Sense of Reality

If these photos tell a story, it is one of fiction in one sense and of reality in another. The first two shots present the sense I had of this morning’s walk through the woods to the top of the hill where the sun was fighting its way through the clouds. There was a lot more light on the land, the fields and tress, than is apparent in the photos but I decided to direct my iPhone to reveal the atmosphere in the sky rather than the details and colours of the trees or field. The result of course, is a much darker foreground in the images than it was in reality – unless you consider the sense of the scene I had in my mind. Taking that into consideration, the photos are much closer to reality.

The third image is technically more accurate in its presentation of the light seen at a fire break in the forest. If this is not such a dramatic shot, it is still a point on this walk at which I always stop and take in the scene.

More of the atmosphere of the forest can be heard in this sound clip – click the play button or the file name to hear the sounds of my walk through the woods.

Fforest Birds 3 and Walking

Sunrise

Sunrise

break in trees

Windblown and Wondering

My recent walks at Kidwelly in Carmarthenshire revealed to me a number of aspects of the local environment. The old canal, mudflats and birds of the Towe Estuary were among the first of my discoveries, but there were other elements of this area that contributed to the atmosphere of the place just as much as those more obvious features.

These trees had a particularly dry looking bark and colour to them along with their windblown direction of growth. These as well as the brambles and dry reeds through which the footpath led me, all contributed to my perception of the environment – one that suggested a much dryer place than could be the case.

I wonder about that apparent contradiction? Even the dampness in the cold air could not defeat the sense of a lack of water that I felt from the colours and textures around me.

For all the lack of colour in this image of the trees, there is a monochrome version of it featured on Monochrome Madness 47 at Leanne Coles Photography blog.

wild trees

brambles and reeds

Liquid Gold

There has been no temperature adjustment or colour cast put on these images. whatever you do the liquid gold stays gold, it’s just the carat that changes!

Obviously I am exaggerating but it is true that I had no desire to make changes. The photos capture something of the beauty and peace that I enjoyed on a late afternoon Winter walk around this Middlesbrough lake. The Coots had found an area without ice and as I walked I was in continual awe at the ever changing light.

Lake Sunset-7

Lake Sunset-10

End of the Day at the Start of the Week

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?

Lake Sunset

Lake Sunset

Flying An Urban Flag

This flock of birds epitomise the freedom of flight across this urban lake in Middlesbrough as the evening approaches and the silhouetted tree against the sunset reveals its majesty and the bicycle tyre hanging from a branch appears as an iconic urban flag.

Late Afternoon Lake

Tree Silhouette

Tyre in tree

Walk By The River

A Winter river walk on a beautiful day at the end of 2014. Reflections and memories,  textures and patterns, colour and sunlight and new shoots for a new year.

River Reflection

 

River Reflection

Houseboat

River Shoots

The Long View and Reviewing the Week 6

Please click on this panoramic shot of Carmarthenshire to view it on a larger scale as it should be. It wasn’t a day of beautiful sunshine but you still get to see the patchwork of files that makes up so much of the Welsh landscape if you are not in the mountains.

Carmarthenshire Landscape

Carmarthenshire Landscape