Photographer finds his sea legs aboard the Spirit

Gliding calmly out of St George’s harbour or riding ten-foot waves in a Mid Atlantic swell, the Spirit of Bermuda made a thrilling muse for photographer Gavin Howarth’s latest exhibition.

The snapper rediscovered his sea legs on a voyage to the ­Canadian Maritimes with the Spirit and her crew.

Scrambling across the deck, hanging off the bow, rolling with the swell, he set out to capture the essence of life on board the ­majestic tall ship.

The result is his Northern ­Exposure exhibition — a collection of images from the voyage, including some of the stunning landscapes the crew encountered in the Canadian north. The show opens tonight at the Edinburgh Gallery of the Bermuda Society of Arts.

Sleeping with his camera gear in cramped quarters, Mr. Howarth quickly got used to the realities of life at sea.

Focussing on protecting ­yourself and your gear while trying to capture the perfect image in rough seas brought additional challenges.

“At times you just have to ­constantly brace yourself as the boat is moving so fiercely. ­Combined with waves and spray breaking the bow in stiff winds, that was by far the hardest part.

“It was a real challenge trying to convey just how it felt to be ­onboard, the calm beautiful times as well as the stormy and ­challenging ones,” he said.

The show also features a series of images from the amazing destinations the Spirit visited on the trip in August.

Mr. Howarth says he had ­researched each of the locations beforehand. But nothing could prepare him for the breathtaking beauty of Sable Island — a floating sandbar populated by wild horses and seals.

“I was floored by just how beautiful Sable Island was. To have an island that large, pretty much comprised of sand, grass and wild horses is indeed a rare site.

“One of the images in the show is a five foot panoramic of the ­island that helps depict the scale and vastness of it.”

He wasn’t prepared either, for the approach to Sable Island. The absence of docks on the remote destination meant the crew had to putter through the surf in an ­inflatable ‘run-about’, wading the final few steps to land.

“I was on the first trip in the ­inflatable run-about which didn't work out the best as I, along with the rest of us and my camera bag, ended up overboard,” he said.

The trip also took in picturesque Canadian towns on the north east coast of Canada.

 “We were so warmly welcomed by all residents and literally caused the town of Louisbourg to come to a standstill as we made our entrance, a great experience that filled all onboard with pride in our ship,” he said.

The exhibition — a combination of seascapes, images of the ship, the locations and the flora and fauna they encountered — ­allowed Mr. Howarth to combine his journalistic eye with his ­passion for the natural world.

“This experience was actually a good mix of my background as a photographer. I started out about five years ago primarily doing landscapes, seascapes and nature.

“That is still my first love but these days I am heavily in the wedding photography market. Those two elements were a perfect fit as the wedding side is very photojournalistic, which helped with the nature side and the ­compositional and lighting ­challenges when ashore.”