Phil Douglis: Travel Photography Archive

Image Copyright © held by Phil Douglis, The Douglis Visual Workshops, pnd1@cox.net

The old maritime city of Falmouth, England...St. Peter Port, capital of Guernsey...Cork and Dublin, Ireland's two largest cities. They offer a cross section of European history spanning three thousand years, arrayed along a crescent of turbulent water linking the English Channel to the Irish Sea. I passed this way in the summer of 2004 with my cameras, and offer you this interpretation of what I found there. This is the first of three galleries embracing a cruise to European ports. In the next gallery we will visit the French side of the Channel. In the final gallery of this trip, we will cruise into the Bay of Biscay around the top of Spain, and then move into the Atlantic, ending in Portugal. The second gallery will offer my interpretation of the Normandy Invasion Beaches, as well as Mont St. Michel and St. Malo in Brittany. The third gallery features images of Bilbao and Santiago de Compostella in Spain, as well as Guimaraes, Braga, and Lisbon in Portugal. If you've viewed the previous galleries I've posted on this site, you'll note that my photographic intentions are focused on interpretation, rather than description. I've continued to do this in these galleries on my European adventures. I want my pictures to express how I feel about what I see, rather than just recording what I've seen or where I've been. Aside from sharing these pictures with you on this website, I also am using many of them to teach the principles of expressive travel photography on my pbase website http://www.pbase.com/pnd1) as well as in the tutorial workshops I give in Phoenix for those desiring instruction in photojournalism, expressive travel photography and digital imaging.

These European images were gleaned from the more than 2,000 digital pictures I shot during our entire trip. I used two digital cameras, a Leica Digilux 2 and a Canon G5 -- both five megapixel fixed lens cameras. Most of the Canon photographs were taken with a Canon .7x wideangle converter placed over my zoom lens, which provided me with the equivalent of a 24mm wideangle lens, a focal length that I feel is essential for effective travel photography. Others were made with a Canon 1.75x telephoto converter, which is the equivalent of a 245mm telephoto lens. (Only a few of these photographs were made using just the G5's 35mm-140mm zoom lens.) The Lieca Digilux 2 offers an incredibly sharp 28mm-90mm zoom lens, and an oversized sensor, which creates images with extra fine detail. It also functions without noticeable shutter lag, allowing me to stop action as desired. I've edited all of these images with Photoshop to correct and refine the hue, color, contrast and sharpness levels, hopefully making my pictures more vibrant and meaningful. Although all of these photographs were digitally enhanced to some degree, none of the content has been significantly manipulated. The facts are all here, as I captured them. I hope you will enjoy my photographic impressions.

To view my images at their best, just click the "slideshow" button in the top right hand corner. To end the slide show at any time, press your "escape" key. I welcome your comments and questions. Phil Douglis Director, The Douglis Visual Workshops, Phoenix, Arizona, pnd1@cox.net

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pnd1 > Falmouth Harbor, late afternoon - Falmouth is a resort and port in Cornwall, near the westernmost part of the English mainland. In 1698, the first Royal Mail Packet Station was set up in the town. Packets were fast, heavily armed ships that swept across the oceans from Falmouth, carrying mail, royal messages and gold to all parts of the world. When the packet service was moved to Southampton, the town declined but gained a new lease on life as a resort when railroad service began in 1863.

pnd1 > Old figurehead, Falmouth - Figureheads were carvings mounted on the prows of ships. They were often considered the guardians of the ships they graced. This 19th Century figurehead, now mounted over the door of a marine supply company in Falmouth, probably once hung on the bow of a British merchant ship.

pnd1 > Window shopping, Falmouth - Freshly baked breads, rolls, and pastries on Falmouth's Market Street.

pnd1 > Phone Booth, Falmouth - Despite the omnipresent cell phone, Falmouth's colorful phone booths accommodate a steady stream of customers.

pnd1 > St. George's Arcade, Falmouth - St. George slays the dragon over the entrance to a colorful shopping mall bearing his name in downtown Falmouth.

pnd1 > Kings Head Pub, Falmouth - The main street of Falmouth is lined with pubs honoring fish, fowl, and kings. This one is named for a king (Charles I) who lost his head.

pnd1 > Remembering Jane, Falmouth - A gravestone marks the last resting place of a woman named Jane in the small burying ground of Falmouth's Church of King Charles the Martyr. (The church is next door to the Kings Head pub.)

pnd1 > Braid Stop, Falmouth - A visitor patiently awaits her souvenir of Falmouth -- one intricate braid.

pnd1 > Shopper caught in a shower, Falmouth - Summer weather is unpredictable on the Cornish coast. This shopper keeps her packages dry during a summer show.

pnd1 > On the waterfront, Falmouth - Falmouth visitors take in the sights at the town's Prince of Wales Pier.

pnd1 > Choices, Falmouth - Amusement arcade or restaurant? Falmouth visitors have plenty to choose from.

pnd1 > Massive figurehead, Upton Slip, Falmouth - Visitors to Falmouth's Upton Slip are greeted by an enormous ship's figurehead, now permanently moored in front of a sailmaking shop.

pnd1 > Sunset off Falmouth - I've seldom seen a setting sun as beautiful as this one. The wisps of clouds that embrace it seem reluctant to watch it slip below the horizon.

pnd1 > Castle Cornet, St. Peter Port, Guernsey - Cruise ships glide past Castle Cornet, a medieval fortress built on St. Peter Port's offshore islet in the 13th Century. St. Peter Port is the capital of the Island of Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands in the English Channel just off the French coast. Guernsey is a dependency of the British Crown.

pnd1 > Flowery crown, St Peters Port, Guernsey - A French policeman (or soldier?) hiding behind a basket of flowers in a British town? Only one of a number of incongruous sights along the old streets of St. Peters Port.

Falmouth Harbor, late afternoon - Falmouth is a resort and port in Cornwall, near the westernmost part of the English mainland. In 1698, the first Royal Mail Packet Station was set up in the town. Packets were fast, heavily armed ships that swept across the oceans from Falmouth, carrying mail, royal messages and gold to all parts of the world. When the packet service was moved to Southampton, the town declined but gained a new lease on life as a resort when railroad service began in 1863.