a view from a country road in Mannin Beg, Connemara across Mannin Bay to the 12 Bens mountains on a beautiful spring evening

Connemara Dreaming

I recently realised that it had been twelve months since I had last visited Connemara. So I decided that it was time I returned. My trip coincided with an Irish Spring heatwave (an occasional phenomenon in Ireland), and I have to say the weather was glorious. It was so nice to swap out the winter woollies for some shorts and t-shirts, if only for a few days. 

My plan was to mostly explore the south west region of Connemara around the fishing village of Roundstone, and the small village of Ballyconneely, as well as check out a few other locations that I had flagged on previous trips. I was not disappointed. To see this stunning part of Ireland in all its glory, bathed in wonderful sunshine was something to behold. The smile is still on my face despite the return of the grey skies and rain. 

Needless to say I was pretty productive and have lots of photographs to work on. To give a taster, I've posted a few from my trip starting with a view from Mannin Beg (above) on a lovely spring evening where the story of this photograph will live long in my memory. 

a view from a country road in Mannin Beg, Connemara across Mannin Bay to the 12 Bens mountains on a beautiful spring evening

We were scouting the area in the early afternoon and decided that this spot and composition was what I was looking for. The only issue was what time to shoot as the sun was still too high and the light too harsh. It was at that exact time that we met a man coming back from a swim. He stopped for a chat and Paddy, as we introduced ourselves, took a big interest in us and what we were doing. Before we knew it we were 50 meters up the bóithrín (narrow Irish rural road) sitting in his back garden having a lovely cup of tea and a great chat. In very Irish fashion, it turns out Paddy is from Dublin and lives around the corner from where I grew up. Now retired, he spends a lot of time in his lovely Mannin Beg home, and I can understand why. By the time we left, the sun and light was perfect for what I wanted for this composition (above). 

Driving inland from the coast, the landscape changes from the typical Connemara rocky fields to lake and mountain views as exampled in the below photograph showing Bengower peak of the 12 Bens Mountain range from across Ballynahinch Lake. 

a view of Bengower, one of the peaks of the 12 Bens mountain range from across Ballynahinch Lake on a lovely spring evening

One thing I love about Connemara is that the weather is so unpredictable. Nothing reminded me of this more than my planned morning for a sunrise shoot. With a good weather forecast, I was up early. Early enough that it was still dark outside and I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary as I drank my coffee, probably because I wasn't fully awake yet! But as soon as I opened the hall door I realised that I couldn't see 20 meters in front of me due to a thick fog. Plan B! There would be no sunrise photographs this morning. I have to say I was blessed, this was way better. Seeing (or more correctly, not seeing) familiar locations blanketed in thick fog presented me with a rare opportunity to capture something very special. 

Like the below photograph of Roundstone Harbour where you would normally be able to see the other side of the harbour as well as the main street. 

a view of a moored boat in Roundstone Harbour in thick spring fog

It really was a pleasure to be able to capture Roundstone and a number of other locations before the fog lifted and another sunny day began. 

Another theme for my trip given the time of year was "Spring". I have found over the years that it is in June when Connemara seems to come alive from a floral perspective, so I challenged myself to see what I could find. I came across an opportunity at Kylemore Abbey, and have entitled the below Kylemore Blossom (using intentional camera movement to focus on the colour rather than the detail, but managing to leave just a touch of it). 


intentional camera movement of a cherry blossom tree

So what does a photographer do after a busy morning? The answer is a reward of a couple of treats from the famous Walsh's Bakery in Connemara's capital, Clifden.

a photographer having a coffee and bakery treats in Clifden, Connemara I have plenty of other photographs from my Connemara trip that I am currently working on, and I hope to be able to share those with you soon.

That’s it for this update. I’ll be posting again soon with new additions to my Fine Art Photography Collections and other news.

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Cheers

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