The StillWalks video below is not from the place I have posting about this last week but is nearby on the Gower Peninsula. The weather forecast for the production day of this video was good – in reality it turned out as you will see in the video, more in keeping with the atmosphere of the misty hills, if not as wet and windy.
If you are looking at this in an email, please click the image below to be able to watch the video on the blog.
The two images below were taken through rain streaming down my car window. The first is rather dark but, having tried some adjustments, I decided not to use them but to leave the original as you see it.
The grass in the foreground is very dark, smeared and blurred by the heavy rain running down the car window. The image had an impact on me when I first looked at it and evokes a mood wholly consistent with the atmosphere in that environment at the time.
I wound the window down and took another shot. In keeping with the atmosphere of the first, I held back on any adjustments.
Another photographer/artist whose work I like and sometimes uses movement and double exposure in her work to create some very effective moods is Karen McRae – you can see her blog at Draw and Shoot
Click the photos to enlarge.
Driving through driving rain is not a pleasant thing to do but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any views worth photographing. I took these shots before setting off on my return journey from the Mawr hills and decided not to do anything with the smudge of rain water on the lens which can be seen to the right of the horizon line.
The weather was bad, the atmosphere gloomy and the landscape dark. The grass on the road verges was perhaps not as dark as is shown in these photos, but the presented atmosphere is certainly accurate to my memory of the scene.
Rosebay Willowherb seen against the golden sunlight of early morning in Autumn. Click the lower image to enlarge.
We hadn’t had rain in this area for a while when I took these photos of the landscape around Swansea. I don’t know if it was atmospheric conditions, pollution or simply dust in the air, but it is not uncommon to have hazy days like this in South Wales, regardless of its reputation for continuous rain!
Talking about images rather than roads, it is up to you whether or not you stick to the “rules”, but it is so often said that “rules are made to be broken”, it is almost a rule in itself that you shouldn’t stick to them!
I have used the “rule” of thirds (approximately) in the first two images below and each presents to me a different atmosphere and perspective. My personal preference is for the second shot but “to each his own”. Do you have a preference?
The “thirds” rule is broken in the third shot but the focus is on (or at least my attention was drawn to) the arc of a dog’s paw prints across the beach. I hope I have managed to frame the shot successfully. The eye follows the arc of prints and is brought neatly to a stop with the change in direction of the horizontal structure on the beach and the punctuation mark of the man – who presumably owns the invisible dog! The small proportion of land and sky simply to give the scene some geographical context.
On a windy day in Swansea Bay, watching the movements of the top layer of dry sand getting blown across the seaweed and other debris on the beach is as entertaining as watching the sea itself.
The action of waves in the sea can be mesmerising, but so too can the patterns created by the wind on dry sand as it catches the various objects and undulations of the beach. The sculptures created can be fascinating but watching them be created is even more so.
The camera does not see in the same way as the eye but in these images I think there is some advantage to the relatively narrow depth of field. The areas of blur seem to me to emphasise the atmosphere and effect of the conditions at the time. The textures that show through in the areas of sharpness combined with soft foreground / background, feel much more like it physically was than if everything was clean and crisp and static.
I hope the second sound clip from this photo shoot helps to “put you in the picture”. Even my home made wind shield could not handle the strength of the wind on the beach, but I decided that the distortion and break up of the sound was all a part of the character of the scene.
You can use the new Donate button below to help StillWalks. Pay how much you want and receive a high quality download of this week’s featured StillWalks video – “Moss Wood Walk” which is from Gnoll Park in Neath, South wales. Click the image below to watch the video.
Starting with a close up, this first photograph is a very close crop of the second shot. I particularly liked the grain effect of the exposure with a very high ISO. It seemed to suit the atmosphere of the dark place in those ancient woods by Cwm Green on the Gower Peninsula.
Most of my photography in these woods needed a high ISO as much of this environment was quite dark. Whilst I have both a monopod and a tripod, when carrying the field recorder and mic as well as kit bag and two cameras, it is just not practical to take a tripod as well and on this occasion I had not included the monopod.
However, as I say above, I think the graininess of some of the shots I took are very appropriate for the subject matter and I would be happy, as with this first shot, to emphasise it.
You can use the new Donate button below to help StillWalks. Pay how much you want and receive a high quality download of this week’s featured StillWalks video – “Woodland Walk” which is from Penllergaer Woods near Swansea, South wales. Click the image below to watch the video.