# Irish landscape photography: chasing light in a country with none

> How to photograph the Irish landscape in bad light — golden hour, the twenty minutes after rain, blue hour, and which conditions actually print well.

- Canonical page: https://hollzphotography.com/blog/irish-landscape-photography-light
- Business: Hollzphotography — signed animal and Irish landscape photography prints
- Photographer: Amy Byrne, Ireland
- Contact: info@hollzphotography.com · 083 881 3982

- Published: 2026-08-18
- Reading time: 6 minutes
- Topics: irish landscape photography, landscape prints ireland, irish countryside, wall art ireland

People assume landscape photography here is about scenery. It is not — the scenery is always there. It is about being outdoors during the twenty minutes when the light is doing something.

## The three windows

**Golden hour.** The hour after sunrise and before sunset. Low sun rakes across the fields, hedges throw long shadows and everything picks up a warm cast. In Irish summer that means being up at half four; in December it is a civilised half three in the afternoon. Most of the warm-toned images in the [landscape collection](/prints/irish-countryside-wall-art) are from this window.

**The twenty minutes after rain.** This is the one that is specific to here, and the one people miss because they are inside waiting for it to stop. When a shower clears, the air is washed clean, the grass is saturated, and the sky behind the departing cloud is usually dramatic. Rainbows only exist in this window.

**Blue hour.** The half hour after the sun has gone. Cool, quiet, low contrast. It is unforgiving on a small screen and it prints beautifully — the tonal range is gentle, so a big print looks calm rather than busy.

## Flat grey days

Eight months of the year you get flat white cloud, which is a giant softbox and useless for grand vistas. Use it differently:

- **Get closer.** Detail beats vista in dull light — gorse, a gate, a single tree, an animal.
- **Look for colour instead of contrast.** Wet tarmac, yellow whin, orange bracken in autumn.
- **Shoot for black and white.** Flat light with a strong shape in it converts very well. All prints here can be made in black and white at no extra cost.

## Settings that matter

- **f/8–f/11** for landscape depth. Wider than f/5.6 and the far hedge goes soft.
- **Lowest usable ISO.** Noise is very visible in large flat skies once you print at 16×24″.
- **Bracket exposures** in a bright sky over a dark field. You cannot recover a blown sky.
- **Shoot RAW** if you intend to print. JPEG throws away the sky detail you will want later.

## Which frames actually print

Not all of them. An image that reads well on a phone can fall apart at 16×24″. What survives:

- A clear subject — a road, a tree, a horse — rather than a general view
- Clean skies with real gradient in them
- A colour palette that will sit in a room: warm gold, muted green, grey-blue

If you are choosing a landscape for a wall rather than shooting one, the [print size guide](/blog/print-size-guide-inches) covers what size suits each room, and the [living room guide](/blog/living-room-wall-art) covers sizing against furniture.

## Prints

Every landscape here is available from €10 unframed, or +€15 framed in oak, in four sizes, excluding postage. Half of every order goes to [Forever Home Sanctuary](https://foreverhomesanctuary.charity).

See the [landscape prints](/prints/irish-countryside-wall-art) or the [full shop](/shop).

## FAQ

### What is the best light for landscape photography in Ireland?

Three windows: golden hour just after sunrise and before sunset, the twenty minutes after a shower clears, and blue hour just after the sun goes down. Flat grey daylight suits closer detail shots and black and white.

### What camera settings suit Irish landscapes?

f/8 to f/11 for depth, the lowest usable ISO because noise shows in large skies, bracketed exposures when the sky is much brighter than the ground, and RAW if you intend to print.

### Why do some photos look good on a phone but bad as a print?

Large prints reveal noise, soft focus and flat skies. Images with a clear subject, real gradient in the sky and a restrained colour palette hold up best at 16×24″.

### Where were these landscape photographs taken?

In the Irish countryside around the fields, roads and hills near the sanctuary — everyday landscape rather than famous viewpoints.

## Pages

- [Print shop](https://hollzphotography.com/shop)
- [Gallery](https://hollzphotography.com/gallery)
- [Print guide](https://hollzphotography.com/prints)
- [Wall art in real rooms](https://hollzphotography.com/wall-art)
- [Print sizes guide](https://hollzphotography.com/print-sizes)
- [Gallery wall guide](https://hollzphotography.com/gallery-wall)
- [Gift guide](https://hollzphotography.com/gift-guide)
- [Journal](https://hollzphotography.com/blog)
- [About Amy](https://hollzphotography.com/about)
- [FAQ](https://hollzphotography.com/faq)
- [Pet portraits & commissions](https://hollzphotography.com/commissions)
- [Events](https://hollzphotography.com/events)
- [Contact](https://hollzphotography.com/contact)