This was a great experience for me, as it was a first for me shooting alongside my Irish contact Mari Ward-Foster (go here www.flickr.com/photos/22784225@N07/ and convince her to post some new stuff!). She's not only a true sweetheart of a person, she's no slouch at getting down and dirty to get the shot. That's my frame of mind too, so I've got some competition for the scenery here... and I loved it!

It was a fine morning at the ruins of this medieval castle on the coast of Northern Ireland... you can see not only just how formidable a landscape this is, but how defensible the castle is... when they say "Location, location, location!", well, there's something to be said for that. Mari moves like a little mountain goat in this terrain, though I believe I held my own keeping up with her... and what a spot she chose for this shot! A family had also come down to this rocky beach, apparently looking for shells among the rocks... they finally tired of having the cameras pointed at them and shuffled off... just in time, too, as the tide was working its way back in. We would soon lose this vantage point!

Joyce waited above for us, so she hasn't seen this image until now... another we will add to our honeymoon scrapbook. Mari gave me two CDs of music specific to Ireland... nothing says "Ireland" quite like the Chieftans. I gave them a good listen while preparing smoked salmon on the grill the other night... but this image, and all involved in it had me thinking of another song. There are lines in it that I find quite meaningful: "And where do you go when you get to the end of your dream?"... I'll let you know when I get there! www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePrQFaB50w0