With the New Year celebrations finished I felt the need to head out onto the Somerset Levels to explore with the camera.
I decided to head back to the RSPB Nature Reserve at Ham Wall not too far from Glastonbury.
I came here a few weeks ago (see Mist By The Marsh blog post) when the area was shrouded in beautiful mist but didn’t have time to explore all the reserve.
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
Who does not love Cornwall? I even love the picturesque A30 despite the fact it can be a bastard if you get caught in a jam.
I’ve lost count how many times I have visited since a kid and I even did what most have thought of doing and lived there for a short period…great in the summer not so easy in the winter!
Needless to say, I have photographed most of the more familiar spots over the last 18 years and many charismatic fishermen most of which are no longer with us.
So it’s sometimes either not really appealing to revisit places already well photographed in favour of somewhere new or a challenge to look at places with fresh eyes and creativity.
Having said that as photographers as with most things in life we grow and our vision grows and changes so the images I shoot today will not be completely the same as those captured previously.
I captured this image “A Tranquil Mooring” at dawn at Cadgwith on the Lizard a few weeks ago, it’s a place I’m very familiar with and happy to revisit with or without my camera.
On this visit, I noticed a new bench near the spot I was photographing dedicated to a young lad called Toby who had very sadly died aged just 16 and had no doubt loved Cornwall as much as me.
Reading that inscription on the bench certainly left an impression on me and I’ll be sure to return next time and leave a few flowers.
A Tranquil Mooring.. Dedicated To Toby
I often worry that I take too many images of the coast as it seems to be a subject I’m drawn to all too often.When I stop to think about it I suppose it’s only natural I’m inspired as I have lived close to or on the coast most my life.
My first step away from home on my own was a flat on the seafront at Burnham On Sea close to where I grew up (from the age of 7). A few years later was followed by a short period living on a clifftop with awesome & inspiring views overlooking St Ives Bay in Cornwall complete with swimming Dolphins (I shit you not !) although it wasn’t an everyday occurrence I might add.
So the coast has been a constant inspiration and still provides me with a desire to explore and capture it predominately at dusk when what I call “The Edge Of Darkness” comes.
The image here titled “Balearic Boardwalk” was captured on the Spanish Island Of Majorca on a brief visit to the island in October 2012.
As I mentioned in my last post about shooting new images of people in the landscape here is an image I shot a couple of weeks ago and finished retouching this week.
The image here shows Ryan White who’s a talented young cyclist and member of Somerset based “1St Chard Wheelers” cycling club.
Ryan has gained much success in his chosen sport including coming 4th in the National under 12’s Road Race Championships and is currently 3rd in the national rankings which is very impressive seeing he’s only 13 !
In terms of the photography as always I wanted to show my subject within the landscape rather than shooting just a formal portrait.The background plate is of St Michaels Mount in Cornwall which I captured on a beautiful spring dawn several years ago.
The shoot was completed in around 30 minutes which I captured images of not only Ryan but his cycling partner dad David too.
Retouching the image was also pretty swift & straight forward taking me about 6 hrs to complete to the the high standards I require.
Ryan
Following my recent trip to the beautiful island of Menorca, I have finally finished the post-production and added the images to my travel photography portfolio
The image here was captured at Santo Tomas which is located on the south of the island an area that provided many stunning locations to explore and shoot.
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