Category Archives: Landscape

Sense of Reality

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If these photos tell a story, it is one of fiction in one sense and of reality in another. The first two shots present the sense I had of this morning’s walk through the woods to the top of the hill where the sun was fighting its way through the clouds. There was a lot more light on the land, the fields and tress, than is apparent in the photos but I decided to direct my iPhone to reveal the atmosphere in the sky rather than the details and colours of the trees or field. The result of course, is a much darker foreground in the images than it was in reality – unless you consider the sense of the scene I had in my mind. Taking that into consideration, the photos are much closer to reality.

The third image is technically more accurate in its presentation of the light seen at a fire break in the forest. If this is not such a dramatic shot, it is still a point on this walk at which I always stop and take in the scene.

More of the atmosphere of the forest can be heard in this sound clip – click the play button or the file name to hear the sounds of my walk through the woods.

Fforest Birds 3 and Walking

Sunrise

Sunrise

break in trees

Landscape and Light

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The conditions on this morning’s walk were darker than on the previous day. This did not stop me enjoying the walk just as much and the darker sky meant that this panorama shot taken on my iPhone needed very little adjustment in order to accurately represent the scene over the hill at the highest point of my walk.

Contrasting light can be one of the greatest challenges in photography, so if the purpose is to represent the scene as it was rather than creating a more dramatic view, then it is quite convenient to have more even light.

And so the drama today comes not from the scene but from a detail of the landscape. The scribbled twigs of the tree in the second image could represent a snapshot from a stormy, windy day. That is what the angles, textures and movement say to me in this picture, but in fact the weather was completely still without a breath of wind.

Morning Walk Weather

Winter Twigs

Walking Resolutions

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I have only ever made one New Years Resolution and I have always kept to it – never to make a New Years Resolution.  However, I have recently been thinking that despite much of my work being focused on walking, too much of my time is spent sitting at a computer. Production and post production, image and sound processing, writing and administering projects and seemingly interminable fund raising.

I have decided (resolved!) to make my health and fitness a higher priority and have been taking a decent walk every morning. I have taken the same walk with minor variations almost every morning for the last ten days or so, and only once have I taken my camera. The purpose is to walk, not to stop and take photos every other step. That said, I cannot go about the place without looking and listening to the things around me and so my iPhone comes in very handy both for images and sound.

Most of the photos I will be posting this week were taken on my iPhone and some of the sounds clips were also recorded using the RODE app on the phone. My Edirol sound recorder also fits easily into my pocket and so I have used this too.

These photos were taken at the highest point of my walk where I can catch the sun rise behind the trees.

And you can listen to some of the forest birds below as well.

Morning Sky

Morning Sky

Fforest Birds 1

 

Kidwelly Skylines

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Kidwelly Castle, blurred in the background and seen from the marshes near Kidwelly Quay. The winter appearance of rosebay willow herb also present in their colour and texture, an impression of the past, if only by a season or two rather than the centuries represented by the Norman castle and St. Mary’s Church.

Kidwelly castle

St Mary's church, Kidwelly

Windblown and Wondering

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My recent walks at Kidwelly in Carmarthenshire revealed to me a number of aspects of the local environment. The old canal, mudflats and birds of the Towe Estuary were among the first of my discoveries, but there were other elements of this area that contributed to the atmosphere of the place just as much as those more obvious features.

These trees had a particularly dry looking bark and colour to them along with their windblown direction of growth. These as well as the brambles and dry reeds through which the footpath led me, all contributed to my perception of the environment – one that suggested a much dryer place than could be the case.

I wonder about that apparent contradiction? Even the dampness in the cold air could not defeat the sense of a lack of water that I felt from the colours and textures around me.

For all the lack of colour in this image of the trees, there is a monochrome version of it featured on Monochrome Madness 47 at Leanne Coles Photography blog.

wild trees

brambles and reeds

Lapwing On Patrol

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When I was in the Scouts I was Patrol Leader for Lapwing Patrol – we were well turned out but could never be as smartly dressed as this real lapwing patrolling the edge of the mudflats at Kidwelly.

Lapwing

birds on mudflats

 

 

There are no birds in this next photo but the strange pancake islands of grass that sit amidst the mudflats are still a fascinating feature.

mudflats

Kymer's Canal / Camlas Kymer

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I have visited Kidwelly a couple of times recently for work. It is a small town in Carmarthenshire, South West Wales. Being in this area in Winter, I was almost guaranteed damp weather at best. Regardless of this, it was still a pleasant discovery and I was happy to return for my second visit.

On my first visit, I discovered Kymer’s Canal or in Welsh, Camlas Kymer. It is the remnant of the original waterway that linked up the Pwllygod Collieries to Kidwelly Quay on the Gwendraeth Fach and the marshes and mudflats of the River Towy estuary.

So this week I am going to follow my short walks around this area with a mixture of photos from both my iPhone and Canon cameras.

More shots will be posted on Instagram.

Khmer's Canal, Kidwelly

Kymer's Canal

Gwendraeth Fach and railway bridge