From Scottish skies last week to Scottish seas this week and all is still and quiet – the gentle ripples on surface and sand reflect the warm breeze of an unusually warm Summer.
No drama in the form of storms and crashing waves, just the peaceful lap of the gentlest of tides and the hot hazy light that so often disguised the horizon and prompted me, on occasion, to play with focus.Continue reading
The silhouettes of stacked and jagged rocks and dark hills give a realistic impression of the scene they describe, but it is an impression. The camera (without any filters) provides more contrast than is there in reality and there have been occasions when I have increased that contrast further in order to provide a better sense of what the scene felt like.
The Impressionists did a similar thing in painting scenes that, while not perhaps accurately or photographically depicted, gave a more accurate impression or sense of life. Photorealism in paintingContinue reading
The evening light in my selected shots of sunsets in SW Scotland show the changing scene from day to day from different viewpoints. Almost all the photos were taken on different evenings but it is easy to take many, many photographs throughout just one evening as the sun sinks down and the light and shade and colours change above in the sky and below in the bay.
Fewer clouds this year might have meant less drama, but I don’t think that is ever the case in this place. The skyscape / landscape / seascape is always mesmerising and holds my attention,Continue reading
I have some Scottish skies to show you. With all the dry weather we have had this Summer the light in SW Scotland was unique. In some of the photos below it may look as if we had some poor weather while there but that is not really the case.
At times the light was such that it was difficult to differentiate between the different aspects of the sea, landscape and sky. It prompted me to go abstract and emphasise the effect because that seemed more realistic. The second shot below is deliberately out of focus, blurred, but the only reason the shot of the swans is not sharp is because I was having to act quickly to capture them in flight.
Over the next couple of weeks or so I will not be posting My Walk this Week – instead I would like to show a selection photos I took on various walks in Scotland while on holiday.
The low flow of rivers and the colour of the grass has changed the landscape in the UK. Hosepipe bans are coming to the north and without sustained rainfall in the near future in the south, I can imagine that we will have them too.
The river above is normally raging over the weir but with the reduced flow the soundscape is changed as well as the landscape. I haven’t produced a soundscape again this week butContinue reading
My walk this week follows on from one taken six weeks ago when the pink wildflowers in our local valley were rhododendrons – now the field of pink comes from rosebay willow herb.
You could argue about the name of the colour either in the willow herbs, thistles or the rhododendrons and foxgloves, but they all sit within a narrow range of pinks/mauves/purples in Cwm Dulais. The rowan tree (also known as mountain ash) brings a touch of orangeContinue reading
My walk this week shows the changes that have taken place in this location since six weeks ago – the ground is now parched where it had been lush and green. The character of the landscape has changed and presents a greater sense of the mediterranean than Wales.
In Wales we say it either was, is, or is going to rain, and it is true that we get what some would say was more than our fair share of it. However, it is also true that we get dry spells (from time to time), but not usually with the heat that we have been experiencing all over Britain for a few weeks now.Continue reading
While walking around York railway station on my walk this week I saw an increasing number of photographers hanging around – then, to my surprise, the Scarborough Express steam train arrived – which explained everything.
I had been focusing on some of the architectural details and perspectives of the station, enjoying the rib cage of arches andContinue reading