I recently had the opportunity to take a trip up to a good buddy’s playground, Bernard Geragthy, as most of you may know is an accomplished landscape photographer and workshop leader, who lives in a stunning part of Ireland, that I hadn’t visited properly with my camera before, Mayo & Connemara.

Bernard’s proximity to Connemara was also convenient, and the many areas that he has right at his doorstep were something that got me excited to travel up and explore with him. However good my expectations were, my reality soon became like something of dreams.

As we loaded up his tricked-out Defender, we had no real agenda, we were letting the light guide us, which meant we could stop at any moment. The sheer scale of the area is something hard to comprehend. While like I said I had expectations, I quickly began to enjoy the journey even more so, Around almost every corner a new scene revealed itself. As we travelled along the road, chatting about all things photography, we came across our first shooting location. This location was visible from the road and as we approached, I could see a stunning lake, with get this, a Sandy Beach, and sitting right on the beach were three small boats, that I thought would make for stunning subjects to start the adventures, so we of course pulled over to explore.

Now Bernard had visited this location before, so was aware of what was awaiting, I however had not, and as I rounded the corner of the path, the subjects revealed themselves to me in all their glory. Three stunning punts, tied up at the shore, with mountains on either side and light promising us a dance of greatness. It should also be noted that Bernard is like a greyhound out of the traps when it comes to landscape photography, he is always first on the scene to ensure that his many clients can get the best perches to maximise their chances, and with this knowledge I knew that I should follow his lead. As I setup my camera and recorded my first piece to camera, I noticed he was dragging the boat ashore. This was to stop it from moving in the water, which would help with exposing longer shots and keeping the boat perfectly still.

As I set up my first shot, I was on the left side of the boat, Bernard was on the right-hand side and was very quick to show me his composition, to lure me over to the side. To be fair it was a nice comp so of course I had to oblige. Light at this point wasn’t a factor, but within minutes it quickly became a very strong supporting actor to my star of the show the first boat. I opted to go for some traditional exposure times to begin with which were nice, but it was when I put on my filters that I saw the true potential of this location. The wind was moving the clouds quickly which meant that the light was fleeting, but it also meant that a long exposure would capture that movement in the shot as well as,of course, smooth out the water.

The other two boats were just a matter of feet away, and after I had my fill of the first I ventured over to the them to say hello. The first one I shot was partially sunk at the rear, and while it was nice, I found myself having to get rather close to it to enable me to get the entire size of it in my frame, I could have gone back of course as I had the space, but a fence stopped me from shooting it, not because it restricted my movements, but more because it wasn’t as ascetically pleasing in the shot. Just as I set up the shot the light arrived right behind it, casting a glow on the adjacent hills, which added nicely to the overall shot I felt.

Now it was the turn of the middle boat, one that was tied up at a direct straight line to the shore, I placed my camera to split the scene into 3 parts, The bottom part was the sandy beach, the middle was there water and the top of course was the sky. The boat in its current position cut the scene perfectly and the adjacent hills also framed the top third of the frame perfectly. I took two types of shots here. A standard exposure plus a long exposure, and just as I did so, the light returned once more, to cast a fantastic glow all over the scene, making the boat stand out even more, adding some great contrast to the sand and finally bringing the entire image together as one symmetrical shot.

I thought we were done, until Bernard just casually dropped, “oh come over here and I will show you this tree.” Trusting his vision, I packed up and followed and when I rounded the bushes I saw a magnificent specimen of a tree in front of me. It even had rocks that acted as a leading line and great foreground interest. I took a walk around the tree to see what else it offered, but was drawn back to that first view I had, and decided that a vertical composition would work perfectly. I just needed some light to arrive to lift it all, and I once again didn’t need to wait long. The hills in the distance began to glow and as I hit the shutter I knew right there I was on to a winner.

Now as I mentioned Bernard had been here before and while my composition was nice, he insisted that he had a better one, just a few feet away offering a different perspective on the scene. So of course, I entertained him and set up that shot. His view wasn’t with those stunning rocks but was with the tree leaning into the frame, framed by the hills behind. I took the shot and while it was nice, I still felt my original comp was better. What do you think? Let me know in the comments below.

That was it, we were done, but not before my drone went for a flight to capture the scene from the air, it was simply stunning and what a great spot to start our adventure from.

Where would we go next? Who knows, the light was our guide after all, so we packed up to see where it would take us.

You can see the images I captured below and I’d love for you to join us on the YouTube video on my channel ( below also )

Thanks for reading and your continued support.