One of the few yellow ladybirds to be found in Ireland is the 14-spot ladybird Propylea quattuordecimpunctata which, like most ladybirds, feasts on the gardener's enemy - aphids.

Here, seen walking around looking for dinner this charming ladybird is sure to make anyone growing fruit and vegetables happy.

Also known as ladybugs in North America, the Irish name for ladybirds is Bóín Dé which translates as 'God's little cow' - quite a pleasant name for this little beetle.

The old farmhouse sits, slowly decaying amongst trees planted by former inhabitants of this bleak place; in an almost treeless landscape in the Irish mountains.

I visited on a recent sunny afternoon, the fine cut sandstone absorbing late day sunshine colour, grass slowly subsuming those stones fallen onto the ground in a gradual softening and reclaiming of the man-made scene.

Here, the only shade in the entire mountain range was to be found under these lush green leaves as a strong westerly wind whistled past.

Panoramic Ireland's photography tours aren't running just yet but will return soon, join us for a photography workshop in summer 2021 here in Ireland - in Dublin, the Antrim Coast, Galway and beyond.

Keep up to date here:

Nature is strange, here I was marvelling at the allium flowers just opened, and thinking about photographing them, when I spotted what at first appeared to be ladybirds of some kind.

But they were unlike any ladybird I had ever seen, they were brown, white and yellow without spots and not particularly shiny.

It isn't well known but the founder of Argentina's navy was an Irishman, and not a descendent of Irish immigrants to the South American country but he left Foxford in rural County Mayo in Ireland's west when he was just nine years old in 1786.

After many years at sea on the US Atlantic coast, he worked up to the rank of captain before being press-ganged by the British Royal Navy. The Royal Navy were engaged in attempts to block the USA from trading with France with whom the British were at war.

We might be restricted right now from moving too far from home but if you have a garden, balcony or window box then and some flowers then the chances are you have bees visiting.

Here the white-tailed bumblebee Bombus lucorum sits on rosemary flowers on a sunny day. I wrote about bumblebees back in February in regards to the traditional start of Irish Spring, Saint Brigid's Day.

Keep an eye out for more bee images to come here on Panoramic Ireland.

Nestled on the banks of the River Suir bordering Tipperary and Waterford lies a small graveyard, old and overgrown like so many in Ireland.

I visited this quiet and peaceful place in Spring 2020 just a few weeks before the lockdown.

Here at Churchtown the Sun was shining, the birds tweeting and spring flowers were growing.

The grave of Tipperary man, world record holding athlete and founder of Ireland's Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) Davin, is hard to miss with prominence over the River Suir.

As we all know by now, Coronavirus or COVID-19 is affecting life in all parts of the world, here in Ireland the situation is no different.

But the plan by the Irish Government to relax the lockdown restrictions in stages does offer hope for life to begin to return to some degree of normality.

It would appear that by July 20th Panoramic Ireland's photography workshops and tours will be running again, albeit with all the physical distancing that being in the open air allows - lots of course!

Scenes like the one above await!

Panoramic Ireland can meet you anywhere in Ireland and organise a day of photography to suit your travels or your locale, from Fair Head to Mizen Head; urban Dublin to rural Sligo.

And of course it is possible to make a provisional booking, with no deposit required until closer to the time - just contact me for more information.

In the meantime if you can't make it to Ireland, are based overseas or are not able to travel inside Ireland then why not take an online photography session with Panoramic Ireland, that's me, to learn how to improve your photographic skills, improve your artistic vision and learn more about Lightroom and Photoshop.

Ireland's waterfalls are often famous, places such as Torc and Glenariff are Ireland's best known and most visited.

Here, one of Ireland's lesser known and least visited waterfalls, a veil of water falling over a precipice in the Irish countryside.

Green moss, hard edges and fine water - Ireland's hidden places are worthy of attention as well.

After the Coronavirus pandemic join one of Panoramic Ireland's photography tours and workshops in the Irish countryside to learn how to photograph waterfalls, the coast, people and wildlife.

Few autumn landscape scenes can be more alluring to the photographer than a woodland stream with waterfall.

Here in Tollymore, one of Northern Ireland's most scenic forest parks, these elements combine beautifully at the beginning of autumn as water falls between the stepping stones on the River Shimna under a canopy of bright green gently beginning to fade towards the reds, yellows and browns of autumn.

No wonder then that the producers of Game of Thrones, HBO, chose this location to film some of the famous TV show, Northern Ireland being home to most of the filming.

And no wonder it is a place that Panoramic Ireland visits often, when travel restarts why not join me at the famous forest park or along the coast of County Down close by.

Despite the Coronavirus pandemic stifling access to the countryside in April 2020, nature continues on and the green hillside landscapes of Ireland are looking lush right now.

Green is of course the colour most people associate with Ireland with its fields of grass, hedgerows and woodlands filled with deciduous and coniferous trees.

Sometimes it is misty and rugged like this scene, sometimes bright and lush like this one.

While we can't get out and about with current restrictions, it is possible to take a private, one-to-one photography session online with Panoramic Ireland, that's me by the way, via this page: https://panoramicireland.com/photography-workshops-ireland/online-photography-class-tutorial-professional-photographer