There is certainly no doubt that Panoramic Ireland loves photographing Ireland and there is also no doubt that Galway is one of the favourite places for Panoramic Ireland to photograph.

The elusive pine marten (martes martes) is the rarest of Ireland's mammals and along with our smallest, the pygmy shrew, is the one that most people are least likely to have encountered in Ireland.

Shy creatures, the pine marten is usually active at night, however I have observed them mostly during bright daylight.

A stormy day in the west of Ireland with best conditions after dark

A long day in Connemara, one of my favourite places in Ireland. A place that I could never get tired of and a great location for landscape and seascape photography. Beautiful.

Panorama taken at sunset in the west of Ireland. This is one of many panoramic images of Ireland's West that I have been taking recently. In a previous post I explained what makes a panoramic image panoramic.

A journey to Galway with Sunset in Sailthill

A long day today saw me in Galway, known as the City of the Tribes it lays claim to being the festival city of Ireland. Almost every visitor to Ireland talks about Galway in such ways that it makes you wonder why all Irish people don’t move there.

Home to many a brilliant festival including the Galway Film Fleadh, the Oyster Festival and the Galway Arts Festival amongst others; with a thriving social scene with some of the best pubs in Ireland Galway has always had a reputation for being the liveliest city in Ireland.

Galway Bay, from Salthill at Sunrise - Long exposure photography

I had reason to be in Galway early this morning. With the shortening of the days my arrival before 06:30 meant that I was just in time to get the pre-sunrise light known as the blue hour. On this occasion I wanted to go to Salthill, to the Blackrock diving tower located just off the Promenade. It juts out into Galway Bay looking towards the mountains of Co. Clare on the other side.

The blue hour is that period just before the sun rises above the horizon when the sky and everything in general appears to be blue. It's beautiful, even if you aren't a photographer just to get up and head to the coast, or to a mountain where you have a good panoramic view of your surroundings. Try it sometime!

There is also a blue hour after sunset every evening, although I believe that the morning is undoubtedly the best - in the summer there is usually no one up and about that early, in the winter it is often very chilly and that makes you feel more motivated.

The blue hour is followed by the golden hour, after the sun rises. Neither really lasts for an hour, it's really a phrase to denote a length of time - it depends on your latitude and the time of year.

For the photographer, the low light at this time of day requires a tripod and a long exposure.

Take a Photography Experience in Galway

Panoramic Ireland are now taking bookings for our residential photography courses situated in Galway in the west of Ireland.

Book now for €1550 for our popular four-day workshop, half-board in a lakeside house with a maximum of three participants.

Itineraries will change depending on the weather, but every day here in the west of Ireland brings at least one great photo opportunity, and what an experience it is to spend a few days in the region, to really get to know it, and to improve your photography.

Day courses are available for €330 and longer courses can be tailored specifically for you.

I have been photographing a lot of sunsets in the past few weeks, from my native Northern Ireland to the west of Ireland.

No two sunsets are ever the same, winds pick up and clouds arrive to enhance or spoil your capture. Rain blows in sideways and spatters your filter with water droplets, the wind rattles your tripod no matter how much you try to shelter your camera your exposure is shaky.

It is tricky sometimes, but not always. Patience and perseverence are always well rewarded in photography.

This image is from sunset this evening (25/10/2013) in the west of Ireland, it is from Lough Corrib, Ireland's second largest lake.

It's no secret that I really do like Connemara.

Connemara or Conamara

The western part of County Galway, situated west of Lough Corrib, is known as Connemara.

It's a land of bog, mountains, sea and sky. This image is taken from a single track bog road on the way to the edge of Ireland, the edge of Europe on the Atlantic Coast.

As I made my way across the bog towards the small lake pictured in this image, I was shadowed by the vertical flight of the skylark hovering in the clouds above me, warbling its distinctive call.