Category Archives: Photography

Evidence of Sheep

Posted on by

You will find sheep on virtually any mountainside in Wales. There have been a few dotted about in the distance in my photos of my walk this week and one or two, along with their bleats, looming out of the mist. In reality there were plenty of them about and the photo below provides some evidence of this.

sheep wool on fence

Evidence of Sheep

If viewing this in an email, please click the post title to see other photos in this post, thank you.

Evidence of Sheep
Fence posts
Sheep on mountainside
Mountain Landscape
Valley floor

Misty Mountain Ridge

Posted on by

So on my walk this week the Welsh mountains were revealed to me, but not all of a sudden. It took time for the cloud to clear but gradually, bit by bit, the details of the mountains could be seen

Mountain Ridge

Misty Mountain Ridge

Mountainside Farm
Light and Shade
Mountain and Cloud
Misty Mountain Ridge

Clearing Cloud – Revealing the Landscape

Posted on by

Clearing cloud – yes! Just as I started to head back down the mountain, having decided that the mist was not going to lift and my walk this week would not have the potential views of Wales’ mountains and valleys that I had hoped for, the sun broke through and the scene below me was revealed. I was so pleased 🙂 and in awe at the views.

The walk / climb to this point had been . . . mmm . . . atmospheric. However, despite the mist it had still been very enjoyable. But to be able to look at the other mountains around me and the valleys below is always a wonder that cannot be experienced on a screen. Having said that I will of course endeavour to produce a StillWalks video from this walk that goes some way to presenting the experience and hopefully draws people in to join me in my memories of it.

Clearing Cloud

Clearing Cloud

If viewing this in an email, please click the post title to see other photos in this post, thank you.

Clearing Cloud
Mountain track
Mountain and Cloud
Monochrome Mountain and Cloud
Mountainside
Looking over the edge
Tal-y-Clun

Ascending Further

Posted on by

Ascending further along my misty mountain route on my walk this week, the landscape below me may have been obscured but the colours and patterns in the path-side rocks could still clearly be seen, albeit less bright than would have been the case in sunshine.

Almost at the top I sheltered from the wild wind in a hollow at the side of the mountain track and recorded the blustering wind and the plaintive bleats of distant sheep and began to despair at the possibility of getting the views I had hoped for.

colour and pattern

Colour and pattern

Mountain Wind

If viewing this in an email, please click the post title to see other photos in this post, thank you.

colourful rock
Colour and pattern
Looking down through the mist
Mountain track

Descending Mist

Posted on by

Having started my walk this week in the forest at the foot of Mynydd Rugog, I clambered out of the woods and onto the side of the mountain to find mist slowly descending from the summit. I followed and old fence and wall directly up to the track that zig zags up from a farm down by the road and though as long as I can clearly see the path I’ll carry on.

Misty Mountains-11

Mist descended

If viewing this in an email, please click the post title to see other photos in this post, thank you.

old fence wire
rust coloured stone
Descending mist
Thistle
mountain wildflowers
Mountain mist
Mist and grass

Full Circle and Reviewing the Walk

Posted on by

I started my walk this week with a post of 360 degree views of Swansea Bay at Crymlyn Burrows. Now after getting excited about so many of the patterns and forms in the sand on this expansive beach, I have come full circle. Back in front of the Bay Campus of Swansea University the view is as good as ever but after all the subtleties of sand I was surprised by the glare of contrasting colour in front of the Great Hall on the campus. The grass was new and the paint on the tables was new too!

Mumbles Across the Bay

Mumbles Across the Bay

Contrasting colour

Contrasting colour

Virtually all sound from the city and the motorway was being blown inland by a light breeze on this peaceful morning walk and the sound of distant birds and people along with my footsteps on the sand is most of what makes up this calm soundscape.

Crymlyn Burrows Beach Soundscape

If viewing this in an email, please click the post title to see other photos in this post, thank you.

Swansea Bay Campus
Swansea Bay – Port Talbot
Sand Piper
Sand Patterns
Sculpted by the Flow
Sculpted by the Flow
Sand bank
Sand Patterns
Beach Perspective
Dry and Drying
Crymlyn Burrows
Crymlyn Burrows
Mumbles Across the Bay

Sand and Grass at the Top of the Beach

Posted on by

Crymlyn Burrows are a very small example of a landscape feature made up of sand dunes and vegetation, yet they are burrows all the same. The beach here in Swansea Bay may be expansive but arriving at the topmost reaches of the tide line as I headed back to the car gave me a classic view of dune grasses against a changing sky. The photos may be obvious shots to take but that does not make the scene any less enjoyable when you are there. The soft dry sand feels great underfoot but of course is much more difficult to walk on.

Crymlyn Burrows

Crymlyn Burrows

Crymlyn Burrows
Crymlyn Burrows
Crymlyn Burrows
Crymlyn Burrows

Wet, Drying and Dry – Subtlety in Sand

Posted on by

While the patterns in sand I have been looking at on my walk this week have been details of the beach in Swansea Bay, there are also interesting patterns and textures to be seen from longer, wider viewpoints. In this first shot today I like the gradual fading of the reflected light on wet sand as it transitions to drying sand.

In the second photo the pattern was subtle, perhaps more-so in reality than it is in the image but still noticeably there and resembling a tiger’s stripes. While I enjoy nuance within imagery and my surroundings, I thought it would be interesting to take a look at this pattern strengthened and converting to monochrome and increasing the contrast was one relatively quick way to do this.

Beach Perspective

Beach Perspective

Dry and Drying sand

Dry and Drying

monochrome sand

monochrome sand

There was subtlety in the sounds of the beach on this walk as well as in the patterns of sand. I got my recorder out again as soon as I heard my footsteps on top of one of the sand banks where the surface still retained water and the rhythm of my footsteps created a fizz of compressed sand and released moisture. The passing of a distant small aircraft only seemed to emphasise the peace of the beach at this stage of my walk.

Footsteps in Damp Sand