My ancestors, on my mother's side, come from southwest Ireland; Killarney to be precise. Out of intrigue, it was somewhere I had longed to visit and it just so happened that Killarney is also home to one of the most beautiful national parks that The Emerald isle has to offer. And so, in November 2014 I found myself exploring, and photographing, not just Killarney but the Dingle Peninsula - an hour's drive further west. It was a fantastic 10 days with some of the most changeable weather conditions I have ever experienced and even six photo-tours later it hasn't been matched. Glorious sunrises and sunsets, giant ocean swells, heavy rain followed by rainbows, and still breathless mornings yielding perfect mirror-like reflections of Killarney's mountains. I was due to lead a group there this month but, of course, COVID had other ideas and I had no choice other than deferring it to next year. I'm longing to return. Here's a selection of some of my favourites since that maiden trip.
Killarney
Above: One of the most exhilarating and challenging experiences I have ever had was while photographing in Killarney National Park in 2015. I arrived a few days before my clients while the storm was in full force where the water’s had risen so substantially that many areas had become almost unrecognisable. Lakes were no longer calm but, instead, resembled more the not so distant Atlantic! Setting up and composing the image was done at pace and at intervals, in between exceptionally strong gusts. In order to illustrate the storm, I would wait until it was almost on top of me allowing me just a single frame. The valley funnelled the storm and in the distance I could see it whipping up the water and, as it approached, could hear its ominous strength. Time and again it would hit me with such force that moments after I fired the shutter I would have to turn both myself and camera away and crouch to avoid being thrown over. Once the wind subsided I would clean the filter, recompose and ready myself for the next installment. In this particular instance, I was fortunate to capture the sun momentarily illuminating the spray.
Dingle Peninsula
