Slievenamon, Sliabh na mBan or 'Mountain of the Women'

As I write this Storm Fionn is hitting Ireland and bringing with it snow, heavy winds and high seas.

It's rather fitting then that last week I climbed a mountain in County Tipperary called Slievenamon, whose Irish name means Mountain of the Women.

This 721m high mountain sits at the end of a long ridge stretching across the south east of Ireland.

It was an important mountain in Irish mythology having been the place chosen by an important mythological figure, often described as a giant, Finn or Fionn MacCumhaill as the site of a race - the winner would be the first woman to ascend Slievenamon who would win Fionn's hand in marriage.

Finn, as you might already know, is the hero/god/giant who created the Giant's Causeway, Lough Neagh and the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea according to legend. 

So check out the video of my short ascent of Slievenamon from the green Suir Valley to the white, icy wonderland on top with stunning views of the Munster Vales and the counties of this part of Ireland situated along the driving route known as Ireland's Ancient East, like the present Storm Fionn it was blowing a gale at 721m above sea level.

The video is hosted on YouTube but you can watch it here on this page by playing it.

Slievenamon - above the snow line in winter

Braving the elements on a cold winter's day we climbed up Slievenamon, a 720m-high mountain in Ireland's Ancient East and part of the scenic Munster Vales region.

Starting along the scenic lanes we walked through green fields past pine forest with views along the Suir Valley towards the Knockmealdown, Comeragh and Galtee Mountains.

At the top it was a white and blue sky winter wonderland with iced snow coating everything, it was cold and the strong north easterly wind made it feel even colder.

Here is an image from the top of the sun and that wintry scene.

More to come on this adventure, why not join me on my next outing to learn how to photograph Irish landscapes.

For more on photography tours and workshops in Ireland contact me.

On a recent post here on panoramicireland.com I wrote about the necessity of patience in landscape photography.

I also mentioned that on most occasions here in Ireland, the weather does clear up and allow us to capture spectacular scenes under amazing light.

But sometimes the weather does set in and on those occasions there are alternative things to do and photograph on a photography tour.

Here is one such place, the famous Long Room Library in Dublin's Trinity College. I have photographed here on many occasions, including for Ritz-Carlton and produced this 360-degree panorama of the book repository that inspired the makers of Star Wars. Here is the link: Long Room Library Virtual Tour

So on those days that don't go to plan, we always keep options in mind. 

To join me on a photography tour in Dublin, the Long Room Library or anywhere else in Ireland - see here.

The Blue Hour is a classic time of day for landscape photographers to photograph. There are in fact two blue hours and both don't necessarily last for an hour.

The first blue hour precedes sunrise and the second of the day comes after sunset; wrapped inside the day there is also the golden hour that we will talk about separately.

During the evening blue hour - light is fading, the sun has set and we lose the direct brightness from our light-giving star.

Red light passes through Earth's atmosphere and further into space, while blue light with its shorter wavelength gets trapped and scattered, and bounces around to create a blue coloured period we call the Blue Hour.

There are many elements that go into creating an image.

There's the old favourites such as composition, shutter speed, aperture and so on. Then there's location; but often patience is the key element required in photography, particularly landscape or seascape photography such as in the image seen above.

Here a scene from a coastal landscape photography workshop on Ireland's Wild Atlantic Way in Dingle, County Kerry. This is Star Wars filming territory and on this occasion we spent quite some time waiting for the rain to pass us by and when it did, we were greeted with this scene looking across the Atlantic towards neighbouring Iveragh.

Stunning and worth the wait I'm sure you'll agree.

I often get asked in advance of photography tours and workshops "What will we do if it rains, do you have a contingency?", well yes we will usually photograph something majestic, because it is in the stormy mixed weather conditions we often get in Ireland that we see the most atmospheric light. The ephemeral rays of sunshine lighting up a portion of the scene in the distance, a bright sky that tells of the drama that has passed or is about to pass.

We can't always promise great weather but always a great time photographing the landscapes and street scenes of Ireland.

The essence of travel photography, in Ireland. Patience required, fun guaranteed and you're going to learn a lot!

Send me an email if this sounds like an experience you would like to enjoy.

For more information on Panoramic Ireland's (that's me) photography tours and workshops in Dingle click here and for more of our Dublin tours click here. Suitable all year round - spring, summer, autumn and winter.

The Antrim Coast is a rugged, beautifully scenic place with the wild Atlantic pounding at its shoreline and islands constantly.

Here Sheep Island, a tiny island of basalt rocks sits close in front of the much larger Rathlin Island composed of basalt overlying chalk - evident in the cliffs as seen in the distance.

I was leading a photography workshop on this coastline, a part of Ireland I know very very well, for more information see here.

It was a windy day but still with blue sky and plenty of clouds as we considered that we were lucky to be on land rather than on the high seas, tripods shaking with the wind it was a time to shelter and photograph handheld.

Beautiful, don't you think?

Another of my favourite images from 2017 came again from Ireland's midland region just like this one here.

Again, after a long day of photographing landscapes we found ourselves in not an ideal position for photographing the sunset, not being the chief objective of our photography workshop.

Here we found this lane that seemed to invite us across its water-filled potholes towards the colour of the evening's setting sun.

The wind was blowing, the usual, bright orange colour filled the horizon and above the blue hour was beginning to start.

This was one of my favourite unexpected scenes of the year.

It is very representative of Ireland, not the famous scenes from our beautiful coastline but the hidden Ireland that I like to find for you on my photography workshops and tours.

To join me on a personalised tour in Ireland, to find scenes like these, contact me using the main menu or use the email address at the top of the page.

This was at the end of a long day's photography workshop covering woodlands and waterfalls, Panoramic Ireland (that's me by the way) run photography workshops and tours for all levels in Ireland from Cork to Galway to Belfast to Dublin.

We were in Ireland's midlands for the best part of the session and sunset wasn't high on our priorities for the day but we happened on this scene and found that post-sunset cloud glow to be very photogenic with this pastoral scene of green fields and cows.

To join me on a photography workshop in Ireland for sunset photography, street photography or architectural photography and everything else as well use the contact page on the main menu above. Send me an email with whatever locations you are interested in and dates when you will be in Ireland.

In the meantime, enjoy this sunset scene, it's relaxing don't you think?

Another of my favourite workshops from 2017 was this one from County Kerry, here we have the bright summer sun shining over County Kerry's famous Dingle Peninsula - probably the most popular non-Dublin destination in Ireland.

In the distance the mountains of Kerry can be seen, the highest amongst these are the Macgillycuddy's Reeks with Ireland's highest mountain Carrauntuohill. On the right of the image the Atlantic Ocean sitting between the Iveragh and Dingle peninsulae.

Panoramic Ireland, that's me by the way, run photo tours and workshops throughout Ireland from the scenic landscapes of Dingle as seen here to the urban streets of Dublin and Belfast. For more on my Dingle photography workshops in 2018 see this link or contact me through the menu above.

As I write this the clock is about to turn past midnight and into Monday 25th December 2017, Christmas Day.

I have been working hard on many projects this year, currently on my best of images - my personal favourites from the past twelve months.

Here is one of my favourites, a setting sun lowering through the sky over Northern Ireland - rays shining across the green countryside and high into the bright blue sky.

Your support throughout this year, and previous years has made all of this possible and I look forward to continuing into 2018, chatting on social media, via emails and indeed meeting you on tours here in Ireland.

To book a photo tour, one-to-one photographic advice and mentoring session from anywhere in the world or to buy one of my prints please use the contact form in the top menu.