Preparing for my trip to Ireland, I had a debate with myself. Was this going to be about people or landscape? I don't consider myself much of a landscape photographer, but Ireland made it easy.

We began with a brief stopover in London, where we discovered that there's such an amazing thing in the world as a dog pond. After loading up on delicate tea sandwiches and massive amounts of Indian food, we were back on a plane headed toward the coastal town of Kinsale.

Kisnale, being largely a town living off tourism, reminded me a bit of the island I grew up on in the winter. The weather, just like most of the trip, was overcast and on the verge of rain. While cloudy weather isn't necessarily everyone's idea of a vacation, it created a beautiful diffused light that proved to be wonderful to photograph.

I decided I wanted to check out the smaller of the two old forts in the town, and the journey didn't disappoint. It included green fields, a hidden tunnel and, of course, a pint of Guinness. While the building itself wasn't breathtaking, the nature and tranquility was. Not to mention that I had a surreal conversation with a local walking his three-legged dog.

Following Kinsale, we made our way toward Dingle with a quick stop in Killarney National Park and a beach along the way. Believe it or not, surfing is a thing in Ireland.

Although it's meant to be wonderful to visit, we decided to avoid the Ring of Kerry as we had been warned of the incredible number of tour-buses on the small, windy roads. Instead we headed to the Dingle peninsula, one of the most beautiful places I've ever visited.

Everywhere we looked: sheep, sea, greenery, cliffs, sea! We drove the entire Dingle loop, stopping frequently along the way to take pictures and once to have apple pie. One of the best parts though had to be Clogher Head, where we took a short hike through rocks, bog and wildflowers to what felt like the edge of the world.

We could have easily driven by and not realized this gem of a hike was there, but luckily we spotted some people on their way back and thought there must be something cool out there.

Leaving from the hike, we continued around the peninsula seeing some stone-age structures and a very old cemetery. One interesting symbol I noticed on a tombstone was of a rowboat. Interestingly, although it felt somewhat pagan in its symbolism it was for a local priest.

That's in for part 1! Thank you for reading and feel free to share. Next up will be the Aran Islands and beyond, stay tuned.