Old Roman Road

Another Carmarthenshire countryside walk I had recently took me along an old Roman road. The weather was still wet and I cannot imagine that Roman soldiers would have found the current state of their highway as easy to march along as it must have been in their time. The road surface at the start of the walk was good enough but as I progressed, it became more and more deeply rutted and like a river.

Complementary images to my walks this week can be found directly on Instagram or via the sidebar images on the StillWalks blog. Images displayed here and on Instagram are a mixture of iPhone and Canon DSLR photography.

old roman road

old roman road

old roman road

Mossy Fringe

Sitting by the side of the steep, slippery, wet footpath down which I walked through this mossy Carmarthenshire woodland, I found this brick built well (I assume that is what it is – the water was beautifully clear inside it). There are plenty of woodlands like this in Wales that are full of moss, but I particularly liked the fringe, sideburns and decorative foliage adorning this wayside feature.

Complementary images to my walks this week can be found directly on Instagram or via the sidebar images on the StillWalks blog. Images displayed here and on Instagram are a mixture of iPhone and Canon DSLR photography.

mossy well

well entrance

Mossy Well

Travelling Back in Woodland Time

I have had a couple of walks in Carmarthenshire recently in spite of wet weather. During these excursions I found this dinosaur-like mossy monster. I don’t know if this woodland should be described as ancient, but it certainly seemed like it to me, and with this “creature” lurking there it seemed even more as though I had gone back in time.

Complementary images to my walks this week can be found directly on Instagram or via the sidebar images on the StillWalks blog. Images displayed here and on Instagram are a mixture of iPhone and Canon DSLR photography.

Carmarthenshire-3

Carmarthenshire Moss Monster

A Flash of Fungi

I posted an iPhone photo of these little lamp-like mushrooms on Instagram recently. This is a shot taken on my Canon 550D (using flash). I can take good photos on my iPhone 5c but on this occasion it was definitely easier to get a better shot with the Canon.

Mushroom

Going to Seed

Thistles – another irresistible subject for photography!

These photos were taken on my Canon 550D with a Canon 70-300mm IS USM lens. However, it is also important for me to keep developing my skills with iPhone photography or iPhonography as it is often my phone camera that I have with me when out walking.

With so much to see, I wouldn’t want to miss an opportunity, yet at the same time, it is not practical to always have heavy camera slung over your shoulder.

thistle

Thistles

Exposure of a Queen

It was a pretty grey day last week when I visited Windsor. I found that my photography was best handled in full manual mode rather than relying on any of the semi-automatic options.

Having experimented with exposure, shutter speed and iso and found a reasonable compromise, the rest of my photography needed fewer adjustments as the weather remained miserable (if not actually raining) for the whole visit.

The photos below of Queen Victoria were deliberately over and under-exposed as I liked the appearance of her profile against the sky, which as you can see in the second shot, was not exactly bright. Having said this, I think the second shot is my favourite! Which is yours?

Queen Victoria statue

Queen Victoria statue

Queen Victoria statue

The Flags Are Out

A late evening walk down on the marshes (last weekend before the rain returned) revealed some colour through the dim light after sunset in the form of an Iris or Flag, whichever you like to call them.

The light really was fading a lot by the time I took these photos which required full manual mode on the camera as any automation tried to over-compensate for the lack of light.

A high ISO of 3200 was needed, f11 at 1/60 for the first shot and ISO3200, f7.1, 1/25 for the second. A good job my Canon EF70-300 lens has image stabilisation.

Flag

IMG_4630

Light is Everything

Sunlight or cloud, rain or mist – the weather conditions influence, no, create the available light for photography.

A few weeks ago I was at Lliw Valley Reservoirs in the rain and took some photos on my iPhone 4s of what I described as “fence post gardens”. I posted them on the Moss Appreciation Society Facebook page with the comment that I would have to go back on a dry day to photograph them properly. The response from one group member was that moss likes, and is perhaps, at its best in the rain.

The sun was shining when I was up there last week and following my interview with BBC Radio Wales I proceeded to take some photos of the same “fence post gardens” with my Canon 550D. It was difficult to say the least! Sunlight can be very dramatic – usually in the early morning or evening, but it can also be a major problem depending on the subject matter.

I have picked out four photos that I think are not too bad from those I took on the day but it seems I am going to have to wait for a more overcast day or go there at sunrise to get some decent shots of this subject.

Getting to know the subject is also important whatever medium you are working with, and I think that it was not just the light conditions that gave me a problem. It was also time and the need to figure out the best angles. Next time I will go better informed.

Update (22/03/2013) According to a friend of my sister –

The second photo has some lichens in as well as moss- the silvery flattish ones at the front which may be a Paramelia – and probably the red and silvey grey one – also a brown cupped one in the middle- these last 2 will be Cladonia species.

Moss Garden

Moss Garden

moss

moss

Peristomes

Ghostly Tree

Ghostly Tree