Persistence for Perfection

Been on the hunt for a while for a decent landscape photo of the historical Rock of Cashel.

If you're travelling from Dublin to Cork, it is a must stop!

It is quite an amazing location for landscape or even portrait photos. Situated beside the small town of Cashel in Tipperary, it sits elegantly on top of St. Patrick's Rock overlooking all the nearby areas.

I can never forget seeing the castle for the first time as I got off the motorway for a quick coffee break.

It was a typical miserable Irish day. I was travelling on the motorway back to Dublin and just as I was pulling into a fuel station, the clouds moved out of the way revealing this majestic castle.

I would say I have stopped at this location for a photo for 8 times and never got a decent shot as the weather conditions always made the Rock of Cashel look flat and boring in a photo ☹ and this time it was no different.

The clouds were thick, and the light was flat and without character. When taking landscape photos, no amount of expensive photography gear can make a boring photo look good.

Photography can be a game of chance due to weather conditions, so I decided to stick around for a while and play a game of poker with the weather. 

Just as I was losing hope in getting a decent photo and getting ready to pack it in, the clouds dispersed in a small area behind me and lit up the castle while leaving the background dark leaving me with this shot.

It's a game of chance and persistence. Not every shot turns out perfect and when the opportunity arises, you must be fast enough to compose quickly.

If you don't succeed at first, try again, and then again, till you achieve the result that makes you happy.
If you take a photo and it doesn’t make you happy, go again till you make it perfect. 

Perseverance and passion for high quality landscape photography is what separates a good photographer from a bad one.