The image above, of Clare Island in Clew Bay in Mayo, was taken from much the same position as this picture, albeit with a different lens and at a different time of year. Here, the mountain of Knockmore [which means big hill in Irish and is 462 metres tall] on Clare Island is covered in snow during late December 2010. In the foreground is Old Head [close to Louisburgh], free from snow probably due to the sheltering effect of Croagh Patrick mountain from where this picture was taken. The distance between Old Head and the island is about 11 kilometres (or about 6.5 miles) – it looks closer due to the compression effect of using a telephoto lens – a 400mm lens that seemed to get heavier with each step that I took towards the summit.