My walk this week is on the south coast of England at a place called Pagham. As a location for a StillWalks production walk, I picked it out from aerial views of the place courtesy of Google Maps and Google Earth. It helped that I already had some knowledge of the south coast, though to be fair, some of that comes from BBC programmes like Spring Watch.Continue reading
As I approached the first, (or smaller) source of the River Taff, Blaen Taf Fechan (correction – Taf Fechan, see comments on previous post), on my walk this week with the Living Taff group, I took yet another of my frequent stops to look at the view. Looking south from the slopes of Pen y Fan in the Brecon Beacons, I could see all the way to the Bristol Channel, Flat Holm island and beyond to Somerset in England.
England can’t be seen in the shot above which concentrates on the patterns and textures on the slopes of Craig Gwaun Taf which leads up to Corn Du, but the first of the shots below gives a pretty good wider view of the scene, even though the distant atmosphere was quite hazy. In the closer surroundings of the mountains the colours and patterns of light and shade kept changing with the passing clouds.
The Blaen Taf Fechan (below) joins the Blaen Taf Fawr (correction – Taf Fawr, see comments on previous post) at Merthyr Tydfil to become the Afon Taf or River Taff which then flows on down to Wales’ capital city, Cardiff.
These photos are devoid of humans but they were there and there was the constant murmur of voices all around us. It wasn’t disturbing or even annoying really, just present.
Pen y Fan Voices
My day to day photography is often done using my iPhone and lately I have been experimenting with one or two different camera apps. The set of images below were taken using Slow Shutter Cam which, if you can be sure to keep the phone steady is nifty little app.
The problem with long exposures being used to achieve that misty / ghostly effect or smoothness in flowing water, is that everything else gets the same length of exposure. There are various ways of dealing with this but the Slow Shutter app simply uses thevideo setting on the phone camera rather than the stills setting. It is, however, a still image that is saved.
It is a clever answer to the exposure issue and there are options to take images up to the full resolution of the camera (8 megapixels). I have had a few issues with the handling of colour which can be seen above but I suspect this is something that I will be able to manage better with time and practice. These images have had some post production adjustments applied but the main issue in taking them was that I did not have a tripod with me and had to rely on keeping the camera steady with the aid of the railings round the fountains.
The fountains are in the centre of Middlesbrough in the NE of England which is, according to some, one of the ugliest towns in Britain – I disagree and suggest they take another look, this time with their eyes open and no prejudicial blinkers!
Firstly I must thank everyone for the likes and comments made while we have been away. If I have not done much liking or commenting on my first day back from our Easter break, I can only apologise. Things will gradually get back to normal over the coming days and weeks.
The thickening carpet of Cherry blossom petals in our garden confirms what we expected – i.e. we would miss a large part of the tree’s Springtime display while we were away in Scotland.
But we are not sad because we had a great time with mostly excellent weather and some very enjoyable walks. I will be posting some of my photography from our trip to NE England and SW Scotland as soon as I get the chance to process it.
The photo below was taken on my iPhone.
There are posts . . . and then there are posts. Today’s post is about the posts in Hemlington Lake in Middlesbrough, NE England.
Unfortunately there is not a lot I can say about them as I don’t know why they are there. I assume they are the remnants of some past structure such as a platform. There are other fishing platforms around the lake as can be seen in this week’s featured StillWalks video – but in the end, your guess is as good as mine. If anyone does know why they are there, please let me know in the comments.
This week’s featured StillWalks video is from Middlesbrough. Although the production for “Suburban Lakeside Walk” was done in the Winter, it was clearly much better weather than is evident in the iPhone photos I took around the lake this winter.
You can use the Donate button below to help StillWalks. Pay how much you want and receive a high quality download of this week’s featured StillWalks video – “Suburban Lakeside Walk” which features Hemlington Lake in Middlesbrough. Click the image below to watch the video. DVD Collections are available to order in the StillWalks Shop.
Middlesbrough on New Year’s Day is the focus for this week’s posts. Last week I was looking at Belfast on Boxing Day and the lack of human activity there. Middlesbrough, on New Year’s Day, was quiet as well. Two reasons for this could be that people were recovering from the night’s festivities but the other is likely to have been the weather!
The weather on the first day of 2014 in the north east of England (if not the whole of the UK) was miserable, wet and windy. Flood warnings have been regular for many places at the end of one year and the start of the next and I feel sorry for all those who have suffered from these and the accompanying power cuts.
However, the photo below proves that it was not bad weather everywhere all of the time. The sunset reflected in the windows of Middlesbrough Town Hall as seen from MIMA on New Year’s Eve is evidence of that. Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art is a fantastic bit of architecture and always has fascinating exhibitions – we make a point of visiting it each time we are staying in the area with family.
The current exhibition by local artist William Tillyer occupies both of MIMA’s main galleries and although there were only about half a dozen works that we personally liked, the whole exhibition was interesting with some of the works being visually quite deceptive. I am not allowed to show photos from the show but you can click the links above to find out more.
This week’s featured StillWalks video is from Middlesbrough. Although the production for “Suburban Lakeside Walk” was done in the Winter, it was clearly much better weather than is evident in the iPhone photos I took around the lake this winter.
You can use the Donate button below to help StillWalks. Pay how much you want and receive a high quality download of this week’s featured StillWalks video – “Suburban Lakeside Walk” which features Hemlington Lake in Middlesbrough. Click the image below to watch the video. DVD Collections are available to order in the StillWalks Shop.
Not everybody likes the wind but I, personally, don’t have a problem with it – I even like it on occasion.
This StillWalk takes place on a very windy hillside in Dorset, S.W. England. There is not much more sound in it than the wind!
What am I saying, of course there is – my footsteps walking through grass or on a lane, opening and closing gates, climbing over stiles – and of course the wind sounds themselves change with its strength, the kind of trees around, my position in relation to it and the landscape.
Who likes the wind? Watch the video below and click on the photo to enlarge.
Adverse Weather Conditions led a scheduled day of equestrian photography to be cancelled at short notice. I didn’t check the website for updates before hand and so ended up down at the show field anyway. The day was dry but the previous week had been very wet. So I took the opportunity to go for a walk along a section of the River Tawe and quickly found myself under a bridge!
Under Bridges – My interest and curiosity about the underside of bridges goes back a long way now. About 14 years ago I was taking photographs of the underside of the second Severn crossing, a striking suspension bridge of the Severn Estuary between Wales and England. It was all part of my research towards designing and weaving a major tapestry commissioned for Caldicot Library in Monmouthshire.
Secret Places – Since then, I have looked at the underside of many other bridges and find them to be quite secret places, even when they are busy with people, it is the side away from public view.
These photos were all taken on my iPhone 4s.
Road and Rail Bridges
Under the Road Bridge
Working on the Rail Bridge
Rail Bridge Structure
The DVLA, Swansea
Another Road Bridge
Underside