Tunnel of Trees

Looking for the light in the Ynystawe woodland before going to photograph the dressage riders at the Clydach Riding Club show last weekend, I peeked out from the trees to the fields and the River Tawe and finally headed back to the show field through a tunnel of trees. The dressage show photos can be found at StillWalks Photography.

Ynystawe-7

Ynystawe-16

Ynystawe-22

Ynystawe-23

Soggy Seeds

The woodland at Ynystawe through which I was walking last weekend really was wet! The day was nice but the rain from previous days had had its effect on the plants at the end of Summer.

The colours of flowers are on their way out and we have not yet reached that stage of Autumn that brings so much colour again in the leaves. But there is still pattern and texture and light (perhaps less of the light) – you just have to look around you 🙂

Ynystawe-9 Ynystawe-10 Ynystawe-12 Ynystawe-14

Ynystawe-15 Ynystawe-17

Dark Woods and Dressage

Last weekend I found myself with time to spare as I waited for the Clydach Riding Club Dressage Show to start. Having turned up earlier than I needed to, I took the opportunity to have a short walk through the woodland next to the show field.

The weather had been pretty wet for several days but on Saturday the clouds at least had dried up, if not the ground, the plants and the undergrowth. The dry “crump” of my footsteps in snow (see yesterday’s post) was nowhere to be heard in the woodland landscape at Ynystawe near Swansea.

In amongst the trees the scene was dark as well as wet, making photography problematic. The dressage show photos can be found at StillWalks Photography.

Dark Wet Woods Dark Wet Woods 2 Ivy in the Dark Wet Woods Damp Seed Head Blackberry

One Happy Rider

One Happy Rider

The Sound of Snow – “Forest Walk – Winter”

This last post on my StillWalks video from a previous winter features a sound that we don’t often hear in the part of South Wales where I live. The sound of footsteps in deep, dry snow is quite different to that which is made by footsteps in wet snow which is slightly more common here.

I cannot vouch for the accuracy of that old adage about the Inuits having fifty words for snow but I do know that whatever the state of the snow under your feet, the sound your footsteps make in it will be different, and I suspect this range extends at least as far as fifty!

Click the image below to play the video.

Phone Photography Close-Up

Still working with the iPhone without any add-on gadgets (see previous posts). Without a clip on macro lens for the iPhone camera, there is a limit, as with any lens, as to how close you can get to a subject before the subject blurs. Whilst you can get pretty close with the phone camera, with a subject like this, it can be difficult to tell what is going to be within the depth of field and what is not.

This first shot is the best I could do with the phone and yes, there have been adjustments made in adobe Lightroom. The second shot is a close crop of the third image shown here. The heavy cropping was necessary because I didn’t get the camera focused on the right area of the subject. The third shot is unedited in any way.

The last shot is of the same plant in another location earlier in the year at 6.00AM but the photo was taken on my DSLR camera with my zoom lens . . . say no more!

Fforest Forest Close-up 1

Fforest Forest Close-up 2

Fforest Forest Close-up 3Troserch DSLR Close-up