-proclaimed experts on long range weather forecasting in Ireland, summer 2019 has not been as good as 2018 and is on par with 2017 as having been grey, windy, rainy, grey, windy, rainy...

It has at least been warm, but for photography it has been challenging. The winds, while not hurricane strength have nonetheless been constant in their presence and changeable in their direction and speed.

In other words, tripod-toppling weather.

Here is one from a tour in the west of Ireland, as the sun's rays shone through the thick, fast-moving cloud onto the choppy harbour waters of the Atlantic. The greens of the fields aglow with stormy light.

Exploring in the Irish countryside can be a fine and rewarding experience.

Here, I found an old stone bridge dating from the 1840s over a small river surrounded by green trees, its stony riverbed shallow with long grasses sculpted by the low summer flow.

We stood in the water here, no need for wellies, to photograph this scene.

Join Panoramic Ireland to explore and photograph the Irish countryside.