Landscapes - Simon Plant Photographer

Oct

A Perch In The Storm

I found myself on the North Devon coast for a small shoot on Saturday.The weather was less than pleasant but I decided on the journey home to head across the top of Exmoor.
Sometimes harsh weather just suits a location and a damp Exmoor with low hanging cloud seemed to feel strangely perfect.
As I drove I spotted this crow sat on top of this tree and immediately new it had potential to make a great image.
Luckily I managed to pull over and grab my camera which was already set up on the rear seat. To my surprise the crow stayed in place perfectly just sat overlooking the bleak cliffs and coast and I managed to capture 6 or so frames before it got spooked and flew off.
Back in the days of film I would often shoot 1000 ASA Agfa RS film which was renown for it’s impressive grain especially when pushed to 2000 ASA and pushed in processing.
I decided in post to enhance the harsh atmosphere further by adding a copious helping of old school grain although not to the extent of the old Agfa stock!

Aug

Like Clock Work

Today was one of those morning where everything seems to work for you seamlessly and you come away feeling blessed.

I arrived at Lyndos village pre dawn to capture a couple of locations and came across this stunning side street with a beautiful white washed church and the sunrise lit bay behind.

As I finished the image a street cleaner arrived jet washing the cobbles adding an even better surface for the dawn light to bounce off.

I decided to reshoot the image again especially as the colours had further intensified from the rising sun. A fabulous morning of exploring and shooting some stunning locations.

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Aug

Dodging The Wife At Dawn

I woke a 4.45am and once again managed to avoid waking the wife and kids (I think) and tiptoed out of the hotel room.

A family holiday always includes some planned photography shoots which often means some early starts to avoid the tourists and capture the best light. This trip despite being in Rhodes the previous year was no different.

My plan for the following morning was to capture some street lit dawn images around the old town in Rhodes. I had no particular location set in stone it was more of a suck it and see what I stumbled across.

I woke a 4.45am and once again managed to avoid waking the wife and kids (I think) and tiptoed out of the hotel room.

At this time of the morning there were no tourists around just gangs of street cats,street sweepers and groups of scary drunk girls to dodge. It’s a fantastic time of day (night) to be exploring but you do have to be careful as on more than one occasion I’ve almost tripped over and woken the odd person sleeping rough!

The morning went well and I captured 2-3 locations and was finished by sunrise and back at the hotel in plenty of time for breakkie.

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St Paul’s Gate Rhodes

Rhodes Old Town

Jul

Halicarnassus Creative Travel Photography

Turkey has provided me with many creative travel photography opportunities over the years especially the southwestern Aegean region of Turkey.
Halicarnassus located in western Turkey was once an Ancient Greek city and more commonly known these days as Bodrum.
This image represents my vision of this historic and beautiful part of Turkey.

Jun

Summer Pursuit

“Summer Pursuit” Paddle Boarder North Devon Coast

One of the most enjoyable times with a camera is when you simply walk and discover…

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Jul

Summer Flight Over Burrow Hill

We have had some fantastic summer light this last few weeks and I just had to take advantage of it to capture some aerial images and video and experiment a little.
In a few weeks, I’m heading to one of if not my favourite place on earth Rhodes in Greece.
Greek history & myths have been a passion of mine passed on from my dad since a child and the reason I became a photographer but that’s another slightly strange story.
Over the years I’ve travelled to many of the sites both on mainland Greece, the islands and also Turkey too but Rhodes has always been my favourite.
This trip I have several locations I wish to photograph and film and I plan to do this with the drone.
So I’ve been busy checking my aviation maps for any airspace restrictions for my proposed locations and planning the timings for the best light.
Not one to ever be satisfied I’ve been looking at extracting extra resolution from the drone’s already impressive camera hence the experimenting.
The latest image is of Burrow Hill in Somerset which I’ve shot many times but never from the air.
My experiment to extract extra resolution and quality from the drone was a success and one I’m going to use again where appropriate.

Nov

Somerset Photographer Capturing Summer On The Moor

Sometimes I have an idea and before I know it I’ve captured all the images required and I’m sat in front of the computer bringing it to life.
Others, however, can sometimes sit around in my head for months or at best sketched out in Photoshop, this image is a little of both those.
As a Somerset Photographer over the years, I have been capturing people and animals for a personal project “Life In A Somerset Landscape“.
It had been a while since I had added to the work and I really wanted to capture Burrow Hill which is a situated close to Hambridge in South Somerset for part of the project.
I remember seeing Burrow Hill for the first time one summer’s day, a quaint small hill with a single tree on top complete with an idyllic rustic swing attached to one of its branches.
It felt slightly surreal like I had stepped into a Jack & Jill Ladybird book!

Sep

September

September is probably one of my favourite months especially with a camera in my hand.rnAfter the long days and often harsh light that summer (sometimes) gives us together with a blanket of green September comes along and brings back a little colour contrast to the landscape with better lower angled light.rnThe other reason I love September is the fields full Maize which for some reason I just have to capture every year.

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Jun

Edge Of Darkness On The White Isle

I’m sat here watching a re-run of Kevin and Perry Go Large and it got me thinking of my trip to the white isle of Ibiza a few years ago.
This image was captured during the very last moments of daylight (or as I call the edge of darkness)
on a beautiful October day.
The fading daylight balanced with the welcoming interior warmth of the little cafe on the beach and sums up the tranquillity of the place perfectly as I experienced it.

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May

Slice of life, A brief photography trip to Porto Cristo

Last Day Porto Cristo is an image I captured on a brief photography trip while in Majorca one October.
It was the last day of the holiday season for the island and most of the tourist areas were already closed up ready for the winter which is always slightly depressing to see.

I had decided to take a quick photography trip to visit the small coastal town of Porto Cristo to try and capture some “local life” at the town’s beautiful small beach in the late October light.

It did not take me long to work out my viewpoint which included the amazing cliffs and houses that reminded me more of the Italian or French Riviera than of Spain.

A short while elapsed when my slice of local life came in the form of a small fishing boat which left the rustic jetty to venture out to open sea and my image was complete.

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