This is the last post featuring this StillWalk. I am not sure how WordPress delivers video posts by email and so if the link below does not show up in an email, then clicking the image will take you to the web page where you can play it.
At just 6.00 minutes long, a typical length for a StillWalks video, it won’t take too much time out of your busy lives and may be just what you need. Just remember to put other things aside (phones, etc.) and allow yourself to be absorbed by the sights and sounds of Llyn Llech Owain (pronunciation in the previous post). Maybe it will prompt you to take a local walk yourself and listen out for all that is around you. Full scale high definition versions of StillWalks can be purchased online, just contact me through the StillWalks website.
Here are two more from the StillWalks production “Winter Lakeside Walk” – watch the walk and relax to the sights and sounds of a walk round Llyn Llech Owain.
The sounds in my StillWalks are at least as important as the images. I particularly like the creaking movement of the raised boardwalk in “Winter Lakeside Walk”.
Here is a short clip (1 min) from the sound files for this walk plus the spectral display image and the boardwalk itself.
I will include the video itself in the blog at the end of the week but you can see it on the Winter Walks page of the website now if you would like to. If your internet connection is not very fast, you may have to wait for the video to buffer in order for it not to stutter – or you could always buy the download. See the Sales page for prices and instructions.
This is the final image from this short series and just about my favourite. This may be because of the weaving part of my life (see www. acmd.co.uk) and my enthusiasm for texture and fibre.
The image seems to loose some of its depth and become more a network of fibres on a more two dimensional plain, albeit with heavy texture. I’m not sure that the fact there is snow involved makes any difference either – the “fibres” would still be there without it, perhaps less defined by lower contrast.
I wrote “tangled fibres” originally but changed it to “network of fibres” because I realised that they are not tangled but have structure and direction, all feeding into the centre of the frame. I cannot say, now, if this was coincidental or intentional – I suspect subconsciously intentional with my artist/weaver’s eye searching out the structures and patterns before taking the shot.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Some people get nervous, uncomfortable, even angry when they see a photographer taking shots in the street or other busy public place. However, as I walked along Mumbles Promenade at the start of the Gower Peninsula the other day, I not only had my camera but also my sound kit with its “dead cat” furry cover on the microphone windshield. It’s the dogs that take exception to this, wondering no doubt, what strange creature it is.
People tend to be more interested and wonder what programme I am making and smile or ask if I am from the BBC. I am not sure that I will be able to get a StillWalk from this impromptu stroll along the promenade but if I need to do a full production day there, I’ll make sure I have the StillWalks logo printed on my T-shirt first.
The interest of dogs in the “Dead Cat” is understandable!
