You never know what to expect as an outdoor photographer here in Ireland.

After a three day photography tour in the west of Ireland I was finishing up and heading home through the midlands and close to sunset I spotted a great stormy sky.

Some say it was a giant, Finn McCool or Fionn mac Cumhaill who built the causeway known as the Giant's Causeway. Finn was an Irish giant who, according to one version of the myth, was having a fight with his rival in Scotland called Benandonner.

Finn built the causeway, using rocks as stepping stones across the Irish Sea to Scotland so they could fight but when Finn realised he couldn't fight Benandonner and win, on account of the Scot's size, his wife suggested that Finn hide in the baby's cot. When Benandonner arrived looking for Finn he looked into the baby's cot and upon seeing the size of the baby, returned in haste to Scotland tearing up the causeway as he went.

The story explains why the same basalt columns are found in Scotland, on the island of Staffa particularly in a place known as Fingal's Cave - another name for Finn.

In reality the Giant's Causeway was formed some 50 to 60 million years ago when the chalk rocks of this part of Antrim were overlaid with basalt from massive volcanic activity.

Spring is here and the colour that we see throughout the countryside is quite amazing.

In particular in urban settings cherry trees are one of the most impressive displays of colour that this time of year has to offer.

Here is one of my favourite images from recent years, taken in Dublin's Herbert Park, an avenue of bright pink blossom sits low over a path and park benches.

Pine Island is one of the western region of Connemara's key attractions for landscape photography and one that I return to often. Next visit, April 2023.

The trees here are Scots Pine, a native evergreen tree that tends to grow tall and slender, it has red coloured wood and tends to add a lot of interest to landscape images of the west of Ireland.

Here we have a long exposure scene with reflection and some wind on Lough Derryclare's surface.

As I write this I'm sitting in front of a warm fire with a cup of tea ready to do its job of warming me up from the inside.

A near perfect reflection on the lake, snow covering the rugged, well-weathered peaks of the volcanic landscape of Slieve Gullion in South Armagh and sunrays all combine to give a sense of the beauty of this part of Ireland.

The west of Ireland - it has great people, great food, great entertainment and great scenery and that all makes for the perfect location for photography.

Wicklow in the morning, this is without doubt one of my favourite images.

Working on assignment for the Ritz-Carlton Hotel magazine I had the task to capture representative scenes of Ireland - landscapes, green, classic Dublin buildings.

On a recent photography tour along Northern Ireland's famous Antrim Coast we finished up after a long day of photography.

On the way to get something to eat after a day's adventure we stopped to capture a scene of the last light coming in off the Atlantic.

Newgrange, the greatest of Ireland's ancient monuments is aligned with the winter solstice on December 21st.

For much of the past 5,200 years on the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere, the ancient people of Ireland have gathered inside the mound at Newgrange where the rising sun's rays illuminated the 19m-long passageway and burial chamber decorated with stone carvings.

From a foggy day in the west of Ireland.

It was an hour before sunset and heavy rain was doing its best to disrupt the photography workshop with CT from the USA.

The rain was also helping to keep this lake full and the islands floating in the thick fog.