Mannin Beg Evening

On a recent trip to the West of Ireland, my plan was to explore and scout locations to photograph in the south west region of Connemara around the fishing village of Roundstone, and the small village of Ballyconneely. While planning the trip I had one spot and composition in Mannin Beg at the northern end of Slyne Head peninsula as one that I thought would be interesting. As a general rule I try and check out a location before shooting so I can make a plan as to when would best time to actually shoot based on sun position  and weather forecast etc.

This spot in Mannin Beg was no different. We (as my wife was with me on this trip) were there in the early afternoon and I knew that this spot and composition was what I was looking for. It was just that the time of day was wrong as the sun was still too high and the light too harsh for the photograph I had in mind. So while I was trying to decide on what time to return, we met a man returning from a swim. Paddy (after introductions) stopped for a chat and took a big interest in us and what we were doing. Before we knew it we were 50 meters up the bóithrín (narrow Irish rural road) sitting in his back garden enjoying the view, having a lovely cup of tea, and a great chat. In very Irish fashion, it turns out Paddy is from Dublin and lives around the corner from where I grew up. Now retired, he spends a lot of time in his lovely Mannin Beg home, and I can understand why. By the time we left, the sun and light was perfect for what I wanted for this composition.