Tag: sea

  • FEATURED IMAGE: Oblivion: Lovers by the Sea

    Oblivion, South Wales documentary photography

    People ask me what I like about being a documentary photographer. I tell them that I love the special gift that comes with being a photographer; the privileged ability to record memories and moments in time. And if successful, to each viewer, the image will retell the very story that the photographer saw, a story that moved them so much that they chose to document that moment.

    It was during a fashion shoot that I spotted this couple sitting by the waters edge. Seeing them huddled up, looking out over a tempestuous sea made me pause a moment, reset my camera and capture a memory they thought might only be theirs.

    What was the moment that I saw? A story of lovers oblivious to anything else. Their world stood still – it was just them, their love and the sea.

    [Best viewed whilst listening to ‘By the Sea’ by Suede, if you will]

  • South Wales Coast: A stroll by the sea with Marley Hamilton

    Where the Earth Meets the Sea, South Wales documentary photography

    At the end of a recent shoot, I spotted Marley walking in her Ugg boots by the sea.

    I started snapping, she started playing. End of story…and the beginning of this documentary photostory 🙂

    Meet Marley:

    Going for a stroll, South Wales documentary photography

    Playful, South Wales documentary photography

    French Connection, South Wales documentary photography

    Astride, South Wales documentary photography

    Adrift, South Wales documentary photography

    Close Call, South Wales documentary photography

    Marley, South Wales documentary photography

    Glee, South Wales documentary photography

    South Wales headshot photography - Marley Hamilton

  • South Wales Coast: Of Legends

    Of Legends, South Wales fashion photography

    I’d been bedridden for months following my operation and feeling glum when the awesome Angi Nelson (well known for her amphibian and reptile photography http://www.reptilephotographer.co.uk/) invited me to Wales last weekend.  Not yet able to drive,  Martin Gillman (http://martingillman.co.uk/) gave me a lift and away we went.

    The destination was stunning with sweeping cliff faces and dramatic fissures on the rocky flats. It took some time to get down the cliff and across the rocks on my crutches, but eventually I made it and it was totally worthwhile. Although it had been some time, it felt natural to have my camera back in my hands and as soon as the models arrived, we started shooting! It was so good to get back to photography after being stuck in one room for months.

    This was my first shoot with budding actress, Marley Hamilton (http://www.modelmayhem.com/1777728). She bought along a stunning dress that looked like it had come from a set for Atlantis or Merlin – the stuff of legends.

    With thanks to Marley, Angi and Martin!

    South Wales landscape photography - Rocky Road

    South Wales fashion photography - Siren

    South Wales landscape photography - Sweeping

    South Wales landscape photography - Fissures

    South Wales fashion photography - Of Legends 

    South Wales fashion photography - Halo

    South Wales fashion photography - Divinity

    South Wales fashion photography - Gone with the Wind

  • Story behind the image: The Big Blue

     

    I was in Cuba and had hit a fair few of the more rural areas of Cuba from the wild untouched lands of lizards and lava to the dirt tracks atop sierra ranges.  I had started in and had a bad time in Havana two weeks before and had had a stomach bug for most of the time since then.  I was absolutely loving the country and its people, staying with local people in their Casas Particulares and eating local food, but I needed some TLC before returning to Havana on my way home. 

    Cubans are not allowed to transport foreign people in their own cars.  We got around this by a Cuban hiring a ‘tourist’ car (how he did this, I do not know) and driving me anyway.  He took me to Cayo Santa Maria, on an archipelago north of Santa Clara.  He did this because he had never been there and was curious, as locals were not allowed on the island.   We went over a hundred bridges linking the coral islands and when we reached the guarded barrier, he said he was my boyfriend and we were allowed through.  I can’t imagine how strange it must have been for him to see abundance that he didn’t have access to on the other side of the barrier.  He stayed for a cocktail and he left.

    Dark rainclouds were on the horizon.  A storm moved in and cleared just before dinner time.  I ventured out over the slope that led to the beach and was astonished to find crystal clear shallow waters stretching out for a kilometre or so before the sea bed dropped off to deep blue waters.  The completely still sea reflected all the colours of the sun battling the retreating storm, from orange to purple and back again, melting into the sea.  It was impossible to see where sea ended and sky began, you were caught up in endless sea or sky and a moment of absolute serenity.  I glimpsed an otherworld; brought back to Earth by the fish darting between my feet, brought out to play by the rain. 

    But no, I didn’t have  my camera with me…the ultimate sin for a photographer. But I don’t think I could ever have recorded that moment anyhow.  This picture was taken a couple of days later when the sun was presiding high in the Caribbean sky.  Some people say that Cuba’s beaches do not shine. They have clearly have not ventured far. I went to several wonderful beaches in Cuba, this one was the best.  I do hope it is never spoilt.