Pretty as a picture: Dingle is voted 'most photogenic'

The winning picture in the global Photo Shelter competition taken at Killmey, Dingle, Co Kerry. Picture: Great Island Photography

Racing action on the beach in Beal Ban, Ballyferriter, west of Dingle, Co Kerry. Picture: Marian O'Flaherty

An eagle owl in Dingle, Co Kerry. Picture: Don MacMonagle

Gillian O Brien, Edel Lovett, Mary Theresa Griffin and Sile Dorgan competing in the Dingle Regatta.

thumbnail: The winning picture in the global Photo Shelter competition taken at  Killmey, Dingle, Co Kerry. Picture: Great Island Photography
thumbnail: Racing action on the beach in Beal Ban, Ballyferriter, west of Dingle, Co Kerry. Picture: Marian O'Flaherty
thumbnail: An eagle owl in Dingle, Co Kerry. Picture: Don MacMonagle
thumbnail: Gillian O Brien, Edel Lovett, Mary Theresa Griffin and Sile Dorgan competing in the Dingle Regatta.
Joyce Fegan

THE Dingle Peninsula has been voted the best place in the world to photograph, beating off competition from other world-renowned sites including the Galapagos, the Grand Canyon and the Seychelles.

Ireland topped the list of places to shoot when 24 professional photographers from around the world entered their work. International photography fan site Photo Shelter listed shots from exotic and tropical locations to barren and urban ones – but the Kingdom topped the poll.

"The Dingle Peninsula in Co Kerry, Ireland, can very reasonably be considered one of the most naturally beautiful places on earth," said the international website.

"Known for its spectacular rolling green hills," the competition described it as a "finger of land reaching west."

The award-winning shot was taken by American company Great Island Photography. Kerry's reputation as a movie location also gets a mention: "The remote wild beauty of Dingle has been a compelling feature in such Hollywood films as 'Ryan's Daughter' and 'Far and Away'."

Next in line was an iconic car shot in Havana, Cuba, followed by a sandstone "Wave" in Arizona.

Geyser National Park in Iceland was also in the top 24, as was a beach in Fiji and the Southern Alps in New Zealand. Ireland's winning shot was of a detached cottage in a large green field at the foot of mountains.