2010 Calendar - August

I have received several requests for me to finish posting and explaining about the photos on the 2010 calendar. So… over the next few days I’ll post the remaining photos.





This photo was actually taken just a few months ago from the beach near our house. To know anything about my family is to know that we all love the beach! I don’t know what it is, but there is something about sounds of the rolling waves or the smell of salt and seaweed that instantly relaxes me and takes me (in my memory) back to so many happy vacations to the sea with my family. One week in Florida was the highpoint of every childhood summer (and now my adulthood summers). Living so close to the ocean is still a thrill to me. There is not a day that passes here where I don’t pause at and look to the sea. It is truly a place of reflection and inspiration... a place where I feel small... and a place where I somehow feel closer to my family...

This photo really captures a typical winter sunset here.







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2010 Calendar (July)

This photo was taken back in Oct of this year in the Bunratty Folk Park County Clare. It is actually one of many thatched cottage pictures taken on the day... I just have not had time to post them all! The folk park is a really nice place to visit, but is normally always swamped with tourists. This day, however, the whole place seem abandoned... and best of all we were there right after a shower, and the sun came out. Needless to say, I was taking photos like a crazy person!









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2010 Calendar (June)

Connemara - In my opinion, few other places in Ireland capture the imagination like this wild area of the west. Connemara is a border-less area in the west of Ireland that is wild and beautiful. It is renowned for how traditions and the Irish language are still alive there, and there are few other places in Ireland with the pure rockiness of the Connemara lowlands, or the beauty of the Connemara mountains.

This photo was taken in the Connemara lowlands... Notice how generations of people have worked to clear the rocky fields by stacking the rocks into walls and thus are left with many small fields.






The calendar is available for purchase by clicking here
or
by going to this website:
http://www.lulu.com/content/lulustudio-calendar/ireland-2010/7908406



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2010 Calendar (May)

The photo I selected for the month of May was taken a few months ago when I was out in Connemara with a friend. We went together to County Mayo to climb Croagh Patrick (a holy mountain), and spent much of the day driving through the mountains and taking pictures together. This photo is probably my favorite picture from that day (if I had to pick just one!). I love the timeless and isolated feel of it.





The calendar is available for purchase by clicking here
or
by going to this website:
http://www.lulu.com/content/lulustudio-calendar/ireland-2010/7908406


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2010 Calendar (April)

This photo was taken last May at one of my favorite spots to watch the sun set. This is actually a fjord - or stretch of ocean that reaches like a giant finger deep into the Irish countryside. I have stopped here on the side of the hill many times and just sat in amazement as the sunlight dances on the water and then slowly disappears behind the mountain.





The calendar is available for purchase by clicking here
or
by going to this website:
http://www.lulu.com/content/lulustudio-calendar/ireland-2010/7908406


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2010 Calendar (March)

This photo was taken a few months ago at the 'Rock of Cashel' in county Tipperary. This rock is the ancient site where families and clans paid tribute to the king of Munster. It was from this rock that overlooks much of Munster that new kings where crowned, and reigned for over a thousand years.

It is on this site that St. Patrick preached, converted, and baptized the king of Munster, and thus converted all of the kingdom. There is a funny story that has been passed down about the baptism... it would seem that during the baptism Patrick took his large crosier (staff) and stabbed it into the ground. He without noticing had stabbed it into the foot of the king. The king, being a recent convert, thought that the stabbing was a part of the Christian Rite. So... He stood there... foot impaled... and baring the pain until Patrick noticed what had happened.


I have often wanted to go back to the Rock of Cashel... We visited here once several years ago, and although the weather was horrible, the place left a real impression on me. So - when I had the opportunity to take a day off by myself - I decided to visit this amazing site. So... I spent the day with my journal, books, and camera reflecting and retreating here.


I took a lot of photos on the day, and will be posting more soon. This photo (for March) is of an old monastery in the foreground, and the ruined cathedral upon the rock in the background.







The calendar is available for purchase by clicking here
or
by going to this website:
http://www.lulu.com/content/lulustudio-calendar/ireland-2010/7908406

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2010 Calendar (Feb)

The photo we selected for the month of February is actually a very old one. It was originally taken when my parents came to visit us back in August 2007. The picture was taken at a very special place for me... in fact........it is one of my favorite retreats in all of Ireland. I often go here when I need to be alone, or need a place to read, pray, and journal. Located high in the Connemara mountains somewhere in borderlands of county Galway or Mayo... it is a small lough (lake) that is completely surrounded by mountains. It is one of those special places where tourists don't go... where the animals look at you with confusion (because they rarely see outsiders)... and where I always feel closer to God. We discovered the spot on this particular day (that the photo was taken) as we drove through the mountains with my parents. It was a beautiful summers day, where the skies were blue, and the cares of the world seemed to be a million miles away. We found a beautiful red sand beach on which to have a picnic and to lay in the warm sun. Mom walked on the beach - as she loves to do, and Dad and I explored these two crooked trees that were a shelter for the sheep. The day was perfect........ and those moments will always be etched in my thoughts and heart.





The calendar is available for purchase by clicking here
or
by going to this website:
http://www.lulu.com/content/lulustudio-calendar/ireland-2010/7908406


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2010 Calendar

As you know - we have put together a 2010 calendar that is now available for order. We included several photos that have never been posted here (and a few that we have posted- but love so much we couldn't pass them up!). I thought that I would take the next few posts to share these photos with you, and to share a few of the back stories behind the photos.

January 2010



The January photo was taken out of the window of a commercial airliner back in August of this year. Every time that we fly I board the plane with my camera ready. There is always a hope that I will be able to snap a few pictures of something from the air. You would think that this wouldn't be too hard of a goal. Inevitably, however... rain, clouds, or fog (keep me disappointed and) hide the landscape below us. On this particular flight, however, the clouds parted at just the right moment... and the sun lit up the green fields below just long enough for me to frantically take a few shots. To say that I was excited was an understatement. I felt like a kid on Christmas morning! There really is something magical about these patchwork fields... and this might be one of my favorite pictures that I have ever taken...






The calendar is available for purchase by clicking here
or
by going to this website:
http://www.lulu.com/content/lulustudio-calendar/ireland-2010/7908406



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