Campus Walk Sun Rays and Soundscape

Posted on 26/01/201824/01/2018 by Alastair

I finished my walk this week with the sun shining out from behind the clouds and the seagulls wheeling as though this was a revelation – and indeed, when this happens it can feel like that! On this occasion the event was perhaps less dramatic than it can be sometimes, but suffering from the cold, biting wind as I was, it was good to see the gulls enjoying themselves, though they are not a feature of the soundscape.

As I walked back through the university’s Bay Campus the construction of new buildings continued, but the lads playing basketball paid no heed to the skeletal buildings, the noise of cranes and jack hammers or the biting windContinue reading→

Love and Natural Patterns

Posted on 05/11/201631/10/2016 by Alastair

Heading back from one of my shore walks during our holiday in Scotland I came across these two dragonfly lovers who were obliging enough to stay still while I did my best with my iPhone to get in close – I guess they were too preoccupied to bother about me. I had been taking photos of rock patterns but much as I enjoyed doing that, this opportunity was one not to be missed and made my day.

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Willow Wall

Posted on 05/10/201629/09/2016 by Alastair

Returning from the wildflower garden to the children garden on my walk this week at Kunsthuis Gallery I explored one of its features. The willow tunnel entrance to this natural / man-made “dwelling” was too enticing not to do so. Bending down to child height I entered the dome shaped structure and enjoyed the changed and semi-secretive space with its growing willow walls and willow roof creating patterns and textures as it changed the sunlight from above.

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willow tunnel

Willow roof

willow wall

willow exit

Natural Patterns

Posted on 23/07/201618/07/2016 by Alastair

Almost back at Nicholaston Farm on the Taste of Gower walk from June, the footpath moves away from the cliffs and runs through this natural tunnel. Looking around me in this more enclosed environment I naturally discovered more details rather than the open vistas of clifftop views. The shots I have chosen below demonstrate natural structure in the tunnel, natural texture in the crinkled petals of the wildflower and natural pattern on the underside of some path side plants.

natural tunnel

Natural Pattern

Under the Woodland Bridge

Posted on 24/05/201621/05/2016 by Alastair

This was a first for me – viewing the railway into Swansea from underneath. For some reason it had not occurred to me that the Tawe riverside footpath would, at this location, inevitably pass under the railway.

There is something fascinating, even exciting, about the combination of natural and man made – wood, leaf, concrete and iron – the different (and similar) scales has as much to do with my fascination as the juxtaposed materials and textures.

The reflection of the bridge in the waters of the river below provides a link between the hard functional materials of its construction and the more natural woodland lining the river.

Both the railway and the footpath were in use on this Sunday morning with plenty of walkers, joggers, children and dogs enjoying the woodland. However, I didn’t either see or hear a train during my walk.

Walking Conversations

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My Walk this Week – Morfa and the Tawe

Posted on 23/05/201621/05/2016 by Alastair

My walk this week is an urban one, although the footpath I followed from Morfa and the home of the Swans at the Liberty Stadium in Swansea, to the lake in the enterprise zone at Llansamlet, could in some places be mistaken for a more natural setting, if not rural.

It was a Sunday morning and although the length of the walk was only about 2.2 miles, it took me about 2 hours just to reach the lake at my halfway turning point. That is more because of field recording than photography but both played their part in slowing me down.

I’ll post some sound clips through the week but to start with, it was the structural patterns of stadium architecture and fence design that interested me.

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Changing Light and Patterns in the Pier

Posted on 12/04/201612/04/2016 by Alastair

The sun was going down on my walk across the beach at Colwyn Bay and as it did so, the light subtly changed. There was some hazy cloud cover in the west and so the contrast of light and shade quite never disappeared, but still had an effect on the atmosphere as well as my camera settings. The patterns in the construction of the pier were always there along with the colour, more or less strengthened by the sunlight.

My Walk this Week – North Wales Recce 1

Posted on 11/04/201611/04/2016 by Alastair

A recent trip to North Wales gave me the opportunity to explore a little of two potential locations for StillWalks productions. The first one wasn’t planned, but I had time after my scheduled meeting at Colwyn Bay to walk down to the expansive beach. The end of day sun was low and contrast and patterns high on the broken pier.