This week I have some sample shots to show from my production day at Lliw Valley Lower Reservoir. A new StillWalk will eventually be published and I look forward to giving you the sound as well as the images.
I really enjoyed doing the work but was thoroughly exhausted by the end.
Number 1
Freezing Again
. . . Llandeilo and the Towy Valley managed, somehow, to escape it all!
Llandeilo
Towy Valley
However, en route we saw more of what we already have. This weather also provided me with a great StillWalks production day at Lliw Lower Reservoir yesterday.
En route to Llandeilo
Jenny Deans
We admired Jenny Deans‘ jewellery in a shop window whilst there – good stuff!
Potential StillWalk – the other day I took a walk down a footpath I hadn’t been to for a number of years, pre-StillWalks times. Looking with “new” eyes and listening with “new” ears was fascinating.
The sound of water – There can sometimes be a recording issue with the sounds of an environment that includes running water, i.e. a stream or river. The sounds of the flowing water can so easily drown out other sounds of the environment such as birds, and can become wearing if it is permanent.
However, the small Camffrwd River that the footpath follows did not present this problem. The sounds of the river ebbed and flowed in volume with the arrangement of rocks on its bed. The photos below are accompanied by some sound clips recorded on my iPhone, as were the photos.
Recording 2 stream A short clip of the general sounds of the river.
Recording 4 birds ftstps stream The birds make their presence obvious as the sound of water is less dominant and the flow sounds change as I walk along the path.
Recording 5 walking stream This is a longer clip (2:15) which demonstrates very well the changing sound environment as I move along the path and river.
Recording 6 stream tumbling water
Unique sounds – All the sound clips and photos prove the need, in producing a StillWalk, to carry out the sound recording at the same time as the photography. The sounds on any day, at any time of day, at any time of year, will always be specific to conditions at the time . . . makes me think of the chaos theory and the interconnectedness of things! Chaos by James Gleick is a fascinating and very accessible book on this subject.
At last! Finally there is a Welcome to StillWalks video on this website. So if you would like to know a little more about StillWalks and see some production images, please click the link above and explore the site.
Other pages on the website such as the About page and What Are StillWalks will give you the Story of StillWalks as well as information on me with links to some of my other work as an artist.
We are a week into 2013 now so a belated Happy New Year to all.
Whilst away over the New Year I took a few photos that I hope to use in the near future. They help to show that if we were not around anymore, it would not take long for nature to recover from our antics on this planet. Sometimes (in late Spring usually) I think I’d only have to blink and the bushes and trees would pounce – these images are, perhaps, preparation for that pounce!
Suburbanature 1
Suburbanature 2
Suburbanature 3
Suburbanature 4
Speaking of what we do as humans, some of what has been produced can be seen at MIMA, Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, where I saw two great exhibitions – Jannis Kounellis’ Work Unwrapped and Liliane Lijn: Cosmic Dramas – both well worth a visit if you are in the area.
I’m thinking of making this a new category!
I think all residents of Wales finally give up waiting (either for the first or the umpteenth time) and decide to kit up and get out in spite of the rain.
Today was, unbelievably, dry and even sunny at times – but we had other things to do than go for a walk. However, yesterday was wet and we needed to get out of the house. So off we went to Lower Lliw Reservoir and in spite of the rain, had a really nice walk. It even dried up slightly towards the end as proved by these photos from my iPhone again.
Misty Walk is a new stillWalk which was actually produced at the end of last winter. There are several more StillWalks in the pipeline but it has proved difficult this last year to complete the post production on these. This is largely because of the project work I have been doing – see Projects.
I have uploaded two versions of the Misty Walk to the Winter Walks page. Both are high quality but one is in HD (720p) and the other is small scale at 480 x 270 pixels. (see also below).
StillWalks should be viewed, if possible in full screen mode and these videos will show the difference between the two versions. The HD button is in the top right of the first video and the full screen button is on the bottom right of each video.
It was supposed to be a dry, sunny day for this production but it turned out otherwise! This misty walk is on Ryer’s down on the Gower Peninsula in South Wales and was very enjoyable and atmospheric (small scale). Walk locationI took these photos with my iPhone on a wet walk on the marshes this afternoon and now I’m trying out publishing this post from it as well.
It stopped raining for 5 minutes so I thought I’d get out quick – but I still got rained on. Mind you, 90 minutes without rain was asking a lot.
Happy Christmas !
