From the banks of a lough in Connemara, near Kylemore Abbey.

The light was gray and soft. Clouds had settled low over the Connemara mountains, hiding their peaks and turning the landscape into layers of green and mist.

The lake was dark beneath them. A cool wind moved across the water, making small waves that carried the gray sky toward the shore.

There was no bright sunshine. No clear view of the mountains. Just the quiet beauty of the Irish landscape—water, mountains, trees, clouds and rain.

This is Ireland.

The Wild Atlantic Way does not always give you blue skies and perfect views. Sometimes the Irish mist is the view. Sometimes the clouds make the mountains more mysterious and the landscape more beautiful.

Standing there with a camera, I realized that Ireland travel photography is not always about capturing what you came to see.

Sometimes it is about capturing what Ireland gives you.

And on this summer morning at Pollacappul Lough, Ireland gave us mist.