This large tree stump made it look like the tree had been growing straight out of the sand on Swansea beach.
Tag Archives: Swansea Bay
An Alternative Viewpoint
Last weekend I went on a art walk with Sarah Abbott from the Mission Gallery in Swansea. We went down to the dunes at the eastern end of Swansea Bay with sketch books and cameras, etc.
Sometimes the places you know best are those that are hardest to “see”. I have done a fair amount of photography in the bay but I have not produced a StillWalks video there. Taking a look at a place with someone else can be helpful in that the interaction of perception can prompt a fresh way of seeing the familiar.
Cool Place for a Coffee – Swansea Architecture
These people on top of the Life Sciences building of the University of Wales Swansea will have a great view over Swansea Bay, even if just below them is a sea of cars in Singleton Hospital car park.
Looking at the View – Swansea Bay
Looking in opposite directions from the middle of Swansea Bay cycle / foot path, you see Mumbles lighthouse and RNLI lifeboat station in the west and Meridian Tower by the maritime quarter in the east.
Patterns of Sand and Sea
As with all other posts, click the pics to view them larger.
A Blistering Day in Swansea Bay
The heat and dazzling brightness of the sun kept me in the shade of the woods on my walk along the cycle/foot path of Swansea Bay. This section of the path from Swansea to Mumbles allowed me to look out from the comfortable temperatures under the trees. The blurred focus in the distance of these photos is not just the result of my use of the camera – it was also pretty hazy with the heat.
The Confusing Colour of Seasons
Some of the colour I found my walk along Swansea Bay’s cycle/foot path recently was a little confusing. Autumn colours in Summer? I discovered this young oak sapling on my walk through a wooded section of the path and although the year is passing quickly, I am pretty sure we are not in Autumn yet.
I guess it is just the colour that this particular variety of oak tree shows at this stage of its life/year. However, not long ago (in Spring) we found our amelanchier putting out a number of red autumn coloured leaves and wondered if the plant life of the planet is as confused as we are by the changing climate.
I don’t know what the red plant is in the second photo but its colour sure stood out against the green background!
Architectural Scale – Is Perspective Real?
I like this photo largely for its composition and the perspective of the buildings, both real and apparent. I say real and apparent because the buildings themselves are in fact taller than each other going from foreground to background – it’s not just the effect of perspective. I must make a point of taking a photo from the opposite end of the beach and see how they appear in perspective when the most distant building is the tallest!
The photos I have been posting this week were all taken on my iPhone. I seem to be doing this more often now but whether my iphonography is improving is another matter. It is a very convenient way to record observations (and sounds when I don’t have my kit with me) but in order to get effective images with the phone, you have to look at things differently. Angle of shot is probably the most important point . . . but that could be said for DSLR photography as well, I guess!
The photo below would have been grainy anyway, given the time of day and the fading light but there is a tendency for the iPhone camera to over expose when the light is dim. The image you see below is the result of post processing. Unlike a DSLR camera, you have pretty limited options in these circumstances when it comes to telling the camera what to do.
Update – Thanks to Emil Pakarklis and his iPhone Photography School, I have discovered the PureShot app which allows much more flexibility in shooting from the phone.
The buildings are on Swansea seafront – all apartment buildings, the closest being Meridian Tower. The lights in the background are those of the Swansea / Cork Ferry.