Autumn is well and truly here in Ireland.

We have now passed the autumn equinox by around six weeks, with six weeks to go to the shortest day of the year. 

Temperatures are dropping along with the shortening day length, but we do have clear blue skies this week.

Autumn is a time of colour of course, so woodlands and the mountains take on a stereotypical burst of colour as green moves to yellow, brown and red.

Time to enjoy photographing the pockets of deciduous woodland that dot the Irish landscape.

Blue hour in Dublin, photographing the city's modern riverfront skyline.

The River Liffey east of the city centre has changed substantially in the past 15 years. Formerly the quays here were flanked by red-brick Victorian warehouses of only a few storeys high as can be seen in the middle section of the image here.

Now, new buildings line the river and, although not lofty, their scale does eclipse those old warehouses.

The colour here from the buildings suiting the blue hour's natural tones.

Imagine the scene, it's a fine summer's day in the Irish countryside, County Cork this time; the sun is shining strong, stronger than for most of the summer of 2021.

We stop off to view some old ruins and find this fine big field, one of many in this part of Ireland's southwest that isn't green with this old David Brown tractor spinning hay.

At one point a joke was made that if the farmer was in a modern tractor he would have more comforts, including a comfy seat and air conditioning but...of course he has the best air conditioning going - no windows!

Anyway, on we went to photograph the ruins nearby and further afield on a day of photography in the Irish countryside.

Amongst the most popular places to visit in Donegal and indeed in the whole of Ireland and in particular the 2,500km Wild Atlantic Way that stretches from Donegal's border with Derry right down to Kinsale in Cork, Slieve League's impressive sloping sea cliffs are inspiring.

The impressive cliffs and uninterrupted Atlantic views of Slieve League are located approximately one hour's drive west of Donegal Town in the south west of Ireland's most northerly county, Donegal.

On my previous visit to these cliffs that rise to about 600 metres off the Atlantic Ocean the weather was bright and golden with beautiful light striking the facets of grey rock and green grass.

On this occasion, summer 2021, it was warm but overcast so there was no direct, golden sunshine light. Still, at least the Atlantic weather was sympathetic to our photographic pursuits and there was plenty of colour as you can see in this image.

I have written about Torc Waterfall in County Kerry before, my last visit was during the winter on a trip to the Kingdom that saw me photograph snow on the mountains and visit some of the finest sections of Ireland's Wild Atlantic Way.

Here, what is probably Ireland's most photographed waterfall, Torc cascades from behind a natural green curtain of foliage, notably brighter than in the winter image featuring only the darker shades of evergreen holly.

A recent photography tour in County Donegal brought us to the edge of a mountain to photograph the landscape of Ireland's most northerly county.

The weather was overcast, torrential rain had put an early end to photographic pursuits the previous evening, so despite a long journey across the country we headed off to photograph at least a few of the scenes missed.

Just off the boggy path, sodden from the recent heavy precipitation, we spotted a relaxed sheep just sitting on the edge of a rock. 

With a smile it watched our every move, unperturbed by our presence and the glass of our long lenses pointed right at it.

No doubt finding mirth at our clumsy perambulation across the narrow, slippy track.

For a time this was the most photographed sheep in Donegal, and the most accommodating, as it continued with its perfect pose for some time.

A moment of utilitarianism.

On we went in search of waterfalls and ancient ruins.

Join Panoramic Ireland, that's me, to photograph in the Irish mountains or the urban wilderness of Dublin.

Today, August 31st, marks the end of summer - meteorologically speaking - as the three hottest months of the year have now passed.

The weather has already begun to change with cooler temperatures and full, grey skies overhead in recent days.

That of course doesn't mean that the good weather is gone for the year.

Oh no, we are just about to get into the brightly coloured season of autumn where we still get plenty of sunshine and all that character in the countryside.

Why not join me, Panoramic Ireland to photograph in autumn, winter, spring or summer in Ireland.

On a recent photography tour in Cobh, County Cork we stopped to photograph the town's best known features - the hilly seaside street with colourfully-painted houses known as the Deck of Cards, and the lofty Saint Colman's Cathedral.

It was my first time visiting the seaside town since before the lockdown began in March 2020 and within moments it became obvious that something had changed since I took my last image. The previously colourful street had lost much of its character with recent colour changes.

From yellow, orange and red - bright, bold colours that clash with the blue and turquoise just a few doors away - to grey, beige and some other indescribable colour; becoming almost identically non-descript.

It's almost as if the owners hate their homes being photographed so much that they have decided to paint them some horrible colour to discourage the camera-wielding tourists.

Ireland has seen some weather in the past few weeks of summer 2021. A heatwave covered the island in a thick layer of warm air with temperatures regularly in the high 20s Celsius, even reaching 31.4C.

Then, the inevitable rainy weather where now, a week later, we are seeing rain and wind and unseasonably cold weather of 14 to 16 degrees Celsius.

Yet it's not all doom and gloom, the weather often gives landscape photographers a fine spectacle at sunset.

That's what we got tonight as a full day of rain cleared to give a cloudy sunset with spreading rays of orangey-red light across the sky. Quite an experience, initially we saw the rays of sunshine lighting up the landscape so turned to find the view obscured somewhat as we were photographing from behind a tall hedge; after spending some time and effort climbing through hawthorns and elder to get a clearer view of the final burst of colour in the sky and were not disappointed.

Join Panoramic Ireland, that's me, for a landscape photography adventure in the Irish countryside.

Summer in Ireland, it's a fine season - warm winds, long days and occasionally a heat that envelops everything. It isn't the first thing people think of when they think of Ireland; usually changeable conditions and rain is what comes to mind, not the 31C-plus temperatures that the island has seen in July 2021.

In most years there is a balance, warm days and mild nights; rain followed by sunshine and so on. This year we have had a cold and wet start to spring and summer, but the second half of July 2021 has made up for a lot of that with record breaking temperatures across the northern half of Ireland.

From a scenic drive through the Wicklow Mountains on a fine, summer's day.

The long and open road looks almost plonked down across the sloping, almost treeless landscape of the Irish countryside only 40 minutes from Dublin City.

This road, closed due to snow in winter and melting under scorching sun in the summer, is a fine example of the scenic drives in Ireland.

Join Panoramic Ireland for a photography tour/workshop/experience in the scenic Irish countryside in 2021, 2022 and beyond.