In July, after many years of longing, I finally had the opportunity to visit Ireland. The event that brought me and my family there was the wedding of my good friend; a native of New Quay, County Clare. Of all the places to see in Ireland, I’ve always had my mind set on visiting Clare. I even gave my daughter her middle name after the County. This infatuation comes mostly from my love of the music that comes from the area and now that I’ve visited I can also say I loved the people and the land. Though my visit was all too brief, it had a profound impact on me and is an experience I’ll always remember fondly.
This image was a tough capture as it was taken in a very dimly lit room full of moving subjects! I had the aperture on my 50mm lens opened to 1.6 (almost max) and my shutter speed down to 1/60 (as low as I could go without resulting in motion blur). The Canon 5D Mk. III performed surprisingly well at ISO 1600 and even though the resulting image is not as sharp as I’d like, it is virtually noise free at full view (no comments from the pixel peepers!).
This is the first of many images to follow from my trip across the Atlantic and I thought it appropriate to start here since the Fahy/Carnevale wedding was the catalyst for making my dreams of visiting Ireland a reality. I was honored to be invited to the wedding and to witness two wonderful individuals coming together in marriage. One of the highlights of the trip for me was having the opportunity to sit down for a few tunes with the bride’s Father, Mr. Fahy. Many of my favorite tunes that I play today I learned because he taught them to his daughter and she taught them to me when she was living in Arizona. It was amazing to come full circle back to the source of the music I love. To the newlyweds: I wish you health, happiness, and many years of it!