My name is Ray Goodfellow. I am single and was born, raised and still live in the port town of Dover, Kent, here in the United Kingdom.  

I have had a keen interest in all things nautical for as long as I can remember and this website has been developed on the back of that interest. This site however is not just about me anymore. With over 80 photographic contributors the site has grown to become an online community for those interested in the Port of Dover and the vessels that have served it over the years.

I went digital a number of years ago. After a succession of digital camera's over the last few years I am now using a Panasonic Lumix DMC FZ28 and a Panasonic Lumix DMC FZ100.

With regards to my photography this is defiantly a hobby and not a business. To coin the phrase of a close friend, I am a `happy snapper'. I enjoy the fresh air and the solitude in photography, its my escape so whenever I am out walking I always have a camera with me.

I have received some criticism in the past that not all my photography is good. As any photographer will tell you, a picture can always be improved but I hope with this site the viewing public can see how my photography has improved over the years.

Why Maritime Photography?

Having lived in Dover all my life I have never been more than 30 minutes walk from the sea. Its a lovely place to go just to forget the binds of life and relax with the fresh sea air.

My story of maritime interest starts when I was four years of age when my mum married my late step father Alan `Gunner' Sugden.

Alan was a second officer working for Townsend Thoresen on the ferries sailing from Dover. Alan retired from the ferries in 1988 and as a part of his retirement package he was given concessionary fares to travel, which we all took advantage of. It was through my love for the ferries and being at sea that photography and the maritime scene welded together.

It was during this time I started collecting the books of Ferry Publications, it was actually due to John Hendy's book `This is Folkestone and Dover' that I thought I would give photography a go. With my step sister being a graduate of the Kent institute of art and design and running her own graphic design business she was able to give me a lot of pointers in the field of photography.

In 2001 Alan was given a digital camera for Christmas and he became my photo buddy. We would often go out to take pictures of shipping and the varied scenery of the Dover area.

Alan died in 2003 and his ashes were scattered at sea from the Pride of Kent, so when ever I am out doing photography I always feel he is with me, looking out for me.

It is to Alan this website is dedicated to. God Speed Mate.

This Website

I gained internet access in early 2001 and it was through visiting sites such as Faktaomfartyg, Irish Sea Shipping and Gary Andrew's Yahoo groups that I realised there were other people out there in `cyber space' interested in ferries and photography.

Having a general interest in computers I decided to have a go with building a website using Geocities online page builder.

This website was originally hosted by Yahoo Geocities in 2003 as a way I could share my recent pictures with friends and family.  Due to the bandwidth restrictions associated with a free Geocities account and having acquired MS FrontPage and an idiots guide book in 2004 I decided to set myself a project of designing a small site and publishing it to my internet service providers 50 megabytes of web space.

In the early days it wasn't easy as I didn't really have a clue with what I was doing! Eventually the site started to evolve as my knowledge grew.

The aim of the site was to portray the comings and goings of the ferries in the port of Dover through my photography with a few news snippets that I had picked up along the way. It was at this time I started to host pictures from other people.

The old site closed in January 2005 when I upgraded to a proper web hosting plan with 123-reg and acquired the domain name www.doverferryphotos.co.uk. Due to it's ever increasing size the site was again transferred to a new hosting company in 2007. We are now hosted with Webfusion.

Today the site has 1.5gb of space and contains photographs of not just ferries but cruise ships and just about anything else which floats in the waters of the harbour, news, timetables, internet links and vessel information from myself and a number of regular contributors.

It was thanks to maritime photography and the maiden arrival of the Maersk Delft in February 2006 (affectionately known as `Delft Day') that I met Nigel Thornton and a good friendship has since developed.

In September 2006 Nigel started compiling the hugely popular Past and Present features. These features profile the history of an individual vessel through photographs and as much information as possible and have become the foundation of the site.

I now like to think of this site as a community project rather than that of my own and with the number of photographic contributors now coming onboard to supply material to the site its growing yearly.

The Dover Ferry Photos Forum

In November 2006 the Dover Ferry Photos Forum was launched. This was designed as an additional area to compliment the website.

Owing to technical issues with the free host we decided to move the forums `in-house' in May of 2009. The new forum was custom built for us by Paul Bilbrough.

The board has been designed as a meeting place of anybody who is interested in the shipping scene here in Dover. Everybody is welcome to join the forum but we do ask you to register an account with us first.

In December 2006 the `Dover Patrol' board was opened so local members could post daily pictures, giving a brief snapshot of day to day port life.

The forum is now home to nearly 600 members and has been a great addition to the site. Its nice to see some names on there which were the very people who inspired me in the first place.

What does the future hold for me and the site?