Looking out to sea and waiting – that is what these “standing stones” appear to be doing!
My StillWalk, “Coastal Walk“, in Scotland in the Spring features these shots. The balanced stones looked as though they were just biding their time and waiting for some spectacular event – or perhaps they were just soaking up the sun while they could.
Sculpture on the Beach
Patterns in the Sand
The mornings are still cold but it’s not going to be long now – the evidence is out there.
These photos are from one of my Spring StillWalks – “Coastal Walk” in Galloway, South West Scotland. You can watch it here.
Chaffinch
The sound of a Song Thrush singing in the rain in Lliw Valley – what more can I say!
Song Thrush
Lliw Valley in the Rain
. . . seeing and hearing, that’s what StillWalks is all about.
As I walked through the woods on Sunday on my way towards Upper Lliw Reservoir, it was quite clear that the birds were perfectly happy with the rain. Although they were hard to spot, they were very easy to hear.
Can anybody identify the birds or the fungi?
Tree Growths
Tree Growth
This new StillWalk in Winter from Llyn Llech Owain, “Winter lakeside Walk” is one where I caught the early birds and the sunrise – not difficult when the days are so short.
I uploaded the walk just a week ago and it is one I really enjoy. I am going to put some photos from it on my blog through this week and would love it if people took a look at the video itself. Just click the link above or either of the images to go straight to StillWalks Winter Walks.
The StillWalks videos are free to view on a small scale but if anyone is interested in seeing any of them in full scale high definition, just contact me – the prices are on the website.
Sunrise
Across the Water
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.
I questioned the accuracy of my studio clock yesterday morning because it said it was 9.30 AM but it felt and looked more like 7.30 to judge by the lack of light.
Today, however, we have had light again 🙂 After so much darkness and rain it was a huge relief and good for the soul. I wasn’t the only one enjoying the evening light and this Song Thrush was out to prove it as well – recorded on the new RODE iPhone app (not on their new iPhone mic though, that will have to wait a little while).
Click below to hear the Song Thrush I recorded this evening.
Evening Sun
Evening Clouds
Evening Sun on the River Loughor
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 location