Spring 2016 has been busy for Panoramic Ireland's photography tours and workshops in the Irish countryside.

The beautiful weather of recent weeks has brought challenges and opportunities, and the month of May has been better than those of recent years.

Here is a colourful image of a field of buttercups fringed by hawthorns and beech trees under a blue sky with soft, white clouds, taken in a quiet moment between sessions with tripods and filters.

The west of Ireland is as blessed as many parts of the world with beautiful sunsets, the sun dropping towards the horizon, its light skimming across a few thousand miles of ocean uninterrupted.

The sun sets over the watery landscape, flooded after a long winter season of heavy rain, the wettest winter on record in Ireland. Grasses slowly regrowing in a matter of hours despite being submerged under the cold lake water and abused by wave after wave for months over the many dark hiemal days.

There is nothing quite like an evening at the coast on a calm evening with a colourful sky and still waters reflecting all above.

What a week that was!

Friday saw me leaving home to head to a big field in Co. Laois for the biggest and best festival of the year in Ireland, Electric Picnic.

Packing the car with tent, sleeping bag, camera gear, laptop, clothes and everything else needed to keep warm, clean and well nourished I headed
off along with 50,000 others (not all in my car obviously) in the direction of Portlaoise then to Stradbally where, like last year, I parked up in the Red Car Park.

On a recent morning I went to the coast for sunrise. After a long day previous saw me travelling far and wide through Northern Ireland I rested for a short while before heading out at sunrise. The coast was quiet except for passing rain showers and the gentle movement of the sea slowly retreating.

As a vast expanse of sandy foreshore was revealed numerous birds appeared and began their daily ritual of looking for food in the sand, on the rocks and on the water's edge.

I stood and watched, waiting for the passing showers to fade away. The light constantly changing and safe from the precipitation now falling over the sea, my camera was dry and capturing the scene.

Join me on a photography tour in scenic Ireland and learn to make panoramic images.

The sea stack of Dun Briste on County Mayo's north coast is one of the most spectacular scenes on a spectacular coastline stretching over 2,500km along Ireland's Atlantic seaboard.

Dun Briste or Dún Briste meaning Broken Fort in Irish refers to this small but impressive vertical island on the edge of the Atlantic. In this image, layers of rocks on the stacks exposed sides hint at a sedimentary geological origin.

The woodlands of Ireland make a perfect location for photography during all seasons, late spring is just perfect with fresh green leaves and mixed lighting giving the perfect combination for capturing colour.

Just like the autumnal scenes I photographed here, the spring path through this Irish forest gave us a splendid afternoon of photography on a recent photography workshop with Jim from San Diego. 

The day started with images of a nearby lake, its character lay in its densely wooded shores and islands with a blue cloud-filled sky. Following a downpour and break for lunch we headed on to this location, an old woodland, but not ancient, comprised mainly of beech, ash and a few horse chestnuts.

At one point a group of walkers pass us by and we wait for them to amble off into the distance before continuing on our own journey again. A few ruins dot the forest, the walls covered with moss lie in tumble-down condition with hawthorn growing low and spreading in one corner. Taking another path we find some more interesting woodland scenes.

Photography in woodlands presents many challenges, the quality of the light is as important as it is for any landscape photography, even in the depths of a forest the slightest breeze can cause movement in branches.

Panoramic Ireland's photography tours, photography workshops and experiences are suitable for everyone, from woodland landscapes to street photography and for all levels. You don't need a high-end DSLR, just a camera (preferably with manual controls) and lots of enthusiasm. For more information contact us here.

I have started my review of 2014 in images over on another section of the site.

Last year saw me visit many counties, cover the Wild Atlantic Way and write articles on the Antrim Coast's Game of Thrones connection and street art in Dublin as well as Belfast's peace walls - now a focal point for community based art.

Antrim Photography Experience

I wrote about a recent photography workshop on the Antrim Coast with two Sicilians, see here - we went along the coast, photographing waterfalls, green fields, rocky coastline and of course the Dark Hedges. This is real landscape photography territory.

Parfois Panoramic Ireland vais à la France et l'un de mes endroits préférés est le Mont Saint Michel. J'aime bien la France et je parle un peu de Francais. Je prends le ferry d'Irlande en France habituellement de Rosslare a Cherbourg. Puis je visite le grand ouest de France.

Si vous avez regardé à travers le site que vous pouvez voir que j'ai organiser privée photographie éprouve à Dublin, Belfast et dans toute l'Irlande.

Si vous souhaitez prendre un voyage de photographie et d'acquérir de nouvelles compétences, voir de nouveaux endroits au meilleur moment de la journée puis, s'il vous plaît envoyez-moi un email.

Je suis Irlandais, je suis photographe et je voudrais vous montrer le meilleur de l'Irlande et la façon d'améliorer votre photographie.

Panoramic Ireland - pour voir l'Irlande.