Blog | 71 - Island Life
| Freelance Photographer in St Ives Cambridgeshire: Food & Drink Photography; Commercial Photography, Product Photography & Packshot Photography; Event Photography; Portrait Photography; Corporate Photography & PR Photography; Engagement Photography & Wedding Photography and Photography Training Courses in Cambridge, Huntingdon, Peterborough, Bedford, Ely, St Neots, St Ives and London. Professional Photography Services in St Ives, St Neots, Huntingdon, Bedford, Peterborough, Ely & Cambridge. | |||
 
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Alistair Grant Freelance Photographer Cambridge & London |
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bokeh photographic: Blog No: 71 → TIP: Click any image to view in LightBox |
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Island Life I take great pleasure in photographing (small) islands: often idyllic yet at the same time somewhat bleak. I have made good progress as regards the 11 featured in Patrick Barkham’s travelogue ‘Islander’ however ticking off all of the islands of the British Isles (i.e. all the smaller islands surrounding the two big islands of Great Britain and Ireland) is a much slower-burn project not helped by the fact that there is no consensus regarding what constitutes an island and thus how many there are. In the Collins New Naturalist Library ‘Islands’ volume R.J. Berry guesstimates 5,000 although he concedes many of these are little more than isolated rocks whilst Barkham claims 6,289 (plus the two big ones) in Islander. Photographing islands tends to be a spring and summer activity. This is largely for practical reasons as many ferries only operate seasonally: a shame as this limits my ability to photograph the spectacular Atlantic winter storms that bash those islands lying off the west coast. This categorisation isn’t binding but in my book island photography can be subdivided into: i) wildlife; ii) people; and iii) topography. Although our islands offer superb opportunities for wildlife (both in number of species given the lower density of humans and in endemicity i.e. species differentiation compared to the mainland) and people, I would contend that the most challenging aspect is capturing topography. The vast majority of topographical images are aerial shots taken from a plane or increasingly from a drone (although mercifully these are gradually being banned from otherwise peaceful islands) and with no desire to utilise either of these I always seek out the optimum land-based spot to best capture island landscapes. The most recent island I ticked off was Bardsey or Ynys Enlli in Welsh which lies some two miles off the Llŷn Peninsula. Although it is possible to stay on the island in one of the 12 Grade-II listed properties (one of which being the Bardsey Bird & Field Observatory where you can bunk for a very reasonable £190 week providing you can cope with outdoor compost toilets), this was a non-residential visit governed by tide times for the boat. Not staying on an island obviously reduces the time to find the best spot(s) for photography and renders one susceptible to the weather – more on this later. Bardsey is around 180 hectares in size, 1.5 miles long and half a mile wide at its widest point. It is known as the ‘Island of the 20,000 Saints’ due to the number of pilgrims buried at the remains of the 13th Century Augustinian Abbey of St. Mary from the times when three pilgrimages to Bardsey were reputedly the equivalent of one to Rome. More recently the island boasted thriving fishing and farming industries and in common with many of our islands was owned by various members of the aristocracy including Lord Newborough who sold the island to Lord Cowdray who then sold to the Bardsey Island Trust in 1979 following a successful fundraising campaign. However, it seems all is not tickety-boo. Colin Evans, the Bardsey boatman and son of the last person to be born on the island shared his frustrations about the lack of sustainable development and economic independence when opining that the winter just gone was the first in living memory that the island was uninhabited (NB: by humans - I'm sure the wildlife made the most of it). Coincidentally, he featured in a Patrick Barkham Guardian article published at the time we visited. I look forward to when his proposed Ynys Enlli brewery is up and running! One of my golden rules of island hopping is to avoid the crowds - which are all relative of course. As a guided walk group from the Observatory were on the island’s mountain when disembarking the boat I abandoned the original plan to immediately ascend and photograph Ynys Enlli spreading out beneath. One of the most attractive aspects of Bardsey is that it seems to turn its back on the mainland which, despite being only two miles away, is not visible from the majority of the island as the 167 metre Mynydd Enlli obscures the view. Instead I first headed to the most Westerly aspect where I took this shot which more-or-less captures the main features of Bardsey: the coastline and the spectacular turquoise sea that surrounds the island; one of the birdwatching hides; the lighthouse (which dominates the lowland aspect of Ynys Enlli and which Colin Evans has recently bought to site his brewery); a couple of the old farmhouses that are now holiday lets; the surprisingly complex geology (in addition to fertile arable land Bardsey contains a large diversity of sedimentary, metamorphic and igneous rocks including those left over from a olistostrome - a huge underwater landslide caused by tectonic activity); and Mynydd Enlli – well a hint of the mountain as foolishly I hadn’t brought a wide-angle lens. Returning to the weather, island conditions can change quickly even in the high season. I never got the chance to take that panoramic landscape from the top of Mynydd Enlli as a sea mist, or what I grew up referring to as a fret, had drifted in by the time I got to the top – that’s island life for you! |
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Call Alistair Grant on 07775 365507, Email [email protected] or click Booking Enquiries if you have any questions or would like to make a booking. |
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bokeh: "the aesthetic quality of the blur produced in the out-of-focus parts of an image produced by a lens" Freelance Photographer offering Food & Drink Photography Cambridge; Commercial Photography Cambridge, Product Photography Cambridge & Packshot Photography Cambridge; Event Photography Cambridge; Portrait Photography Cambridge; Corporate Photography Cambridge & PR Photography Cambridge; Engagement Photography Cambridge & Wedding Photography Cambridge and Photography Training Courses in Cambridge. Also covering: Huntingdon, St. Ives, Ramsey, St. Neots, Peterborough, Bedford, Stamford, Newmarket, Sawtry, Alconbury Weston, Brampton, Hartford, Warboys, Houghton, Wyton, Godmanchester, Hilton, Hemingford Grey, Hemingford Abbots, Fenstanton, Whittesley, Yaxley, Needingworth, Somersham, Chatteris, Ely, Bar Hill, Grafham and Buckden. |
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bokeh photographic - Alistair Grant | Freelance Photographer | Cambridge, London, UK - Creative Natural Photography And Outstanding Customer Service At Competitive Prices - Food & Drink Photography | Commercial Photography & Product Photography | Corporate Photography & PR Photography | Portrait Photography (inc. 'Active Portraiture', 'Naturally You' & 'Poptraits') | Event Photography | Engagement & Wedding Photography | Photography Training Courses & Camera Tuition | Videography & Film Production Tel: 07775 365507 | Email: [email protected] |
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