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Sunset after sunset
Bequia Photography




This week has been a series of colourful sunsets, so much so, that on one evening this week I left my camera in the bag (unheard of) as I was chatting with friends and sat and watched, with the obligatory rum punch in my hand, catching it on my Iphone! Sacrilege.

The clouds this week have provided a mix of the usual lower level along with some higher level cirrus style, which catches the light well after sunset itself. So this week we have been awarded a spectacle of glorious pinks, blues, oranges and golden glows across the skies. The real challenge for us as photographers, is to try and re-create that in the processing, to provide you with a scene, as close as possible, to the glorious and iridescent colours we see at the time. With the range of colours and the shades of each, its a challenge.

On top of that, it also depends of course on what you are looking at them on. The screen I use for processing these images is a calibrated screen, calibrated on a weekly basis to ensure as true-as-possinle colour rendition. But, if your looking it these images on an old screen, set to VGA or a lower resolution, or on a laptop, Iphone or Ipad, they will all look slightly different. Such is our challenge.

This evenings sunset was such a colour challenge, as the sun had set and was lighting up the clouds high above, but the colours were then reflecting down onto the lower level clouds, and the water, which was also glowing with the dusky pink glow of the clouds above. For a few moment only, it seemed that the whole world have taken on the colours of the sunset. Truly amazing.

A second shot from a little earlier as the colours on the clouds began to build and glow.

The spring rains have arrived
The Flamboyant, Bequia



After a long dry spell, lasting the last 6 months or more, the rains have slowly started, signalling a change in the seasons and a return from the grey hillsides, dried out, to a more Spring-like time, with shoots and flowers suddenly popping up across the island.

One of the most colourful changes is the Flamboyant Tree, which stands in the dry season with its seed pods hanging don from bare branches, looking not very interesting at all. With the start of the rains, green fern-like leaves start to cover the branches and the quite suddenly, the flame red flowers start to appear, changing the whole look and feel of the tree, and its surroundings. Simply stunning.

Many are still waiting for the rains, but a couple have come out early and this one is in a friends garden overlooking Admiralty Bay, with one of the best views on the island, out across the harbour towards West Cay.

Study of a lone tree
Spring Top, Bequia



I have been spending quite a bit of time up in Spring this week, working on some different projects, which has meant I have been able to watch the sunset from one of my favourite spots on this island, Spring Top, or Spring View as its now been officially names, although I prefer the old version of the name.

One of the reasons for its popularity its is stunning near 360degree views across the island, but in particular spectacular views across the Bequia Channel towards St Vincent, making it a great location to watch the clouds roll in, along with the boats and yachts coming and going from the island.

For us photographers, it also has one of the few single trees on the island, located in a position for multiple views, so this week I decided to study the tree and use it in a few different sunset shots.

At this time of year the sun is setting way out to sea and will go further as we head towards mid summer so there's still plenty of opportunities to get some different shots. The only issue with this location is the visitors who come up and sit on the wall, the seats or just in the frame. Every now and again you get a romantic couple cuddling up which adds to the scene, but mostly is families or groups who come up and 'spoil' the view.

Anyway, I hope enjoy the study of a Lone Tree.

A couple of shots showing the varying cloud formations which are always rolling across the channel, which at varying stages of sunset, catch the light in countless ways.

Bequia Sunset
Over the Plantation Jetty



The Plantation House Hotel, also known as the 'Sunny Caribe', has been empty for many years now and this week went up for sale by order of the mortgagee .... read Government. Despite its rocky recent history, it remains one of the best spots on the island and have many fond memories from it when it was open.

The jetty, some of which has now disappeared, provides a great foreground and lead-in line for any shot in the part of the bay.

A colourful sky with the dusky pinks of sunset also helps as the light catches the clouds high above, with the suns golden glow still hitting the horizon.

A great prelude to dinner with friends at the Fig Tree restaurant just up the bay from here.

The final image was taken a few minutes before the sun actually set using the Lee Big Stopper, ND110, with an exposure of 30 seconds to flatten out the waves and water, although causing some movement in the yachts. The couple sitting on the jetty however didnt move!

Latest Projects
The Deck House, Bequia

The Deck House is Bequia's latest waterfront bar, restaurant and B&B to open but its the only one with true waterfront dining, with a deck that extends out over the water, providing a unique experience here on the island.

Match that with great views out across the harbour, a well stocked bar and kitchen and some sumptuous rooms and its a recipe for success.

Adrian and Suzie who have set up the Deck House wanted a range of photographs to portray the different aspects of the business, along with some from a private party showing groups of people having a great time.

A small selection is shown below, but please check out their new website for full details.

Walking up to Mount Peggy : On top of Bequia



I have been wanting to get up to Mount Peggy for a while, but with stories of difficult paths to follow, deadly plants and not walking up on your own, its taken a bit of time to get there.

The walk up from the Whaling Museum was easy enough, mostly steady walking/scrambling and near the top its more scrambling over rocks than anything else. There are a number of areas where the trail goes through thickets or Yucca plants, all of which have to be carefully negotiated due to their sharp edges, but for the most part, it was a relatively easy walk, taking 30-40 minutes to reach the top.

The walk is definitely worth it. The view from the top is simply stunning offering a 360 degree viewpoint covering the entire island.

The top is a rocky outcrop called Mount Peggy, after Peggy Kydd who had incredible eyesight and used to sit up on the rocks, looking out to sea, to point out where the shoals of fish were. Not sure how she used to communicate as this is well before the days of mobile phones, but its obviously stuck in local history. Like everything on Bequia, it has many names and is also known as Mount Peggy, or Ma Peggy.

The view across Admiralty Bay takes in most of the Northern part of the island, with the beaches of Lower Bay, Princess Margaret and then the harbour of Port Elizabeth; followed by the hillsides of Union Level, Cinnamon Gardens and out into Spring into the distance. On the right hand side are the hills of Mount Pleasant while over the left you can see the small hill containing Hamilton Fort. A spectacular view.

I made the trip as I wanted to shoot a timelapse sequence from the top, which became a challenge. Only taking a small lightweight tripod, the wind was blowing strongly and the rain came in while I was up there, so another visit will soon be needed, with the full equipment! Im not complaining though, with that view to watch out over for a couple of hours.

Tuition : One on One around Bequia



Last week I spent a great day with Robin and Mike who were visiting the island from the US and who wanted to explore more of the island. Having visited once before a few years ago by yacht as they sailed the Grenadines, this time they were spending a few days on Mustique, followed by a few days on Bequia.

As Robin was also a keen photographer, she also wanted to learn more about some of the techniques I use when shooting around the island and to visit some of the locations they had seen across the gallery images.

The day started with a coffee and chat at the Gingerbread hotel where I went through the 'Basics of Landscape Photography' with then looking at subjects such as Exposure, Histograms, Composition, Depth of Field, Hyperfocal Focusing and Equipment. Once we were happy with the basic understanding and how it could be applied to her own equipment, we set off.



It was a good fun day, visiting many of the locations I regularly shoot from giving them a new perception of the island. We visited some of the more 'off the beaten track' locations as well and those which are on the regular tourist trail, but we tried to look at them from a different angle, creating our own perspective.

One of the issues we discussed at length was that of artistic interpretation., As photographers, I consider us as artists. We may not paint with brushes and oils, but the 'tool' we use these days is just a way of collecting zero's and one's on a digital sensor. How we choose to show that data as an image can have millions of differing interpretations, each one very personal to the photographer.

To ensure the maximum amount of data from each of our 'captures', I taught them the 'expose to the right' approach of shooting in RAW and using histograms.... explaining that the image shown on the reverse of the camera may not look great, but if the histogram says its good, then a better image will result from post processing.

Over lunch we discussed more details of equipment and the 18-200VR lens that Robin was using was already showing its limitations for landscapes. Although great as a general lens, giving the flexibility of zooming in and out depending on subject matter, its 18mm wide angle was showing itself limited against the 10mm Sigma lens I usually use for landscapes and seascapes.



The afternoon was again spent visiting some of the great viewpoints of the island and as we get closer to sunset, the clouds had rolled in and the sky was looking very grey indeed. We headed for one of the bars along the Belmont Walkway, the Whaleboner, ordered some beers and sat and discussed the day, what they had learnt, how much more of the island they had seen and how they now had a completely different set of memories to take away with them.

As we sat and chatted, the cloudy sky above started to break up and along the horizon a very small gap appeared, providing a hole for the sun to peek through for the last 5 minutes. A final burst of activity as the sun came into view against the yachts moored in the harbour provided a golden end to the day.... or so we thought!

10-15 minutes after sunset, as the dusky pinks rolled across the sky, the clouds started to glow and provided a truly amazing and very colourful end to the day. A much more fitting end than the grey clouds of an hour earlier.



It was a great, fun filled day, spent with a wonderful couple. From their comments it seems that they loved the day too and have fallen in love again with the island and have been inspired to continue practising with their photography, learning new techniques and already have a wish list of new equipment.

I love these days, when you spend time with people who are truly interested in both Bequia and learning and expanding their photographic skills. Its one of the most enjoyable sides to my job as a Professional Photographer.

If you'd like to spend the day learning new skills and techniques and have a great look round this magical island, please get in touch and let me know when you'll be here. I look forward to it.

Praying for rain
Industry, Spring and Park panorama



This time of year is the autumn here in the Caribbean and the trees have all changed in the last weeks, turning from leafy green to bare branches, many of which look grey out across the landscape.

Its also the time of year when water gets scarce and everyone starts praying for rain. Water here is a valuable product with each home having its own water tanks, collecting rainwater from roofs and gutters. Large, oversized roofs, with overhangs offering shady deck spaces are the norm here, making water collection much more efficient.

These last few weeks have seen the water delivery trucks out on the roads filling the tanks as we've not had rain for quite a while.

So, as I headed up to the top of Spring today I was grateful to see the rain storms rolling in across the seas, turning the views to a wall of grey, masking out the islands on the horizon.

Once they had passed I went up to the top of Spring Bay, walked out along one of the trails to what has become one of my favourite views on the island; Spring, Industry and Park Bays, with the waves rolling in across the reefs in the shallow turquoise waters, with the palm trees lining the bays. Wonderful.

Searching this site for Sailing Images

If you are here looking for an image of your yacht during the Bequia Easter Regatta, please choose one of the following ways to find it ...

- Scroll through the galleries of each days races

- Use the search box and enter the name of your yacht

- Use the search box and use the class your boat was in. The classes for the Bequia Easter Regatta 2013 were: Racing; J24; Cruising I; Cruising II; Surprise.


The local boats, the fishing boats from Bequia, also known as the Double Enders, have their own galleries, so its best to scroll though those, or search by the boat name.

If you have any trouble finding your boat images, please contact me.

All of the images from this years Regatta can be viewed here.

Bequia Easter Regatta 2013
The racing gets under way

This morning saw the start of the Bequia Easter Regatta, with the J24, Surprise, Racing and Cruising 1 & 2 sailing out from Lower Bay, around the Admiralty Mark and then off round the island. A great spectacle to see so many boats racing around the harbour.

A selection of the mornings racing can be viewed here.

A new gallery has been added to the site to show this weekends Bequia Easter Regatta and highlights from each days racing.

The preparations have been going on for the last few days but now the day has arrived for the registration, Skippers briefing, rum punches all round and then off tomorrow morning on the first set of races around the island.

The gallery can be viewed here.

Getting ready for the Bequia Easter Regatta

Its nearly Easter and here, on Bequia, that means just one thing : its the Bequia Easter Regatta; the highlight of the year; 50-60 yachts arriving, with their crews to sail, race and party over the next few days.

The local boats are coming out of hiding ..... the 'double enders' as they are called; designed from the early Yankee Whaling boats that arrived here in the 1870's, with a bow at each end, designed to be stored within each other on deck of a larger whaling ship. They became the de-facto standard boat used here on the islands for whaling, fishing and hunting at sea.

Now they are raced, every Easter, at the Bequia Easter Regatta; the largest regatta in the Eastern Caribbean and supported from all of the islands from the region; racing classes of yachts from cruising, J24 and the local double-enders will race round the island over the net few days; courses from completely round the island, to round the bay; all will be filled with fun, dramatics, and a few rums too.

As the local boats get prepared to race, they appear on every corner of the island, under the Almond Tree on the bay front, to along the beach shore at Hamilton, to Friendship Bay and even up on top of Mount Pleasant..... they are all coming out of hiding for this annual event.

Golden Glow across the bay
Admiralty Bay Bequia



A glorious sunset developed this week. A clear sky made it look as though we were in for a green flash but little else. As the sunset came closer a small band of clouds developed along the horizon and 15-20 minutes after the sun had set, the clouds glowed in the dusk light, with the reds, oranges, pinks and blues of a stunning sunset.

This is a panorama; a stitch of 8 different images, each taken in portrait mode, overlapping the next next by 50% and then 'stitched' together using software. There are many programs you can use for this, but I used Photoshop CS5 for this one. I was surprised to find that P'Shop couldn't cope with this series of images, due to the number of vertical lines in the masts and rigging of the yachts. The masks had to be manually adjusted afterwards to ensure that all the yachts kept their masts.

It was a wonderful hour, sitting on the end of the Plantation House jetty and I have to say 'Hi' to Darlene and Colin who were also sharing the sunset with me. (Colin is one of the many local artists here on Bequia and he was out video'ing the sunset for a music album he is putting together).

Enjoy the colours as they say, wish you were here!

Island Photography
Sailing to Mustique



One of the benefits living on a small island is that almost everyone sails and many people who live here have a yacht. So it was this week when a new friend of mine invited a group of sea-lovers the opportunity to sail to Mustique, one of the neighbouring islands here in the Grenadines.

The island of Mustique is home to the rich and famous and has recently changed its regulations to visiting yachts, to stop them from hiring the local 'mules', which are electric golf carts, to stop them free roaming around the island. A move to protect the peace and privacy of the island.

We were only really interested in have a quick drink in the World Famous Basil's Bar before heading back to the yacht for lunch, before an afternoons sail back to Bequia. It had been a great sail over from Bequia, the owner asking me to take the helm which after an absence of 5 years sailing round the Grenadines, was a real pleasure. The yacht was a Beneteau 45 and responded well in the rolling seas across the channel.

I had wanted to revisit Mustique on the trip, not only as I have many fond memories of visiting the Cotton House, the Fire Fly or Basils when I chartered around these islands, but because I wanted to recapture the colourful seafront area with its coloured boutique, fishing boats and the flags announcing the 35th Anniversary of Basils Bar.

With clouds brewing overhead, which drowned us an hour later, I walked the bay front area and captured a small bit of life on Mustique. I hope you enjoy them.

Bequia Faded Glory
Plantation House Hotel



The Plantation House Hotel used to be one of the key places on this small island, holding the position of the last building along the Belmont Walkway. As such it used to anchor the bay at that end, providing a great spot to relax, have a drink or sit and have dinner in its beach front restaurant.

I have many happy memories of sundowners there from a few years back when I ran a charter yacht from the bay. One of the 'funniest' memories of this place was when the 2006 Bequia Music Festival was in full swing, with people dancing on the tables and singing their hearts out to a London based rastafarian, singing '54-46 What's My Number' (an old Toots and the Maytals number), when suddenly an announcement came across the PA saying the my yacht has slipped its moorings and would the Skipper please return to her and save her! I made many friends that night as most the boat boys from the harbour were already on-board when I arrived, one diving to free the propeller and another group holding her off a catamaran where she had become rested across its bows. Happy times!

Nowadays, its is empty and left to decay. The jetty is falling apart, the main buildings are falling apart and the beach cabanas are used by the locals as a cheap place to rest their heads. Still used my locals and visitors alike as a spot to relax and sit on the dock to enjoy the sunsets or a swim.

Lower Bay, Bequia
Still surging



The surging seas off Lower Bay continued today, making it great fun to get out in the water and ride the waves as they rolled up the beach. There was evidence today of the waves breaking the crest of the beach and running out into the surrounding roads, so we hope it will at least calm down a bit.

The light today was back to our usual sunny, bright with blue skies and some white fluffy clouds rolling by, so it was another great opportunity to capture the swell.

For the first show I stood under one of the Almond trees that line the bay, using the shadow of the branches for both shade and to break up the white surf that was washing up the beach.

Along at the very end of the beach, you got a great viewpoint right along the entire beach and at time, it seemed that the whole beach was underwater.

Bequia Photography
Lower Bay Surges



The promised surge that has been coming across the Atlantic, into the Caribbean Sea arrived today, with its swell and waves powering up the beaches, across the walkways and making everything on the Northern side of the island, rather exciting.

Walking down the Belmont Walkway, you had to take your life in your hands, unless you wanted to get soaked through and the poor yachties who had moored off Princess Margaret Beach or Lower Bay, certainly had a restless day and night, swinging around in the swell.

Lower Bay was as usual the most fun, with the waves crashing right up to the top of the beach, washing away all evidence of any human presence; no footprints in the sand left behind today.

The light was very dull, overcast and grey, so I headed out to play in the crashing waves and surges, but soon decided it was worth the effort to capture the moment. It was one of those occasions when I wish I had foot long spikes on the feet of the tripod, as it sank further into the sand with each passing wave.

I was slowing the movement of the water down through the use of neutral density filters. The Lee Big Stopper was too strong for yesterdays overcast lighting, as I only wanted a 1 second exposure, so had to use a 1.2ND instead, the slowest ISO I could set (ISO100) and toned down the sky with a 0.6NDSG. It was a good opportunity to use a soft graduated filter, instead of the usual hard ones, as with the surge came the white water running across the sea and up the beach, so a soft grad helped to tone all of this down a little.

Bequia Photography
More from Ravine & Rocky Bay, Bequia



A couple more images from this weeks trip out to Ravine Beach and Rocky Bay. Taken in the bright light of mid morning, the challenge here was to control the white water, from the crashing waves, not to over-expose the highlights of the image.

Some adjustments can be made to minor areas of over-exposure in Adobe Camera Raw, using the 'Recovery' slider, or by using an Adjustment Brush to reduce the Exposure or Brightness, but as always, its best to get it as good as you can in-camera.

Whenever there a subject I want to get the most out out of, which is usually every time I go out, I will use the Histogram to tell me what's going on with the tonal range and spread of the image. By 'Exposing to the Right', you make sure that your Digital Camera Sensor collects as much data s possible, taking the histogram over to the right hand side of the scale, without any clipping.

In post processing, this means you have more data to work with than you would have had if the histogram was evenly spread in the middle or to the left hand side of its range. The result is better detail in both the shadows and right across the image.

In times of challenging light, using this approach helps control the tonal range, reduces the blown-out highlights and results in a better image.

The movement in the water was achieved through the use of the Lee Big Stopper extreme neutral density filter, allowing a x1000 reduction in light. Even in the bright morning sun, at ISO100 this meant an exposure time of a few seconds, when I was really after around 1-2seconds. By increasing the ISO up to 200-800, the shutter speed reduces to the time required, giving the pleasant movement to the water.

Caribbean Photography
Ravine & Rocky Bay, Bequia



A second trip to one of the more easily accessible bays 'off the beaten track' here on Bequia. That of Ravine Beach and Rocky Bay.

I wanted to go back, as my previous visit had been with friends, walking, and I needed the sun to come round further to light up the rocks and cliffs of the headland between the two bays.

When I arrived, I had the bay to myself, but not for long, as a group of young people came down, with machete's, knives and diving gear, as they off to the headland to fish, or to hunt Iguana. One of whom, left a great pattern of footprints in the sand for me, thank you!

One of the reasons I wanted to return was to get some images of one point, in the headland between Ravine and Rocky Bay, as the sea had washed up a collection of colours rocks and boulders, which along with the coloured cliffs, made for a colourful scene.

As the sea wasn't too choppy today, I decided to use the Lee Big Stopper (ND110) to try and slow the motion down, using everything at my disposal; polarising filters, ISO, the Big Stopper and also a second filter, anything to stop the light getting in.



As I headed round the headland, Rocky Bay too looked great, with the waves lapping the rocks and running off the ledges.

Caribbean Photography
Cloudy sunset across Admiralty Bay, Bequia



It looked as though it was going to be a great sunset. Clouds were spread across the sky in a great pattern, ready to catch the golden glow of the sun once it had set below the horizon. I setup the camera, took some test shots and waited for the sun to set and for the light show to start.

I chose one of my favourite spots for looking out across Admiralty Bay, high up on the ridge, in a friends garden.

Unfortunately, as the sun set, all of the clouds disappeared! Very frustrating, but that's how it goes and here, it happens quite frequently.

So here's one of the test shos from earlier, as I watching the clouds, rather than the sunset. Its a blended shot, as shooting into the sun always causes issues and although there was a light layer of cloud, it wasn't thick enough to stop the glare from the sun itself. I also stopped down to F22 to try and capture the starburst.