A serenely scenic morning photographing at the lake at sunrise as the Sun rises over the small wooded island with its ruined tower reflecting in the calm waters. 

You never know what you will get with a sunrise, the weather plays a big part in how a location will look and in this case it was worth the effort to make sunrise on this photography workshop.

On this occasion the sky was clear before sunrise but a gentle, consistent breeze started as the daylight began and brought cloud across the lakeside scene.

Afterwards it was on to photograph bluebells in the Irish woodlands.

Join me to photograph in Ireland throughout the year, from sunrise to sunset.

As you may have already heard, July 19th will see a number of restrictions eased in regards to COVID / Coronavirus in Ireland.

The world's most restrictive lockdown will be no more, in time for the arrival of the Indian or Delta variant.

Travel into Ireland from overseas will be relaxed so if you are looking to find out more about travel to Ireland after Covid then look no further.

The Common Travel Area (Ireland and Britain) is separate to the EU Schengen rules, and travel from Britain will be eased to allow visitors to not have to go into quarantine. The hotels they use for mandatory hotel quarantine do little for the reputation of the country's tourism sector; no local would want to stay there and thankfully if you are visiting from Britain, the USA and Europe you won't have to from the middle of the month!

I often get asked about how the weather is in Ireland in winter.

Well, it's hard to say anything definitive but in general, Ireland is green all year round including in winter.

Just like in the image above from the west of Ireland in December.

Typically a winter daytime temperature will be around 5C but colder conditions and snow sometimes occur. The mild winter temperature is what allows the grass to keep its healthy green colour, blanketing the countryside.

Situated in the corner of County Tyrone, Northern Ireland's largest county, the remains of Harry Avery's castle sit atop a hill on the edge of a valley.

The twin structures projecting up here were actually an unusual tower house rather than an outer defensive gatehouse.

Belonging to a 14th century Irish chieftain it was destroyed in the early 17th century by English forces who took stone from the site.

This scene reminded me of another castle, more famous, from my own County Antrim which I also photographed with a cow in front: https://panoramicireland.com/photo-tours-blog/cow-in-front-of-dunluce-castle-causeway-coast-antrim-northern-ireland