First Light St Pauls Bay

First Light St Pauls Bay

I had just completed a shoot of St Pauls Chapel at the bottom of Lindos bay and made a hasty walk to the top of the cliff.

The reason for my urgency was I wanted to capture this wide vista of the whole bay before the sun rose and with the street lights still illuminating the pathway down to the waterside chapel.

Unknown to me I had much more time than I had expected and spent a good 30-40 minutes shooting a few variations as the light of dawn increased in intensity.

I love the colour contrast between the cool hues of night, the artificial warmth of the street lighting and the red tones of the approaching morning sun.

It was a wonderful morning very quiet and peaceful broken only by the occasional sound of Donkeys braying echoing off the surrounding cliffs.

I was thoroughly lost in the place which is not unusual for me in between being engrossed with working my camera.

Lindos has a wonderful atmosphere away from the summer crowds, I've shot here many times but still, find myself drawn back to explore further and capture more fine art collect

https://bit.ly/3Rwtjdm

Revisiting Dawn At The Gate

I had visited St Pauls Gate in the old town of Rhodes on a previous trip to the island but wasn’t happy with the images I captured.

This visit like before was also before sunrise and that gave me time to shoot this historic location illuminated by the warm ornate lights perfectly balanced with the dawn reflected in the cool sky.

As with most trips out at this time of day I had the place pretty much to myself.

There were the odd person clearing bins and sweeping streets and a few party goers staggering back to their hotels and of course several obligatory greek cats keeping me company.

I knew precisely one of the images and the composition I wanted but that could wait until just before sunrise.In the meantime I went and explored the area for other interesting images to create.

After all these years shooting before dawn I never tire of the experience.

Seeing the dawn light transition across the horizon in tone and colour and how the sounds of the world around you all seem to slowly awaken at the same time is something magical.

It’s a struggle to rise at some ungodly hour in the summertime and venture out but rarely am I disappointed I did.

https://bit.ly/3DAcN5l

Blue Hues Agios Nikolaos Church

Yet another wonderful sunrise greeted me in Rhodes.

I was staying in Kolimbia and decided to venture the short car ride to the harbour for sunrise one morning.

The harbour was fairly modern and not quite old and rustic like I had hoped for however it was still lovely in the warm clear morning light.

As I explored further I spotted this church perched elevated above the entrance of the harbour.

It was perfectly located for my preference to shoot into the sun for what I consider the most beautiful of natural lighting.

The blues of the doorway was stood in harmony with the Greek flag flying proudly in the sea breeze against an equally complimentary clear blue morning sky.

What is it about blues hues and Greece ? whatever it is it has become one of my favourite colours over the years.

This all contrasted beautifully with the warm sunrise and iconic bright stone walls of this small Greek Othordox Church.

It was a difficult and tight angle to shoot as I was lower than the church which is often not a good viewpoint.

 I composed my image deciding to capture the scene in several parts and combine them later.

This enabled me to avoid using a wide angle lens and the distortion it would give looking up towards the church.

The church was locked but I did sit and watch the harbour start to wake and boats being readied for the day ahead.

https://bit.ly/3EVBYQB

Solitude On Sedgemoor

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The grass that morning was damp underfoot and a light mist hung over the river. The sun began to rise on the horizon with Glastonbury Tor clearly visible in the hazy distance.

This is South Drain at Catcot a very special place for me on the Somerset levels.

It's a place I’ve photographed for more than 35 years and in an area I learned my photography.

More than all that it’s a place I brought my mum regularly in her twilight years to enjoy the view.

The image here was captured not long after her passing.

I ventured out at dawn with my drone wanting a fresh perspective of this familiar place and I certainly got that.

https://youtu.be/Jn4ZhzqcIAQ

The grass that morning was damp underfoot and a light mist hung over the river. The sun began to rise on the horizon with Glastonbury Tor clearly visible in the hazy distance.

I only flew for around 20 minutes but the wonderful new perspective of this familiar place was incredible

https://bit.ly/3qNEbK7

Rendezvous In Rhodes

It was a mild April evening on Ialysos Beach Rhodes.

I’d been here for the week with friends enjoying Easter on the island and of course, shooting a few images.

Close to our hotel was this pontoon on the beach and I decided it might make an interesting focal point within the beautiful 

coastal view across the Aegean Sea to Turkey.

https://youtu.be/b41nWWnHkzc

The evening I chose to shoot was mild and slightly cloudy but I felt we might get an interesting sunset so set out to explore the location.

I often will create work this way where I take a hunch about the potential of a location then set up and see what unfolds before me.

There were a few people at the beach no doubt having a pre-evening meal walk and enjoying the setting sun.

I decided on the best composition to capture the scene and started to set up my tripod & camera.

As I started to shoot some frames I noticed this chap waiting on the end of the pontoon gazing across the sea towards the Turkish coast and mountains.

He waited in pretty much the same spot below the light for probably 45 minutes on his own.

I presumed he was waiting to meet someone, who was it ? why hadn’t they turned up to meet him ? 

These were all the questions that popped into my head as I enjoyed the sunset and the sound of the calm waves caressing the beach.

As I captured the last ounces of the day reflecting onto the sea the gentleman eventually left shortly followed by myself.

I decided to title this image Rendezvous In Rhodes and still wonder if indeed he was there on the pontoon at sunset waiting for someone who never showed.

https://bit.ly/3rLKIpi

Headland Hotel Newquay

A week before Christmas I received a call to see if I was able to do a shoot in Cornwall.

Having lived in Cornwall for a brief time in my life and like many also spent many happy holidays here I was excited to hear more about the assignment.

The company Artistic Tiling had been recommended to call me to help capture some work they had done tiling a restaurant bar at the well known Headland Hotel in Newquay.

If you have ever watched the film The Witches or the Tv series Wycliffe you will probably recognise this beautiful Hotel positioned on the beach in Newquay.

The last time I came to Newquay was my stag weekend 20 plus years ago when my party of "Friends" painted me bright Orange (remember the Tango advert) and handcuffed me onto a lamp post in just a pair of Orange shorts in the town centre ! anyway I digress.

My brief was to capture the bar area in the restaurant and kitchen (time permitting)n which Artistic Tiling had done some incredible work tiling the bar and flooring areas.

I had a small window of time while the restaurant was closed to complete the work and this was helped by the fact that the staff were very accommodating and helpful during the shoot.

The Hotel was as beautiful as I imagined it would be and more so with it's festive decorations in place and to be honest I wasn't in a rush to leave !

Despite some tricky lighting to deal with in post production the images came together beautifully and Ive been asked to look at capturing and producing some more work in early 2024 for the client.

https://bit.ly/3S3TCJu

Clearing Clouds At Cameo Island

It was October and my first visit to Zakynthos.

I had done a little research before the trip and picked a couple of locations that I was intrigued and drawn to and Cameo Island Bridge was one of them.

The island is located at the harbour in the Agios Sostis which was a short drive from by hotel.

The pre-dawn starts are generally more enjoyable in the autumn compared to the 4.30am summer starts.

Sunrise being that much later does however carry the risk of more people being up and about but that was not the case on this trip.

Shoots especially early ones are normally a lone affair however my 16-year-old eldest daughter Gracie once again decided she wanted to enjoy the sunrise with me and take some behind-the-scenes footage for me.

The only downside is my normal tranquil mornings are out the window due to her constant nattering! :)

We arrived at the harbour in the dark and a little earlier than needed but ready to set up once the light started to give some illumination.

The weather was a little unsettled and we experienced a very small shower while setting up the camera but this gave some wonderful clouds which is a rarity in Greece at least for me,

I found a great angle and captured the bridge together with the harbour lights in the cool hues before sunrise.

I could have called it done at that point as the image looked wonderful.

Call it experience or a hunch but I knew the sunrise combined with the clouds could give a fantastic range

of colour and textures and transform the scene into something completely else.

My experience/hunch was spot on and we were given a wonderful display as the sunrise broke over the horizon.

We returned back to the hotel for breakfast fully energised by the beautiful morning we had experienced but the day got better.

Later that day we returned to the harbour with the rest of our extended family group (13 in total) to show them the wonderful location and also in the slim hope the girls in our group might see any Turtles that are known to frequent this part of the island.

As we walked the harbour a small crowd gathered as a very large Turtle surfaced next to a fishing boat.

What a perfect way to end a stunning morning in Greece certainly not my first and hopefully more to come on trips in 2024.

https://bit.ly/3MvC3yw