Boat-Trips and Composites
Contents of this page:-
Section 1 - Boat-Trips (Cruise Gallery, 2009 to 2019)
A gallery of individual archive images taken on cruise voyages…
Section 2 - Composites (Collage Gallery, 2014 to 2020)
A gallery of themed photo composites/collages, mostly representing specific holidays or hill-walks…
Boat-Trips and Composites - Section 1
Boat-Trips (Cruise Gallery, 2009 to 2019)
The images featured in Section 1 were shot on cruise holidays between 2009 and 2019, all sailing from and returning to Southampton, UK.
They were mostly taken as “point and shoot” holiday snaps, although for some (from 2014 onwards) I used a Fuji X-S1 bridge camera… which, appropriately, was to serve as my bridge to the Fuji X-T3 mirrorless model which I would adopt back on home shores during 2020 (for more on this, please see my Annual Galleries or Portfolio).
The cruise gallery below is presented in broadly chronological order, from the earliest images (2009) through to the latest (2019). Depicted destinations include the Mediterranean, Greenland, Iceland, Scandinavia, the Baltic, Hebrides (Skye and Lewis), Faroe Islands, the Caribbean, and Canada’s eastern seaboard…
A Holiday Nightcap - Some Bonus Shots of Port!
Further to my main cruise gallery (above), the mini-selection below was retrieved from our “port of call” archives while compiling my Portfolio page on Urban photography. And actually, I shouldn’t really call it my Portfolio… Karen took at least a couple of these images, and inspired many more! ;-)
For a small selection of additional cruise imagery in the form of photo composites, please see Section 2 of this page (specifically Introduction to Photo Composites and Cruise Collages).
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Boat-Trips and Composites - Section 2
Composites (Collage Gallery, 2014 to 2020)
For clarity and ease of access, Section 2 has been sub-divided into the following segments…
Around 2014, I was introduced to Picasa as a photo editing tool. Before switching to Lightroom during 2019/20, I would often use Picasa to experiment with the generation of photo composites - alternatively referred to as collages, blends or photo montages - during post-processing. A selection of these are presented below, preceded by some brief background by way of explanation…
Aside from being an artistic endeavour in its own right, there are a couple of good practical reasons for generating collages. Firstly, this method allows numerous images to be presented as a one-stop photo summary of, say, a holiday or day-trip, without subjecting the viewer to a copious number of frames. When applied to holidays, this can prompt the generation of complex yet concise photo albums which allow the viewer to either study each plate carefully (admittedly that’s mostly just me!) or to flick through quickly and easily (in the case of everybody else!).
Gonna Need a Bigger Boat!
The other practical benefit of photo composites is a little more sneaky… there will be occasions when the photographer is delighted to have captured a specific subject, although the quality of the overall image doesn’t really stand up to close scrutiny. However, when reduced in size to a small sub-section of a collage, the eye is a little more forgiving of a noisy or low-resolution subject.
This can be of particular relevance to dramatic but elusive wildlife… as illustrated here, for example, by the huge (distant) Orca snapped while sailing away from Heimaey in Iceland’s Westman Islands. Or the regal sea eagles which grace the skies and shores of Scotland’s Isle of Mull (see my Mull 2018 composite, below).
Notwithstanding the above practicalities, the art of collage creation is fundamentally about imagination, of constructing something new from the building blocks of photographic fragments. Even in its basic form - that of a regular grid or mosaic - there is artistic merit in finding pictures which work well together, perhaps juxtaposing themes, telling a story or just tracing a horizon from one jigsaw piece to the next. Then there are the more adventurous collages… the freeform picture maps, photoscapes or photo paths (as I call them), the nature of which will hopefully become apparent from some of the examples below.
It should be noted that I claim no particular expertise in this field, and indeed my current style of photography (or post-processing) has reverted its focus to the traditional single image. However, collages can form a compelling creative branch, perhaps leading from photography toward the realm of graphic design or poster art. The gallery below is presented for general interest, in the hope that my own blends of holiday memories - while unique to those involved - may spark some inventive ideas in others. :-)
Extended Coastal Collage (7 Days, 7 Beaches)
Extended Picture Map (Pebble Beach)
For wider viewing, please note that a selection of individual UK archive images (excluding cruises and collages) can be found within my Hills & History page.
The start of my experimentation with photo collages followed a cruise to Iceland in 2014, which also made landfall in the Hebrides (Skye and Lewis), Faroe Islands and Ireland. A couple of the resulting composites - Faroe Islands and Arctic Sunset - are presented below, to augment the Heimaey Sailaway (with patrolling Orca) referenced in the above introduction.
Our next overseas excursion would be to the Caribbean during late 2015. This spawned a photo album comprising a couple of overall summary plates, plus specific collages for each port or leg of the Atlantic crossing. My main summary collage featured at least one picture from each port of call, covering the Caribbean islands of Antigua (beaches, cricket and rum!), St Kitts (beach views to Nevis), Dominica (spectacular whale-watching!), Grenada (crater lake tour) and Barbados (submarine adventure!). These were bookended by the Portuguese island of Madeira (visited en route) and Galicia, Spain (hastily arranged during the voyage home when rough seas scuttled the Azores!).
The sample below begins with a couple of generic cruise montages (overall summary plus Caribbean portraits), then includes paired collages - designed as double-page album spreads - from each of Dominica and Grenada…
Caribbean Cruise (Nov/Dec 2015) - Photo Summary
Caribbean Cruise (Nov/Dec 2015) - Portraits
In terms of collage creation, my Caribbean approach was largely mirrored for our Mediterranean cruises of 2016 and 2017. Design-wise, the main addition was the concept of album title sheets - or port indices - containing labelled insets over a full-page picture background. These Mediterranean trips had a similar feel and ethos to each other, as though paired strands of a two-part exploration. Their itineraries differed, but in each case our focus was on the archaeological treasures of Ancient Greece and Rome (ideal for mosaics!), mostly viewed through the lens of my wife Karen.
As with all worthwhile destinations, the sights seen remind the traveller of how much is yet to be seen. And that’s as it should be… anything which justifies a return is fine by me! :-)
As with many endeavours, my dabbles with collage creation started out in fairly basic form before being developed as time went on. Virtually all of my early cruise collages are standard mosaics, comprising variations on the theme of grids. As a result, to avoid repetition, only a small number are reproduced here. It wasn’t until our most recent voyage, to Canada’s eastern seaboard in the autumn of 2019, that my cruise summary plates became slightly more elaborate.
The two examples given below finish with what I call a picture map, in which a photo’s location on a map indicates the place where it was taken (with the background map itself being a holiday snap, in this case of a tourist information board). To avoid being too sparse, my Canadian picture map has been embellished with a few generic images and mini-collages around the edge (the geo-location thing being more of a guideline than a rule!).
Please note that a selection of individual cruise images (as opposed to collages) can be viewed in Section 1 of the current page, above.
Return to start of Section 1
Return to start of Cruise Collages
Perhaps inevitably, one of my earlier photo collages (compiled Dec 2014) starred our two trusty German Shepherds, Abby and Ozzy…
Abby and Ozzy (Compiled Dec 2014)
This brief section is devoted to local walks undertaken with my father Nigel, close to our respective homes in Devon, UK.
For a pictorial history of earlier walks amongst more mountainous terrain, please see my Hills & History archive page, or my inaugural mountain photography blog, Camera on the Crags. (Similar themes are developed in my two subsequent blogs, The Ballad of Bellever Tor and Shadow in the Tin.) The walks depicted here are a little more gentle in nature, although they are none the poorer for it… as our mountain climbing days have diminished, it’s been a real pleasure to explore the wide open spaces of Devon, along with our neighbouring counties of Cornwall, Somerset and Dorset.
In terms of collage design, the first Dartmoor plate is a notable example of a photoscape (for want of a better term), in which a background silhouette is filled in using pictures taken within its landscape. In this case, the silhouette is of Hay Tor’s huge twin outcrops, with our walk finishing on the equally fine granite jumble of Hound Tor. This route forms a sub-section of what we’d previously dubbed our 11 Tors walk (as per Spinal Tap, it’s always good to go one better!), centred on that popular wedge of high ground between Widecombe and Bovey Tracey.
Dartmoor Walk (Oct 2016) - Hay Tor Photoscape
The next collage represents a stroll along Devon’s south coast between Budleigh Salterton and Sidmouth, including ascents of High Peak and Peak Hill. Although a little muddled at first glance, this is an attempt at a photo path, in which overlapping images lead the viewer, Snakes and Ladders-style, along our chosen route from bottom-left to top-right.
South Coast Walk (Oct 2017) - Photo Path
My final Devon Doodle - or perhaps I should call it a Devon Dawdle - depicts another fine day in the vicinity of Hay Tor. Rippon Tor is also featured, along with the curious rock formation nicknamed The Bench. (There was no Hound Tor this day, despite having the hound with us!) The frame’s elongated shape is mostly a consequence of the Dartmoor summer panorama which takes up the lion’s share of the bottom row. Although not especially striking stylistically (any qualities on display are testament to Dartmoor itself!), this image is significant - to me at least - because it marks my first attempt at a true digital panorama, shot in RAW format (tripod in tow) and then stitched together using Lightroom.
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To complement my Devon Doodles, I’m including a small selection of collages from our regular forays “down the road” to Cornwall.
Steeped in folklore, and with a famously wild shoreline, Cornwall is the ideal place in which to blow away the cobwebs… particularly off-season, when those desert-like beaches are suitably deserted! :-)
Our Cornwall trip of January 2020 was notable for a couple of reasons. Firstly, unknown to us at the time, it was to be our final family holiday prior to the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic and associated travel restrictions. And secondly - much more trivially, although of relevance to this website - it marked my unveiling of the Fuji X-T3 mirrorless camera which would underpin my new approach to photography for the remainder of the year (and beyond).
Below are two collages which chronicle this precious week of freedom near Penzance… a general day-by-day overview (mostly courtesy of Karen), followed by a compilation of my initial Fuji X-T3 test shots with wide-angle kit lens.
This early 2020 Cornwall trip would also signify the end of my dalliance with photo collages (for now, at least). However, before drawing the Composite section of my website to a close, I’d like to circle back in time slightly to cover some collated memories of Scotland…
Return to start of Cornish Capers
My collage gallery concludes by covering a variety of Scottish holidays from 2015 onwards. For clarity and ease of access, these have been sub-divided into the following segments…
The main photo summary of our 2015 Orkney trip is a bit of a Frankenstein’s Monster, comprising four separate collages which were bolted together when I couldn’t decide which I preferred! Although a little haphazard, this does reflect the amazing variety of sights and scenes which were sampled during the week, including my long-standing ambition to view the Old Man of Hoy (which didn’t disappoint!).
My abiding memory of Orkney is of water, winds and huge skies, of coastal cliffs and chattering seabirds, plus a stunning array of historical sites from the Neolithic to medieval to wartime. There is an undeniably alluring atmosphere here, which is hard to define and harder still to fully capture on camera (though the reward is in the pursuit!).
My photographic record of our week in East Lothian (May 2016) is the most complex of any trip we’ve ever undertaken… more so, even, than far-flung holidays of much longer duration, including cruises to exotic locations. I concede that nostalgia played a part in this, since East Lothian had been a magical adventure playground of mine throughout childhood, when the Scottish side of my family would serve as the catalyst for annual pilgrimages. But beyond this, there’s no denying that the variety of attractions on offer here - the islands, beaches, castles and crags - makes this special region an obvious target for the aspiring photographer. The Bass Rock alone, for instance - with its sheer volcanic walls and maelstrom of swooping gannets - is worthy of a lifetime’s artistic study. While shapely Fidra, at the opposite end of East Lothian’s “rock island line”, has a sufficiently romantic air to spark rumours of inspiring Treasure Island (Robert Louis Stevenson being a one-time resident of nearby North Berwick).
All of the plates presented in this section were designed and created for a personalised photo album, covering our stay in East Lothian plus a day-trip to the Stirling area (which took in the Wallace Monument). The collection begins with three overall summary collages - two encompassing events of the whole week, the third featuring a “7 days, 7 beaches” coastal theme - before being broken down into distinct subjects or venues. Rather than describing each collage individually, I’ll let the images speak for themselves (admittedly with the help of brief captions!)… please watch out, however, for the silhouetted photoscapes of Tantallon Castle and North Berwick Law (respectively), which conclude this part of the gallery.
East Lothian (May 2016) - Bass Rock Gannets (Sula Bassana)
A few individual images from this East Lothian trip can be found lurking, uncredited, in the History section of my Hills and History page. And talking of uncredited, I’d also like to thank the various friends and family members who enlivened our stay with guest appearances (you know who you are!). :-)
Please note that further images from this special region can be viewed in the East Lothian section of my 2022 Gallery.
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My Mull photo summary is fairly standard in format, although our stay on the island was a memorable one. A personal mountain highlight comprised an ascent of Ben More via A’ Chioch, while wildlife safaris garnered sea eagles and a minke whale. Our base for the week was Tobermory, its colourful name and brightly painted seafront adding a touch of whimsy to our island adventure.
Isle of Mull (May 2018) - Photo Summary
My very first trip to Arran, in Scotland’s Firth of Clyde, occurred back in 1998 when I visited the island with friends. Although ostensibly a golfing holiday, I slightly guiltily engineered an ascent of Goatfell and North Goatfell on our opening day, a typically late start ensuring a stumbling return in the dark. When the group reassembled two years later with golfing reinforcements, my allocated mountain day took in two more of Arran’s classic granite peaks, Caisteal Abhail and Cir Mhor. The highlight here was a near-direct descent into the fearsome notch of the Witch’s Step, my climbing companion Adam bumping and scraping a trail against my better judgment (and indeed against gravity). I think the crux of this route remains the most daunting - perhaps the most clumsily acrobatic - piece of scrambling which I’ve undertaken anywhere in Britain’s hills.
The upshot of this is that memories already abounded on the island by the time my partner Karen and I returned in 2010, and I immediately felt that I’d returned somewhere homely yet exotic, accessible yet secluded. Our next visit would have to wait until 2017, but this then prompted an almost unspoken understanding that we would come here annually, our standard one week’s holiday being extended to two along the way.
In photographic terms, our 2017 re-discovery of Arran was notable for inspiring my first (and still my favourite) attempt at a picture map, in which a photo’s location on the map indicates the place where it was taken (give or take a little artistic license, and allowing for map rotation to optimise space in the frame). A further picture map would follow in 2018, this time including breakaway trips to Kintyre in the west and the Ayrshire mainland in the east. In both cases, the compact geography of Arran enabled the island to be completely filled with imagery, showcasing the rich variety of Highland and Lowland scenery which has justifiably (if predictably) earned the tagline Scotland in Miniature…
But picture maps can only be repeated so many times, and my remaining Arran collages revert to a more sustainable mosaic/grid format. These generally serve as a pictorial record of individual hill-walks (or scrambles) undertaken between 2017 and 2019, all located within Arran’s mountainous northern sector straddling the Highland Boundary Fault (which neatly bisects the island, contributing to the area’s remarkable geology).
Also included here is a 2019 mini-project to assemble a collection of jagged Arran skylines. The half-dozen examples in the vertical collage are cropped single images rather than true stitched (high-res) panoramas, although the underlying idea planted a seed for future mountain landscapes. On this theme, the gallery section below is padded out with an early cropped skyline from 2010, and concludes with three examples of stitched panoramas from 2020 (supplied in lieu of collages from these years!).
My final Arran collage is a jumble of images, which together summarise our stay of May 2019. It’s almost a standard (albeit irregular) mosaic, although closer inspection will reveal some discrete drop-ins designed to add flavour here and there.
This also marks Wee Moo’s first trip to Arran (although happily not her last!). :-)
For a collection of imagery from our September 2020 Arran trip (which has not been given the collage treatment), please see the Isle of Arran section of my 2020 Gallery. Likewise, the next year’s visit can be found in the Isle of Arran section of my 2021 Gallery, closely followed by the Panoramic Arran chapter of my 2022 Gallery (as you can see, our annual pilgrimage continues!). :-)
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In generating the above collages, I’d like to thank the family and friends who not only made these holidays or walking trips so special, but also contributed to the photographic content. With such a mish-mash of snaps in the mix, it’s impossible to credit each and every one. Suffice to say that my father Nigel’s fingerprints are all over the Devon Doodles, while my wife Karen was frequently clicking away on our various vacations - including principle photography duties on our Mediterranean cruises of 2016 and 2017, represented here by the twinned pairs of Ancient Greek and Port Index plates.
My pictorial Scotland summaries also serve as a timely reminder to thank Mel, who frequently shares our Arran adventures - plus those of East Lothian - and has many great shots of her own. Likewise for Bernard, who mirrored my passion for photography (and Prosecco) when he joined us touring East Lothian in 2016.
Finally, a quick shout-out to the respective unknown walkers who kindly took my picture at the Old Man of Hoy (Orkney 2015) and the summit of North Goatfell (Rock Monster walk, Arran 2019). Nice use of the rule of thirds, in each case! :-)
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