My walk this week is on Aberystwyth seafront and from the overcast weather depicted you would not believe that half an hour earlier the sun had been shining and the sky blue. Neither was it raining at the time these photos were taken – but I still got soaked as I walked along the beach!
This image of the Mawr is very similar to the one I used at the start of this walk at the start of the week. The mist was even thicker on my way down and I also had rain to accompany me as you will be able to hear below.
The clear landscape didn’t last for long at the top of my walk this week to Penlle’r Castell on the heights of the Mawr above Swansea. As I walked back down to my car it quickly became a very misty descent as the heavy weather set in again.
The first stone (concrete) way marker I reached on my walk this week on the Mawr was marking The Gower Way or Llwybr Gwyr. With my short route marked this clearly (!?), I lost much of my concern for being enveloped by cloud and happily carried on towards the top.
My walk this week is on the Swansea Uplands again. The weather on The Mawr (pronounced the same as “power”) can be unpredictable, but at least you can be sure that it is unpredictable! Crossing the area on my way home from an unproductive production day, I stopped in a small lay-by and took a walk up the hill to my left. It wasn’t raining or snowing at the time – in fact it had cleared quite nicely and I could see a vague track going straight upwards towards a half hidden way marker.
Looking back on this Taste of Gower walk at Oxwich Bay I think we would all agree that we were fortunate with the weather and the photo above, taken at Oxwich Bay Hotel, helps to confirm this.At a time of year when it can still be cold it was remarkably warm when in the shelter of Oxwich Burroughs.
Stripes of water and sand on the beach and stripes of cloud in the sky at Oxwich Bay (see below).
On my walk this week with the Taste of Gower walkers at Oxwich Bay, the walkers ahead of me stretch across the beach and as the sun comes round I find that using my zoom lens (a Canon 70-300 mm 1:4 – 5.6 IS USM for those of you who are interested) brings out the contrast of light and dark. This both emphasises the striped patterns on the beach and the shade of Oxwich point in the background.
During this Taste of Gower walk at Oxwich I had conversations with a couple of people about photography and the “rule” of not taking photographs into the sun or keeping the light behind you. It’s not a bad rule in general and particularly useful for holiday snapshots. Apart from any tricks of the trade which can be used when you need to shoot into the light, deliberately taking a shot against the light can give some very interesting results and indeed, if you want silhouettes this is the way to get them.