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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 coastline of Ireland comes in many different forms - the sandy beaches with turquoise waters, rocky headlands and coves, pebbles and stones. All of these elements make up the ever changing and ever beautiful coast of the Emerald Isle.

Here I made this image from a visit to the north coast, the rocky peaks just offshore look a little like a film set especially when seen against the post-sunset sky with its pinks and oranges fading into blue.

I have added a little post-processing to give a more mystical, moody feel to this seascape.

Join me on a photography tour and learn how to make images like these, from €220 for a private one-to-one workshop.

Here in this west of Ireland sunset is one of my favourite images from 2017, as seen in my YouTube video here.

For over ten years I have been organising photography workshops and tours here in Ireland.

The sunset image is one of the most lambasted, often cited as a hackneyed subject matter in photography but actually, photographed correctly (like here from this Panoramic Ireland photography workshop), the sunset can be enticing, mesmerising, one of two potential perfect moments in a 24 hour period for lighting and colour.

Learn how to photograph the sunset in any conditions on a private photography workshop by contacting me here.

Join me, Panoramic Ireland, for a photography tour and workshop in the west of Ireland to learn how to photograph scenes like this.

Tuesday, 27 March 2018 23:43

Ireland's Wild and Rugged Coastline

The wild, stormy and rugged coast of Ireland varies from sandy beaches to rocky headlands.

Here seen on one of the many stormy days driving wave after wave onto the coast, swirling white water draining over black rocks.

I often get asked about bad weather and photography such as is it possible to photograph on stormy days, what about 'bad' weather.

What is 'bad' weather? Weather affects the feeling of an image, there really is no such thing as bad weather in photography. A sunny image with calm seas can lack impact, even lighting is not as interesting as contrasty conditions typical of a stormy day and the motion of the ocean upon the shore is one of dramatic interest.

Storms bring waves, Ireland being a small island where you can only be 80 miles from the sea means a trip to the coast as seen in this image is very easy and worthwhile.

The challenge of landscape photography is of course to deal with the elements, anticipate the weather using knowledge and the forecasts and be ready to adapt to what local conditions are like.

Stormy days sometimes bring sunny weather between the windy, wet weather such as here on the Antrim Coast.

Join me on a photography workshop on the coast of Ireland, contact me for dates and locations for Panoramic Ireland's coastal photography workshops in Ireland 2018 and 2019.

Tuesday, 27 March 2018 15:22

Dingle, Looking Different

I have been photographing and leading photography workshops in Dingle, County Kerry for many years now.

On a recent visit we made more than one stop at the famous Dunquin Harbour out on the west of the peninsula, close to Ireland's (and Europe's) most westerly point.

Seen here is one of the images created on that workshop, can you spot what makes it different to the typical view of this iconic Irish location?

Send me your answers in the comments section below or via the contact page.

Join me on one of my Dingle Photography Workshops, read more about a previous visit to Dingle.

The West of Ireland is full of landscapes like this Connemara panorama with rugged mountains and rough pasture.

It is also home to locations like this one at Pine Island.

On a bright winter's day the west is full of character for the photographer and visitor alike.

It has been a strange old winter and early spring here in Ireland. We have had a few storms and lots of snow, now it's time for some green as we enter the Irish spring.

Here an image of shamrocks, one of the famous symbols of Ireland in an Irish spring, with fresh raindrops after a light shower with sunshine and shadow.

Shamrocks are said to have been used by Ireland's patron saint, Saint Patrick who used the triple leaf to explain the concept of the Holy Trinity to the pagan Irish during the fifth century AD.

Each leaf is one but made up of three separate leaves, there are many species of small plant that grow in Ireland that could possibly be the shamrock that is referred to in the Saint Patrick story.

Find out more about my photography tours in the Irish countryside, including photographing plants and natural scenes.

 

Tuesday, 13 March 2018 21:57

Dublin's Four Courts and River Liffey

Dublin's Four Courts reflected in the River Liffey.

One of the city's finest buildings the Four Courts is seen here with reflections in the River Liffey at sunset.

Dating to the end of the eighteenth century, the fine building was begun by architect Thomas Cooley who designed the Royal Exchange, which is now City Hall; it was finished by Dublin's most famous architect, James Gandon in 1784 after Cooley's death.

Gandon also designed the Custom House in Dublin.

At the centre of the building a 19.5 metre diameter round hall topped with a large dome that makes for an unmistakable presence in Dublin's skyline.

The buildings were extensively destroyed in 1922 before being brought back into use in the 1930s.

And it was here that so many of Ireland's centuries-old records were lost during the Civil War - parliamentary records, parish and civil records and more. This is why it is so hard to trace Irish ancestry, so many documents were all held in one place with no copies held elsewhere, a lesson that we are all too careful of in the digital age.

Swan on the River Liffey at Dublin's Four Courts
Swan on the River Liffey at Dublin's Four Courts

Follow Panoramic Ireland on Instagram: https://instagram.com/panoramicireland

 

Friday, 09 March 2018 15:52

The Cathedral Door

This is a door that I have photographed often, having featured in my first book Portrait of Armagh.

It is the entrance door to Saint Patrick's Church of Ireland Cathedral in Armagh, Ireland's ecclesiastic capital.

The snow that fell during the Beast from the East and Storm Emma was quite surprising, unlike anything in recent years and it added to the character of this area seen here, the flakes so big they almost obliterate the view of the architecture itself.

Join me for a photography tour of Armagh here.

Saturday, 03 March 2018 18:29

Street Photography in the Snow

Street photography comes in all styles, shapes and sizes.

Here during the current snow storm to hit Ireland, known as Storm Emma and the Beast from the East, a man shielded by an umbrella walks up the steep, snow-covered Dawson Street in Armagh, Ireland's ecclesiastic capital.

Armagh's Church of Ireland cathedral, dedicated to Saint Patrick, seen here during the snow storm known as Beast from the East and Storm Emma in March 2018.

Join me on one of my photography tours of Ireland as we photograph every subject from street photography to landscapes, snow to sun and food to architecture.

Don't forget the pine martens of course, that's nature and wildlife.

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