Storm Gerrit rolled in after Christmas this year, but in the calm between the storms with Pia denying Ireland a white Christmas, a break in the weather to give a beautiful Christmas Day sunset here in the west of Ireland.

Colour and cloud combined in the sky over Ireland's wild west as seen here.

2023 saw me photographing sunsets, sunrises and scenery from January to December.

Above, the latest gorgeous sunset and here another two.

One from the start of the year when there was little snow but enough here to be obvious in the landscape even if only at altitude.

And in the middle of the year, a late evening sunset of mountains, lakes and wooded islands.

Panoramic Ireland will of course be photographing throughout 2024 and you can join us on a photography workshop or tour in the Irish countryside.

There can be no doubt that the best times of day to photograph are around sunrise and sunset with the combination of colours and gentle light.

But if I had to choose one of these, it would be sunrise.

The day is just getting started and there is a sense of privilege to be had when standing in the countryside or by the coast welcoming the warmth of the morning sun. Birds are chirping and chattering, calling to each other and on most occasions there are so few people around it's a solitary pleasure to view and photograph.

Even in the city sunrise can be a good choice.

It does obviously depend on what you want to photograph and its location, whether sunrise or sunset works better but sunrise is definitely my preference.

Of course, some locations really do suit only one or the other, Ireland's famed Cliffs of Moher one.

And it doesn't always follow that east is for sunrise and west is for sunset. Direct light from the sun is not always required for a colourful sunrise photograph.

Sunrise photography does involve getting up and getting out early, or sometimes in summer, staying out during the night for the early light in Ireland's northerly latitudes but it's always worth it.

Join Panoramic Ireland to photograph in the Irish countryside at sunrise.

I usually do prefer to work with colour images, for more than 99% of the photographs that I make they are in colour.

But every so often I do enjoy a good black and white image such as here in this landscape image of a tumbledown cottage amongst the mountain scenery from the west of Ireland.

Join Panoramic Ireland to photograph scenes like this from the Atlantic fringe of Ireland - photography tours and workshops operate all year round.

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.

Long Exposure Photography in Ireland

Ireland's countryside is perfect for landscape photography, here from a photography workshop covering use of filters and long exposures is an early evening cloudy sky with clear golden sunshine.

We set up our tripods and made use of the 10-stop ND filters before sunset, and here the long exposure after sunset: http://panoramicireland.com/photo-tours-blog/cloudy-skies-reflections-sunset-west-ireland-photography-course