liveforphotos' photostream  

Getting this shot involved roping down backwards along a cliff and losing my footing. Translation, hanging by my arms off a rope with my camera bag and tripod on my back. I had to crab down the last twenty feet along the rope because I had lost my foothold. I got my shots and only discovered the pulled muscles in my arm and chest the day after. Totally worth it. I'd do it again without a second thought. It's a dangerous bloody spot though. I was wearing chest-high waders to get this shot. It was the only way it could be done, because those waves come in fast and deep, and they are full of stones! Even with the chest high waders, I had to run back up the beach at times, because massive waves come in here.

These guys are the reason I've been smiling for the past week. They are the UL Eagles. I sponsor this team and they won the Irish Superleague Cup Final last week, beating UCC Demons 72-65 in a pulsating game. The game wasn't decided until the last minute and even then it was not certain until the last few seconds. Wild celebrations followed the win. Some of these guys have been trying for years to win the Superleague Cup (the pinnacle of Irish basketball). Finally their dream, and mine, has come true!

Endure the present, and watch for better things.
Virgil.

The foreground objects are kelp. Some sticks of kelp seem to have become embedded in the stones of the beach. Not placed by me, but I decided to make use of them in the foreground. No doubt they were washed in by a storm and will be washed away again before long.

Because of the long exposure (1.3 sec) the rushing waves caused movement in the kelp. There was no way of avoiding this and still getting the streaks made by the retreating surf.

Looking at how the kelp clung to the shingle of the beach and how the shark fin shaped rock endured the advancing tide made me think about how much endurance is a part of existence.

Just a little pop of fill-flash used here, to light the foreground of this dusk shot. This beach is now all rocks. A storm took away about four feet of sand. Most likely this foreground rock is now unrecognisable and five feet high! It is hard to credit how much seashores can change from week to week. This looks like a completely different landscape now.