Levon
So the last two months have been a bit of a whirlwind of weddings and everything in between, so recreational photography has really taken a back seat sadly until this weekend so kicking things off then, I was lucky enough to take a day trip to wales, and more specifically the Swansea area to find out for myself some of the delights that it holds. Now I will be honest here, I have never had the desire to travel to the Gower Peninsular, and had no idea what the mumbles were, but I was willing to give it a try and boy did it not disappoint.
cliff path walking - 35mm F/1.4
Obviously the weather did play a part in the trip, and we were very lucky to have blue skies all day. This coupled with the various beaches and coastlines, blew my mind in how this place had managed to slip from my radar, being so close to Bristol as well.
a quick 5 image photo-merge panorama of one of the bays
One immediate issue was just how bright the sun was. I found it very difficult capturing the coastline with the amount of glare and flare that the harsh sun was putting out, so found myself just taking in the landscape rather than photographing it.
24-70mm F/2.8 +3 stop ND Filter
We carried on the tour with a walk to three cliffs bay, which really was a truly amazing place to visit, with spectacular views from the top. Again the flare from the harsh afternoon sun made photographing it a real challenge, even coupled with a ND filter attached, so I needed to rethink how I could photograph what was around me.
I started looking to use the harsh light to my advantage and exchanged the wide angle lenses for my 70-200mm F/4 and picked out the light bouncing off the river that was slowly meandering along the sand into the sea.
I picked out a few people on horses, travelling though the river, and used them as a focal point. (see below)
From three cliffs bay, we travelled to the tip of the Gower peninsular, to a spot with one of the most amazing views i’ve seen in the Uk. From a well positioned pub garden, the view in front of you includes a vast stretch of uninterrupted sandy beach to one side, and huge cliffs, culminating with the ‘worms head’ at its tip to the other. It couldn’t have been any more spectacular, especially with the blue skies and the sun going down.
Rhossili Bay shot on the 35mm F/1.4 with my 10 stop ND filter attached (approx 20 second exposure)
70-200mm F/4 at 70mm
70-200mm F/4 at 200mm
Again, shooting into the harsh sun was a big challenge as it was washing out the details in the highlights. The above images show how the light changed and softened as the sun went down. Sadly the sunset never really materialised, with it setting behind the only clouds of the day apparently. Overall however, the views and the company made up for the lack of the perfect sunset.
Lone photographer
Rhossili bay is spectacular, and even trying to capture its size is almost impossible, so again the wide angle lenses were off and the 70-200mm F/4 was back out to pick out more of the details in the coastline.
I found that as the sun was setting, it was casting long beams of light over the landscape, so once it was over a lone house down by the beach, I was able to pick out the house against the vast backdrop as the light hit it.
a wider shot at 70mm
I have also been trying to take more ‘minimalist’ images, and shooting down from the height of the cliffs to the beach below, I was able to take some interesting shots of the people on the beach, as they cast long shadows across the sand.
70-200mm at 200mm
Overall I was very impressed with the area we visited and the diversity of its coastline is nothing short of spectacular. We were blessed with great weather which of course helps, but this area stands up with any cornish beach or Jurassic coastline in Devon. A true gem, Im sure I will be back…
Finally, I had the chance to get down to cornwall for a couple of days at the beginning of the month, I didn’t really have the opportunity to take my camera out, but with the weather being so nice, I did take it out when we took Hetty out for a walk at Trelissick Gardens, which had some wonderful views over the river Fal. Hetty of course is the perfect subject to practice on as she grows up.
35mm F/1.4
35MM F/1.4
FIN
