As promised, here's a followup post to my original entry about my Ireland trip and a few quick tips.

1. Timing is everything, patience is essential

Whether you're shooting a single exposure or an HDR set, timing is ultimately the deciding factor in an amazing photo. However, patience is of even greater value, as it was in the shot shown. When I arrived on location, the cloud cover resulted in all the features of the scene falling flat and lacking depth. The clouds were moving quickly, so before giving up on the shot for the day, I setup, composed the shot, ensured my settings were correct, and waited.

For just a few moments, the clouds opened up, let a shaft of light down exactly where I had hoped, and viola, I had the image.

This shot could have easily been pulled off in a single exposure, but given my tendencies for always wanting higher bit depth, I went for an HDR shot and was able to grab three brackets at one stop separation each before the lighting changed.

Perspective

The Poulnabrone Dolmen (tomb) is a tourist hot-spot, and photographing it amongst the gorgeous Burren landscape without people would seem impossible. Not so!

At the time of this shot, there were likely thirty or more people standing around, but by simply changing perspective of the subject, and at the same time strengthening the composition, no one is visible.

Those of you wondering if there is some Photoshop work involved editing persons out of the photo will be surprised to know that there is not a single bit of manipulation.

So the secret for the shot? Getting down low. Really low. I was lying entirely flat on the ground, the camera on a tripod no more than six inches high. By accentuation the height of the hill with the low perspective, anyone even on the far side of the Dolmen were obscured, leading to a fantastic tourist-free shot.