We settled into our AirBNB at Clifden and, using it as a base of operations, spent the next few days exploring the surrounding countryside. My brother Brian had heard about a fishing village along the coast where we could pick up some nice smoked salmon, so early one morning both families packed into the 12 seater van we had hired and headed off on our "fishing" expedition.

When we arrived at Claddaghduff* we turned left at Our Lady, Star of the Sea church along a country lane heading towards Omey Island. We were only 100m or so down this lane when the view from the passenger seat where I was sitting was too tempting to pass up and I asked to be let out so I could take a shot. "Pick me up on the way back", I said and unloaded my gear. The van rapidly diminished along the road, was soon lost around that bend and I was left with the sun and the sea and the sound of the waves lapping on the rocks in the distance.

What I had seen was a composition which I hoped would be a worthy homage to one of my favorite Irish painters, Paul Henry. Henry is famous for his post-impressionist depiction of the West of Ireland particularly capturing the essence of the quiet cottages and the unusual cumulus formations which form above them as the Atlantic air, heavy with moisture, intermingles with the coastal thermals formed by sunshine on land.

The sky above me was presenting just such formations and with the cottage nestled into the bend in the road I set about taking the shot. I took several different versions of this shot over the next hour and a half but this image is the one which, in my mind, comes closest to capturing the essence of Henry's work.

The clouds and the cottage, of course, anchor the shot but I also love the contrast of the stones in the wall, the sheen of the wet road, the lush green of the grass and the long line of sight which goes from the camera, across the wall, past the rocks at the water's edge all the way to the house on Omey and on up into the clouds.

I commented to myself at the time about how peaceful and comfortable I felt standing at the roads edge but it was only later that I discovered the reason why.

When my parents saw the shot they told me that many years previously when I was about 3 years old the family had taken a caravan just around the corner from the cottage and spent several weeks on holiday in the area.

I had no conscious recollection of the holiday but I most certainly had a strong visceral response to the vista which had presented itself through the windscreen!

*Gaelic: "An Cladach Dubh" or the dark shoreline - so named for the dark sands found along this part of the coastline

Quite apart from my desire to capture a shot worthy of the name “After Paul Henry” this image was born out of a visceral reaction on my part to this vista as we rounded a turn at Claddaghduff. As such I can safely say there was no premeditated planning done for this shot.

Having said that, once I was in situ and setting up the shot, The Photographer's Ephemeris is always your friend and I took a moment to assess the time of day and the track of the sun.

Later, when I was back in Australia, I needed to get the GPS co-ordinates for the shot and the ephemeris was very useful again as by knowing the time of day and the date of the shot I was able to pinpoint the location by using the direction and length of shadows in the shot to re-establish the shot's location on Google Maps.