Sunny Spring on the Shannon

The longest river in Ireland or Britain, the River Shannon flows southwesterly from its source near the border with Northern Ireland beyond Limerick to the Atlantic Ocean on the west coast of Ireland, a distance of 360km.

Over the past year I have spent many days photographing on the Shannon, appreciating its calm waters, big skies, reeds and wildlife, this is an exciting place for a photographer. Reflections are the order of the day here.

One of the highlights of a visit to Dublin is an early morning along the coast of the county. A short drive north to Howth and beyond or a short journey south will give you views across scenic Dublin Bay as the sun rises.

Long exposure photography using filters makes for some of the more interesting images.

Panoramic Ireland run photography workshops on the Dublin coast for all levels, seven days a week; a perfect location for sunrise photography. In the summer months it is possible to get here, spend some time getting great shots and get back to your hotel for breakfast.

The west of Ireland, lake at sunset.

With waves crashing ashore from westerly winds, it was bracing but not bitter. The colours coming from the sky more than made up for any shortcomings in air temperature and the views alone were breathtaking. 

This was a scene that I had wanted to get for quite some time, to photograph this western lake on a great evening with plenty of atmosphere. I took a few exposures with this deviating from the typical landscape photographer's choice of long exposure, sometimes more drama can be created with a shorter exposure.

A short trip through Dublin after the 2014 St. Patrick's Day parade and festival from The Stag's Head to Temple Bar. I didn't visit the parade.

Like my last post on some of the locations associated with Ireland's patron saint, today as a Monday Saint Patrick's Day was always going to be a rowdy, raucous day coming as it did after a weekend's worth of drinking.

Being born and brought up in Ireland one is surrounded by references to the chief of the island's three patron saints, Saint Patrick. Travelling through counties Antrim, Down, Armagh there are references to this mysterious and legendary figure everywhere. The other two patron saints of Ireland are St. Brigid and St. Columba also known as Columcille - but don't get Columba confused with Columbanus.

The unmistakable sight of Slemish sitting lonely just off the Antrim plateau, looking like an upturned basin this mountain is comprised of the central remnant of an extinct volcano from the days when this part of Ireland was the centre of a large volcanic complex.

I recently wrote and photographed an article about the street art or graffiti art of Dublin for top US website Untapped Cities

The city is being transformed day by day by the work of various artists, often collaborating with businesses, city authorities and residents groups to brighten walls, shutters and enliven whole quarters of the city. 

From derelict districts to upmarket boutique shops wanting an extra presence on the streetscape out of hours, artists are creating something big in Dublin.

A recent commission took me back to the spectacular Antrim Coast of Northern Ireland. It would be easy to divide the coast of Co. Antrim into two sections, the Causeway Coast running east-west along the top of Northern Ireland and the Antrim or Glens Coast running north-south along the east of the island.

Panoramic Ireland run photo tours in the Glens of Antrim and along the Causeway Coast.

2014 is Year of the Horse in Chinese culture. Despite spending much of my time with horses and having photographed them throughout Ireland in 2013 I have neglected to post about our four-hooved equine friends until now.

Here is an image of two of the most photogenic horses that I photographed last year during the summer, this time in the southwest of Ireland.

Eight hooves, four ears and two tails stand underneath a western sky.

Horses, the west of Ireland and long summer days. With a camera, a picnic and some fine weather. Perfect. Would you rather be anywhere else?

The West of Ireland - Irish Stream and Mountains

The winter in Ireland is generally mild, the weather systems coming in off the Atlantic usually bring changeable, warm conditions. On occasions and in recent years there have been prolonged cold spells with snow turning to ice and lasting for weeks at a time and roads looking like in this picture.

But usually snow will only last for a few days at most outside of the mountains. Here in the west of Ireland, Co. Mayo in this case, there were conditions bringing in 160km/h winds and driven rain yet inland in Co. Mayo's mountains it was relatively calm and precipitation was falling as snow.