NBGW and Reviewing The Week 44

Posted on 08/11/201508/11/2015 by Alastair

This is the smallest of the three lakes at the National Botanic Garden of Wales (NBGW). It is the one that welcomes you along with the ducks when you arrive and makes for a beautiful and relaxing memory to depart with along with all the amazing scenery, flowers and plants, architecture, art, science and history of the place and of course, walks. It is well worth repeated visits and having watched it develop over these past fifteen years or so, I look forward to a lot more growth in the future.

Click the first in the block of images below to view the week’s photos in sequence.

Intricate Patterns

Posted on 07/11/201507/11/2015 by Alastair

Having walked around the Double Walled Garden at the Botanic Garden of Wales (NBGW), as we left this area we discovered some new planting in between the double walls. Brassicas were on display next to the bee garden and again i was unable to resist the urge to photograph some of the intricate fractal patterns that are formed by their leaves.

Click the images to view them larger.

Flowers in the Great Glass House

Posted on 05/11/201505/11/2015 by Alastair

However often we go for a walk at the Botanic Garden of Wales (NBGW), we cannot miss out one of its main features – the Great Glass House. The architecture itself is interesting enough on its own, but the pleasure of walking around its different planting zones cannot be matched. It is also impossible not to take photos of at least some of the exotic flowers. Many, many others have done this – these are some of mine.

The Wallace Garden

Posted on 04/11/201504/11/2015 by Alastair

Within the Botanic Garden of Wales (NBGW) where we were walking in September, there are a number of other gardens. My photos today are from the Wallace Garden and although they do not show the double helix arrangement of the paths, as this was not as easy to see as it is sometimes due to the content of the beds, it seemed less important to try and capture it.

It seems there is something different in the garden every time we visit and what you see below is some of what was there on this occasion in September – it will be different now and then again in Spring.

Wallace Garden exit/entrance

Alfred Russel Wallace

Sculpture in the Wallace Garden by Dilys Jackson

Flowers and Water

Posted on 03/11/201503/11/2015 by Alastair

When visiting the Botanic Gardens (NBGW) the natural course to take on a walk is up the main path from the entrance towards the fountain at the end of a small lake. From here you have a number of options in terms of direction but if you have children with you (or even if you haven’t), the temptation is then to follow the twisting miniature stream set into the centre of the walkway.

Eventually, at the top of the path, you reach the simple but attractive water feature that feeds the meandering stream and you can look back down the way you have come and scan some of the other areas of the gardens.

All but one of the photos I am posting this week are from our walk here near the end of September. However, I had to look to my archives for a shot of the twisting footpath stream and this one is from June 2011. My youngest daughter once said a few years after the gardens opened in 2000 that this was her favourite place in Wales – I am sure that this magical twisting trickle had something to do with it.

A Visit To The NBGW

Posted on 02/11/201502/11/2015 by Alastair

Towards the end of September we visited the National Botanic Garden of Wales (NBGW) – it is a place we go whenever the opportunity arises as it is so beautiful and has a wide range of environments. The weather was excellent on this particular day, so I hope that you will join me on this week’s walk posts and enjoy some of the details of the gardens.

The gardens are visited by many photographers, professional and amateur alike, as it gives such a good opportunity to photograph the wide range of plants both in the grounds and in the Great Glass House. My photos this week are a selection of those I took on this September visit and although they are mostly shots of plants and flowers, you can see a wider view of the gardens through their film or virtual tour on their website.

Miniature Mountains – A Confusion of Scale and Having Fun With Photos

Posted on 31/10/201531/10/2015 by Alastair

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”.

Bleached Beach Sand

Posted on 30/10/201530/10/2015 by Alastair

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

Category Archives: Photography