Here are the final three images from the trip to Ireland that Liz and I made in 2016.
With only two days out of the week we spent there being sunny, it's a good job that there's so many places and subjects to photograph that look their best under threatening skies!
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Every time Liz and I visit the west of Ireland, we make a point of searching out somewhere new to visit.
On our 2016 trip we discovered the sleepy seaside town of Kinvarra, on County Galway's Atlantic coast, and spent a very pleasant afternoon exploring the town and old stone harbour.
The flat, grey light wasn't good for photographing the landscape, but was just right to bring out the best of the lovely details we found around the harbour itself.
As usual, click on the thumbnail images to go to the photo pages and read more.
For stunning and dramatic coastal scenery there aren't many places in the world to compare with Loop Head on the Atlantic coast of Ireland - an area Liz and I make a point of visiting every time we're over there.
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Here's the final image from the excursion Liz and I made to Achill Island during our most recent explore of the west coast of Ireland.
The panorama shows Keem Bay, right on the tip of Achill Island, and a very popular spot with the locals. especially when the sun shines.
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We're still exploring the stunning beach and cliff scenery at Achill Island on Ireland's wild Atlantic coast here at goHOWiE.com, with today's images showcasing the beach at Keel, the largest town on the island.
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Three more images from the stunning beach at Dugort, Achill Island in County Mayo on Ireland's wild Atlantic coast.
Just lovely in the sunshine, and well worth filling a memory card up photographing.
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Here are three images of the stunning beach at Dugort, on the Atlantic facing west coast of Ireland on Achill Island, County Mayo.
If you're thinking of visiting here yourself, I would recommend picking a sunny day!
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When Liz and I make one of our regular visits to the west of Ireland, there are some places that we love to re-visit, and the beautiful Lough Graney is one such.
With such wild variations in the weather in this part of the world, it never looks the same twice.
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Mid-August 2016 and Liz and I are in Ireland, visiting family and re-visiting old haunts.
Staying right on the shores of Lough Derg in County Clare, there were plenty of photo opportunities for me to enjoy just a few metres from our cabin.
We even had two sunny days - very rare in this part of the world!
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It's been a busy weekend, with gorgeous weather on the North Wales coast and Snowdonia tempting me out and about, laden with time lapse shooting kit.
Here are the first two videos that I shot, one overlooking Llanberis in the heart of the Snowdonia National Park, filmed early in the afternoon, and the second at the end of the day on the coast at Llandudno.
Click on the thumbnails to visit the video pages, watch the videos and to read a bit more about them.
Wow! Finally, here are the last three images from the cruise Liz and I took this summer up to Iceland and back on board the P&O liner Azura.
Three dramatic scenes from the North Sea, and the only way of seeing these sights was from onboard a ship.
So I doubt that this will be last cruise we take.
The only question is 'where next'?
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Of course, one of the main reasons to take a trip by ship, rather than by flying, is the delight of being out on the ocean, and in comfort too.
During our cruise to Iceland and back on board the P&O liner Azura, Liz and I spent many hours on the open decks, in all weathers, enjoying just watching the ocean.
So here are four images that try and convey, at least in part, some of the different moods of the oceans and seas on which we sailed.
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Wandering around the P&O liner Azura as she sailed northwards towards Iceland I was suprised to discover these life sized humanoid sculptures, by Andrew Sinclair, dotted around the decks.
With sunlight highlighting the figures' curves I took full advantage of the photographic opportunity that presented itself.
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Three more detail images taken on board the P&O liner Azura, on a rare sunny afternoon sailing up into the North Atlantic ocean en-route to Iceland.
I'm glad I made the effort to photograph the ship at this time, as that was the last of the sun that we saw for most of the rest of our cruise.
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I find that ships, and nice, shiny cruise liners especially, make for great photographic opportunities.
This is the P&O liner Azura, shown docked at Akureyri in Iceland in the first image, followed by more abstract images of details around the ship, taken on a rare sunny day in the Irish Sea.
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With the Orkney Islands having such a rich maritime history, it's only fitting to finish this series of images from this beautiful place with a couple of images of boats.
One most definitely a working craft, and the other more for pleasure.
As usual, a click on the thumbnail images will take you to the photo pages to read more.
Sailing away from Orkney just as the weather changed from sunshine to stormy gave me the opportunity to capture these two evocative images from the upper deck of the P&O liner Azura as we tracked along the coastline.
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One thing the Orkney Islands have in abundance is prehistoric monuments.
During our visit there Liz and I enjoyed a tour that took us to the most well known of these sites, the Ring of Brodgar.
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The last stop on our cruise to Iceland and back on board the P&O liner Azura found Liz and myself exploring the beauties of the Orkney Islands, just off the northernmost tip of the Scottish mainland.
What I found suprising was the geology, with a lot of red sandstone around, both in its natural state and also used in buildings.
So here are two Orkney images based on the colour of the sandstone, one showing St Magnus's cathedral in the capital town of Kirkwall, and one showing the dramatic sandstone cliffs at Yesnaby on the west coast.
A most welcome change after all that grey!
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A brief diversion from the beauties of the Scottish Isles today here at goHOWiE.com, to showcase four time lapse videos that I made during Liz's and my recent trip, staying next to Lough Derg in the west of Ireland.
Interesting weather to say the least!
Click on the thumbnails to visit the video pages, watch the videos and to read more about the making of the films.
Here are the final two images from the lovely town of Lerwick, the capital of the Shetland Islands, that my wife Liz and I visited on our cruise to Iceland and back.
Lerwick is first and foremost a seafaring town, so it's appropriate to end this series of photos from this beautiful location with photos of boats and the harbour.
Next stop - the Orkneys.
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Walking around the harbour town of Lerwick, the capital of the Shetland Islands, Liz and I very quickly became aware that this was a communtity based on the sea. (And the odd sheep or two!)
Boats and nautical paraphenalia were everywhere, so naturally I featured the odd boat or two in the photos I took during our day's excursion in this lovely and friendly town.
As usual, click on the thumbnail images to visit the photo pages and read more.
Here are four more of my favourite images from the lovely seaside town of Lerwick in the Shetland Islands, featuring the juxtaposition of old stone buildings, the azure sea and blue skies.
I'm sure the weather isn't like this all the time, but I'm certainly glad we caught the sunshine on the day Liz and I visited.
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OK - just got back from a week's trip to the west coast of Ireland (soggy but lovely, as usual!) - and it's time to resume showcasing the best views from Liz's and my cruise up to Iceland and back, taking in the beauties of Scotland and northern Ireland on the way.
To my mind, the loveliest harbour town that we visited on our cruise was Lerwick, the capital of Scotland's Shetland Islands.
Quaint olde worlde stone buildings, glorious sunshine and plenty of local wool shops for Liz - a winning combination!
The panorama is the view from the back of the P&O liner Azura, moored offshore, and shows some of the dramatic coastline around Lerwick iteslf while the standard images show just one of the photogenic spots we stopped at to photograph on our tour around the town.
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Time to catch up on recent time lapse video production here at goHOWiE.com, with these three clips showcasing the beauties of the North Wales coast.
Click on the thumbnails to visit the video pages, watch the videos and to read more about the making of the films.
Here are the final two images from Iceland, taken as we sailed away on the P&O liner Azura from the northern port of Akureyri, up the Eyjafjordur fjord and out into the North Atlantic Ocean.
It was kind of ironic that the sun started shining as we were leaving, having spend the previous three days under leaden grey skies for the most part.
Anyhow, I took full advantage of the sunshine and dramatic fjord scenery to take a lot of photos.
From the hundreds of images available to me from that sail away, I chose these two as my personal favourites, showing off the stunning scenery under lovely light.
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Our last sail away from the amazing Iceland, leaving the town of Akureyri and travelling up the Eyjafjordur fjord into the north Atlantic ocean and the sun finally comes out!
Magnificent snow capped mountains glide by as minky whales play in the ship's wake, so of course I'm making the most of the situation, trying my hand at hand-held panoramas.
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Yesterday I presented some images from Iceland, showing volcanic landscapes, albeit extinct. (For the time being!)
Today, the emphasis is very much on active geothermal features, and although we weren't treated to a major eruption during our cruise around Iceland we did see, and smell, some pretty impressive steam vents and pools of boiling mud at Hverarond.
There's a mix of static images and also a couple of videos of the features Liz and I saw during our all too brief stop at this amazing place.
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Of course, the main reason to visit Iceland is to take in the amazing landscape, formed of fire and ice.
Liz and I didn't see much ice on our trip there, but we did see plenty of landscapes formed from past volcanic activity.
Here are four examples of what I'm talking about, but the images don't really do justice to the jaw dropping effect of actually being there.
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With a couple of hours to spare before having to get back on board the P&O liner Azura and to sail away from Iceland, Liz and I explored some of Akureyri.
Liz was looking for wool shops and I was looking for photo opportunities, and of the two of us she had more success.
However, I did manage to find some amazing, and huge, street art to photograph, together with some of the flowers that had been arranged in planters on the street, helping to alliviate the grey.
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Here's an extra item for today here at goHOWie.com - my latest time lapse video filmed at dusk on the North Wales coast at Colwyn Bay.
Click on the thumbnail to visit the video page, watch the video and to read more about the making of the film.
The view from the top deck of the P&O liner Azura revealed the runway of Akureyri airport, sticking out in to the end of the Eyjafjordur fjord on the north coasat of Iceland, so of course I took advantage of the high viewpoint to photograph this unusual addition to the landscape.
Back home I made two different images from the same original RAW file, each conveying a very different mood.
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Two more images showing the dramatic scenery around Akureyri, on the north coast of Iceland, under stormy north Atlantic skies.
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Being eighteen decks up on the top of the P&O liner Azura certainly gave me a unique perspective out over the town of Akureyri and the Eyjafjordur fjord while we were berthed there.
But it was the all too rare and brief appearance of the sun that made all the difference for these two images.
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This panoramic image of Akureyri, situated at the end of the Eyjafjordur in the North of Iceland, shows the first glimpse of sunlight that we'd seen during our Iceland cruise, and those patches of light transformed the landscape into a visual wonderland.
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