Seeing Snippets with a Photographic Blinker

Posted on 23/11/201619/11/2016 by Alastair

I like to think that I would spot different details or snippets of my surroundings regardless of the photographic blinker provided by a camera. But I also think that using a camera over the years has helped me to put a mental frame around aspects of my local environment that has allowed me more easily to focus on certain details.

On my walk this week along Aberavon seafront I took many photos, both detail shots and wide angle. Thinking of using them and my field recordings for a StillWalks video of this time and place, it was important for me to view the bigger picture as well as the details. The “bigger picture” shots below reveal that the sea fret that had lifted a little for a while, had descended again to mask the details in the distance.

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Misty Mountain Ridge

Posted on 19/08/201611/08/2016 by Alastair

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

Misty Mountain Ridge

Mountainside Farm

Light and Shade

Mountain and Cloud

Misty Mountain Ridge

Crossing the Bridge

Posted on 03/02/201603/02/2016 by Alastair

There are many different aspects to the valley in which The Waterside – Felindre is situated. My walk this week is only around the lake and today’s post takes us across the footbridge at the northern end. Listening to the sound clip below, I like the layering of the sound of my footsteps on the wooden bridge with the different aspects of sound from the water as I approach, cross and then walk away from the bridge.

The woodland on one of the steep sides to this valley and more open fields on the other give the place an intimate, peaceful feel – a perfect place to relax and enjoy the facilities and hospitality of Sue and Steve Heatherington who run both The Waterside and Welsh Valley Alpacas.

My photos today are looking at one or two of the details of the lakeside.

On Friday this week (5th Feb) StillWalks will be at The Waterside running presentations about the StillWalks package for businesses and organisations. If anyone is interested in coming along to this regular open day at The Waterside, please check out the website above and contact us in advance.

Crossing the Footbridge

If viewing this in an email, to see the sound player you will need to visit the blog – please click the post title to view the full post.

Landscape Details

Posted on 18/12/201418/12/2014 by Alastair

Seen from the Roman road I have been walking along in Carmarthenshire, this view shows a small patch of the landscape in which it is set. Even though the tree in the foreground cuts across the view, I feel that it still does the job of somehow framing the scene, putting the scale and perspective in context.

The monochrome shot of the fence posts is more of a detail of the landscape. Apart from changing it to monochrome I had do some further work on the image. I liked the stance of the fence posts and the tangled texture of the barbed wire but there were one or two distracting objects in the background field that needed removing. One of them was positioned behind the fence and proved a challenge to remove satisfactorily. Generally I make image adjustments in Lightroom but for more detailed work like that I would open the shot in Photoshop.

Complementary images to my walks this week can be found directly on Instagram or via the sidebar images on the StillWalks blog. Images displayed here and on Instagram are a mixture of iPhone and Canon DSLR photography.

Fractured Glass – Stars and Stripes

Posted on 04/07/201404/07/2014 by Alastair

I guess, on this day you could call these photos stars and stripes (no offence intended) 😉

My recent walk around part of Swansea to look at some of the architecture and cranes revealed more patterns than those created by construction.

The details of this fractured glass, when seen close up, are fascinating. I was frustrated not to have taken a much closer macro shot when I looked at the images on my computer. The second image is a screen shot of the first image zoomed in to full size but is not one that would print well due to it being at screen resolution – click on that image to see it larger.