Dawn Walk

Posted on 12/10/201512/10/2015 by Alastair

During the nice weather at the end of September I made a point of going for a morning walk slightly earlier than usual in order to catch the rising sun. The sky was just beginning to lighten when I arrived at my viewing point and the atmosphere with the clouds and mist lying along the valley floor and amongst the trees was almost eerie.

Looking north up the river Loughor valley the distant Betws wind farm could be seen through a gap in the clouds while looking east across the valley the sun is clearly on its way as proven by the vapour trail glinting in the lightening sky.

You will also be able to see the second photo in monotone on Wednesday at Leanne Cole’s Photography blog post – Monochrome Madness 2-28

Welsh Landscape and Reviewing the Week 12

Posted on 08/02/201508/02/2015 by Alastair

This final photo of the week was again taken with my iPhone but shows the view looking north east up the valley before I enter the woods to climb up to the top of the hill and look south towards the Gower Peninsula in the distance.

Click on any image in the gallery to view them in a carousel. The sound clips posted this week can also be found below. These will not be visible in an email – you will have to listen to them on the blog.

Overhead and Under Foot

Posted on 07/02/201507/02/2015 by Alastair

Overhead the sun and clouds were yet again proving the changeableness of the Welsh weather. This morning’s skyscape / landscape is another shot taken using the pano mode of my iPhone camera. I use this most often to widen the lens rather than give a long panoramic view which with this app results in bendy beaches and horizon lines.

Under foot the extent of moss growth also proves the level of dampness in this environment – a rotting fallen tree shows just a tiny bit of it.

The sound today comes courtesy of a Mistlethrush I think. I couldn’t get a good enough sight of it to prove its identity but from what I could see, I would say it was a Mistlethrush rather than a Songthrush.

Fforest Birds 2

Walking To The Sunrise

Posted on 05/02/201505/02/2015 by Alastair

My photos for today are in reverse order! The turning point for my morning walk is in the first shot and is a great place to see the sun come up behind some woodland to the left of the frame.

In Wales it is often said that “it has been raining, is raining or is about to rain” – see the last photo. I fact I would say the weather here is changeable, frequently changeable. In all the walks I have taken over the last 10 or 12 days, I have only got wet once – though I have had to put Dubbin on my boots frequently.

Photos 1 and 3 are from my iPhone, 2 and 4 were taken with my Canon 550D. The sound clip at the bottom was recorded on my iPhone.

Fforest Rain iPhone 3

Walking Resolutions

Posted on 02/02/201502/02/2015 by Alastair

I have only ever made one New Years Resolution and I have always kept to it – never to make a New Years Resolution. However, I have recently been thinking that despite much of my work being focused on walking, too much of my time is spent sitting at a computer. Production and post production, image and sound processing, writing and administering projects and seemingly interminable fund raising.

I have decided (resolved!) to make my health and fitness a higher priority and have been taking a decent walk every morning. I have taken the same walk with minor variations almost every morning for the last ten days or so, and only once have I taken my camera. The purpose is to walk, not to stop and take photos every other step. That said, I cannot go about the place without looking and listening to the things around me and so my iPhone comes in very handy both for images and sound.

Most of the photos I will be posting this week were taken on my iPhone and some of the sounds clips were also recorded using the RODE app on the phone. My Edirol sound recorder also fits easily into my pocket and so I have used this too.

These photos were taken at the highest point of my walk where I can catch the sun rise behind the trees.

And you can listen to some of the forest birds below as well.

Fforest Birds 1

End of the Day at the Start of the Week

Posted on 12/01/201512/01/2015 by Alastair

Sometimes it can be hard to tell whether the sun is rising or setting, especially if you don’t know what direction you are facing. It might be better to start the week with a sunrise, but who is to say (other than me) that these shots were not taken in the morning?

Crop Rotation

Posted on 29/12/201429/12/2014 by Alastair

This view can be seen at the start of the StillWalks video “Winter Lakeside Walk” which features Llyn Llech Owain in South West Wales. The widescreen video necessitates the landscape crop but to avoid the need to click and zoom on an image in this WordPress theme, the crop is better rotated to the portrait format.

I find cropping images a fascinating challenge and whilst this is first done when framing the shot on the camera, the requirements of different purposes and platforms such as square for Instagram as well as those below forces me to look at the photos with a new “focus” on their impact. It is not ideal to do heavy cropping of any image but where the output is for screen rather than print, this is not such a big issue.

The images I am posting this week are all from the “Winter Lakeside Walk” production shoot and each day will offer a landscape and portrait crop of the selected image. Which do you prefer?

Watch the video at the bottom of this post.

Reviewing the Week 2

Posted on 23/11/201423/11/2014 by Alastair

The last of my images for this week is a final view of Penarth Pier against the rising sun on a grey day. Also featured is a slideshow of the images I have posted through the week. I would also like to connect to another blog this week – that of Lightscapes Nature Photography. I get frustrated when I see overworked photography with that slickly unreal appearance and no texture – it seems to be used a lot commercially. However, that is not the case with Kerry Mark Leibowitz’s photography of landscapes and on top of that, there is good reading and advice to had as well.

Tag Archives: sunrise