Sorry to those of you who noticed the lack of a blog entry last week. Here are a couple of the many reasons for the omission.
Pant-y-Sais Fen – Last Friday I discovered this place by Jersey Marine near Swansea. This was part of a bird song identification walk with Bob Tallnack and others from the Gower Ornithological Society. It was most enjoyable in spite of the rain and the fen by Neath Canal is a beautiful place where I hope to do produce a StillWalk on some dry day in the future. More photos can be seen on Facebook.
You’ll need to click on the blog title in order to listen to the Chaffinch in this place as it can only be viewed on the actual blog.
Neath Canal near Pant-y-Sais Fen, Jersey marine.
York’s River Ouse oozes out – It was still raining when I attempted a production day in York last Sunday – the photos here show the evidence. Fortunately, Monday morning brought the sun with it and although the waters had not receded much, I was still able to get the images and sound I need to produce a new StillWalk.
River Ouse, York
River Ouse, York
Millenium Bridge, River Ouse, York
From the Millennium Bridge, Millenium Bridge, River Ouse, York
River Ouse, York
Monday Sun, River Ouse, York
If I were to associate a StillWalks with this blog entry, I think it would be Quarry Walk – Autumn Rain even though it is the wrong season.
For me, this is therapy at its best! Recently we had some unexpectedly good weather for the time of year and it reminded me of slightly later in the Spring last year when this StillWalk was produced.
Downloads – Coastal Walk Spring is from the South West coast of Scotland. The sample version on the StillWalks website is only 1.5 minutes of the full 6.5 but gives a good taste of a walk well worth downloading. There are some fascinating temporary sculptures on the stony beach. They can also be found in Coastal Walk Evening where they look like sentinels watching the tide.
FREE StillWalks – If you have not already signed up for FREE to StillWalks, you will be able to download a walk of your choice FREE when you do.
Here are some of the images from the full length walk – enjoy 🙂
StillWalks-Equestrian is a new website and service born from the interest taken in my photography for the production of StillWalks.
Ready and Waiting
Relaxing virtual walks for horses? – No 🙂 Maybe there will be some StillWalks made for horse riders in the future but they might require me to take along step ladders on production day in order to get the same sort of view point as the riders. In fact, many existing StillWalks routes have had evidence of horses along the way.
In Action
The sound of the show – One of the aspects of StillWalks I enjoy the most is sound recording. As yet, I have only done this at one show and I have not published the StillWalk produced. I look forward to the next opportunity as the sounds at a horse event are so distinctive. Here is a clip from the unpublished Bont Show Walk – remember, you’ll need to go to the blog to see (and hear) this clip.
Recently we have had some unusually hot weather for the time of year and the other day I discovered this –
Aftermath of Wildfire on the Marshes
Not as dramatic as the fires in canberra in 2003 which my friend, Simon, who lives there, was telling me about a little while ago. He described the incredible speed at which the fires spread across the length of this hill which he can see from his house.
Canberra fires 2003
The photo sent to me can also be seen on Wikipedia along with much more info.
The land in Australia is at least “designed” by nature to cope with this kind of conflagration and I am sure that nature, being what it is, will allow the marshes to recover quickly as well. However, it is still a heart rending sight to see the damage that fire can cause.
Sunrise and Robins – Having taken some photos of the results of the marsh fires, I then caught the sun coming up and enjoyed immensely the sound of this Robin which would be part of Week 9’s Marsh Wood birds recording – more available on SoundCloud. More photos on Flickr, and Facebook.
Suburban Lakeside Walk – Yesterday I uploaded a new StillWalk to Winter Walks. It is from Middlesbrough, one of those places that only ever get bad press and gets into those Ugly Towns books and programmes every time. The result is an undeserved bad and sad reputation.
There are, however, many aspects to Middlesbrough that defy this reputation. The StillWalk produced here, is, as described in the title, a suburban walk, but I have plans to go back and produce at least one more of the town itself. The images below will help to explain why.
Middlesbrough and Claes Oldenburg's "Notes"
Middlesbrough Town Hall from MIMA
MIMA - Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art
Inside MIMA
MIMA – Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art is one of the places I visited over the New Year. There was a great exhibition of South American Drawing and, in particular, I liked Brigida Baltar’s work. I am definitely going to go and see the Sean Scully show when I am next there.
Brigida Baltar's work in the South American Drawing exhibition
Full Screen Samples – The StillWalks on the website are sample length only, but remember always to watch these in full screen mode. If you would like to see more, you can buy it for just £1.99 or, if you haven’t already signed up to the website, do it now and get the StillWalk FREE.
Here is one more image from the Suburban Lakeside Walk – the location of which is here.
Last week’s production day on Ryer’s Down on the Gower in South Wales was a challenge. The weather suggests that the StillWalk to be produced will be “A Misty Gower Walk”. Fortunately, rain covers were not needed for the cameras but I was glad to have the waterproof case for the recorder.
I had all the sound and photography kit with me and alternated between them throughout the walk. This still meant that, for a relatively short walk, I was out recording and taking photos for 6.5 hours.
All this plus a small collapsible stool (essential piece of kit), food, water, spare batteries, filters, etc. all in a great Lowepro kit bag, meant I was pretty weighed down. The trick is to be patient, take your time and not try to fit too much into the day. The recce walks are essential to ensure this can be achieved.
The mist never lifted as I had hoped it would, and the day was not as peaceful as on the previous recce visit when the Skylarks sang for us and traffic was non existent. Instead, normal farm life was ever present with the sound of tractors and other farm equipment in the distance. The Larks, however, sang through it all and their sound was as beautiful as ever.
Virtual Walks – I hope, with StillWalks, to provide realistic virtual walks. We don’t always want to wait until a beautiful Spring day to go for a walk and sometimes the sights and sounds around us are not what we would wish. However, these things don’t stop us, and wherever or whenever we decide to go for a walk, there are always a multitude of fascinating things to see and hear. Producing StillWalks helps me to recognize and focus on these things and enjoy the surroundings wherever I may be. I hope that they do this for you as well.
Technical Problems – During the Ryer’s Down production day I came up with a problem on the Fostex recorder and had to temporarily revert to the Edirol. I can only guess that the problem was electrical interference of some sort. The problem is illustrated in the sound clip and image below. I tried switching my phone to airplane mode and then off altogether but to no avail. I checked all my settings in case I had inadvertently knocked something but found everything as it should be.
interference1
Fortunately, I was able to use the Edirol instead – it’s not as good but very useful as a back up recorder. The problem, however, was temporary as, when I tried the Fostex again about 15 minutes later and another 100 yards further on, there was no problem at all and I was able to continue using it for the rest of the day.
Spectral Display – When viewing the sound files afterwards I find the spectral display a valuable element in Adobe Audition when it comes to identifying various aspects of the sounds I record. The image above shows the pattern created by the sound of what I guessed was electrical interference – the bright, gentle curve of the sound at the higher frequency is inaudible to the human ear but the broader curve downwards into the lower frequencies and then up again is easily seen and heard.
Skylark Song – The image below shows the pattern revealed through spectral display in Audition by a Skylark – and, of course, you must listen to the 10 second clip to which the image relates – enjoy 🙂
Ryers Down Lark Spectral Display
More to come in the future about both the production and post-production element of StillWalks.
Two weeks ago I went did a recce walk on Ryer’s Down on the Gower. Starting just along the road from Burry Green, the weather was misty but the sun just about got through at one point – though not quite!
Gower Mist
Then, at the beginning of this week, I took some exploratory shots near the mouth of the River Loughor – the light was particularly difficult in the early afternoon because the sun was only half managing to to push through that same mist. This Little Egret is one of many on the Loughor Estuary.
Little Loughor Egret
I went ahead with the planned production day later in the week in the hope that, if I started out in mist, there was a reasonable chance I would finish in some sunshine – fat chance! The StillWalk that will be produced from that day will have to be titled “Misty Gower Walk” I think. It was still a beautiful walk however, and the Skylarks sang for me as well which would lift the heart of the most miserable soul. You can listen to them on SoundCloud and find out about them on the RSPB website.
Looking up Ryer's Down, Gower
And here are a couple of images that describe the different state of weather on the recce walk and the production day.
Looking down from Ryer's Down, Gower on the Recce Walk
Looking down from Ryer's Down, Gower on Producton Day
More photos from the recce walk can be seen on Flickr as well as many more from other explorations.
The Ryer’s Down production day was the first one where I used the full sound recording and photography kit simultaneously throughout the walk but I am going to write a separate post about the more technical aspects of the kit and production. Suffice to say for the moment, that I was very tired by the end of the day.
Finally, remember, anyone interested in the weekly recordings and photos I am getting down on the marshes can find them on SoundCloud and Flickr. Better still, download a StillWalk or two from the website and enjoy virtual walks in many different places at different times of year.
As a follow up to yesterday’s post, I have to report a change to one of my favourite locations, namely the old St Teilo’s Churchyard.
St Teilo's Churchyard - Before
St Teilo's Churchyard - After
Something is missing!
St Teilo's Churchyard - Previously
It won’t look like this in the Summer anymore! I am very glad my StillWalk of the churchyard features it in this happier state rather than the current state. These large, well established trees were cut down in order to renovate a wall. :-/
