In a follow up to part 1 of this post, the rest of the morning was spent around the upper lake, most of the images were taken at or a short hike from the one car laybys along the Ring of Kerry beside the upper lake.   

The Sunset location I planned was supposed to be the Black valley and I dedicated a whole afternoon to scouting it out and setting up for sunset, but weather conditions turned against me and I couldn’t find anything of interest, light was very poor and wind picked up significantly so lake reflections and any long exposures for the lakes and reeds were off the cards. Strangely it was a place I didn’t like too much, maybe it was a little bit of camera fatigue kicking in. I went as far as the famous Molly's Cottage and turned around. I swore I wouldn't take an image of the cottage but since I didn't take anything along the valley I ended up taking one and processing it slightly darker than I usually would just for something different, no prizes for originality here. 

To try and get something from the evening I proceed to the Gap of Dunloe after sunset. I did try and emulate Peter Gordon's Gap of Dunloe image (one of my favorite images) but lake levels were too high and ended up trying a slightly different composition.  I had a few without a car passing but decided chose this one.

Dawn the next morning was supposed to be the Gap of Dunloe but after scouting the area out the night before I felt there wasn’t any light going to be coming into the valley this time of year. Dawn was therefore spent around Mucross lake and wasn’t really successful as I really picked the wrong locations and ended up chasing light around the lake and never being happy with any of the images. On reflection I thing you need to shoot what the dawn light is illuminating in this location rather than shooting into the rising sun. 

To finish up 2 more detailed landscape shots (below). Overall it was an enjoyable trip and there is nothing like being around the Killarney lakes pre-dawn in an isolated place with only the rutting stag noises for company.  I think it warrants a return trip, maybe a week or so later next year to get the autumn colour at its peak. In terms of the images I don't think any of them are really great and not exactly what I was after, a bi more mist on the lake would have facilitated the more minimalist images I prefer . I stayed in the Hillcrest B&B which is located just at the start of the Black Valley, perfect if you want to focus on that area or the Gap of Dunloe.