The sun was going down on my walk across the beach at Colwyn Bay and as it did so, the light subtly changed. There was some hazy cloud cover in the west and so the contrast of light and shade quite never disappeared, but still had an effect on the atmosphere as well as my camera settings. The patterns in the construction of the pier were always there along with the colour, more or less strengthened by the sunlight.
As I descend from my hill walk this week, this tunnel of light and shade is full of pattern and texture. The light and shade itself creates some great patterns and shapes, but they are also very obviously present in the structure of a mossy wall and the peeling bark of a birch tree.
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From liquid smooth through crusty and tatty to razor sharp, the range of textures I spotted on my walk along Swansea canal was wide, to say nothing of the colour and pattern, light and shade that created a natural art exhibition for me.
The water of the canal may have reflected the colour in the sky on this beautiful morning, but it certainly did not reflect the texture of the barbed wire fence round the Mond Nickel Works.
And there was pattern to be seen in the reflection of light from the water under one of the bridges and a very crusty texture on the pipe structures also crossing the canal.
Considering that the old WWII radar station on Rhosilli Down is in ruins, I was definitely walking under the radar when I reached this point on my walk this week. The light and shade on the old slabs of concrete made for some interesting abstract patterns in the landscape.
The colour in these night lights and their reflections in the water of Hemlington lake is clear, but whatever colour may be in the branch below as it stretches into the night under a desaturating street lamp, is lost almost entirely – I find it quite ghostly.
The view of and colours in the night sky over Middlesbrough changed as I walked around the other, unlit side of Hemlington Lake. The shapes and silhouettes of trees enhanced the reflected colour on the clouds and proved there was light to be seen. However, the footpath on this side of the lake was very dark and it was only because I know the path well that I had no problems seeing where I should walk.
As I came round this side of the lake I disturbed some of the birds roosting in the vegetation at the lake side. So at this point in my night walk, there was a little more sound than perhaps there should have been.
Night Birds
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Changeable weather can make it difficult to predict the conditions and therefore what to wear on a walk – rain and sunshine can be expected as well as rapidly changing temperatures. It can also mean that the colours to be seen in the landscape change dramatically and so winter colours can include the deep shadows of cloud and simultaneously the bright colours of nature reflected in sunlight.
These images just begin to show this effect with the colour in the bare branches and twigs of the tree or the reflective feathers of the ducks set against the slate grey of the water
Liquid patterns in water can be mesmerising but I also love the patterns created by these platform stanchions in their different states at the edge of Hemlington Lake. I guess those twisting in a double row along the lakeside are from previous fishing platforms, although their arrangement suggests the platform was a continuous structure, perhaps a boardwalk.
The light in these scenes suggests the normal changeable weather conditions of Britain but it is also reflective of the time of day and season. The first shot is from an early stage of this wintertime production walk. The other photos are from later on in the walk and the light in the last two reveals the cloud cover overhead and potentially impending rain.
