”Over every mountain there is a path, although it may not be seen from the valley.” ~Theodore Roethke
Last March I took a stroll hike up Tonelagee Mountain as part of a scouting trip. About half way up I stopped to have some breakfast and took a moment to soak up the view in front of me. The east coast of Ireland is not really known for its massive mountains but that does not make the ones we do have any less majestic. From my vantage point I could see Scarr to my right and Kanturk, also know as Brown Mountain behind and too the left. I decided to come back to the location on my return journey.
When I did return, somewhat out of breath I will admit I began to hunt for some foreground interest; something that would help ground the viewer while they carefully step out on to the ledge and look at the majesty beyond. I came across this jumble of boulders and knew I had found what I was looking for (U2 Lyric anyone?). It was then a matter of carefully composing the image with all the various components. This was a 2 shot stitched pano however, unlike the traditional side-to-side stitch this was a vertical movement. This allowed me to capture the full scene without resorting to an ultra wide angle focal length. The 40mm focal length helped to maintain a ‘normal’ perspective, not spreading or compressing the objects in the scene. In addition the approach allowed me to focus on the foreground in the lower frame and on infinity in the upper frame therefore ensuring front to back sharpness.
