Portsalon Beach

World-renowned Portsalon Beach which was deemed to be the second most beautiful beach in the world

Portsalon beach situated in the North-North-West of Ireland (Donegal) in 'Lough Swilly - a glacial fjord or sea inlet' is deemed as the best beach in Ireland

Aurora Borealis from Horn Head on 24th November

Aurora selfie

The  aurora weather forecast was Kp Level of 4.0 around midnight, I started to drive from Letterkenny to my favorite and nearest Aurora view location - Horn Head Peninsula around 8:30 pm . My friend Balu joined me, and we reached there shortly after 9:00 pm, the pale green band near the horizon was visible to the naked eye, but long exposure pics exposed the Aurora very well. The night sky was very clear, but the temperature dropped below freezing. On the way back to Letterkenny the car dashboard logged -6 degree between Kilmacrenan and letterkennny, and the trees and roads on each sides turned white as frost accumulated on them.

Aurora view from the small shelter on top of the Horn Head Peninsula

A star trail picture created from 61 images captured over 30 minutes

This is the brightest image that I could capture on the night when Kp level prediction stayed at Kp 4.0

Milkyway Over Horn Head Peninsula

Milkyway over Horn Head Peninsula

A quest for Aurora Borealis on 23rd November 2016 ended up in a Milkyway capture from the Horn Head Peninsula since the predicted Kp level of 5 didn't occur.

Sunset Lit Snow Mountains view from Letterkenny

Sunset Lit Snow Mountains view from Letterkenny on 21st November 2016

The snow covered mountains turned out beautiful when the peak got lit by sun around 4 in the evening on 21st November 2016. I could view it from my office and regretted that I couldn't capture it, I gave a call to my wife at home and asked her to look out towards South East to see it, she clicked a few frames and got these beautiful snaps.

Mount Errigal Peak Covered in Snow

Mount Errigal -  The tallest peak of the Derryveagh Mountains, the tallest peak in County Donegal, and the 76th tallest peak in Ireland

Mount Errigal looks so different when it snows. The above picture was taken on 19th November 2016, a couple of days before a very light snow fall/flurries happened in Letterkenny and the accumulation disappeared within no time, but the Derryveagh mountain peaks remained white for the next few days. Even though I climbed it three times in this summer, it looks scary when the peak is snow covered.

Derryveagh Mountains

Derryveagh Mountains - a pic taken on 2016 November 19

Derryveagh Mountain range is the area of Ireland with the lowest population density. Mount Errigal and Muckish are part of this mountain range.

Letterkenny at Night

The evening of the day of super moon rise turned out to be cloudy in Letterkenny, so I captured the panoramic night view of the town and the a diffuse low hanging clouds.

Maidin mhaith Geimhreadh (Good Morning Winter)

This time, it was my son Joshua George Vazhayil who woke me up to this beautiful sunrise, he got up so early and was waiting to see this, and he was so proud that he woke me up and commented that I can become a great photographer since nobody else would have got up at this time to see this - I love you Joshua.

Autumn - Statue sheds the head in advance

The statue at the entrance of Downhill Estate, Castlerock, County Londonderry with no head, did the head fall in the last fall along with the falling leaves?

Another autmn view of the entrance garden towards Downhill estate where the scenic Mussenden Temple is located

My Favorite Dark Sky Location in Donegal

Daytime view of my favorite dark sky location in Donegal for night sky photogray

This is beautiful place is located near the freshwater late Beara pictured below

Lake Beara, Donegal

Maidin mhaith Leitir Ceanainn (Good Morning Letterkenny)

 An October sunrise in 2016 viewed from Ceannan view, Letterkenny

Halloween 2016 Fireworks at Londonderry

Halloween 2016 Fireworks at Londonderry on October 2016 along the bank of river Foyle, the peace Bridge is seen in the foreground, the raindrops on the lens made the fuzzy octagonal patches

 The 30th Halloween festival and fireworks was celebrated at Londerry on 31st October 2016. The fireworks conducted every year at the bank of river Foyle is marvelous to be watched from the other side of the river and amidst of the drizzle this year, it turned to be spectacular. The huge crowd (estimated to be 30,000) came up in Halloween costumes to celebrate the festival and to watch the parade and the fireworks.

The drizzling rain drops made it difficult to shoot any good quality pictures as the lens got water drops all over it after every couple of shots and by the time I cleaned it up, a few spectacular displays got over always.

Here are few more snaps that I could capture regardless of the drizzle.