I was thrilled to see my four-shot composite of Comet Leonard in the January 2022 issue of Astronomy Ireland magazine – and even happier when I was asked to write an article about how I got it for the following month’s issue. In the article, I promised a longer version here on my blog and this is it – albeit a bit later than intended! My article i...

It was a bright sunny first Sunday of July 2021 when I went to Dalkey Island, Co. Dublin - a magical offshore island only a few kilometres from home in Shankill. Indeed, Dalkey Island was once part of the medieval Manor of Shankill - a feudal territory owned by the Archbishop of Dublin that stretched south to the Glen of the Downs in Co. Wicklow....

It was great to wake up today to see my “Strawberry Moon” – the midsummer full moon - on the front pages of the Irish Times and The Times Ireland. Using The Photographers Ephemeris yesterday morning at about 4.30am, I was lucky enough to capture it setting behind the Poolbeg chimneys. Although it was a fine clear night, it was quite breezy when I a...

As today is the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Normandy Landings on D-Day in 1944, I remembered some of my recent shots of the lighthouse at St. John’s Point in Co. Donegal and the nearby EIRE sign – number 70 of a series of 83 that were marked out around the coast of the Republic of Ireland at the start of World War II to proclaim its neutrality...

"Shall we begin?" (the title & this quote are from Rhaenyra and Daenerys Targaryen - source) The final series of Game of Throne kicks off today, so here's are a few shots of the real Dragonstone that I got on my holidays in the Basque Country in July 2018. In reality, its the islet of Gazteugatxe - and no I haven't a clue how to pronounce it eit...

I previously shot the Bray Air Display in 2010 and 2016 and I’ve blogged about those shots here, here and here - as well as giving a few tips on shooting air shows. In those shoots, my main goal was to get good shots of the planes and the aerobatics but most of them could be anywhere because they are against the sky. For the 2018 Air Display, I did...

Early this week, the Dublin weather forecast for this evening’s lunar eclipse on 27 July 2018 looked promising and I was looking forward to doing a time-lapse from the East Pier in Dun Laoghaire as the blood moon rose out of the Irish Sea near the Muglins light and then arced over Dalkey and Killiney Hills. Sadly, however, the forecast changed, and...

I’m delighted to have had two of my favourite types of shots published in The Times (Ireland Edition) this month. The first was a weather shot - “Poolbeg Jogger”, that appears in today’s paper - 12 May 2018. The second was of the full Moon setting at the Ha’penny Bridge at about 6am on the 29 th April last - that one appeared on 1 May. Check back n...

I was back in my old hometown of Cork for a few days over the New Year and despite the stormy weather of the past week or so, New Year's Day itself was not too bad. I've been doing moonshots around Dublin Bay for years so I was keen to have a go around Cork Harbour for the Wolf Moon which was also a Supermoon - although I always think the use of th...

Last November's Moon was good to me - a few days before I got the Hunter' Moon here, it illuminated Crookhaven here and then it silhouetted the Fastnet Rock for me. This rock is the most southerly Irish point - it's also called Ireland's teardrop because it was the last bit of the country many emigrants ever saw. I'd like to wish all the reader's...

Updated 17 January 2018: I've added shots at the end of the Irish Examiner press cutting of the Hunters Moon shot along a shot of an A2 print of this image being printed by 360-DPI for a client. I didn't add that many images to my moonshots project in 2017, with cloudy weather not helping on several occasions. Here are three that I did like. The f...

Continuing with my look back of the past year, here are some of my favourite storm shots. The first is from the Great South Wall in Poolbeg, Co. Dublin during an unnamed gale - lots more shots here. Next, a tree blown down during Storm Doris, being cleared between Shankill and Bray - more shots here. Doris was quickly followed by Ewan although it w...

Today's image from my best of the year series is a failed moon shot from west Kerry, where we took the family holiday in August. The Photographers Ephemeris told me that, from the western extremity of the Dingle Peninsula and Europe, the moon would set over the Blaskets at 5.48am on Bank Holiday Monday, the 7 August. So, no lie in for me! Sadly whe...

Starting with my update on the 2016 Winter Solstice yesterday, I'll be posting most days until early in 2018 with some of my favourite shots from the past year or so. Today's offering is Crookhaven by Moonlight. Its a panoramic stitch of three images I took on 1 November under a near full moon from Brow Head. This is the most southerly point on the...

Last year I made two magical visits to Newgrange in brilliant sunshine for the winter solstice on 18 and 22 December. I blogged about my first visit here and I've just updated my post with some shots from the second visit. You can see a few of these shots here in this post as well. The additional pictures include a few from inside the chamber where...