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  • Loving Connections” Sennen Cove, Cornwall (Jan 2016) - Fantastic light and wide open spaces on this huge white sand beach in South West Cornwall. I loved the rivulets from the surroundings hills, tumbling across the beach towards the open sea. We have been blessed this trip, with gorgeous light, warm temperatures and super company.
    GD001977.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
  • Three walkers at Llanddwyn Beach, a vast open sand dune backed sandy beach, stretching for miles at this West edge of Anglesey, and Caernarfon Bay. The Llyn Peninsula and Yr Eifl is seen in the distance.
    GD001238.jpg
  • A thousand + miles from anywhere, these volcanic islands in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean can create orographic rainclouds at any time of year. However, this plus the warmer climate gives rise to lush vegetaion and spectacular greenery and plant life. Flores means Flowers!
    GD000617.jpg
  • Sunlit Anglesey lane winding its way down to Beaumaris and the Menai Strait
    GD001277.jpg
  • Sunset over beautifully textured and patterned wet sand at low tide on Llanddwyn Beach.<br />
<br />
The gorgeous reflection of the evening sky in the long sand-pool was the main attraction for me
    GD001408.jpg
  • Sunset reflected in a large sand pool on this expansive West Anglesey beach at Aberffraw
    GD000490.jpg
  • A short afternoon walk turned into a beautiful evening, on a magical and deserted beach, full of warmth after a cold start
    GD001409.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
  • I’ve seen an increasing number of people, understandably reclaiming open beaches on the island. Months & months of lockdowns is destroying peoples minds so they are daring to drive a handful of miles to get to open space, to the beach for a lungful of fresh sea air and safe mental balance.<br />
.<br />
For too long this draconian, illogical & bad-science ‘local’ travel ban, has been hurting people. We are not prisoners. Most people I know are intelligent, educated and really care about keeping others safe, but walking on a local beach or hillside will categorically not spread a virus or hurt others. The virus has been spread most rapidly and obviously through the mixing of friends & families in their homes, and also by colleagues in close workplaces, NOT from the beach. <br />
.<br />
I fear that the long term effect of such ill-considered local travel bans will have created long term psychological damage for many people in society, especially for those who live for the outdoors & nature, who have chosen to spend their lives in often economically deprived areas for one reason only, to be closer to the great outdoors because they need it for their health and their peace of mind.
    GD002599.jpg
  • Nominee in Nude / B&W Spider Awards 2017<br />
<br />
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.
    GD002140.jpg
  • Faults within faults, shadows form in darkness. The nude woman gently tests her footing on the slippery rock at the base of the cave, gripping hard edges to steady herself as she moves further into the vast wet chamber. Over millennia the force of the sea has exposed, pummelled and forced open the soft veins of this ancient stone but amazingly, in what seems almost perpetual night, life clings to the ribbed surfaces far inside. Sounds of the day are muffled, save for the relentless roar of the waves at low tide. It’s cool in here and the woman shivers in the damp air, her skin and muscles taut, her senses heightened to the strange environment. <br />
<br />
In a moment she finds herself wading through a deep, smooth-bottomed pool and she inhales sharply as the water pushes between her open thighs. The water shallows and she feels painful hard pebbles and small boulders beneath her delicate feet. She is almost invisible now and only the crunching sound of the shingle reveals her location.  Then there is silence for a short while. As my eyes adjust, a gentle prick of light pierces the darkness beyond and gradually becomes more distinct. I now realise this is not just a cave it’s a tunnel. Across the small circle of light moves the slender silhouette of the woman and in a blink of the eye she was gone.
    The Dark Cave
  • On her stone pulpit in the middle of vast open moorland stood a proud woman, her long hair blowing in the wind. It was as if she were addressing a crowd but she held her hands before her, covering her womanhood. I loved the contradiction. She became aware that I was watching and so as not to to cause her any awkwardness I started to walk away. She glanced at me for a few moments, studying me, before turning her head back towards the dark clouds now sweeping in from the sea.
    Studied
  • At high tide this is a vast stretch of wind-chopped sea. Small flocks of oystercatchers and turnstones skim across its surface as they wait for the spoils of low water and terns screech in the open sky before plunging into schools of small fish.<br />
<br />
But now the estuary is empty, just acres of wet sand and silt remain. In the middle of this huge open space a woman lies recumbent in the afternoon sunshine. The last rivulets of brine silently flow past her beautiful wet body, every inch of her skin delicately textured with raised goosebumps. The sunlight and gentle breeze warmed her flesh and her salty skin became smooth.<br />
<br />
That evening on my return journey, the tide was high once again. A lonely curlew gave its distinctive call as it flew inland to nest, and in the darkening gloom of dusk I saw movement out on the water. I focussed hard on the smooth curves amongst the small waves, and I saw a dark tail appear above the surface before the shape disappeared altogether. I can only assume it was a seal.
    Revealed at Low Tide
  • 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
  • With just an hour or so to spare after a dreary day on Anglesey, I headed for the coast just for the heck of it, one of my usual haunts simply because it's vast, open and easy escapism. Having enjoyed some contemplative observation in the gentle gloom, I became aware that the ambient light had increased.  When I turned around the dunes were on fire, a blazing torch of orange light was burning over the Irish Sea and the the sky was fluxing from blue to pink. The fresh salty air was now blowing in my face and I felt liberated and ecstatic, for I also knew this momentary pleasure would be over in a flash.
    GD001189.jpg
  • It’s a strange feeling for me at Nant, the constant opposites of so many things. It may be, of course, that it’s just my way of seeing any place, but I knew that after the beautiful sunset had disappeared, I would have to find my way back across the rocky mountain top, pick my way really carefully through a dense and seriously dark pine wood before reaching the road. The village would be empty on my return and every window would be black, with open curtains. The warm and universal beauty of the sunset was always countered by the approach of the cold and the dark.
    GD000780.jpg
  • 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.
    GD000756.jpg
  • Jubilee Pool is an Art Deco lido on the Penzance promenade. Today was the last day open to swimmers before closure for winter. The sun sparkled on the water but a cool breeze blew in from the West, ruffling the pool surface and bringing with it grey threatening clouds. It’s always sad for me, the end of Summer.
    GD002104.jpg
  • Nominee in the 'Nature' category of the 2019, International 14th Black & White Spider Awards <br />
<br />
"In brilliant sunlight over a Cornish beach, the changing weather brought huge towering cumulonimbus clouds across the horizon. The rapidly changing and convecting clouds were accompanied by the operatic melodies of a Gilbert & Sullivan Opera, Ruddigore, being rehearsed at the nearby cliff top open air theatre - quite surreal !"
    GD001493.jpg
  • Nominated for 11th International B&W Spider Awards<br />
<br />
One of two fishing boats which have been left to deteriorate in the Dulas Estuary in East Anglesey. As the estuary is relatively well protected from the open sea, the wrecks have hardly moved in many years, but are very gradually looking more broken
    GD000713.jpg
  • Landerne Pier, (named after the twinned Brittany town of Landerneau ) just to the North of Doc Fictoria in Caernarfon was completed in 1993. It's frequented by anglers and occasionally is used by boats as a temporary tie up, waiting for the dock to open.<br />
<br />
In busy lives, it's strange that places or people that have been so much a part of our existence, become history quite quickly. Wandering along the Caernarfon waterfront, steeped in architectural & cultural heritage, my own history & memory of this place suddenly seemed so familiar
    GD002747.jpg
  • Landerne Pier, (named after the twinned Brittany town of Landerneau ) just to the North of Doc Fictoria in Caernarfon was completed in 1993. It's frequented by anglers and occasionally is used by boats as a temporary tie up, waiting for the dock to open.<br />
<br />
In busy lives, it's strange that places or people that have been so much a part of our existence, become history quite quickly. Wandering along the Caernarfon waterfront, steeped in architectural & cultural heritage, my own history & memory of this place suddenly seemed so familiar
    GD002746.jpg
  • The iconic and craggy peak of Tryfan, a hill walkers' mecca in the heart of Snowdonia, peaks it's irregular summit in the far distance, but to the right, deceptively looking even higher, is the huge rounded and open peak of Glyder Fawr. <br />
<br />
This was taken following a last minute decision to slog up Mynydd Mawr under inclement weather but it resulted in just the most fantastic hour of weather-watching from it's summit. I was utterly gripped by the continual theatrical change of light being played out across the Snowdonia hills. If it were not for my friend feeling frozen I would have braved another hour or so of just sitting and watching.
    GD001342.jpg
  • One of two fishing boats which have been left to deteriorate in the Dulas Estuary in East Anglesey. As the estuary is relatively well protected from the open sea, the wrecks have hardly moved in many years, but are very gradually looking more broken
    GD000746.jpg
  • At sunset, a standing wave, created where the 'Inland Sea' (a narrow strait of water separating Anglesey from Holy Island), connects with the open Irish Sea and the currents interact.
    GD000548.jpg
  • Derelict cottage sitting in open farmland near the tine cove of Porth Cwyfan at West Anglesey.
    GD000828.jpg
  • Yet, despite all, there was a surreal if melancholy beauty to the place. This once tourism-fronted seaside town, this once also busy quarry town that has seen better days, is topped by ancient standing stones and open windswept moorlands. The often-quiet hilltops offer solitude and spectacular views, Eryri behind, Anglesey and the Irish Sea in front, a sea quilted with colours and shadows from the vast skies above. I’ve stood at the Druid’s Circle, high on the flat peak and I’ve spoken to the stones, literally, for they listen without judgement and they hear you. I see figures in their form, and in the low wet mists when no one else is around, they will move in the vapour. Up here, high above the shadow-nestled town, it is expansive and liberating, bright even in cloud and with wings you could swoop over the darkness of Pen to the sunlit sea beyond, perhaps in Summer actually catching some warm sun rays which catch the huge sandy beach skirting this shadowy habitation.
    GD001709.jpg
  • ....."The tide was .............. high! Not high enough to drown the caves but high enough to eliminate sand patterns. Hmmm. The light at 6.30 ish was surprisingly bright and high in the sky so I didn't even get the contrast and colours I wanted. I decided instead to enjoy the spring warmth, watch the gentle wavelets and observe the rising tide. I wandered as far out around the headland as I could, scrambling over rocks until I found a fantastic cave, with light at the rear! I ducked down and entered the cave. I discovered another tunnel at 45º joining it at the back, effectively forming a giant torch. I was surprised at the both the intensity of the light, but also the warmth of the light when seen in isolation from the rest of the sky and open landscape. It was very theatrical......"
    GD000918.jpg
  • I always enjoyed being on the hilltops when staying at Y Nant. There is liberation and escape on the open hillsides. The views are spectacular and wide and you can see for miles in most directions. As we are on a peninsula here, the sea and sky dominate everything, even more than the mountains running down its length. The snows gave the whole area an even greater freshness and brilliance of light. Just being there was invigorating and life-enhancing, the wind blowing deeply into your lungs and chilling your face.
    GD000773.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
  • "I was off the beaten track amongst acres of dark, ancient trees. As is often the case in these environments, it's possible to 'sense' clearings in the forest simply by watching out for changes in illumination. These open windows burn with light from the skies above so I headed in that direction. She was lithe, sensuous and beautiful, basking on a lichen-covered rock. She luxuriated in the contrast between the cool stone beneath her arched back and the warmth of afternoon sunshine bathing her loins.<br />
<br />
She was alone in her own space, far from the multitudes, simply enjoying the wonder of the nature around her.  Nothing concerned her for she was the apex creature in this world. A Stonechat chirped in the distance and two Ravens called to each other in flight above. Tiny summer flies moved silently from shadows to light and the sound of bees collecting pollen, hummed in the still air.
    The Lioness
  • 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
  • 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
  • Unlike Ty Uchaf, the farm below, these quarry buildings high up on the hillside are filled with lush grass and are open to the skies. Although ruins, they seem clean and tidy, and their views are stunning and expansive. However, these buildings mark what was obviously a busy quarry level, with a steep railway incline and winch tower just to the east of these units.
    GD000793.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
  • 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
  • Nominated in 10th (2017) International Colour Awards (Fine Art category) <br />
<br />
Jubilee Pool is an Art Deco lido on the Penzance promenade. Today was the last day open to swimmers before closure for winter. The sun sparkled on the water but a cool breeze blew in from the West, ruffling the pool surface and bringing with it grey threatening clouds. It’s always sad for me, the end of Summer.
    GD002105.jpg
  • I have always been fascinated by huge stretches of beach, open to the full force of the ocean and prevailing winds, that sense of escape, the distant horizon, the idea of travel and voyage, and also being at the edge of two worlds, the one we survive on and the one we are simply not designed to be in, the sea! The board-walks that sometimes spring up on these beaches have always intrigued me, that facilitation to freedom, the path to stand on the edge of the unknown. I love the way that winter storms often shift beaches and wash away our puny efforts, but I also like the empathy about the need to be on the edge, which for some can only happen through the use of these devices. The hole which has appeared in these huge timbers speaks about this process.
    GD001316.jpg
  • GD002482.jpg
  • This was my first trip to the States and almost everything about it reminded me of movies I’ve seen and picture books I’ve looked through over the years. It felt quite unlike others places I’ve been to in the world, not so much because of the landscape itself, but the way in which humans have tried to utilise the landscape and overcome living in such vast open lands. I was fascinated by sudden appearance of man made objects in the middle of grassland desert that stretched for thousands of acres.
    GD002423.jpg
  • The huge open desert becomes a blank canvas for Daliesque surrealism when incongrous objects suddenly appear out of nowhere. There was noyhing behind me and nothing beyond except for distant hills. <br />
<br />
To come across this derelict house, alongside a railway that stretches as far as the eye can see and on which we never saw a train, really did make us question ‘why’ and ‘who would have lived there’. Genuinely surreal and a taste of things to come in the deserted mining town miles ahead.
    GD002284.jpg
  • GD001740.jpg
  • There was a sense of waiting in Cornwall, of anticipation, of hope. We found it surprisngly quiet for a lovely sunny day in June, that there were so few people around. The cafes were busy enough but the shops though open for business, were near deserted. Even the beaches were relatively empty. The difference between post-lockdown 20 and post-lockdown 21 is quite marked. It's been a long haul and the excitement after lockdown 1 seemed no longer felt.
    GD002655.jpg
  • Just south of The Three Sisters volcanoes in Western Albuquerque, looking towards the huge Sandia Mountain range of New Mexico. There is so little water in this state, therefore agriculture and arable farming is near impossible, but grasslands seem to abound on the vast open plains. Rattlesnakes however, are quite common, and I was extremely cautious about wandering into these grasslands to find the best foreground for pictures!
    GD002421.jpg
  • Nominated for 11th International B&W Spider Awards<br />
<br />
Innocence in a dark world where being nude outdoors is seen as sinful. That fact that she was conceived by two naked people; born into the world naked, from her mother’s naked body seemed not to have a bearing on her freedom to enjoy this most natural state. As a young child she would run carefree on the open beach, delighting in not having to wear clothes. She saw other children happily playing naked there, equally without sin - just joyful, smiling and friendly - all enjoying an intimate natural connection to the amazing world that they had been introduced to.<br />
<br />
But as her body developed and her breasts grew, she was expected to cover up. The world now saw immorality in her naked maturity; her nudity became frowned upon; people couldn’t bear to acknowledge her new sexuality or even gaze upon her natural form, fearful of their own sexual confusion and self-control. Her beautiful body must always be covered up, never revealed to others. The incredible and life affirming experience of being naked outdoors had become dirty and immoral – both her body and her real character were now hidden.<br />
<br />
Up here on a hillside however, a bright light appeared, slowly burning through the heavy clouds and she found herself nude. She felt the short grass beneath her feet and gentle sunshine on her back as she stretched her naked body once more, revealing herself completely to the earth, the sky and the elements. She stood on tiptoes, aching to be lifted upwards. She wanted to show the world that she was still alive, still innocent, even in her naked form. There was a discernible aura around this woman and I sensed her natural existence had just been spiritually validated.
    The Revelation
  • I really was IN this maritime play as powerful sets rolled in from the Atlantic. Just around the corner from these cliffs nestles the awesome and atmospheric open air theatre of The Minack. Here, audiences sit on stone seats hewn into the granite cliff to watch performances with the ocean as a background sound.
    GD002826.jpg
  • 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
  • Narrow rural Anglesey lane, sided by low walls and open countryside on either side. The hedgerows are rich and varied with vegtation and flora.
    GD001304.jpg
  • In the darkness there’s always that hope that small moments of light, entertain and delight us.
    GD002528.jpg
  • It was a surreal surprise to find a ram’s skull staring at us from the apex of a derelict tin mining power house. This area is littered with the remains of an historical tin mining industry; exploration shafts now just lush grass-covered conical depressions in the wet moorland. Once a noisy hive of activity and ore crushing, but now just the sounds of the wind through gaps in the walls. Likewise the bleating of sheep still echo across the open landscape, but this poor soul has long past, the bone bleached and dripping with hill fog. It’s strange but there is such peace now on the moors and even the saturating low cloud creates a sense of calm not panic, silence not noise. I felt a deep connection with history and the spirit of the place. Dartmoor is minimal and mesmerising.
    GD002324.jpg
  • Winner - Honourable Mention in 10th (2017) International Colour Awards (Architecture category)<br />
<br />
Multiple bay windows in the main street of Valletta, Malta.
    GD000603.jpg
  • There is a stark loneliness at this far-flung crag even in summer. The woman had been silently climbing the rocky crag to reach its flat top, where she crouched down to look around her. The slow turn of her head was the only movement in this still landscape but then she arose, her slender body illuminated by a ray of late afternoon sunshine. She turned to the light and stood on tiptoes before shouting into the breeze, “I can’t believe this! I’m alone on a mountain and I am completely NAKED! This is AMAZING!” She slowly rotated on her stone platform so that she could feel the warmth over every inch of her body and she revelled in the sensual experience of sun-warmed air flowing over her womanhood. She felt natural; she felt the rock; she loved the liberation and the open space. She was at one with the mountains.
    She Saw the Light
  • If I knew I was dying, this would be an ideal place to go. On a grassy terrace high above the beach, looking South West over the Irish Sea, it brought back memories from so many places I’ve lived and visited, from Cornwall to the Azores, Scotland to the Canaries. The huge cliffs, steep drops and open expanse of the ocean would be a fitting place to finally close my eyes for the last time. I can only hope the poor sheep took similar uplifting thoughts with her!<br />
<br />
A sheep skeleton lying on grass in bright afternoon Winter sunshine and rain showers over the Irish Sea and a rocky hillside on the hill top  above Nant Gwrtheyrn valley on the Northern Coast of the Llyn Peninsula, North Wales<br />
<br />
From my book Nant Gwrtheyrn - Y Swyngyfaredd (The Enchantment)<br />
<br />
This book is available for purchase here on www.glyndavies.com
    GD000709.jpg
  • Trearddur Bay is growing on me, each timer I visit. I still struggle with the mish mash of sometimes ugly architecture dotting every patch of land, but the light, the petrified forest, the open space of the beach, the reliable surf - there are somethings that transcend the temporary human urbanity.
    GD002831.jpg
  • As the weeks passed, the crowds disappeared, and by the last day of Autumn the beach was empty.<br />
<br />
Gentle but cold Northerly winds blew across the vast open sands and the only sounds she could hear were the crashing waves and the shrill call of an Oystercatcher across the sea. <br />
<br />
The water was cold now, and her memories of basking naked with friends in the summer heat seemed an eternity away from her lonely ponder along the shore today …. And yet, her need for the ocean, to feel the sand beneath her feet and the breeze in her hair remained a yearning within her, a place for her soul to feel connected to the planet. She was grinning despite the transition to winter.
    Winter's Coming
  • Nominee in 14th (2021) International Colour Awards (Abstract category)<br />
<br />
One of 3 of my winning entries in the 2012 AOP OPEN Awards<br />
<br />
A beautifully soft and rounded mountain landscape, grass-covered and sensual. Amidst this gently blowing softness, hard, prominent man-made walls graphically divided the landscape. There was warmth today, not to the bare human skin but to the heart and soul.
    GD001163.jpg
  • The simple act of walking a long a beach, the salt spray on your face and fresh sea air in your lungs, must never ever be taken for granted. For some it's one of the main reasons for living.
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  • Narrow rural Anglesey lane, sided by low walls and open countryside on either side. The hedgerows are rich and varied with vegtation and flora.
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  • Lockdown Day 4 <br />
<br />
I can’t swim in this little pool as it’s just too small, yet it is my oasis. Today I just ducked under the surface and like a goldfish in a bowl, I studied my sunlight-dappled perimeter and worked my way around in circles.<br />
As I left the water, the breeze chilled my body and the roar of the ocean down the road made me feel as if I was on a beach. Oh to be swimming in open water again this summer maybe?<br />
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  • Only available as A4 and A3 open prints, and also A2 Limited Editions
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  • Most of my images have featured the individual in relation to their natural environment, but this most recent image contains three nude figures, creating a narrative (or narratives) which should be open to interpretation by different viewers. <br />
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For me as the artist I was fascinated by these naturally occurring caves in huge sea cliffs, caves which really look as though they are dwellings not geological formations. In the early evening sunlight, naked, vulnerable human beings emerge from the caves and revel in the heat of the sunlight and the warmth of the rock of their environment. It was as if I were watching a wildlife programme whilst observing my naked volunteers in this imposing cliff landscape. I like that the rock separates each of the figures, so that they'd be almost unaware of each other, but in the lower caves a man and a woman make a loving connection albeit fragile, whilst in the higher cave a lone female looks towards the light and companionship.
    Scene at the Bare Caves
  • International MONO Awards 2014 - Honourable Mention <br />
<br />
No one could see her, and she could see no one. Fog shrouded the open hilltop, soaking the grass and the heather. She relished the feeling of the cool vapour circling her body and she noticed only the gentle light from above.<br />
<br />
Invisible within her elemental cloak of privacy, she felt an overwhelming sense of abandonment, a freedom to be herself. She wanted to dance naked and call into the void. At first she stretched, slowly and tentatively but the energy inside was bursting.<br />
<br />
She extended herself to the limit, her fingertips measuring the breeze. She gracefully twisted her torso clockwise then anticlockwise and then leant backwards as far as she could, enjoying the sensation of her flexing muscles, supportive and strong.<br />
<br />
She gently rose onto tiptoes and in a moment of euphoric liberation, sprang into the air, kicking out her feet and screamed into the weather. She felt more alive than ever.
    Mist Opportunity
  • 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
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  • I’ve found it fascinating, the small colonies of limpets clinging to the smooth boulder surface, awaiting the next battering from the open Irish Sea, yet they seem resolute, at one with the stone, protected by it, security against all odds. The parallel with the Island of 20,000 saints, Ynys Enlli, in the far right distance, was to me quite profound
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  • Honourable Mention in the 'Fine Art' category of the 2019, International 14th Black & White Spider Awards<br />
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So strange and funny, to see the One Way road sign directing cars to the open Atlantic Ocean. I love crazy juxtapositions like this.
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  • From a lofty hilltop two hundred or more feet above the sea at North Anglesey, we could smell the sea air. Wave crests were breaking into spindrift and salty spray was funnelled up gullies in the cliffs below to fill our lungs with ocean gale.<br />
<br />
The clouds were changing by the second as they raced overhead, casting wonderfully animated shadows of strange figures on the sea below. Apart from the solid headland of Holyhead Mountain in the distance, the only other constant was the brilliant intensity of spring sunshine, shimmering on the millions of waves fetching across the bay. This was real exposure to the elements and from this high up, standing right at the cliff edge, it felt as though we were flying, carried by thermals almost literally lifting us off our feet.<br />
<br />
On the horizon a ferry noses out of Holyhead Harbour, beginning its three hour voyage upon choppy open waters to Southern Ireland seventy three miles away. I'm with my brother who I haven't walked with for many years, but we used to climb together, sail together and drink together; near inseparable until our late twenties. As we continued our cliff-top ramble, both clutching our walking poles and grumbling about the state of our threadbare knee joints, I realised that the only thing as eternal as the movement of wind, waves and tide, was the love between us brothers, all of us brothers. Although our separate lives are racing by faster than we would like, and that we will become just someone else's memories, these beautiful, wild, universal elements will be there for an eternity, bringing similar humbling joy to others in the future.
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  • Beyond the vast open landscape, bathed in low winter sunshine, snowclouds dropped their delicate loads over the Strait and Welsh mountains.
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  • It was so strange, but in the whiteout the only structure that stood out on these open, snowy mountain-tops was this long dry stone wall with a stile. When you peaked over the top there was literally nothing else to see, just snow and no horizon, no view at all, unless white fog is a view anyway. I started smiling about its ambiguity in these surreal conditions.
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  • This ward was not used to having to wear full PPE, but due to the Coronavirus Pandemic they suddenly fouynd themselves having to wear full PPE as if on the ITU Wards.  It was poignant the missing mask, and although this nurse was perfecty fine, so many NHS colleagues have lost their lives to Covid19 in the care of others. <br />
<br />
From my exhibition series for  BetsiCadwaladr via @BetsiResearch<br />
The brief was NOT frontline action, but the way hospitals & staff have adapted to cope with the crisis, from PPE to social distancing & also those vital behind the frontline workers essential throughout the crisis to support frontline NHS staff. <br />
A selection of my images will be printed by me to form a small touring exhibition open to the public later in the year hopefully. In the meantime, there will be an online gallery showing a larger range of the images I've taken.
    The-Missing.jpg
  • I do love silence, well, silence from human noise at least. This evening was so quiet that I could hear the almost imperceptible sound of the rising tide creeping up the shoreline, spilling into tiny ripples in the sand banks and flooding into small sand pools. As often here on the Afon Menai, I could hear the isolated sounds of two waders, a solitary Oystercatcher flitting over the surface of the strait, and a Curlew feeding on the rapidly disappearing shoreline.<br />
.<br />
It was yet another dull summer day, wind, rain and eventually a heavy, deadening mizzle, and yet there was also a delicate beauty about the subtly changing scene. The grey sky-blanket wasn't really solid, but an ever-morphing backdrop of monochromatic tones, more like a vaporous dance of silks on a washing line.<br />
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Once again I sheltered under a huge brolly, a dark, warm cove of protection from the elements racing in from the open sea to the West. The landscape became a view, separated from me until I lowered the brolly and felt the full effect of wind-blown rain on my face, smacking me back to reality. It was hard to believe such a pastel scene could exist within the wintry elements all about.
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  • Generally we didn’t see much in the way of large wildlife as we travelled across the high open roads of Namibia, sometimes Ostrich, sometimes Baboons but here on the Skeleton Coast not much at all.<br />
<br />
As we watched volcanic hills to the right and acres of white sand dunes to the left, slip past us as we motored North along the baking-hot salt roads, I was quite taken aback to see a sudden movement off to our right. There were two Black-backed Jackals, one scampering about, skittish even, but the other almost motionless. We pulled the van over and waited a few moments to see if they’d be bothered by us, but nothing changed. I very gently stepped out of the van and lay on the burning ground so that I could steady the telephoto lens and also include some of the background hills.<br />
Although the active one immediately moved away after I exited the vehicle the other was clearly eating something and confidently remained in place. I was surprised that he’d found anything to eat in the deserted arid landscape, but knowing that they’d even eat spiders an scorpions I suddenly started worrying about what I was lying on! I couldn’t help but see them just as a dog, like a small Alsatian, and I had this urge to call it over and give it a stroke! No chance however, for as soon as I started to move from prone position, it began to walk slowly away. As I lifted the camera to take another pic it shifted further away again. It was clear my Doctor Doolittle dream was just that as soon they were just dots on the dusty horizon.
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  • It may sound daft, but I was as fascinated by the unending miles of open dust road as I was with the incredible volcanic desert landscape. <br />
<br />
I’ve never been anywhere else in the world (yet) where I can drive for hundreds of kilometres on dust roads without seeing a car for hours. In one way it was a little freaky, for if you break down it could well be a LONG wait in 45º of sweltering heat before anyone might come by and help you, but equally, that same sense of isolation and vulnerability is what made the journey so adventurous and awesome.
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  • Nominee in 14th (2021) International Colour Awards (Abstract category)<br />
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One of 3 of my winning entries in the 2012 AOP OPEN Awards<br />
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A beautifully soft and rounded mountain landscape, grass-covered and sensual. Amidst this gently blowing softness, hard, prominent man-made walls graphically divided the landscape. There was warmth today, not to the bare human skin but to the heart and soul.
    GD001163.jpg
  • June 2020. Absolutely deserted beach and the mesmerising lure of crystal clear water and open sea. With the world full of virus this short moment of feet in water and and the gentle sound of lapping ripples against thr rocks, was pure medicine, a mental cure.
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  • Another of those awful, dreary, wet grey days with hours and hours of rain, then suddenly at the end of the day, a gentle orange glow built on the horizon, a sign of magic for distant strangers.  We stuck it in a high gear and made for the brightening sky, sunshine gradually warming the interior of the van through the salt-smeared windscreen. <br />
<br />
On arrival, the wind was really strong and the sand was lifting and blowing across the beach. I headed for the shoreline where the breeze tried to do the same with sheet water. The sand was soaking and it reflected the scudding painted clouds on its surface. This was  another of my open-air theatre moments were scenes were changing by the second. I watched it until my feet sank and the sun disappeared, leaving nothing but happiness in the dark.
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  • After a disheartening post-lockdown open-day at the gallery, when not one customer came in, I happily closed the door and after a big hug from Jani before she started her latest ITU shift, I decided to go for a last minute walk into the hills. <br />
<br />
I was literally alone on the hill and the light was promisingly dramatic. I reached the summit and started shooting some frames as the light changed by the minute. It was just before sundown when I heard voices and the first of two young couples arrived. There followed a short performance of selfie taking by both couples - on the style, over the style, against the sunset, away from the sunset, on the wall, off the wall, close up shots, distant shots, but I didn't see these couples just sitting (or standing) and just quietly absorbing the absolute beauty of the world around them. <br />
<br />
It was genuinely great to see young loving couples out in the big landscape, it can be such a romantic activity for lovers, but it would be nice to think they loved the natural beauty of the light, land and sounds of nature, as much as the selfie taking. I know this is sign of the times here, and perhaps I'm just too old school!
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  • 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.
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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 />
<br />
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 />
<br />
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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  • "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"
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  • At first I didn’t even know it was there, but as I stood on the dark wet reef in the lee of bad weather, an apparition appeared in the sea before me.<br />
<br />
As the tide began to drop, an underwater world was slowly revealed. The volume of water flowing backwards over the structure created a loud sucking sound above the crashing of the waves on the rocks. Trying to maintain my balance on the slippery rocks, a weird sensation developed inside me, that I was in fact being enticed towards the circular portal opening at the edge of the ocean.
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  • Radio City Tower (also known as St. John's Beacon) is a radio and observation tower in Liverpool, England, built in 1969 and opened by Queen Elizabeth II. It was designed by James A. Roberts Associates in Birmingham. It is 138 metres (452 ft) tall, and is the second tallest free-standing building in Liverpool and the 32nd tallest in the United Kingdom. When considering the height of the building, however, it has a 10m long antenna on the roof, making it the highest structure in Liverpool.<br />
<br />
Near the top of the tower was a revolving restaurant, the facade and floor of the restaurant revolving as one unit, while the roof of the restaurant was used as an observation platform for visitors. There are 558 stairs up to the top, and two lift shafts which reach the top in 30 seconds.
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  • This vent is the opening for super hot gases from the volcanic magma just two miles below the surface. Mud faces appear through the sulphur smelling steam on the wall opposite.
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  • In stark contrast to the dark limbs of the tree behind, a mother lays in warm sunshine between shadows of death either side of her. As the earth turns, the shadows slowly move and touch her nakedness but she isn’t perturbed. She is basking in life and she sensuously stretches her body, twisting and turning her torso to match the patterns of light and dark, to savour the sensation of heat against cold, but also to feel the grass and leaves rubbing against her as she does so. This is a mother who conceived her child in the woodland and gave birth in this very clearing, opening her legs, enabling her child to breathe the pure air of this intense new environment, where life and death are natural partners, a wonderful and calm microcosm of the bigger world beyond.
    Life in Dark Shadows
  • It’s been 50 years since the original ‘tubular’ railway bridge burned down, so this year there has been much talk about this iconic piece of civil engineering, designed by Robert Stephenson and opened in 1850. <br />
<br />
When you stand under the bridge today, looking up at the gigantic steel arches, it’s shocking to realise just how much change occurred during the post-fire rebuilding. These steel arches never existed before. The concrete decks that now hold a highway, were not there before. The original wrought iron tubes are no longer there. The only original structures are the towers themselves. And yet whenever I think of this bridge I still imagine it’s been there forever.
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  • Last minute blast for a walk and some snaps after yet another dreary June day. Hints of sunshine broke through blankets of mountain cloud so we went for a coastal walk along the Strait. The clouds opened more and more and pools of sunlight illuminated the hillsides. For just a brief moment, literally seconds, the sunset flood lit Castell Penrhyn in the foreground. The castle was built by Lord Penrhyn, from the profits of the slate industry. Impoverished slate quarry workers worked in horrendous, dangerous conditions to facilitate this.<br />
<br />
UNESCO World Heritage Site
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  • UNESCO World Heritage Site<br />
<br />
No this isn’t filtered, this was shot in torrential rain that was back-lit by intense evening sunshine setting over the Irish Sea. I’d been checking out the climbing routes in the Dinorwic Quarries, waiting for the sun to come out from banks of heavy cloud, when I noticed a glow on the crags behind me. I rounded the corner and the sky was on fire. A first few drops of rain dappled the slate slabs around me so I hurried to the edge of the levels and rapidly set up my camera before the heavens opened up on top of me. I grabbed perhaps 10 frames in total as the sheets of rain moved across the hillsides. I also saw and managed to grab a shot of a most glorious rainbow behind me.
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  • The most incredible skies just before torrential rain on a deserted beach. I had my brolly at the ready and continued to shoot even as the rain started. Love being immersed in nature ike this.
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  • "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
  • Lost in a dark and very ancient valley, a man gives up hope, wandering barefoot and directionless. He leans back against a tree, his head in his hands and he doesn’t see the trunk bend to accommodate him, to ease the pain, to cradle him. He doesn’t see the hawk like face in the stone of the stream behind him, opening her eyes, aware that another creature had spiritually connected. The dark hills crowd around but he doesn’t realise that they are buffering the cold wind. The grass is short and soft and he is hardly aware of the warm carpet it has provided. He remains curled as the gurgle of trickling water in the brook pacifies him. A blackbird sings a melody in nearby woodland before a silent dark blanket gently pulls overhead. By dusk he finds peace and a sense of direction. He stands up, walks tall and purposefully and is suddenly acutely aware that he’s been comforted by nature, at one with the earth and in his natural element.
    Comforted by Nature
  • In the approaching dark of heavy rain clouds and a biting cold wind, the beautiful and enticing ridge-walk from Pen yr Helgi Du received an unexpected burst of sunlight along its length.<br />
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We debated all the way to its steep northern ascent, but then the heavens opened and we realised we had been very wise to ignore the siren’s call as we headed down to the dark lake in torrential, skin-soaking rain. Even the Gore-Tex rainwear failed in these conditions and we still only just made the van before complete darkness.<br />
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What has always struck me when looking at this photograph, is just how skin-like the hillside appears, like the hide of a huge animal. When you think of just how thin the ‘living surface’ above mountains of solid rock actually is then, effectively, it is just a ‘skin’ which will be affected by the weather and which will change appearance and colour constantly over time.
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  • Opened 16 September 1912 the ‘Lime Street Picture House’ was a very upmarket city centre cinema, with a Georgian styled facade & a French Renaissance interior. The grand entrance foyer had a black & white square tiled floor and the walls were of Sicilian marble. It housed a luxurious cafe on the 1st floor and the auditorium was designed to have the effect of a live theatre with an abundance of architectural features, embellished by plaster mouldings. It provided seating for 1029 patrons. The cinema also boasted a full orchestra to accompany the silent films.<br />
<br />
On 14 August 1916, it was renamed  ‘City Picture House’ due to another cinema opening in Clayton Square called ‘Liverpool Picture House’. In October 1920 a new company was formed ‘Futurist (Liverpool) LTD’ to purchase the cinema and the two shops for £167,000.<br />
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The era of silent films ended in 1929 at the Futurist and new ‘Western Electric Talking Equipment’ was installed. By the 1930s cinemas were popping up everywhere which affected The Futurist’s business and resulted in the cinema showing second runs of leading films.
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  • 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.
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Glyn Davies, Professional Photographer and Gallery

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