marina water patterns

Floating in the Marina

Returning through Swansea Marina on my walk this week didn’t mean I was floating on the water but did allowed me to enjoy the many complex and fluid patterns to be found there.

marina floats

The masts and rigging, the architecture – both old and new – and of course the water patterns and reflections of the surrounding structures, whether maritime or land based. Continue reading

Heading Towards Evening

Daylight comes to an end and the lights come on around Swansea’s Maritime Quarter. One take sees the lights of the apartments and the Meridian Tower and their reflections in the water. Another presents the silhouetted patterns of masts and architecture against the late evening sunset.

Swansea Maritime Quarter

sunset

silhouettes

Looking at the View – Swansea Bay

Looking in opposite directions from the middle of Swansea Bay cycle / foot path, you see Mumbles lighthouse and RNLI lifeboat station in the west and Meridian Tower by the maritime quarter in the east.

Swansea Bay Mumbles

Swansea Bay

Light is Everything – Calibration of Meridian Tower Swansea

Which of these three colour adjustments do you prefer?

I have photographed this building in Swansea on a number of occasions and every time, as you would expect, it is different. Whether it be the time of day, the angle viewed, the weather conditions or the camera settings, the appearance of the photos taken will always produce dramatically different images.

All of these things combined are what makes the difference of course. On this occasion the tower viewed from this angle in the early evening light of a semi overcast hazy day was what gave me this image.

However, there is one other point that can severely affect how you see an image – the calibration of your computer screen. The first image here is a compromise necessitated by the differences between my two ageing monitors which have become impossible to match in calibration.  I have become familiar with these monitors and am able to make adjustments to give me images I am happy with when seen on other people’s computers (most of the time). There are so many variables with this that I make a point of collaborating closely with the printer whenever I am not printing the image myself.

My final check for colour adjustment at the moment is my iPhone – if it look alright on that (colour wise), then the chances are it will look OK on other screens.

Meridian Tower

Meridian Tower

Meridian Tower

Architectural Scale – Is Perspective Real?

I like this photo largely for its composition and the perspective of the buildings,  both real and apparent. I say real and apparent because the buildings themselves are in fact taller than each other going from foreground to background – it’s not just the effect of perspective. I must make a point of taking a photo from the opposite end of the beach and see how they appear in perspective when the most distant building is the tallest!

The photos I have been posting this week were all taken on my iPhone. I seem to be doing this more often now but whether my iphonography is improving is another matter. It is a very convenient way to record observations (and sounds when I don’t have my kit with me) but in order to get effective images with the phone, you have to look at things differently. Angle of shot is probably the most important point . . . but that could be said for DSLR photography as well, I guess!

The photo below would have been grainy anyway, given the time of day and the fading light but there is a tendency for the iPhone camera to over expose when the light is dim. The image you see below is the result of post processing. Unlike a DSLR camera, you have pretty limited options in these circumstances when it comes to telling the camera what to do.

Update – Thanks to  and his iPhone Photography School, I have discovered the PureShot app which allows much more flexibility in shooting from the phone.

Meridian TowerThe buildings are on Swansea seafront – all apartment buildings, the closest being Meridian Tower. The lights in the background are those of the Swansea / Cork Ferry.

Evening Over Swansea

I have been told that the thing to do is to climb Kilvey Hill at the end of the day when the sun is going down and enjoy the spectacle not only of the sunset but of Swansea gradually lighting up.

We were already half way down the hill when this was said so I will have to wait a little longer for this experience – I just need to make sure it doesn’t take me another 30 years! (see Friday’s post – Ticking the List).

In these photos you can see Mumbles Lighthouse in the background, Swansea just beginning to light up and the Meridian Tower with the bay behind. The full collection can be seen (and bought) on the StillWalks Photography website.

Mumbles

Walking down Kilvey Hill – Mumbles in the distance

Mumbles in the Background

Mumbles in the Background

Swansea Bay

The Lights are Coming On

Meridian Tower

Meridian Tower

Maritime Quarter, Swansea – Different Scales

I have managed, in the last photo of this series, to bring the scale of the Meridian Tower down to that of the Helwick Lightship sitting in Swansea’s marina.

The sounds of the marina can be a fascinating orchestra of rigging when the wind is up. On this day there was just the lapping of water under the floating booms, passing voices and high heeled shoes. They would not have been there if the marina wind orchestra had been playing!

Swansea Marina sound sample

You can listen to this on SoundCloud below (if you’re on the blog) or click here.

Meridian Tower

Meridian Tower

Rigging in the Marina

Rigging in the Marina

IMG_7249

Helwick Lightship

Helwick Lightship and Meridian Tower

Helwick Lightship and Meridian Tower

Different Scales

Architecture of Swansea Bay

The Maritime Quarter in Swansea has been in development for many years. We used to have a studio there and watched much of the current architecture being constructed.

The view from the 27th floor of the  Meridian Tower is almost as good as that from Brynmill or Kilvey Hill – except, of course, when it is in mist! Whether this building is included in a StillWalk of the area remains to be seen.

Swansea Bay

Moving up from the beach

Swansea Bay Sculpture

Swansea Bay Sculpture

Meridian Tower

Meridian Tower, Swansea

Meridian Tower, Swansea

Meridian Tower, Swansea

Meridian Tower, Swansea

Meridian Tower, Swansea

Meridian Tower, Swansea

Meridian Tower, Swansea