The Grass is Always Greener in Ireland

Since moving back to Northern Ireland I've had a little more time (and money) to revisit all my old loves; one of these is photography, and of course, Ireland is such a pretty muse! As per a lot of places in the UK, rain is never far away, but when the sun does come out to play it brings with it the best opportunities for some photos!

After a sleepy 5am flight home following graduation week, I was picked up at the airport by my Nana and went straight to Portrush. Anyone from Ireland will be familiar with the Antrim coastline, as will (most probably) anyone who has ever visited. It is absolutely gorgeous; home to the Giants' Causeway, beautiful far-stretching beaches and known for its' golf and water-sports. For me it holds many of my childhood memories and so will always have a very special place in my heart. I only had my iPhone with me, so all photos were taken from that but I think you can still see why this is such a special place for many; the golden sand seems to go on forever and if you get down early enough you can have your own personal section of beach. Later in the day it transforms, being filled with parents, children and grandchildren enjoying their holidays, playing bat and ball and settling down for their picnic on tartan rugs.

The rock pools are amazing and such a fun thing to bring little cousins to; we visited when it started raining and the beach was a no-go and found this little crab (below). It's always amazing to witness children seeing an animal for the first time, obviously this one was a tad scary to them!

Like every city, Belfast also got into the Olympic Spirit and even on a very rainy day on my way to an interview, I had to get a picture of the City Hall showcasing the Olympic Rings...

These are the first three proper photographs I have taken with my new camera, a Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3, a graduation present to myself. I have SO much to learn about photography and am determined that before I travel the world this will happen; I don't want to be one of those people with an amazing camera but absolutely no knowledge of how it works! Can anyone recommend some good photography tutorials/blogs/books?

I entered these into a competition where we were asked to depict Ireland through a series of photographs; there was a big gallery event/voting event and the first photo (below) came second! I was absolutely over the moon considering the subject is a five minute walk from my home, and plus it's given me a little more confidence in my photography abilities; granted, there's still a long way to go!

This guy is undoubtedly my favorite...

I hope you enjoyed this post and it's given you a little peep at rural Northern Ireland :) Hopefully I'll get out to take some winters day/snowy photos soon! Our weather has been so terrible lately I'm waiting for snow already...