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It's been a few months since I led my very first two Dolomites photo tours, which I was absolutely delighted to sell out. Leading up to the trips it was hard not to be excited, I had been to the Dolomites in October 2017 with my good pals Johnny Baird and Felix Sproll. It really was the trip of a lifetime, A bucket list location that I thought to myself i'd never in my wildest dreams ever photograph there never mind run photo tours there. Leading up to the trips it was as exciting as it gets, but as the trips grew closer one or two nerves crept in, its normal for a trip, especially an international one because you want/need so many things to come together. Your going away with people you've never been away with before, most of the time they are strangers to each other also, but you also want the accommodation to be nice and the weather to be perfect. About one hour into the first of the two tours any nerves I had had completely disappeared, I had amazing clients,

The Milky Way or Aurora Borealis?? Even though they both involve using the same type of lenses, f2.8 or lower preferably, both also need dark skies, but in terms of shooting, living in Ireland, the Milky Way involves going as far South as possible while the aurora involves us going as far North as possible. Below is a prime example, an Aurora image from Lough Salt, Donegal in September 2017 and a Milky Way image from Ardmore, Waterford in February 2018. Although we don't get as much of the Milky Way core in Ireland as countries further South or in the Southern Hemisphere, it's almost, if not better, to shoot the Milky Way from Ireland, for a few reasons... - We don't get many nights of clear skies in Ireland - We don't get fully dark skies in the summer (best times to shoot Feb-Apr & Aug-Sept) due to  the Milky Way only lining up and certain times of the year. - We need there to be little or no moon - If all of the above lines

Epic Iceland Its been a couple of months since my two back to back Iceland Photography Tours in November 2017.  To say they were amazing would be a massive understatement. When it comes to running these tours, nine times out of ten my clients number one aim is to see the aurora dancing across the sky and its up to me to get them into the best possible position to view it. Generally I think its important to get off to a good start and get some green on the first night or two, this helps set the tone for the week and is brilliant for client morale. The first day generally has the most driving of the trip driving 3-4 hours to the accommodation (not including stopping for photos along the way). Normally its dark by the time we get to our house for the week but it also means it gives us plenty of opportunity to hunt for some clear skies, given it being the first night we are just happy to get the aurora, be it at a popular landmark or just a simple side of the road shot. Luckily,