Monochrome Mumbles

For some reason I had the impulse to process this image in sepia tone. Adding a bit of grain, it is given an aged look (as sepia does), as if it were a shot of Swansea Bay from Mumbles taken a century ago. Of course there are a number of tell tale signs that this could not be the case. The most obvious is perhaps the wind turbine.

The image can also be seen on Leanne Cole’s Photography blog and Monochrome Madness 46.

Swansea Bay in sepia

A Visit to Mumbles

Last week I had to visit Mumbles – a very popular place at the western end of Swansea Bay and at the gateway to the Gower Peninsula. It is a major tourist attraction and I enjoyed my short visit despite the dreary weather. Unfortunately my reason for visiting was to collect some videos from the Tourist Information Centre or TIC which had just closed.

It seems illogical to me to do this. I imagine it is partly because it is so much cheaper to deliver these services online. However, a balance of digital and “hard copy” is what I have always believed to be the best and most cost effective means of delivering a service or resource. I suspect that both visitors and town will loose out as a result of this change and I hope that the centre is able to set up afresh in a new premises.

The structures in the first image are Mumbles Pier and the new RNLI Lifeboat Station.

Mumbles lifeboat station

Mumbles seagulls

Reviewing the Week 2

The last of my images for this week is a final view of Penarth Pier against the rising sun on a grey day. Also featured is a slideshow of the images I have posted through the week. I would also like to connect to another blog this week – that of Lightscapes Nature Photography. I get frustrated when I see overworked photography with that slickly unreal appearance and no texture – it seems to be used a lot commercially. However, that is not the case with Kerry Mark Leibowitz’s photography of landscapes and on top of that, there is good reading and advice to had as well.

Penarth Pier against the morning sun

Higgledy Piggledy Patterns

Here is that concertina effect again in the structure and pattern of stanchions underneath Penarth Pier (see Monday’s post). The pattern of uprights is in contrast to the seemingly higgledy piggledy pattern of the cross bars and linkages of the rest of the structure.

Penarth Pier structure

Penarth Pier structure

Underneath the Pier

Exploring underneath Penarth Pier at high tide is not necessarily a good idea. Capturing these alternative views of the pier structure meant I had to leap out of the way of the water at the last moment. As has happened on other occasions, when taking photographs, I forgot about the time I was taking.

Underneath the pier

Underneath the pier

Monochrome Proportions and Light

The first image below is not monochrome but you would be forgiven for thinking it is. I admit to taking the saturation down a bit but most of the effect comes from the direction of sunlight  (yes, sunlight) and the angle of the camera. There was also quite a weird light in the sky anyway (as can be seen in my first post this week), and this has also contributed to these images.

The bottom two photos are monochrome and the last one is also included in Leanne Cole’s Photography blog post Monochrome Madness.

Sea and sky

Sea and Sky

Sky and Sea