I was encouraged to see that I received a finalist on my "Accordian Man and His Dog" entry on BetterPhoto.com. 

I stopped and talked to this man during our Ireland trip when we were driving the "Ring of Kerry".  He had a bunch of his stuff, including another accordian and assorted other odds and ends over to his left in the photo. 

We taked a bit about how long dogs live and that the once thought idea of a dog year being 7 human years had just recently been adjusted to a closer estimate of 10 human years.  He had a soft plate type toy similar to a frisbee that he tossed a couple times for his dog to catch in the air.

He played a short tune for us and we added to his tip jar, but overall, more than the tune and dog tricks, it was just nice taking a little time out of our trip to stop and talk with a genuinely friendly man.

I never expected this to be a winning photo or a finalist, but rather just a recording of our encounter.  I know for sure that spending some time with the people we photograph will always result in a more memorable result than just sneaking off a quick candid shot. 

But the real take-away is the chance to meet someone new and depart as friends!