The Blue Hour is a classic time of day for landscape photographers to photograph. There are in fact two blue hours and both don't necessarily last for an hour.

The first blue hour precedes sunrise and the second of the day comes after sunset; wrapped inside the day there is also the golden hour that we will talk about separately.

During the evening blue hour - light is fading, the sun has set and we lose the direct brightness from our light-giving star.

Red light passes through Earth's atmosphere and further into space, while blue light with its shorter wavelength gets trapped and scattered, and bounces around to create a blue coloured period we call the Blue Hour.

The Antrim Coast is a rugged, beautifully scenic place with the wild Atlantic pounding at its shoreline and islands constantly.

Here Sheep Island, a tiny island of basalt rocks sits close in front of the much larger Rathlin Island composed of basalt overlying chalk - evident in the cliffs as seen in the distance.

I was leading a photography workshop on this coastline, a part of Ireland I know very very well, for more information see here.

It was a windy day but still with blue sky and plenty of clouds as we considered that we were lucky to be on land rather than on the high seas, tripods shaking with the wind it was a time to shelter and photograph handheld.

Beautiful, don't you think?

Another of my favourite images from 2017 came again from Ireland's midland region just like this one here.

Again, after a long day of photographing landscapes we found ourselves in not an ideal position for photographing the sunset, not being the chief objective of our photography workshop.

Here we found this lane that seemed to invite us across its water-filled potholes towards the colour of the evening's setting sun.

The wind was blowing, the usual, bright orange colour filled the horizon and above the blue hour was beginning to start.

This was one of my favourite unexpected scenes of the year.

It is very representative of Ireland, not the famous scenes from our beautiful coastline but the hidden Ireland that I like to find for you on my photography workshops and tours.

To join me on a personalised tour in Ireland, to find scenes like these, contact me using the main menu or use the email address at the top of the page.

This was at the end of a long day's photography workshop covering woodlands and waterfalls, Panoramic Ireland (that's me by the way) run photography workshops and tours for all levels in Ireland from Cork to Galway to Belfast to Dublin.

We were in Ireland's midlands for the best part of the session and sunset wasn't high on our priorities for the day but we happened on this scene and found that post-sunset cloud glow to be very photogenic with this pastoral scene of green fields and cows.

To join me on a photography workshop in Ireland for sunset photography, street photography or architectural photography and everything else as well use the contact page on the main menu above. Send me an email with whatever locations you are interested in and dates when you will be in Ireland.

In the meantime, enjoy this sunset scene, it's relaxing don't you think?

Photography and Ireland. It doesn't always involve snow, not even in the mountains.

As I looked out to green fields and sunny blue skies on the mountain slopes today, not a drop of the white blanket to be seen, it seemed a far way away from this image where, during a photography workshop on how to photograph snowy landscapes we made our way up the mountain - its road snow-covered and icy, at one point it was almost impossible to make it up the ever-steepening slopes.

Along the way DK and I had plenty of landscapes to photograph. I explained how to photograph the often bright snow to gain the best from any weather conditions, afterwards we warmed up and had a short session on how to edit images in Lightroom.

Why would you want to take a photography tour / workshop / experience with me, I hear you ask.

During a recent photography workshop on Ireland's coast (see here for more information) we stopped to find a small cave at low tide.

It wasn't a famous or large cave but it did have a certain character to it with intense sunshine coming in from one side.

Photography workshops and tours in Ireland are not just about the typical landscapes and scenes, although I do cover these on my experiences, but it's more about the journey.

Killarney, Ireland's original tourist destination town is as scenic as it gets anywhere in the country.

Situated on a lake - Lough Leane, and surrounded by mountains including Ireland's highest Carrauntoohil this is a place that has seen a lot of cameras and photographers over the decades since the invention of photography.

As I was leading a photography workshop in Killarney I took an extra day for myself and captured some footage of Lough Leane a bronze age copper mining area, the cloud-topped mountains and the rowers, swans and other wildlife using the lake in the late evening.

The video finishes with an image of Ross Castle, an Irish tower house that dates from the late 15th century. It is typical of many fortified dwellings from the period when defence was important - outer walls, portcullis, thick tower walls, narrow windows and arrow loops amongst other such mechanisms. The castle is restored and can be visited. It has artificial lighting at night and looks well.

To find out more about my photography tours and workshops, contact me using the menu above. I have been leading workshops and tours for ten years in Ireland and I have been commissioned by the biggest names in the travel industry including the New York Times, Sunday Times, Easyjet's Traveller magazine, Ritz-Carlton hotels amongst others.

A recent photography workshop took me to Dublin Bay where we photographed the bright sunrise sky.

The morning's forecast was meant to be for good weather and it didn't disappoint, the pinks and oranges shine across the cloud-filled sky and reflect off the surface of the calm Irish Sea.

Setting up our tripods, we waited as the light changed from darkness through the blue hour, golden hour and into daylight - photographing all the while.

This is one of my favourite images of 2017 taken at Dublin's famous Forty Foot swimming spot.

To join me on a photography tour of Dublin and its bay contact me.

Sometimes summer in Ireland is just not what you would expect. Well, perhaps it is what you might expect.

Usually our summers are filled with long days, sunshine and cloud with a good deal of rain but much blue sky - like this.

Summer 2017 has so far proved to be a good bit different with many grey days, lingering cloud and reduced sunshine. It has still been warm but all of this provides a challenge to the photographer.

After a day when the weather was supposed to have been better, the evening's stormy sky changed to bright golden sunshine at sunset.

But only for a brief moment or two.

This image is of that sunset light, the embedded post below is of the stormy sky just before sunset and after the day's rain had ceased.

That's how the Irish weather goes, it's difficult to say if the weather will be good or bad but there is always going to be something worthwhile for the photographer.

I always leave for the day with a plan for landscape photography, and adapt according to the weather and other factors.

To learn how to photograph in any conditions such as these or these contact me using the contact page.