This year we took our photo shoot and filming outside the UK because our inspired photographer Angus Malcolm felt that this would add a new dimension to the calendar and films. We asked the rowers who were fortunate enough to make the trip to the sunny Costa del Sol to share their experiences with us – here’s the first Spain diary from Alex.
How did you feel about being invited to the Spain shoot?
I felt extremely privileged as I know a couple of the boys were invited out there last year and so I had seen some shots of what it was like, but it didn’t even cross my mind when I decided to do the calendar this year.
Is this your first visit to Spain? First visit to Costa del Sol?
I’d been to most other countries around it, but just never been to Spain, so yeah this was my first time, which was even more exciting. Plus, I think that the Costa del Sol is one of the best places for first impressions of Spain, so I feel I was very fortunate to come here on my first visit to the country.
What did you think the area would be like?
Very hot and sunny and not much beyond that I guess.
What were your first impressions of the coast?
A little warm with some pretty dark and boring views…I arrived at night so I guess that didn’t help. But, waking up to a sensational panoramic view of the mountains and sea in insufferable heat is something I won’t forget for a while though.
Look at that view!
Where did you do your first shoot? What was that like?
The first shoot was at a gorgeous villa that looked out over the whole coast. It was the sort of place you’d only see in films and there were so many shooting locations that it ended up being a busy first day.
What other places did you visit for shoots?
We really got a lot of variety with our locations as we ended up visiting the villa, the beach, some mountains, more mountains…the bedroom.
Our Spanish guest star Fluff getting a cuddle from Tristan
Which location did you like best?
The sun lounger to top up my tan, but in terms of shooting locations I’d have to say the beach that we visited. It wasn’t technically a nude beach, so getting our kit off in front of people was definitely different.
What did you do in your free time?
Kept up to date with my social media accounts and spent time working out which hairstyle I want next. We all went out for a couple of nights as well, in the spirit of ‘work hard play hard.’
This is how we BBQ in Spain!
Is there anything you didn’t have time to do and wish you had? Any place you’d really like to visit another time?
I’m not really sure there was anything that I felt I missed out on this time round, although I think just chilling on the beach a bit more would’ve been good. I’ve always wanted to see the Sagrada Familia Basilica in Barcelona, but it’s quite a distance from Marbella, so I’ll have to do that another time.
Shooting in Spain is a fairly new location for the calendar – what do you think it adds to the images and the enjoyment of making the calendar?
I think that we try very hard to produce a calendar every year that’s better than the previous and it’s becoming increasingly hard to create new and original content using the boathouse as a location. Spain adds so much in terms of stunning scenery for the calendar content as well as being an extremely enjoyable location for the guys to shoot in, which comes across in content like the Spain film.
Nature meets natural!
If you haven’t downloaded our Spain film yet then you can get it delivered in minutes when you go here.