If the walkers on Rhosilli beach (see Thursday’s post) gave a true sense of the scale of the space the beach and cliffs occupy, then these photos of the remnants of a sand castle could be said to confuse scale completely.
The way the sand had slipped and created miniature cliffs and mountains fascinated me. I thought there may be an even greater sense of a larger landscape if I converted to monochrome . . . and then I wondered if over exposure and increased contrast might create the conditions for a “white out” on the “mountainside”.
The bright sunlight on Rhosilli beach seemed to bleach the sand. Originally I darkened these photos as I thought they were over exposed, but although they were made clearer by doing so, they also became less representative of the glare on this part of the beach.
Sunlight has different qualities according to the current atmospheric conditions. I cannot tell you in scientific or meteorological terms what was going on in the atmosphere on this day but I can try to present something of the quality of light that at times was almost blinding
Having completed the circular walk from Rhosilli with Swansea Walking Forum and enjoyed the food at the Bay Bistro courtesy of the Gower Landscapes Partnership “Tastes of Gower “project, I walked down the steep footpath to Rhosilli beach. On the way down I could see in the distance a couple walking out along the beach. By the time I was down on the beach and had taken some sandy photos (to be posted on Saturday), they were heading back towards me.
There is nothing like people in a scene like this to give a true sense of scale!
The Walking Forum Tastes of Gower walk at Rhosilli on the Gower Peninsula took us round from the Worm’s Head to Fall Bay, a place I had not been to for many years. Being a beautiful day there were inevitably more people than us out for a walk, but even though I prefer a solitary walk to a group walk generally speaking, Fall Bay is secluded enough to enjoy in almost any circumstances.
The series of cliffs that form the south Gower coastline are particularly impressive at Fall Bay. This is enhanced by the fact that you can approach them from the seaward side as the land curves around towards the Worm’s Head which is behind us in this first photo.
Viewing the rocks and sand ripples from above on my cliff walk at Rhosilli on the Gower peninsula revealed some fascinating patterns. I loved the complex textures of jagged rocks dotted with white gulls and the smoother flat patterns of wave platform structures seen on our way round to Fall Bay from the Worms Head.
The sand ripples may be a common pattern but I liked the subtle sunlight and shade. I thought it might be worth looking at it in black and white and in converting the image I also heightened the contrast quite a lot. The monochrome shot can be seen tomorrow on Leanne Cole’s Photography blog post Monochrome Madness 2-30. I can’t make up my mind which I prefer – subtle colour or contrasty monochrome.
My posts this week are about a recent walk along the cliffs at the end of the Gower Peninsula. Gower Landscapes Partnership and Swansea Walking Forum have been organising a series of walks on the Gower peninsula this year. As a member of the Walking Forum I have been taking part in these Tastes of Gower walks. The most recent was at Rhosilli where the Worm’s Head spits out into the sea.
It was a very enjoyable walk on a beautiful day. Walking out from Rhosilli to the tip of the peninsula and the Worm’s Head, we had spectacular views from the cliffs over Rhosilli Bay. People and dogs on the beach looked smaller than ants!
We didn’t venture onto the Worm’s Head, though the tide times on that day would have allowed it. The tide times are shown on a large notice at the start of the path to the Head but despite this many people get caught out and end up stranded on the island. Many of these, so I am told, are from China and don’t speak English, yet it has not occurred to the Coast Guard that has top go and fetch them by boat, to put up a similar notice in Chinese (and other languages).
Aha! Those objects I couldn’t clearly identify earlier in the week on our walk across Cardiff Bay barrage, are buffers for ships using the docks.
Although I find these scenes interesting and those buffers fascinating, I wondered what they might be like in black and white. It is perhaps best to say b&w rather than monochrome because I deepened the darker areas, strengthened the contrast, added some grain and left no hint of colour in any spectrum.
Walking back along the barrage towards Cardiff, the views of these colourful Cardiff dock cranes were well worth photographing in my opinion. The blue structures with yellow tips become creature-like as they appear to converse with each other in pairs.
