beach

Waiting Game: Four Surfers, Lima, Peru

Some waves demand patience, some waves demand respect. La Herradura, tucked into the rugged coastline of Chorrillos, Lima, is one of those waves. In this image, four surfers stand on the rocky coastline above the World class wave waiting for their moment to safely enter the Ocean. During a big swell like on this day, timing is everything, a situation every surfer knows well—the calm before the storm, the thrill of what’s to come. Moments after I took the shot the surfers dived into the water and made their way to the line up to score some waves. Scroll through the slideshow below for a few variations of my Surfing photo at La Herradura in Lima, Peru.

La Herradura isn’t for the faint-hearted. A long, fast left-hand point break, it fires on big south swells, throwing up powerful walls that can hold serious size. The wave breaks on the far left of the bay, peeling along the rocky shoreline with precision. Quiksilver has held competitions here, and local chargers treat it as a proving ground. Like any great wave, it comes with risks—strong currents, a shallow rocky bottom, and the kind of power that will humble even the experienced. I surfed the wave on a few occasions and lucked out with good waves and few surfers in the water. On the day I took this image I was only visiting to show a friend the coastline and to enjoy the fresh seafood with some cold Pilsen Lagers.

Beyond the surf, La Herradura Beach carries echoes of a different past. Once a popular getaway for the wealthy Peruvians, it has become a little run-down in recent years. The old beachfront club now sits abandoned, covered in graffiti, a ghost of its former self. Yet, the area still holds onto its charm. Along the promenade, a string of seafood restaurants serves up fresh fish, including Peru’s iconic ceviche, a dish that perfectly captures the coastal spirit of the country. Sundays during the summer months see the seafront packed with people enjoying fresh seafood and taking the edge off their hangovers with a crisp beer!

This image was shot on my first DSLR, a Canon EOS 500D with a 50mm f/1.4 USM lens. The camera settings were: ƒ/9.0, 1/1600, and ISO 200. The image captures the essence of surfing in Peru—the raw beauty of the ocean, the camaraderie of the surfers waiting to enter the ocean, and the unshakable pull of the next big set.

But La Herradura, like so many coastal spots in South America, faces environmental challenges. Pollution has long been a battle here, and organisations like Surfers Against Sewage continue the fight to keep our waters clean, ensuring that waves like this remain surfable for generations to come.

For these four surfers, the moment of waiting is almost over, the swell is building, and the Ocean is calling… More of my Peruvian photography can be found on my Flickr and Instagram. Follow along for more travel and street photography from around the World.

#PeruPhotography #LimaBeaches #SurfPeru #LaHerradura #StreetPhotography #CevicheLovers #TravelSouthAmerica #OceanCulture #WavesForDays #GeraintRowlandPhotography #Pilsen

Marina Beach and Birds at Sunrise in Chennai

Chennai, on the Bay of Bengal in eastern India, is the capital of the state of Tamil Nadu. Marina beach is a huge natural beach in Chennai, at around six kilometres in length it is the longest natural beach in India. It is also one of the most crowded beaches in the country with up to 20,000 visitors daily during the summer months. It is not only people who flock to the beach each day, every morning at sunrise thousands of birds can be also been seen at Marina Beach. Click through the slideshow below to view the birds at Marina beach, the volunteers who feed them and the people who visit early enough to see this fascinating sight:

I stayed in Chennai for a few days on my travels around India this year. I liked the city and found it a great place for photography especially the beach area which is always full of life. I discovered the feeding of the birds one morning whilst I was at the beach ready to take some photos of the sunrise. There are volunteers daily at the beach as part of the Marina Beach Pigeon Feeding Centre. They have a designated area and feed the birds daily on a designated section of the beach. The volunteers control the area and make sure nobody gets to close to disturb the feeding birds. Along with pigeons there are also a large number of crows.

If you want to view this spectacle it is best to arrive at the beach early in the morning before sunrise. The beach is already starting to get busy at this time of day with a yoga class taken place by the Ghandi statue and several people running or walking along the promenade. Further along the beach during the summer months is a small funfair which is a great place to take documentary and street photography.

I spent six months traveling around India from South to North via Bangladesh before a brief visit to Nepal and finally Sri Lanka. I have literally thousands of photos from the trip which now need editing and I plan to write some more blog posts in the coming weeks. More of my travel photography from my India travels can be found on my website, my Instagram, my Facebook and my Flickr account. If you are interested in purchasing any prints, using an image online or collaborating in any way please email: geraintrowlandphotography@gmail.com.

Grande Mosquée de Yoff, Dakar, Senegal

This time last year I spent a couple of months in Dakar, the capital of Senegal. For much of that time I stayed in the beach town of Yoff. At the west end of the beach is the Grande Mosquée de Yoff, a beautiful large white mosque overlooking the ocean. Click through the slideshow below to view some of the photos I took around Grande Mosquée de Yoff:

The town of Yoff is built along the broad beach at Yoff Bay which faces the Atlantic Ocean, directly north of the centre of Dakar. Here is a previous photography blog I wrote about Yoff Beach and the people that live there. The large mosque is built right on the beach just metres from the ocean.

For much of the week the mosque seemed relatively quiet without much activity, almost ignored by the locals. However on a Sunday morning the mosque is full of locals who attend the weekly service and then often congregate on the beach afterwards. The beach is a fascinating place and great for photography, it is full of life and activity on a daily basis. During the time of the Tabaski Festival you will see children leading animals to the ocean for a wash. At the far end of the beach, past the mosque is the fishing village full of traditional, colourful wooden fishing boats. The surf at Yoff beach is also very consistent and is home to a couple of surfing schools and cheap friendly hostels. During the summer the beach also has some some of the best sunsets I witnessed in Senegal.

More of my travel photography from Senegal can be found on my website, my Instagram, and my Flickr account.  If you are interested in purchasing any prints, using an image online or would like further information please send me an email at: geraintrowlandphotography@gmail.com.

Abstract Ocean Art Photography by Geraint Rowland

I am a big fan of this kind of abstract artwork, both in paintings and photography itself.  I think I first saw the technique being used by Surf photographer Morgan Maasen.  So, how do you make abstract style photographs?  Producing these abstract photographs is fairly easy, you simply take a photo of the ocean with a long exposure (up to a second or more depending on the light) whilst moving the camera from left to right (or right to left depending on you preference).  It's often a good way to create interesting and often beautiful shots at an often bland location.  In addition it is a technique which doesn't require a tripod, which I often can not be bothered to carry about with me.  Meaning you can still have fun, and produce some nice images while others may be carrying out long exposures with a tripod.  The end result being a painterly type of image often more similar to a painting, or piece of art than that of a photograph.  

An abstract water photo at sunset by Geraint Rowland Photography.

An abstract water photo at sunset by Geraint Rowland Photography.

The same technique can be used for trees, for example in a forest or jungle.  The trick is to move the camera in the same direction as the main lines within the frame.  For example, with the Ocean or Sea you go from left to right, following the horizon and the swell lines.  In a forest or woodland you would move the camera vertically from bottom to top, or top to bottom.  Click through the slideshow below for more examples of abstract ocean photography.  These photos were taken in Peru, England, Spain and West Africa.

I was involved in an 'Emerging Artists Exhibition' in Lima in 2013 in which I exhibited and sold several large abstract ocean art pieces which were printed on to canvas.  They were 1 metre by 1 metre in size and looked excellent hung on the wall.  More examples of my abstract ocean and surf art can be found here on my website.  

My abstract photography can now be bought on Etsy via LindaWisdomPhotoCo. The Red Lima sunset above for example can be purchased here.  My blog on taking abstract ocean images can be read in Spanish here. More of my abstract photography can be found on my website, my Instagram, my Twitter and my Flickr account. If you are interested in purchasing any prints, using an image online or would like further information please send me an email at: geraintrowlandphotography@gmail.com.