Part of the Landscape

Rocks and villages – I love the way the scattering of rocks in this Gower landscape seem to reflect the scattering of buildings in the village beyond.

The view is from the top of Rhossili Down looking north west across the Loughor Estuary towards Carmarthenshire. The weather is fine (at this point) and I am enjoying a beautiful production walk for a StillWalks video which, as yet, I have not managed to complete!

Rhossili Downs

Rocks on the Downs

 

Up On The Downs – Looking at The Worm’s Head

My “story” this week features photos taken earlier this year at a time when the weather was as changeable as it is now in Autumn. The Worm’s Head, a spit of rock at the end of Gower Peninsula, is seen here from a vantage point up on Rhossili Downs – why are they called Downs?

The weather throughout the day, as can be seen below, changed from hazy but bright sunshine to overcast cloud with a threatening mist. At times the colour was strong with a blu sky, at others it almost disappeared, hence the monochrome image at the bottom.

Click the images to enlarge.

Worms Head

Worms Head

Worms Head

Up On The Downs – Looking at The Worm's Head

My “story” this week features photos taken earlier this year at a time when the weather was as changeable as it is now in Autumn. The Worm’s Head, a spit of rock at the end of Gower Peninsula, is seen here from a vantage point up on Rhossili Downs – why are they called Downs?

The weather throughout the day, as can be seen below, changed from hazy but bright sunshine to overcast cloud with a threatening mist. At times the colour was strong with a blu sky, at others it almost disappeared, hence the monochrome image at the bottom.

Click the images to enlarge.

Worms Head

Worms Head

Worms Head

Black and White Bird in a Colour Landscape

Colour is almost not there in this Black Headed Gull but there is colour in the landscape below. The bottom image  shows both the colour and lack of colour in the Loughor Estuary landscape on this particular day.

My monochrome post about this place earlier this week was prompted by the lack of colour in the estuary at the time those photos were taken. This image proves the difference under light and shade on a day of changeable weather.

Black Headed Gull

River Lliw

After the Flood – A New StillWalks Video

This winter in the UK brought wind and rain.

Again and again and again! We may now be coming out of that wild and windy season but many people are still suffering from the effects of all that water or fallen trees. I am sorry for those people but also glad we were not included amongst them.

StillWalks featured videos are back again this week with “City River Walk – After the Flood”. The city is York, the river is the Ouse and the time is April 2012. The Ouse regularly floods as a result of rain falling higher up the course of the river. I assume that the residents and businesses situated alongside it the river bank are suitably prepared for these events and have systems in place to deal with it.

However, it is when the unexpected occurs that tried and tested systems are put to the test and this Winter they were certainly tried and tested everywhere in the UK. Some systems were satisfactory . . . others were not!

This new StillWalks video will be here to view all week and will then be changed to sample length. I hope you enjoy it and comments are welcome.

You can use the Donate button below to help pay how much you want and receive a high quality download of this week’s featured StillWalks video – “City River Walk – After the Flood” which features York and the River Ouse. Click the image above to watch the video. DVD Collections are also available to order in the StillWalks Shop.

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Light and Shade – Morlais Patterns

On a sunny day the patterns are easy to find, particularly around mid morning when the sun is at its most creative angle in this respect.

I was taking photos of fences last Sunday morning . . . not these ones though. These are from the end of my walk along the River Morlais. I had been thinking ahead and wondering how I was going to get good photos to finish with, knowing that the short section of footpath that returns to the road is not the most attractive feature in the area.

However, the sun was shining, it was mid morning in July (I started at 5.00 AM), and the patterns created left me in no doubt as to how the video for this walk would end!

Morlais Patterns

Morlais PatternsYou can use the new Donate button below to help StillWalks, pay what you want and receive a download of the completed StillWalks video from this area – “Troserch Woodland Walk“, this week’s featured walk.

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Light is Everything

Sunlight or cloud, rain or mist – the weather conditions influence, no, create the available light for photography.

A few weeks ago I was at Lliw Valley Reservoirs in the rain and took some photos on my iPhone 4s of what I described as “fence post gardens”. I posted them on the Moss Appreciation Society Facebook page with the comment that I would have to go back on a dry day to photograph them properly. The response from one group member was that moss likes, and is perhaps, at its best in the rain.

The sun was shining when I was up there last week and following my interview with BBC Radio Wales I proceeded to take some photos of the same “fence post gardens” with my Canon 550D. It was difficult to say the least! Sunlight can be very dramatic – usually in the early morning or evening, but it can also be a major problem depending on the subject matter.

I have picked out four photos that I think are not too bad from those I took on the day but it seems I am going to have to wait for a more overcast day or go there at sunrise to get some decent shots of this subject.

Getting to know the subject is also important whatever medium you are working with, and I think that it was not just the light conditions that gave me a problem. It was also time and the need to figure out the best angles. Next time I will go better informed.

Update (22/03/2013) According to a friend of my sister –

The second photo has some lichens in as well as moss- the silvery flattish ones at the front which may be a Paramelia – and probably the red and silvey grey one – also a brown cupped one in the middle- these last 2 will be Cladonia species.

Moss Garden

Moss Garden

moss

moss

Peristomes

Ghostly Tree

Ghostly Tree