Wild  Willow   Ways 

Recently I visited my local woodland for my first autumn/fall photography session of the year. We had a very hot, dry summer in Ireland this year, resulting in a lot of changes in nature. Due to a lack of rainfall, leaves prematurely dried and became fragile on the branches meaning that many trees shed their leaves early. Trees that have not yet lost their leaves are not displaying the vivid autumn colours that we come to expect, instead many of them are a dull green/brown co

Revised October 2026 I recently watched a video by Greg Howard, a photographer I admire, called 'Why Photography is the Best Hobby' (linked below). It reminded me of a post I wrote 3 years after I returned to photography in which I outlined the many benefits which photography had given me. Now, 5 years later, I continue to receive the same benefits from this amazing pursuit, as well as many more. As a result of photography, I have been spending more time outdoors, I have beco

"The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper." W.B. Yeats

Each year, as summer draws to a close, I feel a strong urge to travel to the West Coast of Ireland. This region is not only stunningly beautiful but also filled with cherished memories for me. I don't visit the area as a photographer, as my photography skills wouldn't adequately capture the breathtaking landscapes here. However, I do come as someone who appreciates the beauty and enjoys photographing life along the Wild Atlantic Way. The Wild Atlantic Way, at over 2600km in l

In the final part of my monochrome mornings series I took a different approach, mostly dictated by the weather. The morning was dull and dry, with very little wind. On a day like this, there would be no light and shadows, and no contrast provided by the morning sun. Instead, I would have to look for textures and natural contrast occurring within subjects, and between subjects in a frame. I took out my old but loved Nikon D5600, powered up the battery, and headed out with one

Although I enjoy all types of photography, if someone asked me what my favourite type is I would say woodland. Woodland photography offers much more than just great images. When I go into the woodland I feel at one with nature. I immerse myself in the sights and sounds around me and forget about the world outside. The Changing Character of the Woodland The woodland is constantly changing. At times it is filled with birdsong, rustling leaves and dappled sunlight; at others, mi

This is part three of my summer series of monochrome photography, shot during early mornings in my local area. For this part I concentrated on learning more about black and white photography – trying to discover what makes a suitable subject or scene for black and white photography, looking at examples of shape, form and angle to see how they are affected by being shot in black and white, finding good examples of contrast in the environment, and comparing subjects shot in bl

This is the second part of my summer series of monochrome photography, shot during early mornings in my local area. For this part of the series, I concentrated on trying something new to me – high contrast black and white. While the resulting images may not be fantastic, I learned a lot about black and white photography through the process, gaining some knowledge about what works and what doesn’t work. I experimented with different subjects, different angles, and with differe

I decided to do a series of monochrome photography during the bright summer mornings. Firstly, monochrome works well in bright light as it accentuates light and shadow and gives a great opportunity to incorporate contrast into our photography. Secondly, monochrome photography teaches me about light and shadow, form and shape, aspects of subjects that can sometimes be hidden behind colour. I have divided my monochrome morning photography into four parts. In this, the first par

I will always remember my first camera. I was around twelve years old, and, for some unknown reason, I had a strong desire to have a camera. I could picture myself going around with a camera in my hand observing the world and taking pictures of what I saw. Eventually, after much time spent admiring a camera in a local photography shop window, my father agreed to buy it for me. It was a Kodak film camera and the condition for getting it was that I would pay to have the films d