Michael O'Sullivan Photography Workshops

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Michael O'Sullivan Photography Workshops

Photography Workshops ~ Ireland | Destination Michael O'Sullivan is a creative professional photographer based in County Cork, Ireland.

Michael O'Sullivan is the Chairman and founder of Cork International Salon of Photography, he is the current president of the Irish Photographic Federation, and is a very experienced photographer in both the amateur and professional arenas, having had his work published both nationally and internationally. He produces Landscape, fashion, commercial and portrait work, but is best known for his pers

onal work, which may be described as "Conceptual Fantasy Art". Stylistically, his work references the painters of the Renaissance, Baroque and Romantic eras, as well as the great fantasy artists of the 20th century, but retains a unique signature. His current obsession is his "Fallen Angels" series, which is a vehicle for his view of the world, and Humanity's place in it. He is a Fellow of the Irish Photographic Federation, and a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society. Michael is a member of the Adjudication panel for photographic distinctions with the Irish Photographic Federation. He is an experienced photography teacher; a popular lecturer and speaker in Ireland and the UK. He leads workshops for photographers at all levels, including master-classes for advanced photographers and professionals. He is a proud member of the Permajet Lecturers' team. His workshops, on composition, shooting, lighting, processing & printing for various photographic genres are consistently sold out far
in advance. He has judged competitions throughout both Ireland, the UK, and as far afield as Canada.

26/08/2026

Meet the family!
On our first evening in Samburu National Reserve, we came across a baboon troop making their way across the track, heading towards the river. We took some pictures then, but made a note to follow them down to the river before sunset after we explored a bit and scouted out a few spots to find elephants the next morning. When we eventually went down to the river, we were glad to see that they were still there. Olive Baboons are a common sight near lodges and close to some villages in Kenya as they scavenge for food, so people often ignore them when they encounter them in the bush. Seeing them in these two contexts couldn't be more polar opposites in terms of a wildlife viewing experience. In the bush they are far more timid and wary of human proximity, especially when they have young. Watching primates in the wild is one of my favourite things to do. Here we hung back to give them plenty of space so they could just be themselves, and we could just watch. Seeing them interact with their close family members and extended family members is mesmerising! Children playing with a found object, and chasing each other for a closer look while the parents stayed aware of what they were getting up to. What I find most enlightening about watching them is how they switch from these external relationships back to these more thoughtful, apparently introspective moments, where they're clearly thinking away to themselves, sometimes alone, and sometimes in pairs or groups. Watching a mother just sit cradling her toddler while they both just watch the sunset for what seemed like ages makes it impossible to not see ourselves in them. Apart from the obvious complex social structures and relationships, they clearly live deep, detailed and complex internal lives. What was also obvious, was that they came down to the river bank to do nothing else but to enjoy themselves and to relax. All possibly except for one individual - the big troop leader, the alpha male, who though relaxed, spent the entire time keeping an eye out for any signs of trouble. Just like a human grandparent on a family day out. After a while I forgot they weren't us! This was their "day at the beach"!
I hope you enjoy these!

For the gear-heads:
Canon EOS R1
Canon EOS R5 Mk ii
Canon RF 400mm f/2.8L IS USM
Canon RF 200 - 800mm f/6.3-9 IS USM

Canon UK Canon Ireland Canon EMEA Pro PermaJet

19/08/2026

The elusive "Tree Climbing Lions of Lake Nakuru"
As promised, this is the last "tagged" post from this set. I really hope you have enjoyed seeing these, and thank you for looking. I will be posting more, but I won't be tagging them, so keep an eye on my pages if you would like to see them!
As it's August, and I am a Leo, what better animal to post than a lion?
On our January trip, we stopped over at Lake Nakuru for one night in between Samburu and Masai Mara. I wanted to stop here for many reasons, not least hoping to catch a glimpse of the famous "tree climbing lions". Lions are often sighted in Lake Nakuru National Park, but it's more difficult to find them climbing trees. On an evening drive when we arrived, our guide was taking us to some places where these lions have been known to climb the trees. As we approached one spot, we saw that there were a few vans and jeeps parked up, so we had a feeling that we knew what they were stopping for. As we drew close, our guide confirmed our suspicions. Through a gap in the trees to our right, off across a sizeable patch of scrubland, there it was! Perched high on a fallen tree, obscured slightly in haze, dust & mist, was the unmistakeable shape of... a butt and tail! Encouraging, as it was clearly a large male lion sleeping on the tree, but initially slightly disappointing all the same. We got some quick shots for insurance, just in case we wouldn't have another opportunity, and then we parked up, out of everyone else's way, but where we could still see it. I explained to our guide where we would like to be if things developed, then we bided our time, and let everyone else enjoy their sighting in the meantime. After a while, vehicles started leaving, and we were able to get into the position where we wanted to be, which thankfully, was not where the other vehicles wanted to be, but we needed to get past some of them to get there. As time passed, the vehicles left one by one to get to the park gates before closing time, eventually leaving us alone, and as we were staying inside the park, we could perfect our position and wait a little bit longer. The haze thickened and thinned in turn, and getting sharp shots of this magnificent butt and tail, (and sometimes an ear), at this distance wasn't always possible. Then - without warning, the butt flipped around, and the lion attached to it stood up, blinked, shook his head, and then started calling out, the deep guttural calls echoing in the trees. Then once more, it changed its position, looked out past us, and called out again, bellowing into the evening. This was a spine tingling moment, as the visibility went through the cycle of terrible to decent as the haze and dust danced its merry dance. It was extremely difficult to control a camera with all fingers and toes crossed while praying for enough shots where most of the haze was behind the lion rather than in front of him. The light stayed quite soft for most of this, and then he sat back down on his "throne", looking out past us as if without a care in the world. As he sat there, we waited, just in case there might be another development, and sure enough, just before sunset, the sun broke through the clouds over our right shoulders, and lit up the scene, and sometimes only the resting lion, sat atop the dead tree. Of all of the lion sightings I have had, this is possibly my favourite. The hairs still stand up on the back of my neck when I remember it. Out of thousands of frames taken, these are a few of my favourite ones.
Why do they climb trees? Some lions have been known to occasionally climb trees elsewhere, but not as habitually and pretty much pervasively across the population as in Lake Nakuru.
There are many theories as to why they do this.
- One is that they climb off the ground to avoid the large herds of Water Buffalo in the area, which can be a danger to lions sleeping on the ground. Water buffalo are known as "Black Death" for a reason. They are skittish animals, and therefore unpredictable.
- A second theory is that it is to avoid sleeping on the often damp ground in the area. As we experienced, even during a heatwave, there can be quite a haze and dew-fall in the green areas in the evenings.
- Another is that by getting higher off the ground, they avoid the biting flies that are drawn to herds of large bovids, like cattle or buffalo. It is said that these bites can be annoying or even painful. I can definitely confirm that they are both. Think: Horseflies or cleggs in large numbers!
Anyway, I hope you have enjoyed these as much I have enjoyed sharing them. 🙂
For the gear heads:
Canon EOS R5 Mkii
Canon RF 200-800mm F/6.3 - 9 IS USM
Mostly full frame, one of them is slightly cropped. I think I prefer the full frame to be honest.
Canon Ireland Canon EMEA Pro Canon UK PermaJet

18/08/2026

Hi all! Just a reminder that I have one place left in a vehicle for January 11th - 24th on this trip. If interested, or even curious, DM me, or email me on the address on the flyer. You'll notice that this is 2 days longer than the trip on my website, and at the moment it's still at the same cost.
Incidentally - if there is more than one person interested, get in touch anyway, as I can check to see if I can get the same deal to accommodate with an additional vehicle. It's short notice though, so I would need to know asap. 🙂
Thanks all!

14/07/2026

Meet the "Super Tusker" known as "IR2"!

This is the second last "tagged post" in this set, and I want to thank everyone for being so receptive to these. I'm tagging these as I thought people might enjoy them, and there will be more posts, but they won't all be tagged posts, so keep an eye on your newsfeed if you want to see them. :-)

IR2 is estimated to be up to 45 years old, and is one of the last of a rare genetic subgroup of African Elephants: He is considered one of the most elusive of the Super Tuskers, with limited sightings, and according to the Tsavo Trust, very little is known of his temperament. When we met him in Tsavo East, he was clearly in musth, so caution was the order of the day - low voices, slow movements, and giving him plenty of space was vital. Good practice around any elephants at any time anyway. Initially he stayed in around the brush, and we just waited and watched, and every now and again we'd slowly adjust our position to keep sight of him. Every now and again, he would sniff in our direction, but his movements stayed slow, deliberate and unbothered. Once he became comfortable with our presence, he stayed more out in the open, pulling up plants by the root, shaking the dust & soil into the air, and then eating the plants. I had picked a few background elements I wanted to position behind him, and a couple of framing options I wanted, so the rest of the time was spent trying to line those up and keeping my fingers crossed that he might turn to face me, and ideally wave his ears so I could catch them flared. I knew even before clicking the shutter that this would be a black & white image, and I really hoped the contrasty backlighting would work out. The intermittent dust & haze in the air helped with that a lot! I was trying to keep a low viewpoint to illustrate his size, but not so low as to lose the environment, as I think Tsavo is unique, and an important character in the story of these giants.
IR2 is a huge elephant. It's hard to gauge the size of elephants without a person for scale, but he looked to me to be about 12-13 ft tall, with tusks on the order of about 7ft in length.

These Super Tuskers are elephants that carry the genes for huge tusks. To be a super Tusker, at least one tusk needs to reach an estimated weight of 45kg/100lbs.
Due to relentless poaching and trophy hunting, Africa’s Super Tuskers are now extremely rare. Kenya is one of the countries which has made the most efforts to protect these magnificent beings, but they are still very rare, with as few as 30 in the world, according to Tsavo Trust, including approx 10 in the Amboseli area, and 12 in the Tsavo area. Some estimate that there might be 50 or more, but those numbers are speculative.
A Maasai friend of mine in Amboseli repeatedly, and with obvious frustration in his voice, told me that when the Big Tuskers & Super Tuskers in the Amboseli area head towards the Tanzanian border, they have to encourage them to turn back into Amboseli, as there is a very high chance that "...if he crosses into Tanzania, he won't come back. He will be shot by trophy hunters!" I find that quite upsetting.

I commented when we first met IR2, and another Super Tusker "Tee-Jay" that it was difficult to get a shot of the elephants, with the full tusks visible. Looking at the work of people like Dr Joyce Poole reminded me why that is. The elephants have figured out that some people want to kill them for their tusks, so when strangers approach at first, they consistently hide their tusks in a bush. They know that their tusks could get them killed. We all know that elephants are intelligent, but my obsession with elephants over the past 20 years has led me find so many surprises in people's research over the years about how intelligent they really are. They are differently intelligent to us, but a lot of recent neuroscience and behavioural studies have revealed that their level of intelligence might be closer to ours than we realise.
I feel honoured to have met IR2, Tee-Jay, and SO1, along with the other Super Tuskers and Big Tuskers we were privileged enough to find. Once we found them, I couldn't see where the challenge would be in shooting one dead, but I did find it extremely challenging to get images that I am proud of. This is one of my all-time favourite images. This is MY trophy. And I am very proud of it. I hope you like it.

Gear questions - some of my favourite elephant images were from fairly close, without crowding the subject - this included.

Canon EOS R5
Lens: RF 24-105 f/2.8 L IS USM Z

Picture: Michael O'Sullivan

Canon Ireland Canon EMEA Pro Canon UK PermaJet

08/07/2026

I have some neck posting this image!

It's easy to get distracted by big cats & elephants, and the other dramatic animals, and people tend to neglect the rest of the story. Giraffes, antelopes, birds, many more animals and the people who live alongside them, make up the rich tapestry of life in the Kenyan Bush. I've heard while giving talks that sometimes people shy away from Giraffes and antelopes etc. because people aren't as interested in seeing them as they are in seeing predators, and the other "dramatic" animals. I think that's a shame. Maybe because I've always been fascinated by giraffes and their weird architectural anatomy. It's true that we can see and photograph giraffes in any zoo or wildlife park, but again that's. not the same. It tells a different story. It's missing one of the key characters of the African Bush story, namely the landscape.

I also think Giraffe's can be difficult to photograph. Their bodies and legs are usually in the shade of the bush scrub, while their heads tower into the bright sky. That's why they can work as subjects in awesome silhouettes or tight portrait head shots.

For me though, giraffes are an intrinsic feature of the Kenyan landscape. I have always loved seeing them towering over the bush. For me it's one of those things that screams "Kenya", just as much as an elephant at Kilimanjaro, and I like to capture them with a sense of mood and atmosphere that takes me back there.

The lighting contrast as I mentioned is always a challenge though. Sometimes, however, they can step out into the open at the right time when the sun is hazy and lower in the sky, which means your raw file can capture enough detail to capture the scene. That is exactly what happened on this evening in Tsavo East, Kenya when these 2 Maasai Giraffes that we were photographing above the scrub on our left, suddenly decided to step out on to the road. We stayed put for a while and watched them head off into the sunset. This is one of my favourite images from then. I hope you like it!

For my fellow Gear Heads:

Canon EOS R5 Mk ii
Canon RF 200-800mm f/6.3-9 IS USM

Canon Ireland
Canon UK
PermaJet

07/07/2026

So it's Big Cat time! Let's start with a cheetah. January is a great month in the Masai Mara, as the occasional rain storm can spill over from December. Changing conditions can give a lot of variety and mood to your photographs. On this particular day, we were looking for a cheetah, and in the middle of a cloudburst, our guide spotted this guy keeping low in the long grass quite a way off. We waited a while and watched him prowling, and going about his hunting business, until after a spell he bolted to a position much closer to us. We positioned ourselves where we had great view of a hillock in front of us, and we hoped he would climb on top of it, though we feared he might stay in sheltered places due to the rain. There were many other hillocks and mounds around, but it just seemed like this one was in the direction he was going in, so it was a "fingers crossed" situation! As suddenly as it started, the rain stopped. Our cheetah friend suddenly climbed that hillock, started looking around, marked his territory, and suddenly pulled the best pose I could have asked for! He held this for 2 or 3 seconds, and we managed to get a few variations of shots. He then bolted off again into the distance. Here's one of my favourites.

Initially, I was slightly disappointed in the conditions, as I was planning a Late afternoon or sunset shot, with a cheetah facing into the setting sun, with warm light washing across its body, but in hindsight, I'm much happier with the shots I got. I love the mood, the soft light, and the cheetah's wet fur, clumping into slick "spikes" on his tail, back & belly. I hope you like it too!

We've always organised our own trips abroad and we've been asked many times if we would consider leading group trips. We've never really had the time, but watch this space!

Gear:
Canon EOS R5 Mkii,
Canon RF 200-800mm F6.3-9 IS USM Lens

| Canon Ireland | Canon UK | Canon EMEA Pro | PermaJet

06/07/2026

To kick off sharing images from our January trip to Kenya, I was planning to start by posting pictures of big cats, but following on from yesterday's post, I thought I'd start with the most amazing animals - ELEPHANTS!

Here is a family of elephants moving in early morning from the forest at the foot of Kilimanjaro to the swamp at lake Amboseli. I first photographed elephants against Kilimanjaro 20 years ago and ever since I've dreamed about doing it again, and interpreting it this way. It's fitting after yesterday's post to show mothers leading the future generation into a new day.

This was my third (possibly fourth) time in Amboseli, and It's as special a place as it has ever been.
I hope you like it!

We've always organised our own trips abroad and we've been asked many times if we would consider leading group trips. We've never really had the time, but watch this space!

I know FB is going to squash the colours and contrast, but them's the breaks! :-D

Because I always get gear questions:
Canon EOS R5
EOS RF 24-105mm f/2.8 L IS USM Z

Ireland EMEA Pro UK

Address

Dublin

Website

http://www.mosullivanphoto.com/

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