Sheep find shelter on a lonely, almost treeless landscape in the Irish mountains.

At the end of a photography workshop, after photographing a small river and waterfalls we found this Irish scene of lush green trees, empty landscape and sheep sheltering behind tufts of vegetation.

And of course it made a scene worth photographing, different to those landscapes that we had spent the morning capturing, but as interesting as any scene.

Join me, Panoramic Ireland, on a photography workshop in Ireland - from Dublin to Galway, Kerry to Antrim.

Ireland is a small country, there is no doubt about that but it has surprising variation in geography across its landscape of 486km by 275km.

Here, one of the best known mountains in the country - especially around Dublin - is the Sugarloaf, the tallest peak seen here just right of centre.

This image comes from winter, on a Panoramic Ireland photography workshop in the Irish mountains.

Ireland has seen more than its fair share of stormy weather this summer, as I write we have thunderstorms and heavy rain with very warm temperatures.

This weather of course gives rise to rainbows, this one seen here shining over an old abbey building dating to the 12th century.

These stones have stood here for 800 years, the rainbow lasted mere minutes. 

It got me wondering, how many rainbows has this old building in the Irish countryside seen?

Now there's a thought, but even without an answer it was still a fine sight.

I have written about rainbows here on panoramicireland.com before, here are a few of my favourites: 

https://panoramicireland.com/blog-ireland-guide/croagh-patrick-pilgrimage-brocken-spectre-ringed-glory-irish-mountain

https://panoramicireland.com/photo-tours-blog/rainbow-portobello-dublin

https://panoramicireland.com/miscellaneous-blog-category/stormy-day-weather-brings-delights-ardglass-co-down-northern-ireland

A Good long time ago now here on panoramicireland.com I posted A View Over Dublin, showing the city and some of its locations.

In that image, Dublin Port is just visible to the right hand side but the Irish Sea and Dublin Bay isn't; so I thought why not a view of the Irish capital in its famous surroundings of the Bay and the Irish Sea.

In this image above a scene over Dublin Port, Dun Laoghaire, Howth (the headland just right of centre) and Ireland's Eye beyond. Dollymount Strand is also clearly visible. Dublin Bay is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.

This image also contains an interesting clue as to when it was taken, if you can guess what that is then send me an email with your answer and you could win one of my private photography tours of Dublin.

Answers should be received no later than 23:59 Irish Time on September 5th 2020 - so get those eyes working.

I have written about Connemara here on panoramicireland.com many times before, including here.

It's a place that I know well, a place that I have photographed many times. Often I have stood in the rain, capturing the misty scenes of this part of Ireland, many times I have captured fine sunsets and explored the region's beauty.

Here a scene of fast moving clouds and ruffled water zooms past a tree-laden island and barren mountainside, a riot of colour.

Stormy day spray off the sea brings a fine double rainbow that extends below the horizon.

Little is visible of the scenes beyond, the rugged Irish coastline extending beyond into the distance.

But the presence of a double rainbow, seemingly floating in the view offshore, is enough to make the rainy afternoon worthy of exploring with camera especially with that little glint of light - the hope of brighter weather to come.

I have written about Croagh Patrick many times here on Panoramic Ireland, most recently with the story of a brocken spectre panorama.

And here is a view from the other side of this majestic peak situated out on the Atlantic Coast of County Mayo in Ireland's west.

Croagh Patrick Brocken Spectre and Ringed Glory

Ireland is a magical place, many myths and legends abound of superheroic endeavours and mysterious peoples.

That magic didn’t disappear centuries ago either, it still exists.

With recent cloudy overnight weather it has been difficult to find an opportunity to get out and photograph Comet NEOWISE or C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE).

The celestial body is now heading away from Earth and is fading, soon to disappear.

So with a good evening sky and a forecast for clear skies I headed into the mountains.

Photographing clouds and other scenes as I waited for the sky to darken, I was greeted about an hour after sunset with more and more cloud. Thickening all the while, I eventually lost sight of any open sky.

As midnight approached, sunset was at 21:40 - I descended out of the mountains really with the intention of heading on, to abandon hope of photographing the comet.

But as the altitude changed, so did my view of the sky - I could finally see some stars and the Plough became visible in the northern sky.

I knew that NEOWISE would be close to the Plough and sure enough when I found a quiet crossroads in the Irish countryside I finally had a view of the whole sky.

Surprised that I could just see it with the unaided eye, I quickly set about photographing the comet, first with a wideangle lens then with a longer lens.

It burns a fine green at the moment, having been a red colour last week.

And that might be the last time I have the opportunity to search for and photograph NEOWISE as the forecast for night skies over Ireland for the rest of July aren't wonderful. But, with the patience of a photographer I will have at least another attempt.

Join Panoramic Ireland on a photography workshop or photo tour in Ireland.

With the relaxation of travel restrictions in Ireland in recent weeks, and the news that my post-cancer checkups will be back soon, I took a visit to the coast.

And I chose the Copper Coast on Ireland's south coast, County Waterford where I run photography workshops.

This fine section of Irish coast doesn't form part of the Wild Atlantic Way but has some of the most scenic bays and beaches in Ireland.

Join me here on this beautiful coast to learn how to improve your photography.

Panoramic Ireland's photography workshops operate all year round, have a look at the Copper Coast page or send me an email to find out more.