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.

Panoramic Ireland's Dublin photo tours have been listed as one of the top five things to do in Dublin by the Travel section of the New Zealand Herald.

Sitting alongside Dublin's most popular tourist attractions in the guise of The Guinness Storehouse, The Book of Kells in the Long Room Library at Trinity College and the tourist mecca of Temple Bar, our photography tours were commended for their tailored, one-on-one basis.

Ancient Irish Woodland

I have written about ancient woodland in Ireland woodland before. In certain parts of Ireland the remnants of ancient woodland survive, here is one such place nestled high in the mountains inaccessible from the demands of the wood cutter.

The Giant's Causeway at Blue Hour

I was leading a photo tour last week at the Giant's Causeway, not far from where I grew up on the north coast of Antrim. Of course the weather wasn't wonderful, plenty of winds and rain made it quite tricky to get a shot.

This is Game of Thrones territory, the last four seasons have been filmed in and around the Antrim Coast.

Landscape photography was the order of the day at the UNESCO World Heritage Site and tripods weren't staying steady in the winds.

A Stormy Atlantic Ocean, February 2014, Connemara, Ireland

Another day on the Wild Atlantic Way of Ireland's west coast, this time the day happens to be one of the stormiest in living memory in Ireland. With a tornado in Athleague, Co. Roscommon, almost 200,000 homes without power, 160km/h winds and trees falling on vehicles all over Ireland it was certainly an eventful day for some.

Wicklow Mountains Panorama

The Wicklow Mountains lie close to Dublin and for many of the millions who live in the Greater Dublin area these mountains are their piece of wilderness. And what a place to take a journey to, escaping the busy city streets and getting into the Wicklow Mountains can be done in less than an hour.

Slive Gullion Panorama

Slieve Gullion is the highest mountain in County Armagh, Northern Ireland's smallest county. Situated in South Armagh the area is one characterised by rugged beauty.

The original print image is over 70 inches wide at print quality, that's 1.8 metres!

The weather wasn't going to cooperate on this day that I had set aside for some photography in Sligo.

 And yes, the white specks are sheep on the mountain side.

Photography in Stormy Weather

Stormy weather and photography often produce spectacular results, large waves, storm clouds and lightning in the sky are exciting subjects. Wind and rain means very wet conditions, despite how much you try to waterproof your camera water will always find its way in. Some SLR cameras have water resistant seals on the buttons, dials and on the lens mount but in heavy downpours your equipment is at risk.