About Irish Photographer, Barry O’Carroll
Yup, that’s me in the obligatory photographer holding a camera profile picture. I‘m just grateful to still have my hair in my mid-forties (greying as it is).
Welcome. I am a forty something year old photographer from Dublin, Ireland. I’ve been practicing photography for over twenty years now and specialise in urban, landscape and travel photography. I love travel and spent hours watching travel documentaries and reading travel books as a kid (I still do!) I am in my happy place while exploring a new and unfamiliar city or location with my camera bag and tripod on my back. Sometimes I even take out the camera!
I sell prints of my photography and am privilaged to have sold prints to buyers all over the world. My photos have also featured in online and print adverts, on billboards and in books and magazines. A few years ago I set up an Etsy store where customers can buy digital photo files for self-printing in a photo lab. This provides a more affordable way to own prints of my photographs.
I am also a qualified teacher and have given workshops and talks at camera clubs and libraries all over Ireland as well as online in the UK and Canada. I love teaching photography and seeing my students achieve their creative potential.
I also write blog posts from time to time that are a mix of travel writing and the stories behind the photos I take as well as well as sharing some of the knowledge I’ve picked up over the years. Anyone who knows me will tell you I am a talker(understatement), so a blog is the perfect way for me to tell my stories.
The Ha’penny bridge is probably the most recognised landmark in my home city of Dublin.
My Journey in Photography
I am indebted to my good friend José who introduced me to photography in 2005 during a trip to his native Andalucia. I had a little Olympus 3mp compact camera with me but it was enough to learn the basics on. I don’t think my poor wife has ever forgiven him. In the years since, I joined my local photography club and learnt as much as I could from my fellow members. I later served as chairperson (possibly as punishment for sins in a past life). I had hit a bit of wall in my development when I discovered the book “Waiting for the Light” by English photographer David Noton. His meticulous preparation and patience in photographing his locations in the most interesting light had a major influence on my own work.
Golden Hour at the Alhambra in Andalucia
With time, I started giving workshops within the club and then to other photography clubs and in libraries around the country. I began writing tutorials and my article “28 Composition Techniques That Will Improve Your Photos” was the fifth most read post on Petapixel in the decade from 2010-2020. In 2020, I published “Outdoor Photography Essentials”, an e-book of tutorials on exposure, camera settings, composition & light. Over the years, I have photographed my home city of Dublin as well as some of the other beautiful locations around Ireland. Glendalough in County Wicklow is a particular favourite photography location. I also enjoy combining my passion for travel and photography and you will find plenty of photographs from my travels on this website. Paris features heavily in my portfolio and I try to visit this incredibly photographic city every few years. The French did invent photography after all!
La Conciergere at Blue Hour, Paris
My Approach to Photography
I try to photograph locations when the light is the most interesting. This often means a very early start which does not come naturally to me. When I wake up, I usually look like I am in need of serious medical attention. It’s almost always worth the effort though. I love photographing locations in the subtle, pale pre-dawn light. As an added bonus, I often have the place to myself which is a wonderful experience in itself. The subsequent golden hour when the rising sun bathes the scene in a warm glow is also a wonderful time to take photos (although in Ireland this can be quite the lottery). If the weather cooperates, the low evening sun presents another golden hour window of opportunity.
Golden Morning Light and Mist in Valletta, Malta
The evening blue hour just before the sky turns black is my preferred time to photograph urban scenes when the remaining ambient late evening light and deep blue sky balances perfectly with the night time lights of the city or town. Henri Cartier-Bresson’s idea of the “decisive moment” is also something I keep in mind when out with my camera. Sometimes a lot of patience (again which does not come naturally to me) is required to wait until that perfect moment to press the shutter. This could be the moment the sun sets in a sunburst or a cyclist crossing a bridge on misty morning. When it comes to equipment and gear, I am something of a minimalist as I am in life in general. You definitely won’t find long winded articles about cameras, lenses and tripods in my blog. I own one camera and one lens along with a tripod and a few filters. To me, carrying less gear is very freeing (and much easier on my back!)
The “Decisive Moment” in Bruges, Belgium
Apart from Photography…
I have a wonderful wife who I met over 25 years ago in the lovely town of Brive. We have a 10 year old boy who has more footballing talent in his little toe than I ever had in my whole body. Then there is Figgie the cat who’s life’s ambition is to keep me awake at night.
Despite my own lack of footballing (or indeed any sporting) talent, I support Shelbourne FC, League of Ireland Champions in 2024 under the guidance of the brilliant Damien Duff.
I also love rugby and support Leinster. I hold onto the dream that one day Ireland will actually get past a World Cup quarter final.
Tolka Park - Home of Shelbourne FC
I’ve been facinated by travel ever since I watched the travel programmes of Sir Michael Palin. I went on to read his books as well as those of travel writers like Bill Bryson, Paul Theroux and Peter Moore. There are other travel shows I enjoy watching like Joanna Lumley, Billy Connolly, Richard Ayoade, Sue Perkins and James May.
I have a particular facination with the country of France and am a definite Francophile when it comes to French language, history and culture. It is no surprise I married a French woman! It’s great apart from when she goes on strike and builds barricades across the hall.
I love history too and studied it in university. I am currently writing a book on my ancestor’s involvement in the Easter Rising and War of Independence. And to think, I hated doing my history homework.
My son at Balcón de Europa in Nerja, Spain