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  • Varied rock colours in a the fast flowing river of the Afon Glasyn in the Nant Glaslyn Pass near Beddgelert, Snowdonia. This river flows directly from the lake below Snowdon's summit.
    GD000321.jpg
  • An early morning riverside walk alongside the Severn in Shrewsbury. The air was chilly from the Northerly wind but the sunshine did it's best to spread its warmth and brilliance over this green urban landscape. Birds called to each other and the willows rustled in the breeze. I've always loved strips of nature in urban areas and this river meander almost completely surrounds this ancient town with lush green watery landscape.
    GD002190.jpg
  • An early morning riverside walk alongside the Severn in Shrewsbury. The air was chilly from the Northerly wind but the sunshine did it's best to spread its warmth and brilliance over this green urban landscape. Birds called to each other and the willows rustled in the breeze. I've always loved strips of nature in urban areas and this river meander almost completely surrounds this ancient town with lush green watery landscape.
    GD002189.jpg
  • The Afon Ffraw river runs under an historical pack horse on the outskirts of the village of Aberffraw in West Anglesey, in an exceptionally cold mid winter.
    GD000525.jpg
  • The large limestone stepping stones of Rhydd Gaer (The Blood Fort) , cross the Afon Braint River south of the village of Dwyran on Anglesey. The river itself leads to the Braint Estuary where it joins the Menai Strait and Caernarfon Bay. There is little agreed information about the history of these historical stones<br />
<br />
"A young funny, dynamic 19 year old friend of ours has been missing since Christmas, and this river is his river, well in my mind it is, as it flows from his village to the sea. I was thinking about how lucky I am to simply be here, to breathe, to see, to live. The sunshine was sparkling on the water, the grass was lush and green, clouds scudded across a now clear sky and there was a cool crispness to the air, my fingers felt it, my face felt it, every bit of me was now awake and invigorated, but I wish I knew what had happened to the lad. We all think we know but nobody dares say anything, living in hope that our worst fears are proved wrong. It has been very hard for me to be near the sea since his disappearance. I have titled the image above in dedication to our young friend, and I cling to the hope that one day he will see it for himself."
    GD001177.jpg
  • The large limestone stepping stones of Rhydd Gaer (The Blood Fort) , cross the Afon Braint River south of the village of Dwyran on Anglesey. The river itself leads to the Braint Estuary where it joins the Menai Strait and Caernarfon Bay. There is little agreed information about the history of these historical stones<br />
<br />
"A young funny, dynamic 19 year old friend of ours has been missing since Christmas, and this river is his river, well in my mind it is, as it flows from his village to the sea. I was thinking about how lucky I am to simply be here, to breathe, to see, to live. The sunshine was sparkling on the water, the grass was lush and green, clouds scudded across a now clear sky and there was a cool crispness to the air, my fingers felt it, my face felt it, every bit of me was now awake and invigorated, but I wish I knew what had happened to the lad. We all think we know but nobody dares say anything, living in hope that our worst fears are proved wrong. It has been very hard for me to be near the sea since his disappearance. I have titled the image above in dedication to our young friend, and I cling to the hope that one day he will see it for himself."
    GD001176.jpg
  • I sometimes find myself in dark places and it’s easy to close your eyes to shut it all out, but from out of nowhere I usually become aware of the gentlest glow of light. The delicate light is normally enough to see how to move forward. Once I’ve found the path everything seems brighter and the ominous clouds gradually move back to the horizon.<br />
<br />
The large limestone stepping stones of Rhydd Gaer (The Blood Fort) , cross the Afon Braint River south of the village of Dwyran on Anglesey. The river itself leads to the Braint Estuary where it joins the Menai Strait and Caernarfon Bay. There is little agreed information about the history of these historical stones
    GD000818.jpg
  • A large and constant river flows from open farmland on Anglesey, past Aberffraw village and out to the sea at the expansive and sandy Aberffraw beach. The wind blowing up the beach creates small standing waves in the river as it rushes against the wind.
    GD000495.jpg
  • A large and constant river flows from open farmland on Anglesey, past Aberffraw village and out to the sea at the expansive and sandy Aberffraw beach. The wind blowing up the beach creates small standing waves in the river as it rushes against the wind.
    GD000489.jpg
  • Dramatic large cumulonimbus clouds increased over lush rolling hillsides and farmland, whilst the ancient stepping stones navigate the walker across the wide gap of the Afon Braint River near Newborough on West Anglesey. The hills of Snowdonia can just be seen in the distance,
    GD001060.jpg
  • From the top of a decidedely pointy Welsh mountain you could see the huge gentle bowl of the valley and through it's cold air a river burnt along it, cutting and diving in bright sunlight, sparkling and dancing as it raced for the warmer waters of the Irish Sea. Isolated farms and cottages draw from it's course.
    GD001036.jpg
  • Snow melt water swells the mountain stream in Cwm Bychan, Beddgelert, Snowdonia, Wales. The river runs down to Tremadog Bay, seen bathed in sunlight in the far distance. Light Cumulus clouds float overhead.
    GD000318.jpg
  • An early morning riverside walk alongside the Severn in Shrewsbury. The air was chilly from the Northerly wind but the sunshine did it's best to spread its warmth and brilliance over this green urban landscape. Birds called to each other and the willows rustled in the breeze. I've always loved strips of nature in urban areas and this river meander almost completely surrounds this ancient town with lush green watery landscape.
    GD002191.jpg
  • Dramatic large cumulonimbus clouds increased over lush rolling hillsides and farmland, whilst the ancient stepping stones navigate the walker across the wide gap of the Afon Braint River near Newborough on West Anglesey. The hills of Snowdonia can just be seen in the distance, <br />
<br />
<br />
Sneezing, coughing and nose blowing, I left the van and with eyes as blurred as looking through milk bottle bases I arrived at these ancient stepping stones. I had enough sense to plan for the tide this time as I wanted to see the stones surrounded by high water unlike my previous shot "Out of Sadness Came Forth Joy". A VERY different story today, and although I was feeling below par, the light was absolutely beautiful, sharp, crisp and intense. The skies were dramatic and the clouds voluptuous and swelling. I took great delight in jumping the stones across the deep blue water, just for the sheer hell of it. The surrounding water was incredibly calm and reflective with just the smallest signs that actually the tide was flooding
    GD001061.jpg
  • Dramatic large cumulonimbus clouds increased over lush rolling hillsides and farmland, whilst the ancient stepping stones navigate the walker across the wide gap of the Afon Braint River near Newborough on West Anglesey. The hills of Snowdonia canbe seen in the distance, and on the wall straight ahead sits a cock pheasant, creating an almost perfect traditional British countryside scene.
    GD001062.jpg
  • The river Mersey was flowing very fast out towards the Irish Sea, the sounds of wind waves slopping against the dockside. Clouds were shooting across the sky in the opposite direction and the gulls were playing in the visual turmoil of it all. I love the Mersey.
    GD002022.jpg
  • Skies reflected in the mirror-flat river which flows down to the main beach at Rhosneigr, West Anglesey.
    GD000671.jpg
  • As the tide recedes  the water in the sand bank drains away carving temporary and unusual channels in the sand bank, at right angles to the direction of the river. The mountains of Eryri can be seen in the distance.
    GD000474.jpg
  • A face screams from the side of Carnedd Dafydd as sunlight creeps over the top of a higher col. This high mountain river here in Cwm Llachar runs down to the town of Bethesda before exiting at the Menai Strait near Bangor.
    GD000823.jpg
  • The pointed peak of Pen yr Ole Wen, the first peak of the Carneddau range in Snowdonia, in evening sunlight, reflected in a slow moving, dark, river pool, flowing out of Cwm Idwal hanging valley down to the Ogwen Falls and the Nant Ffrancon pass .
    GD000554.jpg
  • The famous treelined, deep and steep sided Fairy Glen river gorge near Betws y Coed in Snowdonia.
    GD001584.jpg
  • A beautiful and tumbling waterfall on the lower stretch of the Afon Llan, alongside the Watkin Path up Snowdon. The river forms deep pools in the smooth eroded rock, and the clarity is just incredible. The lush wide valley of Nant Gwynant can be seen in the distance.
    GD001378.jpg
  • A solitary Quiver Tree bakes in afternoon sunlight in the middle of a vast desert landscape south the Orange River (the border between South Africa and Namibia)
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  • We look towards the clouds blowing towards, the river flowing towards the lure of the sunlit Harlech Bay.
    GD001130.jpg
  • Rhuddlan and it's castle have been the site of numerous Welsh English battles in history. The castle was originally mostly built of wood and ships used to moor alongside the jetty. Today, a Royal swan peacefully glides amongst the shadows of the castle's trees and a huge driftwood log is the only wooden movement along this shallow river today.
    GD000486.jpg
  • The gently flowing Afon Lligwy river runs out to the sea at sunset, at Lligwy Beach, East Anglesey
    GD001018.jpg
  • Fairy Ring of red Amanita muscaria toadstool mushrooms next to the Aber river in the hills up behind the high Rhaeadr Aber waterfall.
    GD001312.jpg
  • Amazing light on Broad Beach, Rhosneigr, West Anglesey, Wales. There is a river that runs from Maelog Lake (Llyn Maelog) cutting through the sand dunes and out onto the open beach, forming numerous tributary streams before finally joining the Irish Sea
    GD001614.jpg
  • The forecast was for mixed weather but thankfully we never ‘quite’ saw rain. Here on the coast of West Penwith a river tumbles down through the boulders to join the Atlantic Ocean. Brief moments of sunshine illuminated the flowing water and everything sparkled. The clouds closed in, the wind increased and the cold intensified but my mood was as bright and alive as the view I was offered.
    GD002125.jpg
  • We trudged through soft wet sand towards the coast, and apart from one couple passing us on their way back to the lane, we found ourselves alone on an empty beach. <br />
<br />
On the retreating tide a tumbling river carved it’s way towards the sea, backlit by the low winter sun.  Waves formed upon the surface and in a surreal moment of observation, they appeared to be flowing back upriver towards the dunes - strangely hypnotic and utterly wonderful.
    GD002334.jpg
  • Huge slabs of rock just underneath the grass and peat inclined steeply. A fast flowing stream cuts down into the joint as it tumbles down towards the wide glaciated Ogwen in the distance. Heavy rain clouds hang over some of Snowdonia's highest peaks.
    GD000972.jpg
  • River from the countryside runs down the beach at Porth Crugmor until it meets the sea at a wide sandy cove.
    GD000497.jpg
  • An old, small packhorse bridge crosses the Afon Nodwydd river running down from Pentraeth village to Traeth Coch, (Red Wharf Bay), Anglesey. At high tide the grasses here are completely covered and the tide retreats almost a mile to the low tide mark.
    GD001696.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
  • At low tide in the Afon Braint Estuary, Anglesey North Wales at sunset. Millions of tiny shells and Ragworm casts are revealed on the vast expanse of sand and silt. Oystercatchers, Curlews and numerous other waders feed on this vast expanse of rich estuary. Shallow rivers and streams of warm water continue to flow down to the low tide mark even as the tide starts to rise once again.
    GD001853.jpg
  • At low tide in the Afon Braint Estuary, Anglesey North Wales at sunset. Millions of tiny shells and Ragworm casts are revealed on the vast expanse of sand and silt. Oystercatchers, Curlews and numerous other waders feed on this vast expanse of rich estuary. Shallow rivers and streams of warm water continue to flow down to the low tide mark even as the tide starts to rise once again.
    GD001852.jpg
  • One of a very short series of images taken whilst I was being filmed being interviewed by Jamie Owen for a BBC Wales documentary series on Welsh Landscape. It was difficult trying to talk and shoot at the same time but the light was so amazing that I couldn't help shooting these four of five frames for real. They have subsequently been filmed for inclusion within the program!
    GD000472.jpg
  • One of a very short series of images taken whilst I was being filmed being interviewed by Jamie Owen for a BBC Wales documentary series on Welsh Landscape. It was difficult trying to talk and shoot at the same time but the light was so amazing that I couldn't help shooting these four of five frames for real. They have subsequently been filmed for inclusion within the program!
    GD000471.jpg
  • A dense reed bed behind the beach at Llugwy, East Anglesey, at dusk
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  • A short sunny start to a very long wet walk in this Northern tip of Snowdonia, starting at Rhaeadr Aber.
    GD001314.jpg
  • Sunset after rain at Porth Dafarch, a narrow cove with a sandy beach, very popular with tourists. As the tide retreats numerous streams from surrounding coutryside cut their way through the soft sands.
    GD000541.jpg
  • Patterns and shapes left by seawater draining from beach pools back to the sea at Llanddwyn Beach, Anglesey, Wales
    GD000731.jpg
  • After a wonderful sheltered swim in Holyhead Harbour, I headed for the West coast of the island to Trearddur Bay and Porth Dafarch. It's so rare that I can ever stand on Porth Dafarch beach and not see a soul, but today I was lucky, initially at least. High tide was slowly ebbing away revealing more and more huge swathes of orange sand, but the storm waves were deceptive and it was a mistake to wander casually onto the wet sand, as after every few waves at least one would come powering up the beach almost to high water mark. <br />
<br />
The gorgeous blue sky and sunshine of the morning was gradually being obscured by huge, watery grey blankets of cloud. Thankfully a blur of winter sunshine tunnelled through the vapour to create a wonderfully surreal illumination of the shoreline and waves breaking on the distant cliffs. By the time I’d created some images of this wondrous natural event many cars had turned up and the beach was back to normal, busy with crowds and dogs, my opportunity had been extremely lucky, I’d had glimpses of what this place might have looked like back in history.
    GD002905.jpg
  • The endless cycle of high and low tides is reassuring in that some things never change, a perpetual familiarity.
    GD002738.jpg
  • The first bitterly cold day on Anglesey this October, yet the sun burned gold and the sky and water reflected the warm hues. Determined dog walkers paced the beach but on the outgoing tide much of the shoreline remained relatively undisturbed, enable the waders to feed in peace and seagulls to rest their wings.
    GD002221.jpg
  • Icy cold water from snow-capped summits, flows down through small but spectacularly sculpted gorges, to the comparatively warm Irish Sea waiting below
    GD002620.jpg
  • Normally at this time of year, when you see a beach like this, the marks on the sand are from footprints of beach-goers, but today on a near-empty stretch of beach at very low tide, these millions of impressions are entirely natural, an intricate but vast web of interconnected structures created during the outgoing tide. Streams from stranded beach pools desperately cutting their way to the ocean are an ongoing fascination for me.
    GD002614.jpg
  • GD000836.jpg
  • I arrived at the beach in pouring rain but decided to head out anyway, brolly in hand. Thankfully the rain stopped suddenly and large breaks appeared in the huge blankets of grey cloud. The low sun painted colour onto the clouds behind me and I felt uplifted by brighter conditions. And then the first drops of rain fixed themselves to my lens and within less than a minute the heavens opened once again. I sheltered under the brolly for a short while, revelling in the elements around me before battling a squall back to the van.
    GD002343.jpg
  • A stream cuts down the beach to reach the door, carving beautiful curves through virgin sand. Black clouds stall overhead and light levels dropped dramatically, yet, there was a sombre beauty in this endlessly fascinating stretch of coast, regardless of weather.
    GD002008.jpg
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  • Evening sunlight over 'Gyrn' and Moel Wnion in the lower Carneddau mountains.
    GD000857.jpg
  • Beautiful, colour-rich dusk in a cove below Cape Cornwall, St Just, at dusk, a tin-mine hewed landscape within stone, multi millions of years old
    GD001980.jpg
  • Dappled sunlight near the Sychnant Pass, North Wales, in winter. In the far distance, in the Irish Sea, can be seen the gigantic Rhiannon Windfarm.
    GD001969.jpg
  • Fantastic caves and rock formations at the coast at Praia do Pintadinho near Ferragudo, Algarve, Portugal.
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  • Amazingly, even with no snow on the ground and 1º temperatures, thick clumps of ice clung to a stream side just 100ft from the warm sea. It was most bizarre but fascinating..Available in four sizes from 3 x A1 Editions, 5 x A2 Editions and unlimted A3 and A4 prints.
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  • Sunset and clouds over water channels exposed at low tide in the Dulas Estuary, Anglesey, North Wales
    GD001418.jpg
  • Crisp sunlight over a frozen landscape in the heart of Snowdonia. Llyn Gwynant sparkles in the foreground.
    GD001610.jpg
  • Brief sunshine over Rhosneigr gave way to black clouds and sleet moving in from the North over the Irish Sea.
    GD001801.jpg
  • One of a very short series of images taken whilst I was being filmed being interviewed by Jamie Owen for a BBC Wales documentary series on Welsh Landscape. It was difficult trying to talk and shoot at the same time but the light was so amazing that I couldn't help shooting these four of five frames for real. They have subsequently been filmed for inclusion within the program!
    GD000473.jpg
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  • I looked around because I could hear people talking but there was no one there. I moved across the beach shooting a couple of frames of the boulders and the voices were getting louder. I was expecting to see a small group of people appearing in the valley at any moment to ruin my peace.<br />
<br />
The people never did appear, not because they had diverted or turned back, but because they never existed. As I drew closer to the left hand side of the beach the talkers revealed themselves. A fast flowing stream was carving it's way down the beach and some small boulders were caught in a white water trap, endlessly rolling round and round, air trapping, gurgling currents holding the stones in deep flowing conversation.
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  • It's been maybe a year since I last took my Mum & Dad out for a fish & chip evening at the seaside, and I know we all feel we are missing the connection as time flies by and equally is getting shorter. So the other night we made rapid last minute arrangements and a very happy Mum & Dad climbed (almost literally) into my van and off we went. <br />
<br />
The breeze was strong and deceptively cool outside the warm sunlit cab, so with the smell of salt & vinegar pervading the air, and later clothes, we sat and chatted to each other about life & love and family. After washing it down with a nice cup of flask coffee I felt it was daft not to go and check out the lowering sun as it began to set over the impressive wet beach. I left my folks in the comfort of the vehicle and wandered along the huge expanse of flat sand, textile-patterned with watery layers from the retreating tide. <br />
<br />
I am so into my rock climbing these days that I find so much less time to take photos, combined with an increasing awareness that I simply don't want to shoot stuff I've shot so many times before. There was something so sublimely beautiful about the colours, reflections and intensity of light this evening though, that I found myself genuinely enjoying the looking and lining up of simple compositions in the vast emptiness.  I had no tripod for a change and I was able to move fluidly and easily to benefit from the rapidly changing conditions, before all too soon the sun moved behind a huge cloudbank rolling in as it often does, from the Irish Sea. <br />
<br />
I returned to the van happy that I'd taken some pictures for a change, but also aware that I'd missed maybe half an hour of the company of my lovely parents. I'm finding that time is harder than ever to allocate to the things I want to see and do in life, but that maybe small moments of lots of things are more important than long periods of narrow obsession. Actually I don't think there's much choice anymore as the hourglass is more than half empty.
    GD002384.jpg
  • This ancient castle in South East Anglesey has been used more recently by numerous locals for quiet smokes, beers with friends and intimate liasons!! Only a few years ago you had to struggle through undergrowth and trees to even find the castle but local government are trying to make this special place a tourist spot and are clearing trees to make it more accessible and ready for official footpaths. It is a great shame really because the struggle to get to the lost castle was in many ways reminiscent of the historical stuggles to gain access in our more distant past!
    GD000457.jpg
  • After a wonderful sheltered swim in Holyhead Harbour, I headed for the West coast of the island to Trearddur Bay and Porth Dafarch. It's so rare that I can ever stand on Porth Dafarch beach and not see a soul, but today I was lucky, initially at least. High tide was slowly ebbing away revealing more and more huge swathes of orange sand, but the storm waves were deceptive and it was a mistake to wander casually onto the wet sand, as after every few waves at least one would come powering up the beach almost to high water mark. <br />
<br />
The gorgeous blue sky and sunshine of the morning was gradually being obscured by huge, watery grey blankets of cloud. Thankfully a blur of winter sunshine tunnelled through the vapour to create a wonderfully surreal illumination of the shoreline and waves breaking on the distant cliffs. By the time I’d created some images of this wondrous natural event many cars had turned up and the beach was back to normal, busy with crowds and dogs, my opportunity had been extremely lucky, I’d had glimpses of what this place might have looked like back in history.
    GD002906.jpg
  • This is from a small number of images I shot over Christmas & Boxing Day whilst staying in Northwich with my brother. The relationship between nature and a huge chemical and rock salt industry created surreal landscapes, reminiscent of Tarkowsky films. Combined with the dreary weather and my own melancholy state of mind due to personal circumstances,  my resulting images are metaphorical - dark, sad, brooding, but with delicate sheets of light, glimmers of hope.
    GD001545.jpg
  • Lost Rivers of the Volcano, Cascata da Ribeira Grande, Flores
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  • Overcoming Barriers
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  • Nominated for 11th International B&W Spider Awards<br />
<br />
<br />
After a two hour slog up from sea-level valley to mountain top, loaded with photo gear & warm clothing, we were made to feel humble by a young woman climbing nude to the summit itself. Her pale soft skin contrasted with the sharp, rough rock but with such purpose, grace and balance, as if a slow motion dance, we could see her muscles working as she pulled, stepped into and lay-backed the arete before standing tall at the highest point to feel the cool mountain-top breeze caressing her hot skin. Below her, we huddled up and drank coffee and ate sandwiches.
    The Arete
  • After a two hour slog up from sea-level valley to mountain top, loaded with photo gear & warm clothing, we were made to feel humble by a young woman climbing to the summit itself. Her pale soft skin contrasted with the sharp, rough rock but with such purpose, grace and balance, as if a slow motion dance, we could see her muscles working as she pulled, stepped into and lay-backed the arete before standing tall at the highest point to feel the cool mountain-top breeze caressing her hot skin. Below, we huddled up and drank coffee and ate sandwiches.
    Woman Ascending
  • A short sunny start to a very long wet walk in this Northern tip of Snowdonia, starting at Rhaeadr Aber.
    GD001313.jpg
  • There was a torrent of water in the narrow river powering down the dark valley. The sound was just audible from a distance, but up close it was noisy and relentless, yet at the same time captivating, mesmerising even.<br />
<br />
I had seen the woman from the mountain ridge, swimming upriver from the valley below, like a salmon to its breeding ground. Every so often she was forced to stand, in order to navigate her way through the waterfalls that interspersed her ascent to the river’s source.<br />
<br />
By the time I reached the valley floor she had temporarily left the water to stretch her lean muscles after such a magnificent effort. The air was warm and her wet skin started to dry in the gentle breeze. When the midges began to surround her, she re-entered the river, squeezed her naked body through large black boulders and in a moment, had slipped into a deep pool. The last I saw of her was no more than an undulating flash of pale skin under the dark water and then she was gone.
    Drying Out in the Dark Valley
  • There was a torrent of water in the narrow river powering down the dark valley. The sound was just audible from a distance, but up close it was noisy and relentless, yet at the same time captivating, mesmerising even.<br />
<br />
I had seen the woman from the mountain ridge, swimming upriver from the valley below, like a salmon to its breeding ground. Every so often she was forced to stand, in order to navigate her way through the waterfalls that interspersed her ascent to the river’s source.<br />
<br />
By the time I reached the valley floor she had temporarily left the water to stretch her lean muscles after such a magnificent effort. The air was warm and her wet skin started to dry in the gentle breeze. When the midges began to surround her, she re-entered the river, squeezed her naked body through large black boulders and in a moment, had slipped into a deep pool. The last I saw of her was no more than an undulating flash of pale skin under the dark water and then she was gone.
    The Caress of Air & Water
  • The story goes that someone tried to drive his 4x4 across this vast lake bed, and was never seen again’ <br />
<br />
A hundred million years ago this huge basin in the Etosha National Park was a lake, fed by the Kunene River in Angola, but 16,000 years ago, due to tectonic plate movement the river was diverted West to the Atlantic and gradually the lake dried up leaving this vast lake bed. At 4800 km² this saltpan, the largest in Africa, can be seen from space.<br />
<br />
I’d wanted to see this surreal landscape for a long time, and surprising though it may seem to others, this appealed to me even more than seeing the wildlife in the park! There is this deep need within me to experience vast empty spaces; it’s all part of that humbling vulnerability that I seek. I wanted to feel minute, isolated and insignificant in every possible term. It was difficult of course with anyone else around but fortunately I had a sense of it with just Jani and her two cousins around. We drove out onto the lake (on an ‘official’ stick marked track) and stepped into the baking heat. There was simply nothing ahead of us, almost 50kms to the far side and almost 60 kms to the left and right – it was vast indeed.<br />
<br />
The earth was soft and crumbly rather than rock hard. I can imagine in rain it would get very soft indeed. I’ve read that in prolonged heavy rain the whole lake bed floods up to 10cm deep creating an incredible mirror –like surface which attracts thousands of migrating flamingos.
    GD002263.jpg
  • A hundred million years ago this huge basin in the Etosha National Park was a lake, fed by the Kunene River in Angola, but 16,000 years ago, due to tectonic plate movement the river was diverted West to the Atlantic and gradually the lake dried up leaving this vast lake bed. At 4800 km² this saltpan, the largest in Africa, can be seen from space.<br />
<br />
I’d wanted to see this surreal landscape for a long time, and surprising though it may seem to others, this appealed to me even more than seeing the wildlife in the park! There is this deep need within me to experience vast empty spaces; it’s all part of that humbling vulnerability that I seek. I wanted to feel minute, isolated and insignificant in every possible term. It was difficult of course with anyone else around but fortunately I had a sense of it with just Jani and her two cousins around. We drove out onto the lake (on an ‘official’ stick marked track) and stepped into the baking heat. There was simply nothing ahead of us, almost 50kms to the far side and almost 60 kms to the left and right – it was vast indeed.<br />
<br />
The earth was soft and crumbly rather than rock hard. I can imagine in rain it would get very soft indeed. I’ve read that in prolonged heavy rain the whole lake bed floods up to 10cm deep creating an incredible mirror –like surface which attracts thousands of migrating flamingos.
    GD002260.jpg
  • A hundred million years ago this huge basin in the Etosha National Park was a lake, fed by the Kunene River in Angola, but 16,000 years ago, due to tectonic plate movement the river was diverted West to the Atlantic and gradually the lake dried up leaving this vast lake bed. At 4800 km² this saltpan, the largest in Africa, can be seen from space.<br />
<br />
I’d wanted to see this surreal landscape for a long time, and surprising though it may seem to others, this appealed to me even more than seeing the wildlife in the park! There is this deep need within me to experience vast empty spaces; it’s all part of that humbling vulnerability that I seek. I wanted to feel minute, isolated and insignificant in every possible term. It was difficult of course with anyone else around but fortunately I had a sense of it with just Jani and her two cousins around. We drove out onto the lake (on an ‘official’ stick marked track) and stepped into the baking heat. There was simply nothing ahead of us, almost 50kms to the far side and almost 60 kms to the left and right – it was vast indeed.<br />
<br />
The earth was soft and crumbly rather than rock hard. I can imagine in rain it would get very soft indeed. I’ve read that in prolonged heavy rain the whole lake bed floods up to 10cm deep creating an incredible mirror –like surface which attracts thousands of migrating flamingos.
    GD002259.jpg
  • An old stone footbridge crosses the river Afon Gwynant, surrounded by small stunted trees. Very middle earth, the troll lives beneath the bridge.
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  • Alongside the wood, a small river flows down to the sea from the cascading waterfall of Y Graig Ddu. Through the often stunted and twisted trees at its edge, the old farm of Tŷ Uchaf can be seen, no longer inhabited, but still worked by a local farmer. The sudden downpour of light on the fields created a vivid separation between the open higher ground and the cold,dark,tight-packed mass of trees behind me.Ty Uchaf was like a Wuthering Heights to me, dark windows looking out over the valley and a sense of harshness and foreboding about running a farm in this remote isolated valley.
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  • This is one of the main roads into Southern Namibia, shortly after leaving the border control on the Orange River. We had passed an isolated garage and a few kms later an agriculturally based township, but then we went around a bend of an escarpment and over a hill, and were faced with this arid but incredible desert landscape. We drove for over an hour on this harsh dirt track, without seeing another car. There were no towns, no hamlets, no roadside stores, not even telegraph or electricity lines. It was barren. No animals to be seen, no birds of any sort and no signs of snakes or scorpions or in fact anything. Stepping outside the car I entered an oven of heat, into the 40ºs and surprising silence. The landscape was vast and I don’t think I’ve ever experienced such a huge, empty, lonely space - but I loved it, I enjoyed the vulnerability it created and the recognition that I was really, truly alive - as little else at that moment at least, seemed to be. <br />
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I knew I was going to enjoy this country.
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  • After an afternoon of clear blue skies and flat light, the sun finally started to descend towards the sea and as it did so it cast a golden light across the cooling landscape.<br />
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The water ran warm over my feet in the gurgling river that raced to the waters edge, but the virginal sand was almost cold to the touch.<br />
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A lone salmon-coloured cloud floated in a featureless sky, creating a sense of vast distance yet everything was perfect in their purpose.
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  • A tallship passes Crosby Beach into the Irish Sea, after leaving Liverpool on the river Mersey.
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  • A container ship passes Crosby Beach into the Irish Sea, after leaving Liverpool on the river Mersey.  Two sculptures by the artist Sir Antony Mark David Gormley, OBE look on, positined as they are for his landscape artwork, "Another Place"
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  • Fantastic caves, rock formations and sandy beaches located within Portimão’s harbour walls where the river Arade joins the Atlantic Ocean.at the coast at Praia do Pintadinho near Ferragudo, Algarve, Portugal.
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  • After two days in the melting heat on the Berg River, we headed south to Langebaan and drank cold wine in the shade of the trees at the National Park 19th Century headquarters. With a couple of hours before park closing time we headed across the lagoon and across vast white sand dunes to see the tumbling Atlantic waves on the exposed West Coast.<br />
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There was a beautifully refreshing cool salty breeze from the spray of crashing waves and there wasn’t a soul around. At the end of the road lay a long sandy beach, dotted with sea birds confused by the two human beings daring to set foot on their deserted beach!<br />
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It was surreal to recognise that these Westerly Atlantic waves are from the same ocean that batters the coast of the UK on another side of the planet. I felt very at home here and equally happy that I wasn’t. The ‘associations’ of home are strange, that no matter where you travel you sort of take elements of home with you.
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  • This was our first sight of the dust roads of Namibia, shortly after the border control. There is a township just to the left of this image, and many of the inhabitants seem to be working in the agricultural industries based along the lush banks of the Orange River. After this sudden appearance of sand dunes pushing up mountain sides, the dust road disappeared into vast uninhabited volcanic plains, and we hardly saw a car or person throughout several hours of desert driving.
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  • Loe Bar beach is a half mile shingle bank which separates the Loe, the largest natural fresh water lake in Cornwall, from the sea.  Loe Bar was originally the mouth of the River Cober which led to a harbour in Helston. However, by the 13th century the bar had cut Helston off from the sea and formed the pool. The combination of powerful waves, a steep slippery shingle bank and vicious currents make it a very dangerous stretch of beach.
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  • The sea was at summer temperatures, but a sharp cool wind raced offshore, cooling the wet skin rapidly. She had spent several hours in the water now, laying on her back in deep tidal pools, swimming in the ocean and now exhausted just enjoying the feelings of a river beneath her as it flowed from coastal valley to open sea. <br />
<br />
This woman studies the ocean and the creatures within, she knows about it and experiences it up close and intimately. She loves the ocean and of course as we all are back in time, she is from the ocean.
    From the Ocean
  • UNESCO World Heritage Site
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  • The superb rounded boulders created over thousands of years rolling around in this cove, were strangely and easily covered by shifting levels of grey sand. The gentle river tumbling down from the Cot Valley carved it's own niche, exposing once again the beautiful granite eggs.
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  • An amazing holed stone in a river on Dartmoor
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  • When the crowds have gone and the leagues of dog walkers have departed for tea, the beach releases its true magic. I’ve always been fascinated by the cleansing effect of an incoming tide. I love watching the mess of footprints disappear as a new virgin floor of sand smoothes its way up the beach in front of my eyes. It’s even better when evening pulls a dark blanket of silence over the noise pollution of the day.<br />
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I crouched almost at sand level, the tripod legs repeatedly covered by salty water and I enabled the fast motion of the rapid tide to move everything in the image other than the ancient rocks themselves. I walked back across the huge beach and up along the deep river in darkness. True harmony.
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Glyn Davies, Professional Photographer and Gallery

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