Three Cliffs Bay – Step 2, People and Beach

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Part two of this series of images from Three Cliffs Bay on the Gower Peninsula in South Wales.

It was a hot and bright day and there were various activities going in different parts of the bay. I particularly like the middle one of these three photos because it seems to me to show the blinding heat of the day so clearly. Virtually the only way to differentiate the sea from the sky is the change in texture.

It is similar in the third shot but I was more intent on bringing in the foreground and the subsequent pattern layers in the scene.

All photos are available for sale on the StillWalks Photography website.

Three Cliffs Bay Three Cliffs Bay Three Cliffs Bay

Three Cliffs Bay – Step 1, Stepping Stones

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This week I am going to be posting a range of photos from a recent walk at Three Cliffs Bay on the Gower Peninsula in South Wales.

The photos are not for a StillWalk video in that the photos are not necessarily in sequence but feature different aspects of the area such as those in todays post featuring the stepping stones across the river in the bay.

Other features over the next seven days will be people and the beach, patterns and rocks, Pennard Castle, footpaths, views and finally woodland.

All photos are available for sale on the StillWalks Photography website.

Stepping Stones Stepping Stones Stepping Stones Stepping Stones

Knocking Things Into Shape

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Indy, it seems to me, is a patient horse! I understand there were five horses being re-shod  at Cimla Equestrian Centre last Saturday. I wonder if they were all as accommodating as Indy?

I spent about ten years taking my eldest daughter to riding lessons at Cimla and although I don’t ride, I surprised myself by enjoying being around the horses. This is quite useful now that I am doing equestrian photography.

Hot Shoe – Farrier Style

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I was doing some equestrian photography training at the weekend and for the purpose arranged to use a group lesson at Cimla Equestrian Centre in the hills above Neath.

I can’t show the photography the students did but I managed to get some of my own shots up in the stable yard at the end of the session and this is a quick taster of what I found – a gallery will go up tomorrow.

Farrier Fire

Fire, if not brimstone!

Cimla Landscape

Cimla Landscape

Completing the Circuit

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Returning to the start of my recce for a StillWalks Sights and Sounds Tag Along Walk (see previous posts) brought me back to Parc-Le-Breos House via their pony trekking centre.

It sure is set in a beautiful part of the country!

Click on the photos to enlarge. More are available on the StillWalks Photography website at PhotoShelter.

Parc-Le-Breos Horses

Parc-Le-Breos Horses

Parc-Le-Breos House

Parc-Le-Breos House

Parc-Le-Breos Grounds

Parc-Le-Breos Grounds

Parc-Le-Breos

Parc-Le-Breos hanging basket and arch way

Planning a Walk – Walking on the Gower

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A few weeks ago I was asked if I would be interested in writing a regular article about my walks in the Swansea and South Wales area for the online version of the South Wales Evening Post. So, with the interests of StillWalks in mind and what they are all about, I will be posting up my sixth article today – My Walk this Week – from Parc-Le-Breos House.

I have recently been planning StillWalks Sights and Sounds Tag Along Days and this has necessitated exploring possible walk routes in suitable places. This not only serves the intended  purpose of setting up these events / workshops, but also provides me with good material for the Evening Post article.

My first exploration was to Parc-Le-Breos House. The reason for selecting this as a starting point is the number of already planned walks that start from the Bed and Breakfast and include some beautiful areas on the Gower Peninsula. Also, there is the option for refreshments and facilities and the use of a room for review of photography and sound clips produced on the Tag Along walk.

Below are a couple of the photos I got on my recce walk. I will talk more about this and post more photos over the next couple of days and a selection of the images are available at the StillWalks Photography website on PhotoShelter.

Park Le Bruce Burial Chamber

Giant’s Grave, Green Cwm

Flowers along the wayside

Flowers along the wayside

Long Oaks Woodland

Long Oaks Woodland at Parc-le-Breos

Walking Through the Gates

A recce walk through recently discovered woodland revealed a number of elements that can be very useful in the production of a StillWalk.

Gates, both the images and the sounds can, in the sequence of a StillWalk, provide a visual and aural way marker and in doing so, give a sense of progression. If the gates are of different design or in different states of repair, this too can be recognised as a way marker if the walk is circular, sending a message to the viewer that they are on the return journey.

There were several gates along the River Morlais leading into Troserch Woods. All were either of different design, at different angles, more or less rusted . . .

The sounds of the gates are also unique, though this is as much because of the surrounding conditions as the type of gate – here is an example from StillWalks on SoundCloud.

Pylons in the Hills

Coming down from the hills at the end of the day and heading into the sunlight can provide some remarkable views of the landscape – dependant, of course,  on the weather conditions and time of year.

The end of my journey home from Felindre brought me down from the hills towards Pontarddulais in South Wales where there is a vast network of metal giants criss-crossing the land as part of the National Grid.

Electricity pylons seen against the light and the land need not be a blot, but rather a fascinating part of the composition, creating patterns and networks of lines that may not be natural, but are something we are happy to live with in order to have the power we need for modern life.

These and more photos can be seen and purchased at StillWalks PhotoShelter.

Bont Landscape Pylons Pylons detail