My walk this week is around an urban lake that I have visited before but not at this time of year. It had been my intention to take my camera and sound kit with me but as I was focusing on the meeting I had before this walk, I completely forgot the kit and had to use my iPhone for both photography and sound recording.
At the end of my walk this week I found myself cold again. Unlike the sheep in the shade of this frosty field, I did not have a thick wooly coat but a few hundred yards earlier I had been hot in the sunshine on top of the hill.
Listen to the soundscape for the walk below and take a look at the image sequence at the same time – I hope find it different to the last time I walked this route in the opposite direction just a few weeks ago.
The patterns I saw on my walk this week were wonderful. Both natural and man made, these objects were clear and crisp against the most significant aspect of the views – the blue sky. Whether it was the near fractal patterns of a bare tree or the electrical loops of power lines, the bright blue sky made them stand out and I was in awe at the complex beauty around me.
My walk this week in Brynmill Park, Swansea allowed me to see some fabulous patterns and colours. I particularly liked this quite dark reflection of these huge grass-like plants. Sorry I can’t give you the botanical information on my surroundings but while that is certainly of interest to me, I cannot say that, if told either the common or latin names, I would remember them. I will, however, remember the patterns and colours of this corner of the lake in the park.
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I started my walk this week with a post of 360 degree views of Swansea Bay at Crymlyn Burrows. Now after getting excited about so many of the patterns and forms in the sand on this expansive beach, I have come full circle. Back in front of the Bay Campus of Swansea University the view is as good as ever but after all the subtleties of sand I was surprised by the glare of contrasting colour in front of the Great Hall on the campus. The grass was new and the paint on the tables was new too!
Mumbles Across the Bay
Contrasting colour
Virtually all sound from the city and the motorway was being blown inland by a light breeze on this peaceful morning walk and the sound of distant birds and people along with my footsteps on the sand is most of what makes up this calm soundscape.
Crymlyn Burrows Beach Soundscape
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While the patterns in sand I have been looking at on my walk this week have been details of the beach in Swansea Bay, there are also interesting patterns and textures to be seen from longer, wider viewpoints. In this first shot today I like the gradual fading of the reflected light on wet sand as it transitions to drying sand.
In the second photo the pattern was subtle, perhaps more-so in reality than it is in the image but still noticeably there and resembling a tiger’s stripes. While I enjoy nuance within imagery and my surroundings, I thought it would be interesting to take a look at this pattern strengthened and converting to monochrome and increasing the contrast was one relatively quick way to do this.
Beach Perspective
Dry and Drying
monochrome sand
There was subtlety in the sounds of the beach on this walk as well as in the patterns of sand. I got my recorder out again as soon as I heard my footsteps on top of one of the sand banks where the surface still retained water and the rhythm of my footsteps created a fizz of compressed sand and released moisture. The passing of a distant small aircraft only seemed to emphasise the peace of the beach at this stage of my walk.
Footsteps in Damp Sand
The wind on my walk this week on the beach at Colwyn Bay had been going to town (so to speak and literally!) when it comes to creating patterns. Not just the wind of course – its take the combination of wind and sea to create these particular patterns. In the first image they appear to have been brushing each others hair while in the second there has been more apparent friction with the sand ripples developing a multitude of blisters
Sand Hair
Sand Blisters
