Ireland’s highest mountain, and it’s most majestic mountain range. Carrauntoohill is nested in the McGillycuddys Reeks and is a hugely popular place for walkers, hikers, and climbers. Coming here mid week in winter, you are more than likely to have the entire place to yourself for most of your time. As always when photographing mountains, I aim to make an image putting the subject in the context of it’s surroundings.

The Meeting of the Waters Tucked in behind Dinis Cottage, this wonderful spot is the point where all three lakes of Killarney converge. I had waited a long time to get early morning light on the old weir bridge but soon realised it's always in shade and so had to settle for some dramatic mid shower light on the bank opposite me.

After spending two years photographing in the Killarney National Park I began to shift focus from ' recording ' the dramatic landscape to capturing the very essence and nature of the place and the very special sights you can witness within it. Early morning is always my preference, any time of year and during a particularly long dry spell the water levels on the lake drop to the point where you can walk out to locations rarely accessible. Here I choose to focus on this wonderfully still scene instead of the coming drama ahead as first light hits the Reeks behind.

Most definitely one of the best drives you can do anywhere in Ireland. You drive through the heart of the Beara Peninsula, with it's distinctive mountainous landscape all around you as the road winds it's way around crags and passes, emerging to a dramatic view from the top which ever direction you travel in.

“Sometimes I do get to places just when God’s ready to have somebody click the shutter.” – Ansel Adams This was one of those moments which was fleeting and I knew would never be repeated.  So being there and witnessing it was wonderful but realising I had to make an image that captured it required my full concentration and lessens the ability to just enjoy it a little. The sun behind me was setting and about to drop below high ridge, putting the valley floor into shadow. It was also dropping into a slim sliver of clear sky which I thought could produce some drama on the mountains opposite.  As it did, this razor like cut of light fell on the base of the mountain with the approaching squalls turning the rest of the sky an ominous dark black. Once again I felt I was realising years of contemplating another artists work,  the painter Tim Goulding, who's Mountain Fires paintings , I've long coveted and admired.  This was my mountain fire and it was a glorious sight.

I'm surrounding by a wild and dramatic landscape that can sometimes be quite overwhelming and almost too much too photograph ! On mornings like this when a low fog softens the entire landscape and isolates wonderful details it's a great treat to be able to make quieter more reflective images. This is near Derrycunnihy on the Upper Lake in Killarney National Park, taken from a boat after travelling up along the Long Range from Muckross, one of the great water journeys you can do anywhere in Ireland.

Uragh Stone Circle in the Gleninchaquin Valley on the Beara Peninsula most likely predates the great pyramids in Egypt and similar structures are dotted all around the country. The southwest of Ireland has some of the highest concentrations of megalithic sites in Europe and this location with the Gleninchaquin Waterfall in the background is typically spectacularly scenic.

A lone Hawthorn Tree is backlit by the rising sun on a very unique morning in June. I had been camping out on high ground the previous night and unexpectedly had a very cold night on the mountain as a bizarre front of cold air moved down across the country. Once it was light enough to come down I did and sat in my car warming up as the sun began to rise. I noticed that as a result of the cold air, the light was unusually crisp and clear for a summer morning. I lined up a composition with the tree shading the rising sun and marvelled as the light wrapped around it and made an otherwise difficult exposure work perfectly. These trees are often left standing alone for superstitious reasons by farmers , especially near lying boulders, for fear of bringing a curse from the fairies on them !! Lough Brin sits in a beautiful valley at foothills of the McGillycuddys Reeks mountains in Kerry.

Derrycunnihy as viewed from the famous Ladie's View in the Killarney National Park. The more famous view is a little off to the right, but I really loved the layers being revealed by the lingering mist and fog here and also the breaking light behind Mangerton mountain.

Lauragh Moon Early morning at Lauragh with a full moon setting as first light hits the mountain tops.

I have a long held interest in photographing farmland gates and noting the vast range of styles and methods used both today and in years gone by to secure access points to lands. Some are ornate and hark back to days where great pride was taken in owning even a small holding.

Most definitely one of the best drives you can do anywhere in Ireland. You drive through the heart of the Beara Peninsula, with it's distinctive mountainous landscape all around you as the road winds it's way around crags and passes, emerging to a dramatic view from the top which ever direction you travel in.