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  • I was under the weather. It was 7.30 in the morning and I was out in my van, driving on impulse and letting the will take me to wherever. <br />
<br />
I very rarely go near Llanberis these days even though I used to spend so much time climbing in the quarries. I could almost hear the clipping of karabiners as I basked in the healing warming sunshine. It was so peaceful. Wisps of cloud hung at the valley head and the morning light created a regression of tones from foreground to background, silloueting Dolbadarn Castle, a true castle of the Welsh princes. <br />
<br />
As a child Llanberis was a magical place, and the departure point for several walks up Snowdon with my Dad. The steam trains were always a gripping fascination, their historical looking enginesbelching steam as they prepared fpr the chug up the steep railway to Snowdon’s summit. <br />
<br />
Here today though, alone and thinkimg about my parents, and age, and my pwn past, Llanberis was as beautiful as ever, but so much of my vision was memories of what once was.
    GD002181.jpg
  • Surprisingly, with the beautiful Telford’s Suspension Bridge carrying dozens of morning commuters’ vehicles every minute, there was a peaceful serenity down here at the water's edge. I stood on the gritty shoreline and watched as the calm water silently rose up my boots towards my ankles, visible, discernible a creeping cleansing of everything in its path. <br />
<br />
Oystercatchers called from a nearby drowning mud flat after being disturbed from their slumber in the warm morning sunshine.  I could hear the sound of the tide as it surged past the huge arches stood steadfast in the Menai Strait. <br />
<br />
Intermittent puffs of smoke rose from the old waterside cottage, its timber panels faintly creaking as they warmed.  No one appeared at the windows and no one could be seen walking the bridge and even the dog walkers of the Belgian Prom seemed absent. There was a sense of tranquillity in this normally busy spot.
    GD002146.jpg
  • An eary morning mist over the tidal Menai Strait, shrouding the idyllic church and graveyard of St Tysilio Island, Anglesey. Menai Suspension Bridge (Welsh: Pont Grog y Borth) is a stone built Victorian suspension bridge between the island of Anglesey and Bangor and mainland of Wales. The 100ft high bridge was designed by Thomas Telford and completed in 1826. It stands proud of the small church island
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  • Early morning fog hovers over a rural Anglesey landscape and old church, between Talwrn and Pentraeth on the isle of Anglesey. As the sun rose the fog became mist and then gradually evaporated and disappeared.
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  • Looking through trees in early morning sunshine across a sparkly Menai Strait at the tiny island of Ynys Gorad Goch. At high tide the house, a non permanent residence, almost appears to float and is only accessible by boat
    GD001799.jpg
  • Early morning mist gardually disappears as the early morning sun hovers over a rural Anglesey landscape and old church, between Talwrn and Pentraeth on the isle of Anglesey. As the sun rose the fog became mist and then gradually evaporated and disappeared.
    GD001581.jpg
  • Thick morning fog envelops the Menai Suspension Bridge (Welsh: Pont Grog y Borth) which is a stone built Victorian suspension bridge between the island of Anglesey and Bangor and mainland of Wales. The 100ft high bridge was designed by Thomas Telford and completed in 1826.
    GD000037(4).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
  • Early morning at Beaumaris, Anglesey, with views over the Menai Strait towards the mountains of Snowdonia in the background.
    GD000589.jpg
  • Thick morning fog envelops the Menai Suspension Bridge (Welsh: Pont Grog y Borth) which is a stone built Victorian suspension bridge between the island of Anglesey and Bangor and mainland of Wales. The 100ft high bridge was designed by Thomas Telford and completed in 1826.
    GD000038-(1).jpg
  • Early morning fog hovers over a rural Anglesey landscape and old church, between Talwrn and Pentraeth on the isle of Anglesey. As the sun rose the fog became mist and then gradually evaporated and disappeared.
    GD001596.jpg
  • Utterly calm conditions over the Menai Strait, near Beaumaris on a warm Spring morning. The only obvious movement was the flight of waders and seagulls as they swooped over the mirror like surface of the sea. Indeed there was near silence apart from their calls to each other. The enormous limestone headland of the Great Orme almost looked like an island as soft mist obscured the low strip of land that connects it to mainland Wales. <br />
<br />
This was one of those mornings that fills me with positivity, physical warmth and hope for more glorious days in the summer ahead.
    GD002237
  • 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
  • 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
  • Small patches of nature even in a busy urban environment. My favourite bird, the Blackbird, was rustling around in the dry leaves inthe dark shadows, forraging for food. Warm morning sunshine heated the roof tiles and was a welcome relief to the chilly Northerly breeze.  Iwonder how long it would take for a city to look quite overgrown should people disappear and peace returns to the earth?
    GD002188.jpg
  • Bangor Pier looms through the early morning fog over the Menai Strait on Easter Day 2015.
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  • Bangor Pier looms through the early morning fog over the Menai Strait on Easter Day 2015.
    GD001802.jpg
  • Bangor Pier looms through the early morning fog over the Menai Strait on Easter Day 2015.
    GD001803.jpg
  • Thick morning fog envelops the Menai Suspension Bridge (Welsh: Pont Grog y Borth) which is a stone built Victorian suspension bridge between the island of Anglesey and Bangor and mainland of Wales. The 100ft high bridge was designed by Thomas Telford and completed in 1826.
    GD000039-(2).jpg
  • Thick morning fog envelops the Menai Suspension Bridge (Welsh: Pont Grog y Borth) which is a stone built Victorian suspension bridge between the island of Anglesey and Bangor and mainland of Wales. The 100ft high bridge was designed by Thomas Telford and completed in 1826.
    GD000040(3).jpg
  • As the early morning fog lifted, leaving a gentle mist, a lady quietly entered the sea and swam offshore, to a point where she just floated on her back and looked up at the day ahead.
    GD002524.jpg
  • Early morning fog hovers over a rural Anglesey landscape at Llanbedrgoch between Talwrn and Pentraeth on the isle of Anglesey. As the sun rose the fog became mist and then gradually evaporated and disappeared.
    GD001578.jpg
  • South Stack lighthouse on Holy Island, Anglesey, in morning light with sunshine and fluffy white clouds and a calm sea.
    GD001436.jpg
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  • Available in four sizes from 3 x A1 Editions, 5 x A2 Editions and unlimted A3 and A4 prints.
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  • A flock of birds were amongst the first signs of life as a new day began over the old town of Penzance in South West Cornwall. On the horizon a huge carrier ship sits in the bay. Increasing sunlight slowly increased the contrast on the calm sea beyond the old buildings of this busy working harbour
    GD001985.jpg
  • First light from the East over Penzance harbour in Mount's Bay, South West Cornwall.
    GD001976.jpg
  • It is hard to get a good angle on both these impressive buildings, especially in the right light, but this evening everything just seemed to fall into place. The warm dead bracken compliments the colours of this beautiful but now disused historic dovecot. With an original wishing well just up a footpath, this place is steeped in history.
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  • Sun rays over the Welsh mountains of Snowdonia with Bangor Victorian Pier in the foreground, jutting into the Menai Strait. Bangor is a University town and is now almost utterly dependent on the University for the city's economy.
    GD001741.jpg
  • Available in four sizes from 3 x A1 Editions, 5 x A2 Editions and unlimted A3 and A4 prints.
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  • Just after dawn at Penzance waterfront. In the slowly increasing half-light, I had watched a succession of early morning wild swimmers brave the calm Atlantic waters. They told me it certainly was cold, but the rush they got from the dip had remarkable benefits to their constitution and sense of vitality. They asked me to come down the next morning in my swimming trunks to try for myself.<br />
<br />
After bidding them good morning I wandered along the harbour wall. Looking towards the Lizard Peninsula in the distance, gentle sunlight broke through a band in the clouds and illuminated the smooth sea. As I watched the glow intensify I noticed a pod of dolphins swimming across the bay. Most of the time I could just see the curve of their backs but occasionally one of them would leave the water completely and in this image you can see just that, as gulls cried overhead. It was a rather magical and serene Sunday morning.
    GD002142.jpg
  • When every day is a ground hog day of generally dreary repetition, the only thing that ever gives me uplift is the light & the weather. One of the main reasons we bought our modest house was the panoramic view of the whole Snowdonia mountain range - we do have rooftops of houses in front of us but the mountains themselves are basically in clear sight. <br />
<br />
On this morning, a warm orange light was seeping under the bedroom door from the next room, so I jumped up to see what was happening. This frame was shot handheld through our bathroom window! It's not my sharpest image ever but I don't care, it just brings back such positive thoughts from that morning, and there few and far of them these days!
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  • Beginning of a new day at Afon Menai. Morning light splashes over the beautiful suspension bridge and the sleeping town of Menai Bridge. Always something wonderful about early morning and the promise of hope and things to come.
    GD002648.jpg
  • “An eary morning fog rolls in off the sea, shrouding the idyllic church and graveyard of Ynys St Tysilio, Anglesey.<br />
<br />
The 100 foot high Menai Suspension Bridge, completed in 1826 by Sir Thomas Telford, looms above the sea fog which burned off by mid-morning
    GD001751.jpg
  • Looking towards Fuerteventura from Playa Blanca on Lanzarote one calm morning in the Autumn of 2013 whilst Jani lay sleeping.
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  • Morning sunlight through a lush green leaf canopy of woodland trees alongside the Menai Strait on Anglesey, Wales.
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  • A fisherman, a seagull and a gig called Mermaid all share the calm open space of Mount’s Bay early one January morning. For three sets of indivuals who had all been working hard, there was a sense of serenity in this Atlantic bay.
    GD002121.jpg
  • I was fascinated by the gentle, minimal arrangement of the buoys below Bangor Pier but the two gulls suddenly coming into view in the morning fog, completed a wonderful oval arrangement.
    GD002769.jpg
  • What a FABULOUS morning!! Couldn't decide whether to swim or photograph, wetsuit or shorts, or even which bit of coast to visit, but after loads of procrastination I ended up in my wetsuit with my proper camera in a housing, floating around in the Menai Strait. The sun was procrastinating as much as I was, but in between HUGE slow moving clouds, brilliant bursts of sunshine illuminated the sea and its depths. Small Compass Jellyfish caused me no worry thanks to my wetsuit and my exposed hands and face were nicely warm even underwater - summer bliss!
    GD002767.jpg
  • We’d started out early that morning from Swakopmund, in thick fog, heading for the coast. When we arrived at our location there appeared a glow of light from the East and before long bursts of sunshine illuminated the beach, contrasting it against the dark fog behind. <br />
<br />
The air was chilly, even in the African summer, but the gentle waves of sunlight were a welcome warmth.  The roar of the waves on this exposed Atlantic coast was relentless but strangely familiar after many days in a heatwave in the Namibian desert.
    GD002267.jpg
  • Lockdown Day 4 <br />
Each morning I’ve watched the early morning sunshine slide over the neighbours wall and illuminate this post, highlighting it against the shadows of the paving slabs behind. It’s daft in a way but I just love the rounded cylinder of the post set amongst all the squares / diamonds.<br />
This morning I stood out there with my apple and suddenly decided to just place it in the shot - so not a pure find but it was a pure consideration. Hope you like it
    AOP-04-GD002466.jpg
  • Got up early this morning, melting overnight. Went out for some cool air in the thick sea fog. After about an hour the fog thinned and just a mist remained. At 9.08 am, just ahead of schedule, the Scillonian III slipped it's warps and gently steamed past St Michaels Mount on its 2 3/4 hr journey to St Mary's on the Isles of Scilly. <br />
<br />
Had several images from this morning that I really liked but just had to post this one first as two iconic subjects lined up. Even saw dolphins breaching this morning. Quite magical.
    GD002522.jpg
  • As dawn gave way to very early morning, the white sided Isles of Scilly steamship, the Scillonian III became visible against Penzance quayside last week. Interior cabin lights burned yellow against the cool blues of the morning light and there was silence as the world woke up
    GD001987.jpg
  • I was totally surprised. I rarely visit this beautiful location any more due to the sheer numbers of people heading there to photograph it 24 hours a day. <br />
<br />
With the thick fog of the morning, and it being a bank holiday I had little hope of grabbing a snap without a dozen others there already, but apart from the hamlet of camper vans parked there overnight, there was literally no one near the lighthouse. The early morning start this time had paid off. <br />
<br />
There were moments when I couldn’t see the lighthouse at all, and others when there was temporary clarity, but the pale limestone path formed a wonderful curving connection through the weight of the fog to the lighthouse itself. <br />
<br />
I hand-held all my shots here and escaped before the crowds appeared. I felt for a few brief moments that it was my place once again.
    GD002301.jpg
  • As dawn gave way to very early morning, the white sided Isles of Scilly steamship, the Scillonian III became visible against Penzance quayside last week. Interior cabin lights burned yellow against the cool blues of the morning light and there was silence as the world woke up
    GD001986.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 was totally surprised. I rarely visit this beautiful location any more due to the sheer numbers of people heading there to photograph it 24 hours a day. <br />
<br />
With the thick fog of the morning, and it being a bank holiday I had little hope of grabbing a snap without a dozen others there already, but apart from the hamlet of camper vans parked there overnight, there was literally no one near the lighthouse. The early morning start this time had paid off. <br />
<br />
There were moments when I couldn’t see the lighthouse at all, and others when there was temporary clarity, but the pale limestone path formed a wonderful curving connection through the weight of the fog to the lighthouse itself. <br />
<br />
I hand-held all my shots here and escaped before the crowds appeared. I felt for a few brief moments that it was my place once again.
    GD002300.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
  • Morning light over tiny waves in showery weather at Traeth Bychan beach, East Anglesey. A cloud shaped like a jumping figure hangs in the sky.
    GD001016.jpg
  • The wonderful sunlight of the morning was gradually disappearing - once scudding cloud shadows now dark sheets across the landscape - the cold winds now seemed bitter. As the weather front moved closer, last beams of direct sunlight illuminated isolated hills and peaks created a theatrically sculpted topography. Moel Cynghorion feels the last warmth as Tryfan stands imposing in the backgrpound shadows.
    GD002003.jpg
  • Early morning frost on the banks of the Menai Strait, Anglesey, with the beautiful Menai Suspension Bridge looming in the background, built and completed by Sir Thomas Telford in 1826. The stone circle is monumental rather than real.
    GD001767.jpg
  • The early morning sunshine cast an almost perfect shadow of one of the huge cog-wheels onto the nearby wall. It was fun to line up all three elements, linking shadows to reality. The visible shadow is a metaphor for so much of what one ‘feels’ at Y Nant; there is nothing ‘actually there’ but nevertheless we sense things and can sometimes even believe we are seeing things. The history, the topography, the remnants of what was, and the present landscape all blend together at Nant, and this blend for me at least is its ‘spirit’.
    GD000790bws.jpg
  • Coastguard cottages in gentle morning sunlight passing through thick fog at Trwyn Du. These houses are so grand for such a remote and exposed spot. A blackbird hopping along the wall was the only movement in this gentle Spring stillness and it's song the only sound balancing the melancholy 'dong' of the lighthouse bell.
    GD002303.jpg
  • Incredible early morning light in hidden coves in West Cornwall. The hard granite had been smoothed and rounded by a millenia of pounding by the force of the Atlantic Ocean which hits this coast full on.
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  • SUN28 Shot Up North Awards winning entry (2016)<br />
<br />
International Colour Awards 2015 - Nominee in "Nature" category<br />
<br />
“Early morning light passes through choppy Atlantic waves wrapping around me on this steeply shelving beach in South West Cornwall. It gives the impression of being underwater whilst the waves crash above the surface”<br />
.<br />
I’ve been back to this beach many times and haven’t been able to shoot anything like it again. I was completely alone on the beach and the sea was choppy and the waves powerful. This is the most amazing naturist beach I’ve ever been to in the world, so as is only right and correct, I was in my birthday suit as I took this!<br />
.<br />
I was using a heavy Canon 1DsMk3 and 100-400 mm lens to get this shot, nearly £7K of gear in the Atlantic ocean! What would have looked really crazy from the cliff-top was a little naked Jack-in-the-Box crouching down at the lowest point of a sand-cusp to shoot through huge waves as they rose in front of him, and then him standing up rapidly to keep the camera clear of the back-wash which went ribs-high trying to pull him back out to sea! This was one of my craziest shoots ever, but I am delighted with the result and yes this IS my all time favourite and I have No.1 of 10 hanging in my home.
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  • The views from Yr Eifl are spectacular at most times, but today was particularly dramatic and spacious. The huge fluffy clouds were racing up the coast over the tiny-looking villages of Trefor and Clynnog Fawr, and the morning sunshine cast distinct shadows down across a green-grey sea. They towered high above the land and dwarfed even the mountains. From my elevation, it gave an impression of flying, that ability to look down on the world below as if it were a map. When staying in Y Nant, surrounded on three sides by mountains, nestled amongst dark trees, the contrast between the escape of this nearby hilltop and the seclusion of the village was even more striking.
    GD000758.jpg
  • The Celtic Cross shaped memorial at the highest point of ChurchIsland stands proud, just, above the fog draped Menai Strait.Though the fog obscured much of the view, the extreme low tide revealed a landscape not often seen.<br />
<br />
On the way to work that Friday, I couldn't even see the end of our road for thick fog! As I had all my kit with me for a day's studio shooting, I drove via the bridges to see what atmospheric effects might be occurring. Whilst approaching the first lay-by, I saw a beautiful recessional tonal layering of tall trees disappearing into thick fog, almost top-lit by the weak early morning sun. However by the time I'd parked the van the fog has shifted and the recessional effect had reduced, so I walked right down to the edge of the Menai Strait to see whether either of the bridges would show through. This time I had the opposite problem where the fog was so thick I couldn't even see the field alongside me or more than 30 ft out onto the silent Strait. I trudged along a damp, muddy and waterlogged foreshore eventually meandering back up the misty fields to the road. Ironically, from this elevation, higher above the Strait, and with the sun starting to back-light the fog, I enjoyed several stunning variations of view from just a 200 yd stretch of road. The light, sunshine and fog were all dancing across the fast water when regrettably, I had to leave to open the gallery at 10.00 :-(
    GD000872.jpg
  • Morning sunshne over heavy winter snow, unusually, at Penmon Point, Eastern Anglesey. The imposing cottages of the lighthouse keepers watch over the Penmon Sound.
    GD000568.jpg
  • On the rapid outgoing tide, small woodland islands rejoin the mainland, small rapids forming as it does so. Early morning sunshine filters through the Autumn trees and sparkles off shallow temporary lagoons.
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  • An early morning shoot from the hills of Yr Eifl on North Wales most Western tip, the Lleyn Peninisula. The clouds were stormy looking and threatening rain, but the sunlight between showers was crisp and beautiful and sculptural.
    GD001438.jpg
  • An early morning shoot from the hills of Yr Eifl on North Wales most Western tip, the Lleyn Peninisula. The clouds were stormy looking and threatening rain, but the sunlight between showers was crisp and beautiful and sculptural.
    GD001437.jpg
  • "She was in that state between deep sleep and first opening of the eyes. She was resting in a remote cove and the early morning sunlight spilled over the headland and across her figure. Even for a mermaid the warm sunshine is always welcome and she could feel its life giving energy as she stirred"
    GD002159.jpg
  • "She was confused. She’d fallen into a deep sleep in a remote cove but as the morning sun broke over the shadowy headland she realised she was now in the open and clearly visible.<br />
.<br />
When she saw me huddled against the nearby rocks hiding from the biting Northerly wind, she froze and then scowled at me. She hadn’t been exposed to a man before but I talked reassuringly to her, and she soon came to understand that I posed no threat.<br />
.<br />
For maybe twenty minutes she alternated between swimming around the pool and pulling herself up onto the boulders to talk with me. She seemed to enjoy conversation. She loved her newfound confidence in being open in front of a man and she didn’t shy away as I asked her questions. I studied her as she studied me and we had an understanding of the fascination in each other.<br />
.<br />
As waves started crashing in on the advancing tide, she swam to the far end of the pool. She studied me intently one last time and with a flick of her powerful tail she leapt the rock barrier into the ocean and she was gone. I knew though that as our paths had now crossed, this wouldn’t be our only encounter with each other, and I was right"
    GD002141.jpg
  • South Stack lighthouse on Holy Island, Anglesey, as seen from the flying bridge of the Holyhead Lifeboat, RNLB Christopher Pearce.<br />
<br />
 I had to react quickly to changing compositions as this powerful vessel blasted us around the imposing cliffs of Ynys Lawd. <br />
<br />
The early morning sunshine was gorgeous but what made this picture for me was the single fluffy white cloud hovering above South Stack lighthouse. My elevation meant I could look down onto the deep green sea as well as up into the blue sky. An incredible experience.
    GD001431.jpg
  • The thick fog not only enveloped the beautiful Menai Strait, it also flowed deep into the woodland, separating trees and copses into delicate tonal patterns and textures, creating an almost rain-forest like appearance. <br />
<br />
On the way to work that Friday, I couldn't even see the end of our road for thick fog! As I had all my kit with me for a day's studio shooting, I drove via the bridges to see what atmospheric effects might be occurring. Whilst approaching the first lay-by, I saw a beautiful recessional tonal layering of tall trees disappearing into thick fog, almost top-lit by the weak early morning sun. However by the time I'd parked the van the fog has shifted and the recessional effect had reduced, so I walked right down to the edge of the Menai Strait to see whether either of the bridges would show through. This time I had the opposite problem where the fog was so thick I couldn't even see the field alongside me or more than 30 ft out onto the silent Strait. I trudged along a damp, muddy and waterlogged foreshore eventually meandering back up the misty fields to the road. Ironically, from this elevation, higher above the Strait, and with the sun starting to back-light the fog, I enjoyed several stunning variations of view from just a 200 yd stretch of road. The light, sunshine and fog were all dancing across the fast water when regrettably, I had to leave to open the gallery at 10.00 :-(
    GD000873.jpg
  • James Kirby - Singer Songwriter<br />
<br />
His EP Cover - "The Night is Young"<br />
<br />
Photographed in Menorca - Summer 2015<br />
<br />
www.jameskirbymusic.com
    James Kirby - EP Cover
  • The imposing granite rock mass of Kenidjack Tor looms out of the fog on a damp Autumn morning on the Cornish moorlands, from where you can normally see the Atlantic Ocean on three sides.
    GD001935.jpg
  • NOT FOR SALE<br />
<br />
The warm sun broke the dark shadows and threw lines of light to the pounding heads racing to reach the shore first. They were white, massive and magnificent. In fact although I have seen much, much bigger waves here at the Cape, I had never really 'studied' the faces through a long lens, actively followed the faces as they rose up and teetered at the top. I have always been in awe of the waves in surf magazines and would still die to sit in a viewing boat at Pipeline or Jaws but here I was in the early morning light of Cornwall, watching and listening to these magnificent beasts rear up and hurl themselves at the coast, the noise loud, continuous and unforgiving. I just wish I had an even longer lens as I wanted to shoot just the faces, not the crests or the pits, so I have very unusually cropped one image here just to show you why! I need something like a 200-400 VR lens but by all accounts they simply don't deliver on results but maybe for this sort of subject I would have found it more than acceptable, answers on a postcard please!
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  • Brilliant morning sunshine backlighting crashing waves at Porth Tyn Tywyn, West Anglesey, North Wales.
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  • This was taken after an early morning swim in the sea on a bitterly cold, mid-December day. Thick fog banks clung to the low-lying valleys of the island but also enveloped the coast. The sunshine was deceiving, as the air temperature was just 1º, but the light and atmosphere were surreal and beautiful.
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  • Winding my away along narrow rural lanes to get to the beach, the valleys full of icy fog, this elevated farmhouse was silhouetted by the morning sunrise which turned everything from a steely-blue to a warm orange hue. So often we'd walk, cycle or drive by scenes like this without batting an eyelid, but in atmospheric conditions like this, everything was mesmerisingly beautiful.
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  • Huge wake from the twin engines of a powerful Severn Class lifeboat as it powers back into Holyhead Harbour from the South Stack lighthouse on Holy Island, Anglesey, in morning light with sunshine and fluffy white clouds and a calm sea.
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  • She had travelled oceans and her body had ploughed through waves. She had baked in tropical sunshine and been whipped by Arctic winds. Enough was enough. She needed earth beneath her feet and the firmness of land for security. Under the cover of dusk she silently slipped from those she protected and headed for the cliff tops.  <br />
<br />
As they headed to sea on the morning tide, she could hear the calls of an unnerved crew hoisting sails. She felt guilty but her new journey was enchanting and she smiled secretly as the grasses blew around her ankles.
    The Missing
  • "She was in that state between deep sleep and first opening of the eyes. She was resting in a remote cove and the early morning sunlight spilled over the headland and across her figure. Even for a mermaid the warm sunshine is always welcome and she could feel its life giving energy as she stirred"
    GD002195.jpg
  • Nominated for 11th International B&W Spider Awards<br />
<br />
This young mother had never been up a mountain before let alone naked, but she showed such strength, in physique and character. Beneath her flesh you could see her muscles flexing and stretching; holding her steady; providing her with the balance and mobility she needed in this new adventure. As she climbed she felt the contrast between the early morning sunlight warming her back and, on her breasts, the coolness of the gentle breeze that swirled the clouds around the summit. She was on a mission and revelling in it.
    Pushing Limits
  • The boulders feel cool and smooth to the touch, pressing into his body, supporting his limbs. Formed over eons rather than decades, rounded and smoothed by the forces of nature, buried and then uncovered only to be further eroded. There is similarity between all of them, yet each holds characteristics of their own. He lies amongst them, at one with them and they feel familiar and comforting to him.<br />
<br />
Morning sunlight spills onto his naked body in this dark cove, warming his skin in contrast to the cold boulders beneath. He feels more alive than ever as he soaks up the heat. His chest rises and falls as he breathes. His fingertips gently touch the surrounding stones and he can feel an almost imperceptible change in their temperature too. He connects with geological time.
    Amongst Friends
  • More surreal moments in the thick fog of late. This was before work on a cold December morning. The Britannia Bridge was one minute complete, the next half missing as the vapour pulsed to and fro across the Afon Menai. A lonely gull leaves the islet of Ynys Gorad Goch, flying into nothingness
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  • 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 />
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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.
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  • Huge wake from the twin engines of a powerful Severn Class lifeboat as it powers back into Holyhead Harbour from the South Stack lighthouse on Holy Island, Anglesey, in morning light with sunshine and fluffy white clouds and a calm sea.
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  • 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!
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  • The cool morning fog had rolled in across the bay from the cold Atlantic currents and there was a chill in the air. The sea temperature was just 15º and although crystal clear azure water, it was only the brave few who ventured in. I’d be much happier being a Southern Right Whale in that ocean! <br />
<br />
Slowly the fog cleared and we ate lunch in scorching sunshine in a nearby cafe. One of many extremes in this fascinating country.
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  • We arrived at the wreck location, as always in Namibia miles from anywhere. It was a beautiful summer morning, the sand so hot you could not walk barefoot. The wind had furrowed the beach into long undulating ripples, and amongst the patterns lay this small remnant of a shipwreck. It was surreal, a vast tract of soft white sand punctured by shards of rusty broken hull. I loved the incongruity of it all.<br />
.<br />
I shot two frames before out of nowhere a dark Toyota Landcruiser appeared. They could see me photographing but that made no difference. It drove towards me, passengers hanging over the side of the truck, beers in hand, shouting and jeering at me. Their tyre tracks carved up the beautiful white sand surrounding the wreck, ending the shoot there and then. A huge 20 stone fat man sat in an armchair buckled into the rear of the truck; two fat kids and three muscle-bound rednecks pulled faces as their truck circled around to come and carve up even more of the scene I’d been photographing. These were not the sorts of people you’d want to engage with, so I just packed up my camera and without any gestures of annoyance, made my way back to our van.<br />
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Thankfully I’d grabbed this frame before the morons arrived but the strange beauty, the vivid sense of history in wilderness, had been ruined for me. Such a shame that wherever you go in the world, there always at least one sad individual ready to spoil thing for others.
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  • It was somewhat unnerving being isolated amongst the burning and sharp white sands of the dunes beside the Skeleton Coast. In the foreground you can see Jackal footprints but our guide, who remained in the van, says that he’s wild camped out here and one morning he opened the zip to his tent, to see a huge dark and menacing looking Hyena in the fog just beyond him.<br />
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In the silence I thought I’d be able to hear any approaching beast of the dunes but then I noticed my own footsteps were silent, so theirs definitely would be. I also noticed deeper, heavier set footprints across one of the dunes and I started to imagine that at any moment I’d go over a small hillock and see the beast staring up at me from the dip below. <br />
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As it happened I never saw any wild canines, but instead thoroughly enjoyed the surreal sense of being lost in the inhospitable white terrain all about me.
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  • Just the strangest early morning cloud formations over a tranquil Menai Strait at high tide. Above the darkness of the shadowed hillsides, clouds slowly changed shape and size,creating an incredible if slightly surreal skyscape. <br />
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It was like watching a vast charcoal drawing in the making by invisible hands.
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  • Very early morning fog surrounds the historical church and priory at Penmon. Two early birds catch the thermals as gentle sunshine warms the cool air.
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  • An apparition of the Archangel St Michael is said to have been witnessed by fisherman in 495 & by the 6th century it is thought that the Mount was a thriving religious centre. After the Norman Conquest, the abbey was granted to the Benedictine monks of Mont St Michel in France. The church on the island’s summit was built by the French Abbot, Bernard le Bec, and through the Middle Ages the Mount became a major pilgrimage destination. Four miracles, said to have happened here between 1262 and 1263 would have only added to its religious magnetism. The mount was later seized by Henry Eighth and turned into a royal owned fortress, with it's own garison. The bay was the landing site for the Spanish Armada. From here the first of many beacons were lit to notify mainland England and Sir Francis Drake. The castle and house are now owned by wealthy banker, Lord St Levan.
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  • Above me the canopy of an historic forest, leafy and green. Life sprouts from the twigs and branches of the old, twisted trees. In the humid, morning heat, midges were abundant, silently irritating - biting exposed flesh. Even with burning sunshine baking the treetops, the forest floor held shadows. It was silent apart from the gentle buzz of hoverflies and honeybees. <br />
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Between light and dark, coolness and heat stood a lithe young male, arching upwards and backwards, his own limbs mimicking the tree on which he tiptoed, blended, connected and in balance – with everything. He remained unbitten, unfazed and confident in his masculinity and strength. He moved away from me swiftly, gracefully, focussed on his search for Eve.
    Almost Eve
  • A year and a half on from my March Mist Series 2003, the Menai Suspension Bridge was once again shrouded in heavy mist. I was down at the water's edge at breakfast time and it was warm but quite eerie. The bridge occassionally disappeared into complete whiteness, but towards the end of the session a ghostly sun gently burnt through the mist, right in between the arch, and gave this wonderful mix of elemental conditions. Ten minutes later and the mist had evaporated to leave a gorgeous day.
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  • 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 />
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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 />
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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 />
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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 ! :-)
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  • Gigantic Atlantic storm waves crash over the reef at Cape Cornwall near St Just, backlit by early morning sunlight. The sound of the sea was deafening and relentless and my camera lens needed cleaning every few seconds, covered as it was by soft spray that blew over 100 ft into the air
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  • Beaumaris in Winter, on an early morning, tranquil, quiet, beautiful, COLD!
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  • What a FABULOUS morning!! Couldn't decide whether to swim or photograph, wetsuit or shorts, or even which bit of coast to visit, but after loads of procrastination I ended up in my wetsuit with my proper camera in a housing, floating around in the Menai Strait. The sun was procrastinating as much as I was, but in between HUGE slow moving clouds, brilliant bursts of sunshine illuminated the sea and its depths. Small Compass Jellyfish caused me no worry thanks to my wetsuit and my exposed hands and face were nicely warm even underwater - summer bliss!
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  • Garth Pier, Bangor, in brilliant morning sunshine over a high tide. A wind was howling up the Menai Strait but the sea also had a comforting calmness to it. Garth Pier which was 125 years old in 2021, was voted 2022 Pier of the Year.
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  • An HM Custom vessel puts out to sea early one winter's morning on the Menai Strait. In the foreground lie the remnants of the old lifeboat house slipway.
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Glyn Davies, Professional Photographer and Gallery

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