All at Sea

 This week I had the privilege of traveling to Skomer Island which lies just off the Pembrokeshire coast and which is home at this time of year to over 42,000 Atlantic Puffins, over 710,000 Manx Shearwater and a host of other sea birds including Razorbills, Guillemots, Kittiwake, Fulmar and Gannets all of which come to the island as it provides a safe nesting site and abundant food in the local waters on which to raise their chicks. I will say more about the birds and share some of my favourite photos from the trip in future posts.

However before I get onto that I have some shots from the night before that are worth sharing over the next couple of days. I took the opportunity to make this my first solo camping trip of the year and stayed on a site overlooking St Brides Bay and after I had pitched up and got myself organised I took a short walk along a section of the Pembrokeshire coastal path to enjoy the scenery and the sunset.

The first of todays shots was taken from Wooltack Point looking out to sea past Skomer. It was taken at a similar time to the third image which is why the colours in the sky are similar. The second image was taken a little earlier and at the time the sun was still just above a bank of cloud so the colours are not so warm as when it dipped below the cloud and and set over the horizon.

The sea during the evening was pretty calm considering there was a strong westerly breeze, it was much more lively then next day on the crossing to the island.

The ships in St Brides Bay (there were about 10 in all) are oil and gas tankers which have unloaded their cargo at Milford Haven. They remain at anchor until they are dispatched to their next location, apparently they can wait for anything between one week and six months before moving on, all the time with a full complement of crew aboard.

Florentine Sunset

 As I looked out of my window this evening there was a beautiful glow in the sky as the sun was setting out over the Irish Sea. I am so very lucky living on the west coast because I am treated to the most wonderful sunsets and today, after a week of grey cloudy skies it was  great to see the rich colours that I enjoy so much.

As I was thinking about that I recalled the sunset over Florence while I was there with my youngest son in 2018, it was so spectacular viewed from the Piazzale Michelangelo. There are millions of photos of the city from this spot given it is a favourite tourist destination and it is the perfect vantage point to view the city with the famous duomo of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, the Campanile di Giotto and of course the Ponte Vecchio spanning the River Arno. I have even shared some of these, or similar images in 2018 but today I was inspired to review them and edit them to really bring out the colours of the sunset.

I have also included a shot of a hillside with the old city walls enclosed by trees which have grown up as the wall has decayed.

I have wanted to return to the city because although I have been lucky enough to visit on two occasions I have never really spent enough time there to see everything I want to see. It is possible that I will go back in a few weeks as I will be traveling to Venice again and a day trip to Florence by train is definitely doable however nothing is certain at this stage. Wish me luck.

Sunset over the Arno

I love this shot of the setting sun, low over the Chianti Mountains, reflected in the River Arno and providing back lighting to the Ponte Vecchio. 

I feel so privileged to have been able to capture this scene. I had tried the previous evening when the lighting was almost as good but unfortunately an intermittent fault with my camera meant I couldn't get the shots I wanted. I was so disappointed and didn't know whether I would be able to use my camera any more and we were only half way through our trip.

Fortunately the following day (and for most of the rest of the trip) my camera worked as it should and so I headed back up to the Piazzale Michelangelo to get the shot. I think you will agree it is a fantastic image 

Hawthorn Sunset

On a recent short camping trip near Scorton in Lancashire I was fortunate with the weather and some excellent light during the evening. As I was watching the sun setting over Morecombe Bay  I noticed that this single sprig of Hawthorne was silhouetted beautifully against the sky and I couldn't resist getting the shot.

I snapped some similar images on my phone on the second night of the trip but this is by far the best. I hope that you like it as much as I do, it is one of my favourite shots for a while. I love the warm colours and the serene atmosphere.