After the Flood – A New StillWalks Video

Posted on 03/03/201403/03/2014 by Alastair

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.

Looking Ahead at Llys Nini

Posted on 24/02/201424/02/2014 by Alastair

Last week I revisited the woodland at Llys Nini Animal Centre.

The centre is in Penllergaer, near Swansea and my first discovery of this woodland was through the StillWalks project “Sights and Sounds of the Countryside” – that was about 18 months ago.

Since then the woodland and the footpaths through it, have been developed further and there is more to see and hear there all the time. The first image below is of a team of volunteers planting hundreds of new trees – oak, ash, alder, hawthorn and many others.

The bespoke StillWalks video “Marching Feet, Crackling Leaves”, produced as part of the “Sights and Sounds of the Countryside” project, was made with StillWalks by the children of Pontlliw Primary School and features a (miraculously) dry day in Autumn.

Sounds from my walk there last week will be posted tomorrow.

Architecture – Victorian Footbridge, Swansea

Posted on 10/02/201410/02/2014 by Alastair

This is going to be a StillWalks week of architecture! Starting with the old, these images are of the remains of the footbridge by Victoria Park, St Helens in Swansea. The bridge itself was dismantled for safety a few years ago but I am pleased that the steps have been left as I find it an attractive structure.

I may be behind with my post production (see note below re featured videos), but that does not mean I am not always looking out for new locations for StillWalks videos. Swansea beach, seafront and marina are all locations I would like to use and in time I expect I will manage it. For now, however, I will continue to keep my eyes and ears open to the possibilities for StillWalks in all kinds of environment – man made as well as natural.

Featured SillWalks Videos – I’m afraid this is going to be another week without a featured StillWalks video. I have a number of productions to complete and I look forward to adding these to the StillWalks collection. For now there is, as always, access to sample length videos is available through the Walks menus and you can always buy them at anytime for as little as £1.50.

Winter Morning

Posted on 05/02/201405/02/2014 by Alastair

Two images from this week’s featured StillWalks video.

You can use the Donate button below to pay however much you want and receive a high quality download of this week’s featured StillWalks video – “Woodland Walk – Winter” which features Penllergaer Valley Woods near Swansea. Click the image below to watch the video. DVD Collections are available to order in the StillWalks Shop.

Identifying the Season

Posted on 03/02/201403/02/2014 by Alastair

What identifies Winter for you? Answers in the comments please 😉

In Britain (SW Wales) we don’t expect to get winters like Canada or Norway or wherever. However, although I don’t expect snow, I do expect it to get a little bit cold from time to time through the season. This Winter has only brought wild winds, high tides and seemingly interminable rain!

No frost . . . No, I tell a lie, there has been a hint of frost on two occasions where I live, but that is it. If I am able to get any StillWalks production done this Winter, it will have to reflect the wet weather we are getting. But wet weather is the most difficult in which to do photography and field recording. Not impossible, just very uncomfortable and a problem for the safety of the kit.

This weeks featured StillWalks video is from another kind of Winter. Not snowy, but there is a little frost and ice which can be heard underfoot as well as seen.

Scheduling Posts – Winter Lakeside Walk

Posted on 01/02/201401/02/2014 by Alastair

For anyone expecting a new post from me today, please refer to the second post that went out on Thursday – “The Great Glasshouse – Contrast in iPhonography”.

I often like to run a series of connected posts across a week and I will prepare these towards the end of the current week and set the scheduled date for each post as I go along. Whilst it is very convenient to do this, clearly I made a mistake with the date on the posts that were published yesterday.

Fortunately updates can be made (and corrections made) at any point before the post is published. However, after the post has gone out, there is not much point in un-publishing it and then re-publishing the next day.

So, short of the intended post for today (which went out yesterday), I am leaving the weekend’s post as the featured StillWalks video for this week. If you have not already had a look at it, “Winter Lakeside Walk” will remain available on this blog for the weekend.

You can use the Donate button below to help StillWalks. Pay how much you want and receive a high quality download of this week’s featured StillWalks video – “Winter Lakeside Walk” which features Llyn Llech Owain Country Park in Carmartheshire. Click the image below to watch the video. DVD Collections are available to order in the StillWalks Shop.

The Rough and the Smooth – iPhonography at the Botanic Gardens

Posted on 28/01/201428/01/2014 by Alastair

Last week we had a walk at the National Botanic Garden of Wales (NBGW), taking advantage of free entry during January. It is easy to think that there is not so much to see in a place like the Botanic Gardens at this time of year but, of course, that is not true – it is just that things look different.

I had downloaded a new app for my iPhone 5c, namely PureShot, and I was keen to try it out. This camera app allows more control than the standard iPhone Camera app as well as having options to use TIFF images and different quality JPEGs. The photos below were both taken using PureShot and it gave good results. However, as will be seen through other shots I will be posting this week, it is not always the best app to use.

I discovered PureShot through the a post by Emil Pakarklis and the iPhone Photography School and would recommend his website as an excellent aid to anyone interested in improving their phone photography.

Another discovery I made when looking at images of Silver Birch bark was esdesigns – I liked the silver birch bracelet in particular!

Forres Whin and Forres Puddle

Posted on 25/01/201425/01/2014 by Alastair

You can use the Donate button below to help StillWalks. Pay how much you want and receive a high quality download of this week’s featured StillWalks video – “Winter Woodland Walk” which features woods in Forres, North East Scotland. Click the image below to watch the video. DVD Collections are available to order in the StillWalks Shop.

Tag Archives: walks