Photography and Ireland. It doesn't always involve snow, not even in the mountains.

As I looked out to green fields and sunny blue skies on the mountain slopes today, not a drop of the white blanket to be seen, it seemed a far way away from this image where, during a photography workshop on how to photograph snowy landscapes we made our way up the mountain - its road snow-covered and icy, at one point it was almost impossible to make it up the ever-steepening slopes.

Along the way DK and I had plenty of landscapes to photograph. I explained how to photograph the often bright snow to gain the best from any weather conditions, afterwards we warmed up and had a short session on how to edit images in Lightroom.

Why would you want to take a photography tour / workshop / experience with me, I hear you ask.

During a recent photography workshop on Ireland's coast (see here for more information) we stopped to find a small cave at low tide.

It wasn't a famous or large cave but it did have a certain character to it with intense sunshine coming in from one side.

Photography workshops and tours in Ireland are not just about the typical landscapes and scenes, although I do cover these on my experiences, but it's more about the journey.

The green fields of Ireland, looking lush green on a December day with snow-covered mountains.

Ireland doesn't receive a lot of snow, given that Dublin lies on the same latitude as Edmonton in Canada and northern Donegal is almost parallel with Moscow.

One of the world's best known publications, The New York Times, has recently visited Cork - a city in Ireland's southwest whose inhabitants often refer to as The Real Capital.

How do I know this? Well Panoramic Ireland (that's me - hello) photographed the charismatic small city for the 36 Hours in Cork feature.

36 Hours in Cork will be published in the New York Times on Thursday 14th December 2017. Find it online or buy it in print, and if you do can you send me a copy?

Check out the NYT's Instagram post below, and don't forget to follow me over there on IG, as it says in the post I'm @panoramicireland

Where in the world is @nytimestravel? The photographer Darren McLoughlin captured this scene while on assignment for a story in this week’s issue. Where do you think he was when he took this picture? (There’s a hint in his handle: @panoramicireland.) #🌍🔍

A post shared by The New York Times (@nytimes) on Dec 11, 2017 at 9:24am PST

The Irish name for a round tower Cloigtheach  literally means bell house and they indeed functioned as bell towers, it's a logical construction with the high tower being visible from miles around, as a way-point guide for pilgrims and other travellers. Also sound travels further from a height and therefore the monastery - round towers are almost always associated with important churches and monasteries - would have been heard from quite a distance too, especially inside valleys where the sound of ringing bells coming from above the tree canopy would have been impressive.

Autumn is of course well known as a colourful time of year and without doubt Ireland has many colourful places in September, October and November - the three months traditionally associated with autumn here at this latitude.

On this occasion, a small river in spate with water flowing over salmon weirs, captured on a photography workshop in the Irish countryside.

Killarney, Ireland's original tourist destination town is as scenic as it gets anywhere in the country.

Situated on a lake - Lough Leane, and surrounded by mountains including Ireland's highest Carrauntoohil this is a place that has seen a lot of cameras and photographers over the decades since the invention of photography.

As I was leading a photography workshop in Killarney I took an extra day for myself and captured some footage of Lough Leane a bronze age copper mining area, the cloud-topped mountains and the rowers, swans and other wildlife using the lake in the late evening.

The video finishes with an image of Ross Castle, an Irish tower house that dates from the late 15th century. It is typical of many fortified dwellings from the period when defence was important - outer walls, portcullis, thick tower walls, narrow windows and arrow loops amongst other such mechanisms. The castle is restored and can be visited. It has artificial lighting at night and looks well.

To find out more about my photography tours and workshops, contact me using the menu above. I have been leading workshops and tours for ten years in Ireland and I have been commissioned by the biggest names in the travel industry including the New York Times, Sunday Times, Easyjet's Traveller magazine, Ritz-Carlton hotels amongst others.

I've been busy over the past few weeks, first with a trip to London to photograph Marillion at the Royal Albert Hall and then a photography assignment in Cork, Ireland's southern city.

Here on my Instagram feed you can see one of the behind the scenes images from the photography assignment that took me to the friendly city.

Good morning from Cork. The sun has risen over the River Lee and it's a better day than of late. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #architecture #natgeotravel #travelblog #travelgram #lifeofadventure #Irish #oneplus #vsco #vscocam #natgeo #earthpix #natgeolandscape #bbctravel #weather #instatravel #instagood #instadaily #vscotravel #adventurevisuals #architecture_lovers #journey #urbanadventure #cork #cityscape #ireland #urbanvisuals #reflections #discoverireland #onassignment #sunrise_and_sunsets

A post shared by @panoramicireland on Oct 25, 2017 at 1:34am PDT

Of course there will be more images to follow, especially once the article for which I was photographing is published.

Walking through Dublin is one of my favourite things to do, especially as I create personalised walking photo tours of Ireland's capital city.

Here on an evening after a photography tour in the city that I know so well, I spotted this busker on Dublin's famous Grafton Street.

Check out my Channel on YouTube or just watch the video here below for a moment of Grafton Street after dark.

For more about my Dublin Photo Tours check out my Dublin page here on Panoramic Ireland.

A recent photography workshop saw me at the UNESCO World Heritage Site Giant's Causeway on the Antrim Coast in my own Northern Ireland.

It was a stormy day, the previous day saw a lot of rainfall although we did get many images even with the pouring rain, and continuing in the same way this morning started out windy as well but dry.

You can see some of the stormy scenes here of waves pounding this small section of the Giant's Causeway and its distinctive basalt columns.

I have written about the Giant's Causeway here before on Panoramic Ireland.

Join Panoramic Ireland, that's me, on a photography tour to the Giant's Causeway. You know how to contact me by now!