Show Navigation

Search Results

Refine Search
Match all words
Match any word
Prints
Personal Use
Royalty-Free
Rights-Managed
(leave unchecked to
search all images)
{ 88 images found }

Loading ()...

  • Wind blown Marram grass catches the last of the sunlight as the weather changes and a gale advances over the Irish Sea here at Porth Tyn Tywyn, Rhosneigr, Anglesey, Wales.
    GD001917.jpg
  • This was taken during a two hour outing to Anglesey's West Coast one Sundaty afternoon during serious gales and stormy weather. The seas were huge for Anglesey and were breaking over the clifs, the strong winds sending plumes of spray into the air and dousing the land with salty foam. As the sun dropped in the sky, the light became more and more intense until it created a theatrical floodlight, backlighting the spray from the crashing waves. The wind was blowing so hard I had to almost sit on the tripod to keep it steady and the lens needed wiping down every few seconds. It was fantastic to ne in these conditions alone on the cliff top because it generated an enormous sense of scale and vulnerability whilst perched there. At this time of year, when the sun setsm, the light diminishes rapidly so I had to tread careful over the wet cliff tops to get back to the van. It was an invigorating evening.
    GD000849.jpg
  • We may not have had the week of baking sunshine and relaxing swimming but from a photography perspective the gales and storms brought superb conditions and lighting. The jetty at Sennen always takes a pounding from the Atlantic but the golden evening sunshine disguised the awesome power of the Atlantic swell.
    GD001080.jpg
  • International Color Awards 2016 - Nominee in "People" category<br />
<br />
Even in the height of the summer, the weather and light in Cornwall can be dramatic and changeable. Huge seas battered the coast and pounded over the small quay wall at Sennen Cove. In some ways understandably, another visitor cheesed off with the lack of summer weather decided to enjoy the bracing Cornish waters anyway, much to the amusement if slight disbelief of the crowds of onlookers :-)
    GD001229.jpg
  • It was a day of mixed weather; brilliant sunshine then violent hail showers, but even when things seemed at their darkest, the burning sunshine was always just behind. The whole scene was visual metaphor for things in my life at that moment.
    GD002012.jpg
  • Life grows in the graveyard at Aberdaron. The graves all face out to the Irish Sea, the prevailing winds and the sunsets. If spirits really do exist, than I can think of no finer place to rest, a harbour where many pilgrims have rested on their way to the final destination, the small Celtic Island of Ynys Enlli.
    GD001134.jpg
  • Huge seas (for Aberffraw, rolled right up to the top of this long flat beach, whilst breakers of cloud rolled over the stormy peaks of the Welsh mountains of the Llyn Peninsula in the background.<br />
<br />
Available in A4 and A3 sizes only
    GD000182.jpg
  • It struck me as funny how the sea seems relatively impotent UNTIL the wave reaches the shoreline then unloads all of it' power vertically ! In this shot I am fascinated by the potent energy of the ocean beyond, as the out of focus wave is just one of many exploding at the coast.
    GD001090.jpg
  • Nominated in 10th (2017) International Colour Awards (Fine Art category) <br />
<br />
Caught in squally weather, bitterly cold, blown about like a leaf in the wind, at the mercy of the elements and the huge expanse of the open sea - no, not a lonely sailing boat but me, clinging to the cliffs to try and get a shot at that magical moment, when man made and ambient light balance, that perfect window of opportunity which lasts just minutes. I love the softness of colours and contrasts in the gale driven sky behind, and the hint of comfort from the haunted lighthouse. I thought this was a joke until tonight, when as I was taking my last frame something pushed past me, really squeezing past my thigh. I honestly thought it was a dog but there was nothing there. Quite spooked.<br />
<br />
South Stack lighthouse, Holy Island, Anglesey, Ynys Môn. c1809 - Electrified in 1938 - Automated in 1984. 440 steps lead from the 200ft cliff top down to the bridge across the gorge below. We can also see here the RSPB Bird watching tower called Ellin's Tower.
    GD001064.jpg
  • Caught in squally weather, bitterly cold, blown about like a leaf in the wind, at the mercy of the elements and the huge expanse of the open sea - no, not a lonely sailing boat but me, clinging to the cliffs to try and get a shot at that magical moment, when man made and ambient light balance, that perfect window of opportunity which lasts just minutes. I love the softness of colours and contrasts in the gale driven sky behind, and the hint of comfort from the haunted lighthouse. I thought this was a joke until tonight, when as I was taking my last frame something pushed past me, really squeezing past my thigh. I honestly thought it was a dog but there was nothing there. Quite spooked.<br />
<br />
South Stack lighthouse, Holy Island, Anglesey, Ynys Môn. c1809 - Electrified in 1938 - Automated in 1984. 440 steps lead from the 200ft cliff top down to the bridge across the gorge below. We can also see here the RSPB Bird watching tower called Ellin's Tower.
    GD001065.jpg
  • In a streaming gale Jan and I crossed sand dunes to an almost deserted foam-strewn beach. The waves were heavy and fast and the wind was lifting and hurling foam creatures from the shoreline to the dunes, only avoiding splattering our faces thanks to slipstreaming! The sunlight was broken but when it burst through it was warm and rich, sparkling off the wet sand, backlighting oxygenated suds, waddling their way from the water margin. It was a bitterly cold air-stream sweeping down from the North, and poor Jan looked like a frozen rigid Chilli pepper in her new Paramo coat as I stumbled around on wave-soaked reefs. I was excited by the events in front of me but was ever conscious of my suffering slim companion. The spray was constant and when I looked towards the ancient burial chamber of Barclodiad y Gawres I could see horizontal sheets of spray contrasting with the brooding dark hillside. My lens was covered in spray within seconds and the thickness of salt meant that even specialist lens cloths were not effective at clearing off the saline coating - I accepted that today’s shots would be soft and droplet covered, and actually that no longer worries me these days, as atmosphere always beats detail. I balanced myself on a rock jutting from the pristine sand, ready to shoot the choppy sea but today again, I got caught out by one of those ‘tricksy’ seventh waves, which lifted to knee height which was already 18” above the beach, so this time I did get a boot-full of seawater but also a fun shot in the process - no award winner for sure but a great memory of a moment which had Jan laughing widely, even in her sub zero state :-)We walked on, my boot warming like a winter wetsuit and as I was already wet I resigned myself to further soakings as I haunched just an inch above wet sand to photograph a parade of the foamy suds. Finally we stood atop an isolated black crag in the center of this long sandy beach and we watched larger waves exploding over the offshore s
    GD001712.jpg
  • Gale driven waves and foam pile onto Dinas Dinlle shingle beach at sunset, on the North coast of the Llyn Peninsula in North Wales. The large rocks in the image are sea defence measures to stop storm surges pushing the tide over the shingle bar onto the low lying farmland behind.
    GD001869.jpg
  • Huge clouds of spindrift were back-lit by the last moments of blazing sunshine before it was doused by blankets of black rain that built over Ynys Môn.<br />
<br />
These were possibly the strongest winds I’ve ever battled against; so strong that I was knocked sideways twice by gale-force gusts. My face and camera were sandblasted by the stinging particles, and yet, I was equally blown-away and utterly invigorated by the power of it all.
    GD002506.jpg
  • Possibly the strongest winds I’ve ever battled against; so strong that I was knocked sideways twice by gale-force gusts. My face and camera were sandblasted by the stinging particles, and yet, I was equally blown-away and utterly invigorated by the power of it all. The flying sheets of sand were side-lit by blazing sunshine, not long before towering walls of darkness moved in rapidly from the West. I took some other versions of this image where it literally looks I'm walking on clouds of sand, but I wanted to retain the visual of these boulders in the foreground, which became obscured in the other views.
    GD002505.jpg
  • Powerful storm surf at sunset in winter gales coming from the Irish Sea at Porth Tyn Tywyn near Rhosneigr on the West Coast of Anglesey.
    GD000915.jpg
  • A Monday evening. I'd gone out to catch some surf but it was seriously blown out in some very heavy gales and was just mush, so I took some shots instead :-) The very low evening sunlight was blitzing the coast with an amazing intensity, as powerful in it's own way as the pounding waves. Where the waves were smashing over this set of rocks the plumes of spray were being backlit turning them a rich orange/gold. However, as you can see from the foreground I was basically IN the sea, with no tripod so for the first time in my memory, I have deliberately cropped the original a little to show just the bits I wanted. Theoretically it would have been easier for me to change lens but the sea spray was so intense that I didn't fancy a £5K sensor covered in salt water - so there you go, probably my first ever forced crop! :-((((
    GD000850.jpg
  • I'd headed for Dinas Dinlle simply because I thought my Mum & Dad might be going there, but the car park was empty. I geared up and sat for a short while looking at the amazing sight before me, the salt spray covering the windscreen and the van being rocked by the gales, almost 100 mph they said today in the UK. Jeremy Vine was on the radio chatting with those trapped by the gales, but the sunlight here was intesne and positive, the wind fely like a heart beat and pull of the outdoors was greater than the force used to seal the van door closed. ..As I sat there, a small black car turned up, and there was my Dad, smiling at me through the front window, Mum waving at me lovingly fron the passenger seat. Dad and I went for a walk together whilst Mum sheltered in the car. I was intent on taking pictures, and my Dad was doing his best to be close but not too close. I watched him as he huddled over the debris washed up on the high tide mark, beachcoming like he'd always done with us as kids, and I felt very very sad. My Dad is getting older, mid 70s now, and he struggles more with things he'd once have taken in his stride...He said he was going to head back to have a coffee with Mum, and I said I'd take a few more shots then join them, but as I watched his slightly unstable retreat back towards the car, blown sideways by the wind, I couldn't take any more images, and I made my way back to join them. The cafe was shut. They made their way home whilst I stayed for the last of the light on this stormy beach. It was a day where I was being torn apart, emotionally, physically and spiritually. ..I called in on them on the way home, and chatted for hours. It's funny isn't it, that even the most stunning things on the planet, pale into significance when you consider real love, and real loss.
    GD001365.jpg
  • This really is the season of storms and gales. After days of torrential rain, fingers of sunshine searched through layers of cloud trying to make a clearing. I grabbed the opportunity after work today to see if I could catch any of this dramatic light. At the coast the light had already subdued but the wind remained extremely breezy. I carried just one camera and one lens and left the tripod in the van. I had literally just 10 minutes of tantalising sunset before dusk drew a darkening curtain across the windswept stage
    GD002544.jpg
  • Gentle patterns of wind blown ripples, delicate peninsulas of sand and fast moving sheets of cloud with the unmistakeable Llyn Peninsula and it’s classic peaks.
    GD001993.jpg
  • Christmas Day 2011 - instead of pigging out on Christmas dinners and excesses of booze, I did a two hour cliff walk on North Anglesey, and battled with massive buffeting gusts of wind blowing off the Irish Sea, and sea spray sweeping over the headlands. I found a partly sheltered cove in which to eat cheese sarnies and a mince pie, washed down with hot coffee. Amazingly the rain held off for the whole walk which was fortunate but I also saw some of the only glimpses of sunshine in North Wales that day, which backlit the huge seas crashing against the Anglesey cliffs.
    GD001362.jpg
  • Powerful storm waves crash over Sennen breakwater at sunset, with the RNLI slipway in the foreground, South West Cornwall
    GD001903.jpg
  • South Stack lighthouse, Holy Island, Anglesey, Ynys Môn. c1809 - Electrified in 1938 - Automated in 1984. 440 steps lead from the 200ft cliff top down to the bridge across the gorge below.
    GD000570.jpg
  • Storm waves crash onto the reef just 1 mile West of Land's End, the most South Westerly point of Cornwall and indeed the British Isles. This large and treacherous Longships reef is marked by the 35meter high "Longships Lighthouse" (1795) who's light reaches 15 nautical miles.
    GD001766.jpg
  • South Stack lighthouse, Holy Island, Anglesey, Ynys Môn. c1809 - Electrified in 1938 - Automated in 1984. 440 steps lead from the 200ft cliff top down to the bridge across the gorge below. We can also see here the RSPB Bird watching tower called Ellin's Tower.
    GD000394.jpg
  • GD001487.jpg
  • Rough surf from the Irish Sea in stormy weather forces it's way into the narrow cove of Porth Trecastell (Cable Bay) West Anglesey, Wales. On the windswept headland, Sea Pink (Thrift) blows amongst long grass covering the burial mound of Barclodiad Y Gawres,
    GD000723.jpg
  • Rough seas from stormy weather crash against the cliffs at the headland of Porth Trecastell (Cable Bay) West Anglesey, Wales. Sea Pink (Thrift) blows amongst thr rocky cliff top as surf crashes into the cove below.
    GD000721.jpg
  • Big Irish Sea storm waves slam against the limestone cliffs of Rhoscolyn Head, North West Anglesey
    GD000588.jpg
  • The biggest waves I've personally ever seen at Porth Tyn Tywyn and I have walked, swam and surfed there many 100s of times over the last 20 years.<br />
<br />
On this particular morning I had gone there with the idea of body boarding what was reported to be a brilliant swell for Anglesey. The day was clear with a strong offshore wind and just a few rapidly clouds. I parked up overlooking the dunes and the sea beyond and I could already see wave tips higher than the dunes (foreshortened perspective of course) and I knew it was going off! I walked down to the reef and two surfers were being thrown about in the white water before finally getting out to the back where a strong rip was pushing them Southwards towards the bay of the burial mound, Barclodiad y Gawres. It was funny in a way watching these guys go for the surf but spend so much time just trying to keep parallel to the shore. At this point, I just knew that I was not going in! I have not body-boarded seriously for years and having had a bit of an epic attempt at Sennen in Cornwall in January in big seas it was all too intimidating for this surf-unfit body !<br />
<br />
Of course the upside to that decision is that I could guilt-freely enjoy taking pictures of the surf instead and it was just so beautiful and powerful to watch. Thankfully the offshore breeze was keeping most of the sea-spray off my lens for a change meaning that I could continue to shoot without minute-apart lens cleans. <br />
<br />
The light on the sea in the bay was sharp and intense, and the lips of the waves were backlit and sparkling against the darker sky in the background. I enjoyed studying the bands of light and dark as they created monochrome Rothko seas, large ocean canvases of abstract landscape. After an hour or more of outgoing tide, the waves noticeably reduced in height to the point where perhaps I could have gone in, but with a full CF disc I decided to head for hot coffee back in the gallery instead - wrong decision ? Probably ! :-)
    GD001718.jpg
  • There was one particular location which seemed to be ‘going off’ in surfers terms anyway, a point where even the smallish waves were still powerful enough to slam the small cliff buttresses and send spray skyward, but this same spray was voluminous and very wetting and in itself is problematic for photography as the lens gets covered in seconds not minutes, and in this light every drop on your lens becomes a backlit orb ! I studied the short reef in front of me and calculated where the waves would cover, finding a dry pinnacle on which to set my tripod, an item of equipment that was imperative today. I stood smugly on my dry fortress and waited for the waves and light to work together and shot perhaps four frames of waves I thought would deliver the results foreground and background but then a white wall started to approach me ! My guts revolved as one exceptional wave stood out from the sets and it came from a different angle too. The speed seemed faster than the rest - it wasn’t - but in my fear it was ! There was nothing I could do but brace myself as it rose up over the rocks and simply pushed past me like a mini Tsunami reaching my thighs!!!! The force was strong [Luke !] but the tripod and my legs remained firm against the push and thank God, because if not I would have fallen backwards into a small gully and whilst I would not have drowned I would likely as not have injured myself and lost £10K of camera gear ! The wave exploded in laughter as it died in the shore and the next waves smiled at me as they strolled past. Thing is, I got the shot boy ! :-) MY Paramo Cascada trousers and my Asolo mountain boots meant that incredibly, I didn’t get wet at all, I could have been wearing a wetsuit !
    GD001707.jpg
  • A container ship defying the odds against a stormy Atlantic ocean off the cliffs at Land's End, Cornwall.
    GD001705.jpg
  • GD001678.jpg
  • GD001679.jpg
  • Christmas Day 2011 - instead of pigging out on Christmas dinners and excesses of booze, I did a two hour cliff walk on North Anglesey, and battled with massive buffeting gusts of wind blowing off the Irish Sea, and sea spray sweeping over the headlands. I found a partly sheltered cove in which to eat cheese sarnies and a mince pie, washed down with hot coffee. Amazingly the rain held off for the whole walk which was fortunate but I also saw some of the only glimpses of sunshine in North Wales that day, which backlit the huge seas crashing against the Anglesey cliffs.
    GD001361.jpg
  • Stormy conditions at this usually calm, beautiful, summer beach, acres of sand under clear waters, usually!
    GD001363.jpg
  • This small sound of water at Penmon can be treacherous as a huge volume of tide pulls around this point at each turn of the tide and there is a relatively shallow rocky chanel beneath. The present Penmon lighthouse at 29m tall was erected between 1835 and 1838. It was converted to solar power in 1996 and it's 15,000 candela light can be seen 12 nautical miles away. It also has a fog bell which sounds every thirty seconds.
    GD000727.jpg
  • Rough seas from stormy weather crash against the craggy cliffs at the headland of Porth Trecastell (Cable Bay) West Anglesey, Wales.
    GD000697.jpg
  • Nominated in 10th (2017) International Colour Awards (Nature category) <br />
<br />
This small sound of water at Penmon can be treacherous as a huge volume of tide pulls around this point at each turn of the tide and there is a relatively shallow rocky chanel beneath. The present Penmon lighthouse at 29m tall was erected between 1835 and 1838. It was converted to solar power in 1996 and it's 15,000 candela light can be seen 12 nautical miles away. It also has a fog bell which sounds every thirty seconds.
    GD000683.jpg
  • GD001996.jpg
  • As Storm Imogen makes her first appearance, and dark clouds build on the the horizon, I find myself fascinated by the sheer variety of beautiful coloured stones lying just beneath the surface of the sand pools before an incoming tide. The weather created dreary conditions but every so often gentle glimmers of light illuminated this wet world, a world that has seen rain for almost three months solid. It was so lovely to find such intriguing beauty in such inclement weather
    GD001994.jpg
  • Brilliant sunshine through stormy rainshowers and racing black clouds at the expansive Llanddwyn Beach on West Anglesey. Bitter winds cut throughclothing and rain lashed our faces but amongst it all, there was sheer ecstasy in the beauty of land and sky becoming one for brief moments of time
    GD001992.jpg
  • Storm waves crash onto the reef just 1 mile West of Land's End, the most South Westerly point of Cornwall and indeed the British Isles. This large and treacherous Longships reef is marked by the 35meter high "Longships Lighthouse" (1795) who's light reaches 15 nautical miles.
    GD001760.jpg
  • Storm waves crash onto the imposing, rugged once tin mining cliffs at Pendeen, West Penwith, Cornwall. The last mine closed years ago, but numerous engine houses and chimneys mark the site of this once booming Cornish industry providing high grade tin.
    GD001757.jpg
  • Sitting in the cafe at Land's End, the rain beating on the windows outside, us warm and cosy, the perfect living room, oh were that the case! Sunshine, blasts out, intense clarity, back to rain, back to home, back to reality
    GD001093.jpg
  • Longships Lighthouse & huge surf off Land’s End, Cornwall
    GD001715.jpg
  • GD001677.jpg
  • South Stack lighthouse, Holy Island, Anglesey, Ynys Môn. c1809 - Electrified in 1938 - Automated in 1984. 440 steps lead from the 200ft cliff top down to the bridge across the gorge below. We can also see here the RSPB Bird watching tower called Ellin's Tower.
    GD000394-BW.jpg
  • Storm waves batter the West coast of Anglesey near Cable Bay and Rhosneigr. It is rare for such large waves to hit this coast which did create a spectacle.<br />
 The burial mound (looks like a small hill) of Barclodiad y Gawres can be seen in the background <br />
<br />
The biggest waves I've personally ever seen at Porth Tyn Tywyn and I have walked, swam and surfed there many 100s of times over the last 20 years.<br />
<br />
On this particular morning I had gone there with the idea of body boarding what was reported to be a brilliant swell for Anglesey. The day was clear with a strong offshore wind and just a few rapidly clouds. I parked up overlooking the dunes and the sea beyond and I could already see wave tips higher than the dunes (foreshortened perspective of course) and I knew it was going off! I walked down to the reef and two surfers were being thrown about in the white water before finally getting out to the back where a strong rip was pushing them Southwards towards the bay of the burial mound, Barclodiad y Gawres. It was funny in a way watching these guys go for the surf but spend so much time just trying to keep parallel to the shore. At this point, I just knew that I was not going in! I have not body-boarded seriously for years and having had a bit of an epic attempt at Sennen in Cornwall in January in big seas it was all too intimidating for this surf-unfit body !<br />
<br />
Of course the upside to that decision is that I could guilt-freely enjoy taking pictures of the surf instead and it was just so beautiful and powerful to watch. Thankfully the offshore breeze was keeping most of the sea-spray off my lens for a change meaning that I could continue to shoot without minute-apart lens cleans. <br />
<br />
The light on the sea in the bay was sharp and intense, and the lips of the waves were backlit and sparkling against the darker sky in the background. I enjoyed studying the bands of light and dark as they created monochrome Rothko seas, large ocean canvases of abstract landscape. After an hour or
    GD001720.jpg
  • Standing in evening sunlight, a cow turns her head to watch the black storm rolling in across the Irish Sea, unsettled or ambivalent?
    GD001315.jpg
  • One of a series of multi-exposure landscapes used to build a truer image of the experience of place and event, rather than a fraction of a second as witnessed by a metal box.
    GD001742.jpg
  • GD001692.jpg
  • Successive storm waves during bad, gale driven weather, create piles of wind blown foam on the incoming tide at sunset in Winter at this West Anglesey beach near Rhosneigr
    GD001961.jpg
  • Sunset from the summit of Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) before spending the night sleeping on the café floor whilst on a commercial shoot for a client.<br />
<br />
The light was simply spectacular, with warm colours that belied the cold we felt due to the ‘wind-chill’ factor of gale force winds. We were greeted the next morning with thick cloud and bitterly cold drizzle so the evening light really was a magic moment.
    GD001746.jpg
  • "I’d enjoyed being alone in the gale-force winds on an almost deserted Llanddwyn Beach, sun shone one minute, showers the next. The relentless buffering from the gale invigorated me, made me feel alive, forcing oxygen into my lungs. As I was almost blown back towards the beach entrance, dusk seemed to have sprung upon me also. The skies were dark under weighty clouds and latent squalls. I turned back towards the island and the most beautiful delicate light was creating a huge bi-coloured yellow and white cross, Llandwyn being flagged in the centre. The waves on the outgoing tide were still forcing their way up the shore but the hard, wet sand bore the reflection of the shifting Heavens above, and everything felt perfect”
    GD001998.jpg
  • Patterns caused by wind blowing different weight sands across the vast wind swept beach of Morfa Dyffryn near Barmouth, Mid Wales. <br />
<br />
We turned North and immediately felt the full brunt of the Northerly gale in our faces. Progress was not difficult but was definitely slow. The wind was so strong that sheets of sand were lifted off the beach and blown towards us like swirling fog around our feet. A dog in the distance jumps for a stick and travels 20 feet before landing ! It sorted "men from the boys" as they say, and I noticed a few beach visitors start in this direction then turn back very quickly, but Carol and I were on a mission to get to the far point and the estuary beyond, and it was maybe two miles of beach walk against this headwind. I was blown away [pun intended] by the patterns and tones caused by the sheets of wind-driven sand over the shore, it really was like looking down at the earth whilst flying through low cloud but anything taller than one foot or so remained clear and static, betraying the impression!
    GD001208.jpg
  • I left the comfort of the van and stepped into a gale. The skies were grey and overcast and there were already spots of rain on my jacket. <br />
<br />
The sand whipped off the dunes and stung my face but I was so happy to just be outdoors and have fresh air in my lungs. I arrived at the shore on a rapidly dropping tide and the beach was pristine, no footprints from man or dog, just perfect geometrical shapes created by the force of the tide. <br />
<br />
The breeze rippled the surface of a large pool but the water was was like a luke warm bath, sensuous and comforting. Small jellyfish slowed drifted past me as the pool drained to the Irish Sea. <br />
<br />
As the clouds scudded overhead, small pathes of blue sky made an appearance and illuminated the whole scene for perhaps just a few minutes at a time and the light was iridescent on the sea’s green surface, glittering on the ruffled pool. Within moments I was being pelted by a rain shower and my camera lens became covered in rain and salt spray, creating a most ghostly light on my images.
    GD002082.jpg
  • Windswept Broad Beach at Rhosneigr, West Anglesey, Wales, in a gale and rainy weather at sunset..
    GD000672.jpg
  • There are some images that really should be video, not stills. I think maybe this is one of them. I like the image but only because of my memory of the event; sheets of sand were lifting in the gale and blowing at high speed towards me. The stream was almost gurgling as it tumbled to meet the sea and a flock of geese were chatting to each other as they dabbled in the pebbly sand pools. There was so much going on and so much to hear that I'm not sure any still image begins to describe the beauty of it all. <br />
<br />
I have a feeling that I really need to start shooting 'moving stills', not video as such, just still frames where the world moves within the frame. To share my experiences with others, I feel there are occasions where extra information is needed, audio & movement at least. Now HOW do I record & synchronise the sounds of my scene with the camera - a whole new world of learning & I'm not sure I have enough years left to learn!
    GD002597.jpg
  • The impressive waterfall cascades down the cold and shadowy cliffs of Y Graig Ddu, whilst a bitter autumn wind buffets the still-lush pine trees in an intense early-morning sunlight.
    GD000801.jpg
  • Brilliant sunshine and gale force winds made for an incredible light over the cove of Porth Trecastell.<br />
<br />
As I stood on the cliff top and looked towards the horizon, I had the illusion of low flying over the long wind-blown Marram Grass and the sand of the cove beyond. <br />
<br />
I felt uplifted in so many ways. This was a place I’ve swam and surfed and taken the kids swimming. My life is racing on at such a pace, history left in my wake and yet, the place remains fundamentally unchanged, and will create many more memories for so many more people in the future after my own lights have dimmed. A very special place.
    GD002225.jpg
  • Sheltering from the howling gale I found myself fascinated by the snake-like vein in my rock windbreak. When there's not a soul about and the landscape feels empty, I find myself looking more intently at the things closer to me, rather than the bigger views. I've never rationalised why I do this, but I think there's a sense being 'shared' with the immediate environment, that for a brief time when you are there, the features are like those of companions. I honestly talk to inanimate objects sometimes, as if I know them and appreciate them for simply being there, showing themselves to me. <br />
<br />
This isn't just pandemic madness, I've always done this! The landscape often speaks to me, as I do to it.
    GD002604.jpg
  • The roads were quiet, the forest track deserted and the hillsides empty. The morning rays of sunlight were slowly being extinguished by a deepening cloud cover and the winds were picking up. By the time I reached the ridge a howling gale was bending even the thickest fir trees. The summits were now hidden by a cloud of racing drizzle and were completely uninspiring. <br />
<br />
My heavy heart seemed to struggle to feed movement to my legs and every step felt tiring. As I left the hillsides I meandered around a lake and for only time that afternoon, glimmers of light glowed through thinning cloud, reflecting off the deep black lake, reminding me that at some point we will see light again.
    GD002605.jpg
  • Beyond the illusory warmth of foreground moors, stood the frozen twin peaks of Arenig Fawr, briefly illuminated by moments of temperamental winter sunlight.<br />
<br />
I was lured by the mountain’s wonderful structure and ancient beauty, but the buffeting gale was biting into my face so on this day at least, I was glad not to have been on the icy summits.
    GD002439.jpg
  • We decided to ignore the warnings not to drive during Storm Ciara, and headed for the sea. The narrow coastal roads were covered in seaweed and pebbles but high up above the cliffs of South Stack we only had the gale force winds to contend with. I left Jani warm in the van and fought my way down to the cliff edge, thankfully the wind blew me onshore not off! On arrival the skies were dark and gloomy but as I set up the tripod, sunlight burst through a break in the clouds and illuminated the short grasses clinging to the siltstone & quartzite rocks around me. <br />
<br />
I had to lean hard onto the tripod just to try and keep the camera still enough to make the shot. Even then I decided on a higher ISO for safety. Almost as soon as the sun warmed my wind-blown face, it disappeared and I was blown uphill back to the van!
    GD002436.jpg
  • An incredibly gale blasted early morning hike into the Welsh hills. I was literally blown over twice and the tripod was next to useless for photography. The light conditions and cloud effects were not what I’d hoped for but it was strangely beautiful in it’s super-bright blanket of haze, softening the distant hills and making Tryfan stand out in a way I couldn’t have imagined. Nevertheless the quality of light diminished with every passing minute, so I was happy to race back down the mountain to meet up with friends to go rock-climbing on Tryfan Bach!
    GD002333.jpg
  • Available in four sizes from 10 x A1 Editions, 20 x A2 Editions and unlimted A3 and A4 prints.
    GD001716.jpg
  • An early start today to photograph Eryri under cool morning sunshine. The forecast was warm & sunny, but when you factored in the biting Easterly gale, I was so grateful that I'd thrown in an extra jacket before leaving home. <br />
<br />
I arrived at an empty car park and enjoyed the whole mountain to myself, until my return journey. I was getting so buffeted by the gusts of wind that even my tripod wasn't helping much. I sheltered behind a derelict building at one point to try and increase my chances of sharp images! <br />
<br />
Initially I was disappointed by the haze, but actually, backlit by the morning sun, I began to love the softness that the haze created. In this image, you see Yr Wyddfa (or Snowdon if you really must, but never 'Mount' Snowdon!) with it's foothills of Foel Gron, Foel Goch & Moel Cynghorion, beautifully tonally layered in the fore & mid ground. The mist has helped to visually separate the lower peaks.
    GD002621.jpg
  • I just stood there back to the gale as the Heaven’s opened and pummelled me with freezing hail. Throughout the squall the sunshine continued, blasting the miles-long sand dunes in Autumnal light. I had to shoot quickly, and hid the camera in my jacket. Stunning lighting and a beach almost to myself - immersed in the elements - perfection.
    GD002547.jpg
  • Exposed to the force of the Atlantic Ocean, baked in searing summer heat, blasted by gale force winds, it surprising that anything survives on these shores but with Table Mountain as a backdrop, small succulent plants cling to life amongst the dead Kelp and delicate grasses on this vast white sand beach.
    GD002295.jpg
  • "I left the comfort of the van and stepped into a gale. The skies were grey and overcast and there were already spots of rain on my jacket.<br />
<br />
The sand whipped off the dunes and stung my face but I was so happy to just be outdoors and have fresh air in my lungs. I arrived at the shore on a rapidly dropping tide and the beach was pristine, no footprints from man or dog, just perfect geometrical shapes created by the force of the tide.<br />
<br />
The breeze rippled the surface of a large pool but the water was like a lukewarm bath, sensuous and comforting. Small jellyfish slowly drifted past me as the pool drained to the Irish Sea.<br />
<br />
As the clouds scudded overhead, small patches of blue sky made an appearance and illuminated the whole scene for perhaps just a few minutes at a time. The light was iridescent on the sea’s green surface and glittered on the ruffled pool. Within moments I was being pelted by a rain shower and my camera lens became covered in rain and salt spray, creating a most ghostly light on my images"
    GD002081.jpg
  • August, the holidays in full swing. The sun is clear in the sky and the sand is warm. I walk barefoot through deep pools on the beach and it’s like standing in a bath. What you can’t see from the photo is the gale force winds (literally) which created a wind chill factor that necessitated three lightweight jackets to be worn. My legs in the sand pools were warmer in the water than out.
    GD002080.jpg
  • Yes this is for real, indeed it’s so easy with sunsets to get the processing so wrong to make it look so not right, but I had to make sure I didn’t increase the contrast for there was NO black in the original scene, just a gentle set of pastel tones except for the burn of the sun itself. It went behind a long thin cloud layer ahead of a huge bank of cloud moving on for the next morning’s rain. This vaporous layer split the sun so that an intense burn remained above the cloud, but a deep red burn emerged from beneath. There was hardly a drop of wind (look at the surface of the sea) but the cloud shapes make it look as though the suns flames are themselves being blown by a gale. <br />
<br />
All of this was incredibly lucky as a few minutes beforehand the sun was completely obscured by a hazy and vast layer of cloud. Through the long lens I was able to see the detail more quickly and perhaps thanks to the optics, I’ve never seen a sunset so surreal and so spectacular.
    GD002514.jpg
  • Honourable Mention in the 13th Black & White Spider Awards 2018<br />
<br />
This is a deserted mining town in Western Namibia. In 1909 diamonds were found here and an industrial hamlet developed. Since then however diamonds are mostly found elsewhere and so this place went into decline. The small industrial complex is forever fighting to remain above the gale-blown desert sands but it’s still an incredible place to visit, as so little has changed at all since the early twentieth century. It’s quite eerie standing inside the large derelict buildings, the wind literally howling through the broken windows and doors, sand-dunes visibly creating within the broken interiors as you watch
    GD002289.jpg
  • I shot this whilst being filmed for the ITV series “The Strait” (being broadcast Autumn 2017).<br />
<br />
I have never been in such strong winds, which according to the weather forecast were up to 75mph. The three of us involved in the filming were being blown sideways and it was hard to breath or walk let alone climb the mountain.<br />
<br />
I had to put all my weight onto my Manfrotto tripod just to keep it from blowing over. I used fast shutter speeds, even on the tripod.<br />
<br />
The night before, these mountains were all snow-covered, but overnight the snow had almost completely disappeared. Surprisingly, even in a gale-force Easterly wind, the temperature had increased.<br />
 <br />
I loved the variation in light and colour across Snowdon and its foothills.
    GD002157.jpg
  • The rain was relentless, falling in vast sheets across the sombre Welsh hillsides, soaking the landscape and everything upon it. I’d just descended from the gale-blown summits where I’d not seen a soul, but I was more than happy in my wet solitude. I could hear a hidden river tumbling through dark rocks in the valley below.<br />
<br />
The wind drove the rain through the back of my waterproofs as I trudged down the tiny path back to habitation. It was near silent, no calls of birds or bleating of sheep, just the drumming of the downpour on my hood. <br />
<br />
I loved it all. Amidst these huge Welsh mountains that one-minute seemed imposing and soft like a watercolour the next, I felt alive in this huge valley, a tiny, isolated figure moving through an ancient glaciated landscape. These are times and conditions when you feel humbled by the elements and connected to the earth.
    GD002235.jpg
  • The rain was relentless, coming down in sheets across the sombre Welsh hillsides, soaking the landscape and everything upon it. I’d just walked for hours on the deserted gale-blown mountaintops, alone but strangely happy in my solitude. The river in the valley was swollen, fed by the downpour but tumbled excitedly towards the sea beyond.<br />
<br />
The steadfast skeletal trees transfixed me. Their bare branches were almost still in the breeze and their water-drop laden twigs stretched out like a delta. These skeletal figures were in a sort of suspended animation, hidden life pulsing through the outstretched limbs but waiting to burst out in the spring, months from now.<br />
<br />
I didn’t really want to leave but my waterproofs were now beginning to fail after almost four hours of penetrating bad weather. I could hear the rain on my jacket hood and tiny beads of water now ran down my skin. It seemed that if I moved I’d ruin the silent connection between me and the trees, but I did, and it didn’t.
    GD002234.jpg
  • Nominated image in the 13th Black & White Spider Awards 2018<br />
<br />
<br />
This is the deserted mining town of Kolmonskop in Western Namibia. In 1909 diamonds were found here and this industrial hamlet developed. The nearby harbour town of Lüderitz nearby also gained rapid prosperity.<br />
<br />
Since then however diamonds are mostly found elsewhere and so these towns went into decline. This small industrial complex is forever fighting to remain above the gale-blown desert sands but this and Lüderitz are still incredible places to visit as so little has changed at all since the early twentieth century.<br />
<br />
It’s quite eerie standing inside the large derelict buildings, the winds literally howling through the broken windows and doors and dunes almost visibly being created in front of your eyes.
    GD002288.jpg
  • It’s that time of year, and although I thoroughly dislike short days, darkness, rain and gloom, Autumn is also the season of warm water, warm gales, warm sunshine and incredible drama. If we could arrange to keep winter for just a month or so, I’d be very happy, but I’m trying to enjoy the most of the last vestiges of what was summer.
    GD002532.jpg
  • On a drearily dull evening, in heavy gales and drizzly weather, we found ourselves in Britain's smallest city, St Davids in Pembrokeshire. A choir was singing beautifully from within the tungsten lit cathedral, whilst outside the mood was sombre, damp and lonely. It was one of those times where it would have been handy to be religious, to join the warm congregation inside, to open your lungs and hear the beauty - yet there was beauty still, in the rustling leaves in the trees, in the perfect curve of the distant hill, of the faint sound of the sea and of the ever reliable advance of dusk
    GD001320.jpg
  • It's only a short matter of time before these sheep will be standing in wet dark earth, scrabbling for nourishment in winter winds and gales, but for the moment at least, in the warmth of a late Autumn sun, with rich grass under hoof, a laziness pervades the air, a false solace before starkness takes over.
    GD001334.jpg
  • It’s that time of year, and although I thoroughly dislike short days, darkness, rain and gloom, Autumn is also the season of warm water, warm gales, warm sunshine and incredible drama. If we could arrange to keep winter for just a month or so, I’d be very happy, but I’m trying to enjoy the most of the last vestiges of what was summer.
    GD002536.jpg
  • Born in Africa this young woman is at home where the wind-blown desert sands meet the cold Atlantic ocean. She feels at one with this place. She revels in the mixed sensations of the burning heat on her torso, gales tossing her hair and even the stinging of the sharp sand against her ankles. She hears the sound of heavy waves piling on the vast shoreline and she can hear Terns calling high in the sky above. Behind her, a tablecloth of swirling cloud builds over the mountains, marking the zone where the warm Agulhas Current of the Indian Ocean meets the cold Benguela current of the Atlantic. This is a vast and unforgiving landscape but it is hers and she owns it.
    Burning Hot in African Winds
  • Having done a picture delivery in Northern Anglesey, I was on my way back down the A55 when I decided to turn for the coast, just to get some fresh air. I found myself on the Rhosneigr road and my heart was light. Mine was the only vehicle in the sand-dune car park and pools of rainwater transformed the normally gritty rutted surface into rather beautiful patches of bright sky.The wind was bitter, still blowing in from the North West and today I only had trainers on, so no risky teetering about on wave washed rocks for me.<br />
<br />
The recent gales and big tides had deposited tonnes of dead brown seaweed over most of the shelving beach, but the outgoing tide revealed a beautiful sandy stretch at low water mark. The waves had decreased considerably today but it was still choppy in the strong cold breeze and the waves though low, were still powerful enough to launch themselves explosively up the shingle. Yesterday in the blazing late afternoon light, there was a smoothness to the foam-covered beach but today, there was sharpness, a contrast and a new brooding weather front overhead. My fingers froze whenever I removed them from my shooters-mitts and I put two hoods on to keep my head warm. I negotiated my way up onto the reef via a series of bizarre-to watch, core-stabilised ballet movements, tripod over my shoulder and rucksack swaying heavily with each leap. I found somewhere I could stand securely and just watched the wave performance below me. <br />
<br />
The sunshine remained clear and intense for quite a while, even though the cloud front appeared keen to obscure it, and the light danced on the waves in a bright avenue ahead of me. Soon though, the light subdued and the rain started so I made my way back to the van and on to the gallery to work. I really enjoy these spontaneous moments when you find yourself excited and stimulated by someone or something unexpected. I felt alive and captivated, if only for a brief hour.
    GD001710.jpg
  • Although the image depicts a sunny and spectacularly dramatic landscape, you can see, brooding offshore, very heavy weather conditions. In strong westerly and northerly gales, the tiny village of Y Nant is remarkably vulnerable to harsh weather, sitting as it does on the most seaward edge of this wide coastal valley. Enjoy the warmth of summer, for in winter it is a different story
    GD000807.jpg
  • In body-bending gales on Wales’ North coast, I topped out on the summit of this ancient hill-fort to peruse the fast-changing light and incoing tide at Dinas Dinlle. I had to physically lean onto the tripod to keep the camera as still as possible to make the exposure. <br />
<br />
The sun disappeared behind a hige cloud bank an the intensity reduced dramatically seconds after this image.
    GD002363.jpg
  • The days are drawing in and the comforting warmth and brilliant light of summer is gradually being replaced with gales and rain. <br />
<br />
The girl from the forest heads towards the light and pushes through the last trees, finding herself at the shore of a great lake.  The contrast between the stillness and relative silence of the trees is in stark contrast to the heavy weather fetching at speed across the water’s surface. It takes her by surprise, buffeting her tiny figure and she holds onto low branches for support. <br />
<br />
Her hair blows wildly behind her in the wind and she is acutely aware of the rushes caressing her legs and spray from the waves pinpricking her naked flesh, but she revels in these sensations. Her senses are heightened and the place and the moment are a catalyst for her thoughts about her existence and a reminder that the cycle of the seasons is unavoidable and that nature is everything.
    When the Wind Blows
  • Even in this thick sea fog the crash of the waves and the advancing tide is relentless and comforting, confirming a natural order of things, the spin of the earth, the pull of the moon, the winds and the gales blowing their way around the globe. Yet I stand here on the shoreline, in one small microcosm of the rest of the planet, wrapped up in my own thoughts, my own ideas and my own emotions and without doubt my memories. Perhaps the whiteness of the fog even encourages this mental escape, eliminating everything else about me, reducing chaos to minimalist simplicity, lovely!
    GD001075.jpg
  • Even in this thick sea fog the crash of the waves and the advancing tide is relentless and comforting, confirming a natural order of things, the spin of the earth, the pull of the moon, the winds and the gales blowing their way around the globe. Yet I stand here on the shoreline, in one small microcosm of the rest of the planet, wrapped up in my own thoughts, my own ideas and my own emotions and without doubt my memories. Perhaps the whiteness of the fog even encourages this mental escape, eliminating everything else about me, reducing chaos to minimalist simplicity, lovely!
    GD001074.jpg
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
x

Glyn Davies, Professional Photographer and Gallery

  • Portfolio
  • FULL IMAGE COLLECTION HERE
    • All Galleries
    • Search
    • Cart
    • Lightbox
    • Client Area
  • About Glyn
  • Awards & Media
  • Print & Delivery Info
  • Exhibitions
  • Publications
  • Contact
  • Privacy & Personal Data
  • LATEST NEWS