Pretty much two months of terrible weather and photographic failures had proceeded my arrival at Silverstrand Beach on the South West tip of County Mayo. I don't expect every trip that I take with my camera to be a success, but when you've had several abject failures in a row you start to question your abilities. But while some decisions that I have made have exacerbated my failures, what I have been dealing with is a very mild winter. By January I should be reveling in frost, icy flurries and snow capped mountains, but instead it's just warm. The landscape still looks the same as it did

Stood on the shore of Derryclare Lough it was immediately obvious that none of the conditions I was in need of were going to happen. I gave it time but wasn't long in concluding that I wasn't going to get the shot that I was after. I decided to take a look around and when I rounded a huge mound I happened upon a kissing gate on a partly submerged path. I knew that the path was there as I'd seen photographs of it previously but in its current state it would make for an excellent long exposure image. I praised my good fortune and quickly set up my camera. I took a few shots using the 50mm