Show Navigation

Search Results

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

Loading ()...

  • Morning swim at Porthleven beach out onto the reef beneath the town quay. There was hardly a drop of wind and the sea was warm and inviting. That said, the waves pushing me across the barnacled reef was sometimes unnerving, but seeing images like this was compulsive regardless.
    GD002828.jpg
  • Morning snorkel around Porthleven beach and onto the reef beneath the town quay. Minutes earlier a huge seal slowly swam past, disinterested in me but focussed on the fish that sheltered in the gullies of the reef.
    GD002829.jpg
  • This large reef formed the base of huge sand-dune headlands at East Cinsta in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. I’m no geologist sadly, but the reef appeared to be a mix of sandstone and other sedimentary rocks. I cannot work out how these amazing and quite surreal rock baths were formed. At low tide these 2-5ft raised ‘baths’ were revealed. I’m guessing the sides are a harder rock than the surrounding material, but I can’t work out how the erosion took place to leave the pools. on other stretches of the reef, dark nodules of rock (from 2-7”) appeared as if loose stones scattered on the surface, but in fact were solidly attached to the reef itself.<br />
.<br />
I do wish I’d studied geology a lot further than A-level geography!
    GD002353.jpg
  • Storm waves crash onto the reef just 1 mile West of Land's End, the most South Westerly point of Cornwall and indeed the British Isles. This large and treacherous Longships reef is marked by the 35meter high "Longships Lighthouse" (1795) who's light reaches 15 nautical miles.
    GD001766.jpg
  • Storm waves crash onto the reef just 1 mile West of Land's End, the most South Westerly point of Cornwall and indeed the British Isles. This large and treacherous Longships reef is marked by the 35meter high "Longships Lighthouse" (1795) who's light reaches 15 nautical miles.
    GD001760.jpg
  • During a morning snorkel around Porthleven reef I was quite impressed by the pillows of bed rock below the sea surface, and how everything that we take for granted about our everyday lives, is quite literally built on it - ancient earth, ancient land, such temporary humanity.
    GD002830.jpg
  • International Color Awards 2016 - Nominee in "Nature" category<br />
<br />
Large rockpools in the reef at Rhosneigr at sunset, West Anglesey, Wales.
    GD000819.jpg
  • Large rockpools in the reef at Rhosneigr at sunset, West Anglesey, Wales.
    GD000821.jpg
  • Warm, glowing evening sunset throws orange light over the rocks at Porth Tyn Tywyn, Rhosneigr, West Anglesey as a calm sea gently laps at the reef.
    GD000686.jpg
  • Swimming at the reef at Trwyn Du (Penmon Point) in small but powerful waves in a beautful and short-lived sunset. Three seals had just been swimming quite close to me but by the time I'd grabbed my real camera they'd moved further away. I'm always a bit wary of seals so in one way I was relieved but it would have made an even better image if one had been peering at me within these frames!
    GD002868.jpg
  • 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.
    GD002150.jpg
  • Swimming at the reef at Trwyn Du (Penmon Point) in small but powerful waves in a beautful and short-lived sunset. Three seals had just been swimming quite close to me but by the time I'd grabbed my real camera they'd moved further away. I'm always a bit wary of seals so in one way I was relieved but it would have made an even better image if one had been peering at me within these frames!
    GD002867.jpg
  • Swimming at the reef at Trwyn Du (Penmon Point) in small but powerful waves in a beautful and short-lived sunset. Three seals had just been swimming quite close to me but by the time I'd grabbed my real camera they'd moved further away. I'm always a bit wary of seals so in one way I was relieved but it would have made an even better image if one had been peering at me within these frames!
    GD002866.jpg
  • Huge reefs pierce the sands of the vast surfing beaches of Cordoama in South West Portugal.
    GD000955.jpg
  • So beautiful & romantic in the warm afternoon sunshine, but a frightening place to be in the depths of winter when huge waves pound over this granite quay. People have lost their lives from this quay.
    GD000502.jpg
  • So beautiful & romantic in the warm afternoon sunshine, but a frightening place to be in the depths of winter when huge waves pound over this granite quay. People have lost their lives from this quay.
    GD000503.jpg
  • Nominated in 10th (2017) International Colour Awards (Architecture category) <br />
<br />
Now disused by the #RNLI the old Lizard Lifeboat House still stands, now houses the gear of the Lizard fishermen. It is gradually looking more dilapidated each time I visit but it will always stand as a reminder to me, at Britain’s most Southerly point, of a place from which the bravest men risked their lives to save the lives of hundreds and hundreds of floundering souls at this notorious peninsula. <br />
<br />
To me, the red is not just the gunwale of a boat, but blood, an artery - a lifeline for the sailors against the darkness of their situation.
    GD000517.jpg
  • 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
  • I'd been swimming here this afternoon, where two huge seals patrolled the length of the beach looking for fish. The sea was warm and looked beautful, but whilst chatting to a fascinating, multi talented angler / film cameraman on the quayside, he confirmed my own worries about our emptying sea, not helped by destructive overfishing over years.
    GD002822.jpg
  • Waves at sunset, crashing into the small rocky cove at south of South Stack on Holy Island, Anglesey, Wales,
    GD000987.jpg
  • GD001689.jpg
  • Looking at the eroded mountains of the Llyn Peninsula in the background; watching the tide gently advance over the slabs of tilted rock; studying the two Oystercatchers enjoying the evening warmth; marvelling at the rich yellow lichen growing in the clean air; I couldn’t help but ponder about the purpose of human life. Without us, there would be so much less damage to the planet, no evil, no unnecessary violence, no exploitation of what the planet provides - I just reason that everything would be in order, that the earth would be in balance not plunging into darkness.
    GD002314.jpg
  • Land's End in a Winter sunset. Short bursts of sunlight under blankets of winter storm clouds. Deceptively calm seas nevertheless created large waves as swell reached the cliffs.
    GD001982.jpg
  • Waves Crashing against the rocky granite coast at Cape Cornwall, St Just, Cornwall. The Brisons offshore stacks can be seen in the distance. Years of relentless attack by the Atlantic Ocean has rounded much of the hard granite stone shoreline.
    GD001918.jpg
  • A large rock pool exposed at low tide. The base of the pool was white with some sort of calicification. Holyhead Mountain in the distance.
    GD000832.jpg
  • GD001699.jpg
  • GD001698.jpg
  • The 13th Century, Eglwys Cwyfan (St Cwyfan's Church), not far from the small village of Aberffraw on Anglesey's West coast, at one time stood on the mainland coast but over the years, the sea has eroded the surrounding land leaving it stranded on it's own little island. Services are still occasionally held here but times are tide dependent.
    GD001691.jpg
  • GD001098.jpg
  • It only takes a few minutes of keen observation to start to really see the huge variation of colour tone & texture on the sea surface, revealing the endless current movements just beneath the surface.
    GD002823.jpg
  • GD000954.jpg
  • I’ve never been in such vast landscapes as in South Africa. Every trip felt like a major journey and we seemed to always be touching the edge of wilderness. <br />
<br />
Wildlife was abundant, especially birds, which all seemed to be on a mission, endless flights to endless destinations. <br />
<br />
We were camping right on a beach on a remote stretch of coast. There was no question that WE were the outsiders in nature’s home. Humans seemed insignificant in the vast space. The South Atlantic waves will continue to crash these shores for millennia, long after we’ve become dust.
    GD002162.jpg
  • Intense golden sunset with numerous cclouds and crepuscular rays over a gently rippled calm Irish Sea at Trearddur Bay, Holy Island, Anglesey
    GD000681.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
  • Waves Crashing against the rocky granite coast at Cape Cornwall, St Just, Cornwall. The Brisons offshore stacks can be seen in the distance. Years of relentless attack by the Atlantic Ocean has rounded much of the hard granite stone shoreline.
    GD001919.jpg
  • GD001650.jpg
  • No prints available. Please message us about the nominal fees for use on your on your websites - image by Jan Williams
    A Waiting Game, Rhosneigr
  • Wind blown Marram grass catches the last of the sunlight as the weather changes and a gale advances over the Irish Sea here at Porth Tyn Tywyn, Rhosneigr, Anglesey, Wales.
    GD001917.jpg
  • GD000923.jpg
  • GD001692.jpg
  • The water was warm & clear (mostly) and I was in my element diving under the waves around the barnacled reef. There is so much luck with composition in this sea photography business, but amazingly this is full frame, and just worked for me, with beautiful light & colours even with waves crashing overhead.
    GD002804.jpg
  • Look like nothing from above, but below the surface, this reef post stands sentinal-like on the outer edges.
    GD002805.jpg
  • A Curlew stood near motionless at the tip of the reef.  Between jagged arms of rock floated four large seals, only their loud exhalations of breath betraying their position but then unavoidably noticeable.<br />
<br />
As I gingerly navigated the serrated rocky reef I startled an Oystercatcher that then screeched off across the calm sea.  Other than the sounds of wildlife there was just the gentle splash of near-invisible waves around me as I crouched low to photograph the rising full moon. The dark water came in behind me, silently, and my camera and me nearly became part of the sombre depths.
    GD002298
  • An ocean swell only shows it's energy as it reaches the shoreline and wraps around a swimming platform on the shore of Playa Blanca in Lanzarote in the Canary Islands. The aquamarine sea is crystal clear and you can see the reef beneath. Lobos Island and Fuerteventura can be see on on the horizon.
    GD001789.jpg
  • These amazing white sand lagoons of Charca de la Laja, sit at the edge of a black lava field at Orzola on the North coast of Lanzarote. They are popular with familes for they are protected from the big surf beyond the reef and are as clear and warm as bathwater. In sunshine they look an irridescent turquoise.
    GD002071.jpg
  • Huge Atlantic waves roll in from the West and rear up over the reef at Cape Cornwall near St Just, Penwith, South West Cornwall. These waves were approximatey twenty feet tall and absolutely packed with ocean energy. White horses can clearly be seen in these gigantic walls of water.
    GD001879.jpg
  • Huge Atlantic waves roll in from the West and rear up over the reef at Cape Cornwall near St Just, Penwith, South West Cornwall. These waves were approximatey twenty feet tall and absolutely packed with ocean energy. White horses can clearly be seen in these gigantic walls of water.
    GD001877.jpg
  • Huge Atlantic waves roll in from the West and rear up over the reef at Cape Cornwall near St Just, Penwith, South West Cornwall. These waves were approximatey twenty feet tall and absolutely packed with ocean energy. White horses can clearly be seen in these gigantic walls of water.
    GD001876.jpg
  • Huge Atlantic waves roll in from the West and rear up over the reef at Cape Cornwall near St Just, Penwith, South West Cornwall. These waves were approximatey twenty feet tall and absolutely packed with ocean energy. White horses can clearly be seen in these gigantic walls of water.
    GD001878.jpg
  • A weak sunburst over the Irish Sea at Rhosneigr, West Anglesey, North Wales. In the foreground is a large sand pool, emptying on the outgoing tide. In the distance, a large gull stands on a rock at a distant reef.
    GD001794.jpg
  • There was one particular location which seemed to be ‘going off’ in surfers terms anyway, a point where even the smallish waves were still powerful enough to slam the small cliff buttresses and send spray skyward, but this same spray was voluminous and very wetting and in itself is problematic for photography as the lens gets covered in seconds not minutes, and in this light every drop on your lens becomes a backlit orb ! I studied the short reef in front of me and calculated where the waves would cover, finding a dry pinnacle on which to set my tripod, an item of equipment that was imperative today. I stood smugly on my dry fortress and waited for the waves and light to work together and shot perhaps four frames of waves I thought would deliver the results foreground and background but then a white wall started to approach me ! My guts revolved as one exceptional wave stood out from the sets and it came from a different angle too. The speed seemed faster than the rest - it wasn’t - but in my fear it was ! There was nothing I could do but brace myself as it rose up over the rocks and simply pushed past me like a mini Tsunami reaching my thighs!!!! The force was strong [Luke !] but the tripod and my legs remained firm against the push and thank God, because if not I would have fallen backwards into a small gully and whilst I would not have drowned I would likely as not have injured myself and lost £10K of camera gear ! The wave exploded in laughter as it died in the shore and the next waves smiled at me as they strolled past. Thing is, I got the shot boy ! :-) MY Paramo Cascada trousers and my Asolo mountain boots meant that incredibly, I didn’t get wet at all, I could have been wearing a wetsuit !
    GD001707.jpg
  • Gentle waves crossing at Broad Beach, as they bounce of the nearby reef at Rhosneigr, Anglesey, Wales.
    GD000522.jpg
  • Explosion after explosion of huge waves battering the West Anglesey coast in early October. Rhoscolyn Beacon on the horizon disappeared and re-appeared after each strike on the reef. The light was so soft and gentle but the sea created a dynamic and noisy contrast.
    GD002841.jpg
  • An ebb tide reveals multi-coloured pillow-lava at Llanddwyn on West Anglesey. Many people have asked if the colours have been retouched in the computer, which they are not.When you are on a beach most pebbles look rather drab, but wet them in the water and they reveal rich vibrant colours. Imagine this on a bigger scale, where a whole reef of mineral rich rock becomes wet from the sea, and you’ll then understand why there was no need to use software to embelish this image
    GD000688.jpg
  • Having done a picture delivery in Northern Anglesey, I was on my way back down the A55 when I decided to turn for the coast, just to get some fresh air. I found myself on the Rhosneigr road and my heart was light. Mine was the only vehicle in the sand-dune car park and pools of rainwater transformed the normally gritty rutted surface into rather beautiful patches of bright sky.The wind was bitter, still blowing in from the North West and today I only had trainers on, so no risky teetering about on wave washed rocks for me.<br />
<br />
The recent gales and big tides had deposited tonnes of dead brown seaweed over most of the shelving beach, but the outgoing tide revealed a beautiful sandy stretch at low water mark. The waves had decreased considerably today but it was still choppy in the strong cold breeze and the waves though low, were still powerful enough to launch themselves explosively up the shingle. Yesterday in the blazing late afternoon light, there was a smoothness to the foam-covered beach but today, there was sharpness, a contrast and a new brooding weather front overhead. My fingers froze whenever I removed them from my shooters-mitts and I put two hoods on to keep my head warm. I negotiated my way up onto the reef via a series of bizarre-to watch, core-stabilised ballet movements, tripod over my shoulder and rucksack swaying heavily with each leap. I found somewhere I could stand securely and just watched the wave performance below me. <br />
<br />
The sunshine remained clear and intense for quite a while, even though the cloud front appeared keen to obscure it, and the light danced on the waves in a bright avenue ahead of me. Soon though, the light subdued and the rain started so I made my way back to the van and on to the gallery to work. I really enjoy these spontaneous moments when you find yourself excited and stimulated by someone or something unexpected. I felt alive and captivated, if only for a brief hour.
    GD001710.jpg
  • 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
    GD001385.jpg
  • Waves wash over the reef at the long sandy Broad Beach, Rhosneigr, Anglesey during changeable and dramatic weather.
    GD001258.jpg
  • The rocks down on the quiet shoreline seemed dark from afar, am isolated hard reef doing it’s best to resist erosion against the Irish Sea. <br />
<br />
Down in amongst them though, they became rich in character and colour. Every peak an unique individual, with different faces and textures and shapes. As I nestled into them they become my security. Small waves would belie their gentle appearance and would suddenly burst over the lower stoney barriers. As the tide advanced each wave reached further and faster up my legs. <br />
<br />
I enjoyed the small acts being played out in different sectors of the image. Little cameos, small and larger characters, but together creating an amazing stage set.
    GD002185.jpg
  • Sitting on the reef watching an incoming tide, bathed in warm early Spring sunshine, we were filled with hope and optimism for the Summer ahead. We drank hot coffee and ate home made sugared almond cake from a lovely German friend of ours. <br />
<br />
As much as we enjoy the wild drama of the winter light and weather, we both crave the sunshine and warmth and a beach life. This was like an early injection of happiness.
    GD002173.jpg
  • The biggest waves I've personally ever seen at Porth Tyn Tywyn and I have walked, swam and surfed there many 100s of times over the last 20 years.<br />
<br />
On this particular morning I had gone there with the idea of body boarding what was reported to be a brilliant swell for Anglesey. The day was clear with a strong offshore wind and just a few rapidly clouds. I parked up overlooking the dunes and the sea beyond and I could already see wave tips higher than the dunes (foreshortened perspective of course) and I knew it was going off! I walked down to the reef and two surfers were being thrown about in the white water before finally getting out to the back where a strong rip was pushing them Southwards towards the bay of the burial mound, Barclodiad y Gawres. It was funny in a way watching these guys go for the surf but spend so much time just trying to keep parallel to the shore. At this point, I just knew that I was not going in! I have not body-boarded seriously for years and having had a bit of an epic attempt at Sennen in Cornwall in January in big seas it was all too intimidating for this surf-unfit body !<br />
<br />
Of course the upside to that decision is that I could guilt-freely enjoy taking pictures of the surf instead and it was just so beautiful and powerful to watch. Thankfully the offshore breeze was keeping most of the sea-spray off my lens for a change meaning that I could continue to shoot without minute-apart lens cleans. <br />
<br />
The light on the sea in the bay was sharp and intense, and the lips of the waves were backlit and sparkling against the darker sky in the background. I enjoyed studying the bands of light and dark as they created monochrome Rothko seas, large ocean canvases of abstract landscape. After an hour or more of outgoing tide, the waves noticeably reduced in height to the point where perhaps I could have gone in, but with a full CF disc I decided to head for hot coffee back in the gallery instead - wrong decision ? Probably ! :-)
    GD001718.jpg
  • 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
    GD001386.jpg
  • I’ve been hit by an awful virus over Christmas, which has led to arrhythmia attacks that together, have left me sleepless, wiped out and light-headed. I felt the need for fresh air on Boxing Day but even as I walked alone across the beach my feet were hardly touching the ground, I felt as though I was floating. I don’t know how I managed as my feet didn’t seem to make proper contact with the rock, but I scrambled across the reef to this calm pool where heavy stones also seemed to be floating. <br />
<br />
There was no one around and all I could hear was the gentle lapping of waves on the rocks beyond, and my own feet on the shingle in this minuscule cove. There was a sombre feeling to the place and the rock was damp and greasy, and yet, I also relished the timelessness of the geology and the sea, the predictability of the tide and the pattern of night and day. I was reassured that no matter what happens to me, the planet just keeps on turning and that as a human, I’m no more special than anything else that lives and dies on earth.
    GD002424.jpg
  • Storm waves batter the West coast of Anglesey near Cable Bay and Rhosneigr. It is rare for such large waves to hit this coast which did create a spectacle.<br />
 The burial mound (looks like a small hill) of Barclodiad y Gawres can be seen in the background <br />
<br />
The biggest waves I've personally ever seen at Porth Tyn Tywyn and I have walked, swam and surfed there many 100s of times over the last 20 years.<br />
<br />
On this particular morning I had gone there with the idea of body boarding what was reported to be a brilliant swell for Anglesey. The day was clear with a strong offshore wind and just a few rapidly clouds. I parked up overlooking the dunes and the sea beyond and I could already see wave tips higher than the dunes (foreshortened perspective of course) and I knew it was going off! I walked down to the reef and two surfers were being thrown about in the white water before finally getting out to the back where a strong rip was pushing them Southwards towards the bay of the burial mound, Barclodiad y Gawres. It was funny in a way watching these guys go for the surf but spend so much time just trying to keep parallel to the shore. At this point, I just knew that I was not going in! I have not body-boarded seriously for years and having had a bit of an epic attempt at Sennen in Cornwall in January in big seas it was all too intimidating for this surf-unfit body !<br />
<br />
Of course the upside to that decision is that I could guilt-freely enjoy taking pictures of the surf instead and it was just so beautiful and powerful to watch. Thankfully the offshore breeze was keeping most of the sea-spray off my lens for a change meaning that I could continue to shoot without minute-apart lens cleans. <br />
<br />
The light on the sea in the bay was sharp and intense, and the lips of the waves were backlit and sparkling against the darker sky in the background. I enjoyed studying the bands of light and dark as they created monochrome Rothko seas, large ocean canvases of abstract landscape. After an hour or
    GD001720.jpg
  • I couldn't get over the sheer numbers of gulls that were diving into the sea as huge waves crashed over the reefs at Trearddur Bay. They didn't seem perturbed when engulfed in spray or emerging from the surf. I can only assume that the fish were quite bemused by the ocean above and were easy picking for the gulls
    GD002714.jpg
  • This may not be the most dramatic of Welsh coasts on South West Anglesey, but the jagged reefs and Westerly waves provide endless variation nevertheless. It still surprises me just how rough the rocks are, after millenia of erosion from the sea
    GD001302.jpg
  • In a streaming gale Jan and I crossed sand dunes to an almost deserted foam-strewn beach. The waves were heavy and fast and the wind was lifting and hurling foam creatures from the shoreline to the dunes, only avoiding splattering our faces thanks to slipstreaming! The sunlight was broken but when it burst through it was warm and rich, sparkling off the wet sand, backlighting oxygenated suds, waddling their way from the water margin. It was a bitterly cold air-stream sweeping down from the North, and poor Jan looked like a frozen rigid Chilli pepper in her new Paramo coat as I stumbled around on wave-soaked reefs. I was excited by the events in front of me but was ever conscious of my suffering slim companion. The spray was constant and when I looked towards the ancient burial chamber of Barclodiad y Gawres I could see horizontal sheets of spray contrasting with the brooding dark hillside. My lens was covered in spray within seconds and the thickness of salt meant that even specialist lens cloths were not effective at clearing off the saline coating - I accepted that today’s shots would be soft and droplet covered, and actually that no longer worries me these days, as atmosphere always beats detail. I balanced myself on a rock jutting from the pristine sand, ready to shoot the choppy sea but today again, I got caught out by one of those ‘tricksy’ seventh waves, which lifted to knee height which was already 18” above the beach, so this time I did get a boot-full of seawater but also a fun shot in the process - no award winner for sure but a great memory of a moment which had Jan laughing widely, even in her sub zero state :-)We walked on, my boot warming like a winter wetsuit and as I was already wet I resigned myself to further soakings as I haunched just an inch above wet sand to photograph a parade of the foamy suds. Finally we stood atop an isolated black crag in the center of this long sandy beach and we watched larger waves exploding over the offshore s
    GD001712.jpg
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
x

Glyn Davies, Professional Photographer and Gallery

  • Portfolio
  • CLICK TO SEE ALL IMAGES
    • All Galleries
    • Search
    • Cart
    • Lightbox
    • Client Area
  • About Glyn
  • Awards & Media
  • Print & Delivery Info
  • Exhibitions
  • Interviews & Books
  • Contact
  • Privacy & Personal Data
  • LATEST NEWS