A Countryside Connections Walk

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Swansea Countryside Connections Team, through which StillWalks ran the Sights and Sounds of the Countryside project, put on a number of events throughout the year for those living in eligible rural wards in Swansea. It was one of their dawn chorus walks where I first met Helen Grey and it was she, along with Tim Orrell, who was leading the Nature Detective Walk along the Gower Way from Felindre to Lower Lliw Reservoir last Wednesday evening. See the photos below.

As this was the route taken by the Sights and Sounds project on the production day for the Felindre Families group, I thought it would be good to go along – and indeed it was! I discovered what the funny lumps and bumps are in the first field we crossed. We found a very old ash tree with branches twisting and twining round each other, reflecting its age. We saw Deadly Nightshade amongst other plants and flowers, a badger set, mole holes, young Hazelnuts, whin, thistles, ducks, etc., etc.

“Helen, you will have to remind me of that last little yellow flower I asked you about. I cannot remember it it now!”

Click here (Countryside Connections Events) to see what other Countryside Connections events are coming up.

French Evening Walk – The StillWalks Video

Finally, here is the French Evening Walk StillWalks video I previewed on this blog a few weeks ago. It’s only taken a year to finish it off but I am pleased with the results. I hope you enjoy it.

Take the opportunity to watch and listen to it while you can because this 480p video is full length, but only for a while. The StillWalks videos on the website are now all sample length low resolution versions which are available to buy in a range of formats.

The walk takes place in the Indre et Loire region of France – specifically along the tiny road from the medieval village of Faye La Vineuse to St Christophe. It is a beautiful and peaceful part of the French countryside which lies a few miles south of Richelieu, the town designed and built by Cardinal Richelieu (think the Three Musketeers).

If you are seeing this in an email, click the image below to go to the blog and play the video.

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Selected images from the shoot are available on the StillWalks Photography site.

Sand and Wind – Public Art In Swansea Bay

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You could call these “sand sculptures”. That is surely what the wind on Swansea beach has been doing this week.

Nervous about the hazardous mixture of sand and cameras, the wind that blew those land surfers around on the beach the other day (see previous posts this week), didn’t stop me taking the risk and getting some low level shots of the public art work it was creating.

It is not in the same style as the work featured in yesterday’s post but over the years the wind and sand have blasted and changed those public art works in Swansea Maritime Quarter.

Swansea Sand

Swansea Sand

Swansea Sand

Swansea Sand

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Watching Over the Winds

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The statue atop the Marina Towers Observatory on Swansea Seafront looks out over  Swansea Bay and was no doubt keeping an eye on those land wind surfers I posted about  yesterday.

The statue was made by Swansea artists Rob Conybear and Uta Molling and has the title “Ecliptica”. You can see many more examples of public art in Swansea here. The architect Robin Campbell was responsible for much of the architectural art work in Swansea’s Maritime Quarter where we used to have a studio – it was a great place to work!

Watching Over the Bay

Knocking Things Into Shape

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Indy, it seems to me, is a patient horse! I understand there were five horses being re-shod  at Cimla Equestrian Centre last Saturday. I wonder if they were all as accommodating as Indy?

I spent about ten years taking my eldest daughter to riding lessons at Cimla and although I don’t ride, I surprised myself by enjoying being around the horses. This is quite useful now that I am doing equestrian photography.

Hot Shoe – Farrier Style

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I was doing some equestrian photography training at the weekend and for the purpose arranged to use a group lesson at Cimla Equestrian Centre in the hills above Neath.

I can’t show the photography the students did but I managed to get some of my own shots up in the stable yard at the end of the session and this is a quick taster of what I found – a gallery will go up tomorrow.

Farrier Fire

Fire, if not brimstone!

Cimla Landscape

Cimla Landscape