Concrete, glass and pebble dash – the outer materials of the Civic Centre building in Swansea. It is in a beautiful position on the seafront in Swansea bay and those working there may sometimes find the view somewhat distracting.
These are photos I have posted on Instagram recently and although, on this occasion, the quality of the photos leaves something to be desired, the images themselves are ones I find interesting – that’s why I took them I guess!
One reason for my interest is the effect the different surfaces have on the light that hits them. Whilst the the glass reflects the light and colour in a very direct way, the (originally) white surface of the walls deflects the direct sunlight from dazzling the eye too much because it has been textured with pebble dash. In the second shot the walls have also been given a vertical line pattern which further deflects the light.
A network of salt water gullies and holes on the Loughor Estuary.
Pools of light is a bit more poetic than puddles near Llanrhidian. Living at the northern most point of the Loughor Estuary in South Wales, I can travel up either side of the salt marshes that make up the estuary and get beautiful and spacious views across from either the Gower Peninsula on the eastern edge or the Carmarthenshire shore on the western edge.
I have heard that if any of the ponies that graze there are caught on the marshes when the tide comes in, they simply stand where they are until the tide goes out again because of the danger of falling into one of the gullies or holes.
This week’s featured StillWalks video is set a few weeks ahead of the current date in terms of the time of year but the flowers and activity of the birds celebrate the beautiful sunny weather of Spring with gusto and are a welcome change to the wild, wet and windy weather we had through Winter.
The video above is in 480p quality. You can use the Donate button below to pay however much you want and receive a high quality (720HD) download of this week’s featured StillWalks video – “Garden Park Walk – Spring” which features Clyne Gardens in Swansea, South Wales. Click the image above to watch the video. DVD Collections are also 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.
I wouldn’t describe these images as Christmasy but I was in Cardiff Bay the other day and happened to have an hour to spare. The architecture there creates some interesting patterns and I had taken my camera.
I had a bit of an argument with the security guard for the building with the lines and bars (he wasn’t very polite!) but that just added to the interest. Personally, I really like the concrete wedge! More of these photos are available on the StillWalks PhotoShelter site.
Swansea may be the wettest city in the UK, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth visiting.
It may be that you can find scenes similar to this in many different places around the world but as with any image (or sound), each one is, in fact, unique to the time and place according to the conditions at the time the photograph is taken or the sound recorded.
Understanding that what we experience of our surroundings is interdependent on these unique conditions from moment to moment is a major part of what StillWalks is about.
More important than that, however, is simply the enjoyment of what we see and hear around us – rain it may be, but I hope you enjoy these images.
I arrived at Penllergaer Woods at 4.45 AM last Saturday morning for a production day that took a little over six hours before returning to download the content of my cameras and field recorder. The day went well but I am still suffering from the midge bites I got for my trouble.
I started out with a preliminary scout around the valley floor and watched the sky lighten, the moon fade and listened to the birds wake up.
Here are some of the preliminary shots I got along with the dawn chorus.
