I got the opportunity recently for a dedicated photography  trip to Killarney on my own, something I haven’t done since a trip 2 years ago to Connemara. I did as much preparation as possible in terms of locations and direction of light but not knowing the area well meant that there was going to be a big element of luck involved.

The overall objective was to try and capture some of the less photographed areas of Killarney which would be difficult as it is an area that is very popular photographers.

The First sunset location was Tower wood waterfall, an area I had seen photographed before but not very often. I felt if Autumn colour was in it could make for a nice location especially at sunset. I also returned to this location later in the weekend during the afternoon to try and get a few different points of view and something a little different. Here are a few of my attempts.  

The first dawn location I chose was the upper lake and particularly the western end. I was hoping to get some mist on the lakes and forecast suggested it could be possible. I headed down to the lake about 90 mins before dawn to try and get set up, this is where unfamiliarity with the location hurt as I was trying to get to the lake across a bog in the dark which wasn’t fun or easy. Eventually I couldn’t go any further and had to back track and now time was against me. I stumbled upon a very easy route along the Kerry way almost right down to the lake which really helped. 2 of my favourite images (first one on top of the post) from the trip were actually taken on this path (very rushed snap shots really) on my way to the side of the lake for dawn. Both images really made by the presences of mist.

I've decided to split this into 2 parts, second will be up later in the week, and includes more images of the upper lake, the Gap of Dunloe, Black valley and dawn at the Mucross lake.