On an overcast day, threatening rain, the Shard stands tall behind the walls of the Tower of London. The contrast of the old against the new. I am working on improving my black and white conversions, mainly because my body objects to getting up early for the magical colours of sunrise. There will be more as I work my way through images of London I am sure.
This image is one you will also find in the long exposure gallery. It was taken at Spurn Point on the east coast of England on an open day testing neutral density filters to extend the shutter time. The sea was rough, so rather than flattening the sea, the long exposure has turned the white wave crests to mist.
Please take a moment to check out the changes to the site as well…
I did it!!!
If you hover over the Gallery menu there is now a drop down with different classifications of my images. It seemed difficult but was, in fact, easy.
This image is the Church in the Sea on Anglesey. It is cut off at high tide and only accessible via the little spit of land to the left. The long exposure has streaked the sky, helping to point out the church itself. This is such an unusual feature that I am amazed there are no direction signs to it. Not one. Unless you were looking for it you would not even know it was there… very odd.
In the background you can see the mountains of Snowdonia.
This time the entirety of Swallow Falls and another snippet. You can click on either image to see it full sized. One advantage of a country that is always wet is that the waterfalls are normally quite healthily fed.
Now, if I can work out how to do it, and I have failed consistently for the last two days, there should be a change to the gallery page. Unfortunately I am a little tight-fisted so I am not prepared to pay for the more expensive websites just for a hobby, so I am stuck with trying to push WordPress into doing things it was not designed for. Wish me luck.
I may come back to Anglesey, but in the meantime… On the way home we called in at Swallow Falls, located between Capel Curig and Betys-y-Coed in Snowdonia. There is a hotel opposite the entrance which makes for a great lunch stop, and the falls are only a short walk from the road. Swallow Falls is magnificent, and I will share an image of the full vista, but in the meantime both my artistic director and I were taken by some of the detail within the overall cascade.
Another from Llanddwyn island. The name Llanddwyn means “The church of St. Dwynwen”. Dwynwen is the Welsh patron saint of lovers, making her the Welsh equivalent of St. Valentine. Her Saint’s day is 25 January and is often celebrated by the Welsh with cards and flowers apparently. The island bears the ruined remains of 5th century St. Dwynwen’s Church, through which you can see the cross from my last post.
The vast majority of images from Penmon Point seem to focus (no pun intended) on the lighthouse. However, as you will have noticed in a previous post, the lighthouse comes right up close to the rocky shoreline. This can make it tricky to isolate other than at a really high tide. Often overlooked, there is a marker buoy a little further out which lends itself a little better to the minimalist style of photography. Probably better seen on a bigger screen, and if I have done it right, you should get a larger view by clicking on the image.
I haven’t finished with Penmon Lighthouse yet. There may be another, or I may move on to other images from our break in North Wales. Who knows…? The mist was a great help, meaning I did not have to blend the horizon to get a minimalist shot – there was no horizon visible. Result.
This image cost me. The seaweed is very slippery, and I was probably not wearing the correct footwear. The result, as you may have guessed, was that I slipped and cracked my elbow. I didn’t cry, and I kept the camera safe. So I was determined to get an image after all that.
The worst of it was that my wife, who was sat in a chair watching, didn’t see me fall and therefore I had no sympathy when I returned. She was too busy watching a heron.
So this is the lighthouse at Penmon Point on Anglesey, and you may see a couple of additional versions over the next few days…
Going back to the theme of minimalism, I took this image a few years ago whilst on a wine tour of Bordeaux. After the tasting, the empty wine glasses on a white tablecloth were irresistable. I have a couple of other images from Bordeaux that will find their way on to the blog until I get my backside in gear and go take some new ones.