Is this the view that the well camouflaged pigeons below have of the sea wall above them?
Tag Archives: environment
Exercising the Body and Mind
Which do you prefer – cycling, walking, jogging, running? Walking would be my preference if I want to focus on my surroundings and observe the sights and sounds around me. However, for this very reason, I may not get as much exercise as I tend to start and stop a lot in order to look and listen, photograph or record. Then again, I am sure the benefit I gain from enjoying the observation makes up for it, mentally at least!
Reed Reflections
I love the effect the moving waters of Tennant Canal has on the reflection of the reeds along its banks – painterly or impressionistic! You can see from the photos that it was a good day for a walk along this canal at Jersey Marine near Swansea.
The “brush strokes” of leaves both in the water and against the canvas of the field make these grasses some of the most attractive plants in this enclave of nature surrounded by the habitation and industry of man.
There will be another photo of reeds against the sun to be seen later today on Monochrome Madness 41 at Leanne Cole Photography.
Complementary images are posted on Instagram through the week and can also be seen on the sidebar of the StillWalks blog.
Reviewing the Week
Whether or not you have been looking at the StillWalks blog over the last week, here is a chance to look through the sequence of images that I have posted on the subject (mostly) of the wild, wet and windy weather that can be experienced at this time of year on the Mawr uplands near Swansea in South Wales.
Misty Walk
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.
Mood Photography
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 Rain
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.
Wind and Mist
The blades disappeared into the cloud and it was difficult to see even the nearest of these wind turbines through the wind and rain. Whatever you think of wind turbines, you would have had difficulty seeing the Bettws Wind Farm on top the Mawr in weather conditions like this.
