Where the Mountains of Mourne sweep down to the sea, is what they wanted the picture to say at the Slieve Donard Resort & Spa Hotel in County Down.
So after agreeing on a price – for me to produce and then provide such an image, for them to use in multiple media for 1 year – I went along to have a look at the pool and took some quick snaps like this…

.. which I felt looked most impressive; however, it didn’t really say: Pool with a view.
Liked this angle too…

.. and yes, one could now at least see the view, which was pretty Wow on a nice sunny day like this was.
However, there was something about this angle I liked…

.. whereas you can see here in this darker exposure…

.. one could see the sea too.
“The pool with the view, where the Mountains of Mourne sweep down to the sea” – perfect.
Now all I had to do was shoot it for real – meaning: Produce an image that they want to use enough, that they would be willing to pay me some money for – which as good as these were, I reckoned they wouldn’t be quite ‘good enough’ to meet their usage requirements 
So a date was sort of set – as getting good weather I knew was going to be key here if I wanted that view to look as good as it did here.
There is an old saying here in Ireland: “If you can see the Mournes, it’s about to rain – if you can’t, that’s because it is” – which isn’t far of the truth.
And so it was very much a case of just having to keep an eye on the weather forecast and then making the call that “it’s on” at the very last minute.
The above pictures were taken on the 20th of May; however, due mainly to us being busy at that time – because we had just been commissioned to shoot all of the various Carlton Hotels around the south of Ireland – it wasn’t until Friday the 29th of June that I made that call, that it was on.
Arrived around 1pm and as the first images appeared on screen…

.. I was thinking to myself, this is going to look great once I’ve lit it.
So I set-up the lights, re-positioned the camera slightly and then I heard a splash…

.. Nooooooooooooooooooo!!! I cried, as the guests who were staying at the hotel jumped in and started to swim about.
The pool obviously hadn’t been closed, like I’d thought it had been when I first set-up – and so it was like: “Houston, we have a problem” – because that Black Tiled pool just didn’t quite look as welcoming when the water wasn’t still & clear… to say the least.
The view outside was okay, as you can see here…

.. but not really as good as I would have liked – and so I just had to sit here and wait, and wait, and wait some more – in the hope that things would get better.
A member of staff had also been informed that she may be called upon to doing a bit of modeling too – and so I knew that she would arrive around 3pm – which naturally gave me plenty of time here to figure this all out.
And so I waited.
At 2:45 it looked like this…

.. which overall wasn’t bad I thought – so maybe in another 15 minutes or so, the water will stop moving and I’ll be okay.
But then I hear another splash…

.. and a few seconds after that, this girl jumps in under the water jets…

.. and so once again I heard screams inside my head: Noooooooooooooooooo!!!
Anyway, as it turned out the girl was actually the member of staff that I had been waiting on – so I asked them to turn off the water jets and decided to proceed as if none of this other stuff mattered.
Two minutes later, that was a rap…

.. as I honestly felt I was just wasting everyone time here – as this was clearly never going to work 
I had this really great picture in my head too – and it obviously looked amazing – but as you can see here, I didn’t really have very much else 
Anyway, not one to be beaten after 25 years – and since the thought of having to go back and trying again didn’t appeal to me – I decided the following morning to have another look at what I did have here.
Well, I did have at least a few images of the pool when the water was totally still – all be it from a slightly different angle.
I did have a few images that showed the Mountains of Mourne sweeping down to the sea – all be it the sky was white.
I did have a few images where the overall pool looked okay – all be it there was no view.
I did have a person in the pool, looking as if they were enjoying the view – all be it there wasn’t one.
And I did have this image…

.. which I’d taken a few years early, down at the beach in Millisle, close to were I’m biased.
So… they said they wanted me to produce and then provide them with an image that said: “The pool with the view, where the Mountains of Mourne sweep down to the sea” – well okay then, “let’s do it” I thought to myself 
And a few hours later, this was the result…

.. after it had been seriously amped as Marie would often refer to what we do.
Anyway, needless to say, after seeing the above image, 1 years use very quickly became 3 years use in multiple media – like this double-sized billboard…

.. and at the end of 3 years they obtain a new license for unlimited years use, I’m pleased to say too 
And so that’s the story behind the image which you can still see to this very day on the Hastings Hotels website…

.. showing “The pool with the view, where the Mountains of Mourne sweep down to the sea”.
The magnificent Slieve Donard Resort and Spa is nestled in the heart of County Down where the ‘Mountains of Mourne sweep down to the sea’. Standing on 6 acres of private grounds, the hotel has been providing the best of Irish hospitality for over 100 years. The Percy French restaurant provides a cozy and friendly atmosphere. The Spa has all the facilities you need to relax and unwind from today’s hectic pace.
In 2015 the Slieve Donard Resort and Spa were awarded a Gold Award in the Green Tourism Business Scheme.
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