The Influence of Rocks on Water

Potential StillWalk – the other day I took a walk down a footpath I hadn’t been to for a number of years, pre-StillWalks times. Looking with “new” eyes and listening with “new” ears was fascinating.

The sound of water – There can sometimes be a recording issue with the sounds of an environment that includes running water, i.e. a stream or river. The sounds of the flowing water can so easily drown out other sounds of the environment such as birds, and can become wearing if it is permanent.

However, the small Camffrwd River that the footpath follows did not present this problem. The sounds of the river ebbed and flowed in volume with the arrangement of rocks on its bed. The photos below are accompanied by some sound clips recorded on my iPhone, as were the photos.

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Recording 2 stream A short clip of the general sounds of the river.

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Recording 4 birds ftstps stream The birds make their presence obvious as the sound of water is less dominant and the flow sounds change as I walk along the path.

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Recording 5 walking stream This is a longer clip (2:15) which demonstrates very well the changing sound environment as I move along the path and river.

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Recording 6 stream tumbling water

Unique sounds – All the sound clips and photos prove the need, in producing a StillWalk, to carry out the sound recording at the same time as the photography. The sounds on any day, at any time of day, at any time of year, will always be specific to conditions at the time . . . makes me think of the chaos theory and the interconnectedness of things! Chaos by James Gleick is a fascinating and very accessible book on this subject.

Welcome Video

At last! Finally there is a Welcome to StillWalks video on this website. So if you would like to know a little more about StillWalks and see some production images, please click the link above and explore the site.

Other pages on the website such as the About page and What Are StillWalks will give you the Story of StillWalks as well as information on me with links to some of my other work as an artist.

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Evening Light and the Song Thrush

I questioned the accuracy of my studio clock yesterday morning because it said it was 9.30 AM but it felt and looked more like 7.30 to judge by the lack of light.

Today, however, we have had light again 🙂 After so much darkness and rain it was a huge relief and good for the soul. I wasn’t the only one enjoying the evening light and this Song Thrush was out to prove it as well – recorded on the new RODE iPhone app (not on their new iPhone mic though, that will have to wait a little while).

Click below to hear the Song Thrush I recorded this evening.

Evening Sun

Evening Sun

Evening Clouds

Evening Clouds

Evening Sun on the River Loughor

Evening Sun on the River Loughor

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Quality Walks

Misty Walk is a new stillWalk which was actually produced at the end of last winter. There are several more StillWalks in the pipeline but it has proved difficult this last year to complete the post production on these. This is largely because of the project work I have been doing – see Projects.

I have uploaded two versions of the Misty Walk to the Winter Walks page. Both are high quality but one is in HD (720p) and the other is small scale at 480 x 270 pixels. (see also below).

StillWalks should be viewed, if possible in full screen mode and these videos will show the difference between the two versions. The HD button is in the top right of the first video and the full screen button is on the bottom right of each video.

It was supposed to be a dry, sunny day for this production but it turned out otherwise! This misty walk is on Ryer’s down on the Gower Peninsula in South Wales and was very enjoyable and atmospheric (small scale). Walk location

Affected by Atmosphere

Walking out along the Loughor Estuary last Sunday morning, the weather was still but overcast and the sound of the M4 motorway was even more evident than usual. I love the marshes on the estuary and the old St Teilo’s churchyard, and I normally find that I suppress the sound of traffic in my head and listen instead to the birds, sheep, cattle and wind along with the sound of my footsteps in the grass or mud and the rustling of the reeds.

These are some of the sounds recorded in the StillWalks I have produced here. I did not do any sound recording on Sunday but I got a few shots of the area and thought about how much the sounds we hear are so unique to the time and place we are in. They are the result of things like the weather conditions before and during our visit as well as the activities of others, like driving along the motorway on a Sunday morning to go shopping or visit family or whatever. Twenty five years ago there was virtually no Sunday morning traffic on the M4 but even now the traffic sound can seem distant if the wind is in the right direction or other environmental aspects such as a high tide, rain or time of year change the conditions.

This is something we’ll be looking at on the Sights and Sounds of the Countryside project which you can find out about here or follow on Facebook.

The StillWalks website is offline at the moment due to malicious hackers but you can see 480p versions of two StillWalks from the Loughor Estuary on Vimeo – After the Tide and the Old Churchyard Walk. They will be available to buy in full HD when the site is back up and running.

Here are some photos of the Loughor Estuary and the marshes. Image prints can be purchase at PhotoBox.

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It’s All Go with the Green Fayre

This weekend StillWalks will be at the Green Fayre in the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea. Organised by Swansea Environment Centre and next to the Winter Wonderland Christmas Fair with its Big Wheel and ice skating rink, to say nothing of the attraction of the museum itself, it should prove to be a busy weekend – fingers crossed again!

We will be showing the full StillWalks video range on HDTV and will be selling

  • StillWalks DVD Collections 1 and 2 
  • Framed and unframed photo prints
  • Gift vouchers and cards

Lizard Point again – In my last post I said I was going to put up some more images from Lizard Point this week but I have been so busy with project work, I have not managed it. Below are some photos from my daughter, Hannah,  that I  have picked out from those she took at Lizard Point and I think they’re great 😉 She has done her Photography A level, is now doing Foundation Art and is looking at universities for next year. Her own blog can be found at hduncanphotography.wordpress.com

Lizard Point

Looking out at the Lizard

Lizard Point

Over the edge at the Lizard

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Peeping out at the Lizard

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Lizard Point

Lizard Point

Lizard Point

Lizard Point

Lizard Point

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Caught in the act

Autumn at the Gardens

The Green Fayre at the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea on 24th and 25th November is the next event for StillWalks. Last weekend’s Christmas gift fair at the Botanic Gardens went OK overall as long as I remember that it is about meeting people and getting StillWalks seen as it is about making direct sales.

Having said that, Saturday wasn’t a bad day for sales – Sunday was a better opportunity for taking some more photos of the gardens myself . . .

. . . here are a few – more are on Flickr and if anyone is interested in buying any prints, you can do so through the website by clicking on the Photobox Prints button or going direct to Photobox Gallery here.

NBGW Great Glasshouse

NBGW Great Glasshouse

Inside the Great Glasshouse, NBGW

Inside the Great Glasshouse, NBGW

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The heating grill inside the Great Glasshouse, NBGW