Two more photos from Galloway in South West Scotland. This changeable, unpredictable weather thing has been going on for quite a while . . . forever in Britain! These are from 2008.
Seeing through the mist –
– to the light beyond.
Category Archives: Environment
Weather and Light
My recent Production Day post about how quickly the weather can change these days reminded me of some photography I had done a few years ago in South West Scotland. I guess any outdoor photography has an element of weather to it but these photos are quite a personal reminder of a place I love and don’t see often enough. These, amongst other images play across my large iMac screen as a screensaver in the background when I have to work on my laptop. They were taken on my old Fuji compact but are effective nonetheless.
More to come through the week. Also, visit The Ambiguity of Fences for some more images from my own Lliw Lower Reservoir production day.
Light in the Sky 1
Light in the Sky 2
Teasers
This week I have some sample shots to show from my production day at Lliw Valley Lower Reservoir. A new StillWalk will eventually be published and I look forward to giving you the sound as well as the images.
I really enjoyed doing the work but was thoroughly exhausted by the end.
Number 1
Freezing Again
Whilst the snow lay all around us, Llandeilo . . .
. . . Llandeilo and the Towy Valley managed, somehow, to escape it all!
Llandeilo
Towy Valley
However, en route we saw more of what we already have. This weather also provided me with a great StillWalks production day at Lliw Lower Reservoir yesterday.
En route to Llandeilo
Jenny Deans
We admired Jenny Deans‘ jewellery in a shop window whilst there – good stuff!
The Influence of Rocks on Water
Potential StillWalk – the other day I took a walk down a footpath I hadn’t been to for a number of years, pre-StillWalks times. Looking with “new” eyes and listening with “new” ears was fascinating.
The sound of water – There can sometimes be a recording issue with the sounds of an environment that includes running water, i.e. a stream or river. The sounds of the flowing water can so easily drown out other sounds of the environment such as birds, and can become wearing if it is permanent.
However, the small Camffrwd River that the footpath follows did not present this problem. The sounds of the river ebbed and flowed in volume with the arrangement of rocks on its bed. The photos below are accompanied by some sound clips recorded on my iPhone, as were the photos.
Recording 2 stream A short clip of the general sounds of the river.
Recording 4 birds ftstps stream The birds make their presence obvious as the sound of water is less dominant and the flow sounds change as I walk along the path.
Recording 5 walking stream This is a longer clip (2:15) which demonstrates very well the changing sound environment as I move along the path and river.
Recording 6 stream tumbling water
Unique sounds – All the sound clips and photos prove the need, in producing a StillWalk, to carry out the sound recording at the same time as the photography. The sounds on any day, at any time of day, at any time of year, will always be specific to conditions at the time . . . makes me think of the chaos theory and the interconnectedness of things! Chaos by James Gleick is a fascinating and very accessible book on this subject.
StillWalks on the Radio
Yey! Listen to the Debbie Evans Arts Show on Radio Tircoed tomorrow (Friday) from 11 am – 12 GMT and you will hear me talking about StillWalks and the projects we do.
Looking forward to it!
Nature Taking Over
We are a week into 2013 now so a belated Happy New Year to all.
Whilst away over the New Year I took a few photos that I hope to use in the near future. They help to show that if we were not around anymore, it would not take long for nature to recover from our antics on this planet. Sometimes (in late Spring usually) I think I’d only have to blink and the bushes and trees would pounce – these images are, perhaps, preparation for that pounce!
Suburbanature 1
Suburbanature 2
Suburbanature 3
Suburbanature 4
Speaking of what we do as humans, some of what has been produced can be seen at MIMA, Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, where I saw two great exhibitions – Jannis Kounellis’ Work Unwrapped and Liliane Lijn: Cosmic Dramas – both well worth a visit if you are in the area.
Affected by Atmosphere
Walking out along the Loughor Estuary last Sunday morning, the weather was still but overcast and the sound of the M4 motorway was even more evident than usual. I love the marshes on the estuary and the old St Teilo’s churchyard, and I normally find that I suppress the sound of traffic in my head and listen instead to the birds, sheep, cattle and wind along with the sound of my footsteps in the grass or mud and the rustling of the reeds.
These are some of the sounds recorded in the StillWalks I have produced here. I did not do any sound recording on Sunday but I got a few shots of the area and thought about how much the sounds we hear are so unique to the time and place we are in. They are the result of things like the weather conditions before and during our visit as well as the activities of others, like driving along the motorway on a Sunday morning to go shopping or visit family or whatever. Twenty five years ago there was virtually no Sunday morning traffic on the M4 but even now the traffic sound can seem distant if the wind is in the right direction or other environmental aspects such as a high tide, rain or time of year change the conditions.
This is something we’ll be looking at on the Sights and Sounds of the Countryside project which you can find out about here or follow on Facebook.
The StillWalks website is offline at the moment due to malicious hackers but you can see 480p versions of two StillWalks from the Loughor Estuary on Vimeo – After the Tide and the Old Churchyard Walk. They will be available to buy in full HD when the site is back up and running.
Here are some photos of the Loughor Estuary and the marshes. Image prints can be purchase at PhotoBox.
