IRELAND: A WONDERFUL LANDSCAPE

This last summer, I spent a few weeks traveling around the beautiful landscapes of Ireland, armed with my D800E, a few lenses, a flash and a tripod. Hoping for a cooperating weather, I set off to portray the beauty of this wonderful country, and except for a few days when the weather was neither friendly nor dramatic enough for what I had in mind, I succeeded in bringing home frames after frames full of the country's historical and natural wonders. I felt so privileged and lucky to be there and see cliffs, seascapes, waterfalls and waterways, castles, abbeys, crosses, dolmens and more passing in front of my eyes nearly continuously during my stay, offering me endless photographic opportunities; so much so that I decided to divide this post in various instalments, which I will organise by topic hoping that this will make the narration easier to follow. In this first post, I chose photographs as devoid of man-made artefacts as possible, to give you an idea of what the land would look like without external intervention; thus exploring the beauty of the land itself, which in Ireland means water, water and more water... Water, whether coming from the sea, the rain, the rivers, the lakes and so on, shaped and still shapes & defines the landscape in Ireland like no other element.

Torc waterfall, Ireland 2012

Above, Torc Waterfall, near Killarney; this is one of the most picturesque falls in Ireland, and even though easily enough to reach and therefore touristic enough, it still is one not to miss. Below, Water & Stone, inspired by another of the famous waterfalls in Ireland, the Powercourts Waterfalls near Dublin.

Water and Stone, Ireland 2012

Walking along the rivers in forested areas in Ireland is somehow otherworldly, the landscape is so peaceful and quiet:

Tranquillity, Ireland 2012

Flowing waters, Ireland 2012

Looking for details in the riverbeds:

Fearless and proud, Ireland 2012

Diagonals, Ireland 2012

Of course, not all the waterscapes in Ireland inspire such peaceful feelings; the rough sea-shaped rocks at Sybil Head tell a whole different story:

Sybil Head, Ireland 2012

As do the imposing Cliffs of Moher, which - though a classic one - are a sight to behold:

Cliffs of Moher at dusk, Ireland 2012

Being on top of the cliffs, beaten by what turned out to be the strongest winds I experienced in the course of the whole trip, I wanted to convey through my images a totally different mood than what I was experiencing while there, one of imposing, tranquil & sombre strength; while trying to get the camera stable enough for the long exposure I had in mind, I was picturing the colour palette and the impressionistic effect of a long exposure on the grass above and the waters below: despite variously anchoring my tripod, it took me quite a few attempt in the short window of dusk light to get what I had in mind; I finally got it, before being completely blown away by the winds...

Despite all their might, the Cliffs of Moher aren't the highest in Ireland; the less known, and much hard to find and to explore cliffs at Slieve League are even taller, being in fact the tallest in Europe:

Slieve League at dusk, Ireland 2012

Shaped by water and ice, one of the most striking landscapes in Ireland, if not in Europe, is the limestone desert of the Burren. Kilometres and kilometres of stone, divided by cracks often many metres deep, the Burren is constellated here & there by boulders, dropped tenths of thousand years ago by glaciers where they stand today:

Boulders, Ireland 2012

Being the result of erosional phenomena, tricky holes and cracks cover the whole landscape:

Tracks, Ireland 2012

Fractures, Ireland 2012

However harsh it might look, the Burren hosts an incredible variety of life, with flowers, plants and herbs struggling to keep alive in its cracks:

Boulder at sunset, Ireland 2012

The Atlantic tides, very strong in Ireland, play an important role as well in shaping the landscape; at low tide, the sea retracts deeply creating rivers and canals:

Liskeeraghan, Ireland 2012

And leaving boats parked on grass:

Stormy weather over Clifden Bay:

Clifden Bay, Ireland 2012

I decided to include some artefacts, though buried in the sea, such as these as a final image for this first instalment:

Lucky!, Ireland 2012

OK, this is about it for this first instalment - I hope you enjoyed it!

Click here to see part 2: THE WONDERS OF MEGALITHIC IRELAND, part 3: IRELAND'S HISTORICAL CHRISTIAN REMAINS and part 4: IRELAND'S MAN MADE LANDSCAPE

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Now for the technical stuff (click to go to the related product page): all images shown here have been shot with a Nikon D800E equipped with the Nikon 24mm f/1.4 AF-S, Nikon 35mm f/1.4G AF-S, Nikon 50mm f/1.4 AF-S, Nikon 85mm f/1.4 AF-S and the Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 AF-S VR; a SB-910 Speedlight controlled via the D800E commander has been used at times as well. For support I used a Gitzo tripod equipped with an Arca Swiss Cube head; last, but certainly not least, I also used Singh-Ray filters, including a polarizer & various ND filters. Photos have been developed in Nikon Capture NX 2 and finished in Adobe Photoshop CS6.

Thank you for reading this far, and stay tuned for more!

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