Donegal is Ireland's most northerly county, its peninsulae jutting out into the North Atlantic with Malin Head being the northernmost point on the island.

And it is a scenic part of Ireland, the coast is long with rocky sections, cliffs, sandy beaches and with more than a few lighthouses it lives up to its reputation as a rugged place.

I do like photographing in Ireland in winter, the countryside is mostly empty and the weather can be fine.

Here it was a foggy day with little chance of a break in the cloud overhead so instead of heading for a big wide open scene we headed for a good little woodland where we could make use of the ethereal atmosphere that fog so often gives.

The beech trees were covered in almost luminous, bright green moss and the forest floor carpeted in red/brown beech leaves, and in between all of that the fog permeated the whole place.

Winter can be cold and monotone in places around the world, but here in Ireland it is more often than not a colourful time of year interspersed with snowy days.

Most of the time, snow is absent even in the mountains except for the rare years.

Here we have the rugged, weathered mountains of the west of Ireland and the Atlantic looking calm.

Winter 2020 is far from over, currently we are having storms but there is still plenty of time for snow like this to blanket the mountains of Ireland.

Deep snow blankets the normally grassy landscape of the Irish mountains as sunset approaches.

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Landscape and nature photography in Ireland doesn't stop just because it is winter.

Landscape photographers enjoy the winter just as much as any other season, there is always the chance of snow of course and the bright clear winter sunlight.

But even a woodland, with trees devoid of leaves can look fine in winter.

Happy New Year, welcome to 2020.

Here is the Moon as it appeared over Ireland on January 1st 2020 at sunset.

My first images from the new year and the new decade.

The sun sets on another day, another solar year passes, the days get longer from now on - Ireland and the northern hemisphere pass the the winter solstice.

In Ireland the winter solstice has long been an important point of the year, Ireland's most famous monument at Newgrange is aligned with sunrise on the winter solstice (December 21/22) - read more here.

Reflected in the western beach Ireland's Wild Atlantic Way greets the colourful sunset, beaming from sheeny sands.

What to photograph in Ireland when the weather isn't good? 

That's a question I get asked a lot, and it isn't difficult to answer. There is always a fine scene to photograph in any locality on any day.

On this occasion as the rain began to fall, it was this lake in the west of Ireland, the soft and rugged contours of the region and its conifer forest reflecting in the calm lake waters.

Happy Christmas from Ireland.

It's almost the end of 2019, the decade and while there is no snow for Christmas in Ireland, here is a Christmassy / winter scene from Ireland of stone circles and snow at sunset.

Enjoy the rest of the 2019 and Happy New Year!

If you are travelling to Ireland in 2020 join a photography tour in Dublin, Wicklow, Antrim, Connemara or elsewhere. Contact me to find out more.

We've had snow so far this winter in Ireland, here's a post from earlier this month at the start of December 2019 of snow in the Irish mountains.

But it looks like it will be a snow-free Christmas on the Emerald Isle.

So, here's an image from this week, a few days before Christmas from the west of Ireland.