On one morning during my stay at Bridge of Orchy in Scotland I awoke to find everything covered in soft, white fluffy snow. It was a sight to behold. There was only the occasional muffled sound of a car on the normally busy A82 due to the still lightly falling snow. With little to no wind the trees were laden with perhaps 2 – 3 inches of snow and their branches bent over under the weight. It was definitely a photography day!
After a hurried breakfast the hills remained wrapped in cloud. Clearly there was nothing to be gained from plodding up a hill today! An easy day 🙂
The trees from the hotel window on the far side of the car park caught my attention but it felt like cheating to photograph so close to ‘home’ rather than hike along a track or up a hill for hours! Cheating or no, that is where the day started – in the hotel car park! The tarmac was nicely buried under as no car had yet disturbed the snow so unless you knew it was a car park you would never know!
So the first photograph in this post is off the trees at the end of the car park. I was drawn to their shape; the tree that rises and curves from near the centre towards the left and the taller and straight tree to its right. As on previous days, there seemed little reason to consider colour; the scene was just shades of grey!
By the time I’d finished photographing in the car park the wind had risen slightly and snow was starting to drop from the trees. It was time to pack the camera away and follow a small winding path that led through the trees down towards the river and several tall Silver Birch trees. Here the ground was more open allowing sufficient distance between the camera and trees to avoid problems with converging verticals and the need for post-capture corrections.
Snowy tree No. 1
Readers of the preceding post in this series will know I like Scotch Pine trees. But I also like the Silver Birch as they are never seem too large and have wonderful detail in their silver and black trunks.
One of the Silver Birch’s stood a little way from the others; it forked at ground level and had a nice bit of negative space to it’s side. Perfect! This one will almost certainly make its way onto one of my 2020 Christmas cards.
After finishing with the trees I headed up the road, thankfully the snow barrier hadn’t been closed, to Lochan na h-Achlaise but more on that in the next post!
Shortly after arriving at Bridge of Orchy a day started with the hills obscured behind thick grey clouds, there was a biting cold wind and snow was falling at road level. It looked unpleasent outside the hotel windows! Inside the hotel, dry and warm, I reasoned that if the weather broke there would be some good photography so, suitably booted and dressed for a day on the Scottish hills in winter I headed out and up one of the hills overlooking Loch Tulla. Not that you could see the loch or much else! Fortunetly, I had scouted the lower paths the previous day and was confident the higher path would be ok.
My thinking hadn’t been wrong; it was most unpleasent at times with wind blown snow getting into anything not securely closed. Despite the weather upwards I plodded through, in places, thigh-deep drifts which just couldn’t be seen due to the poor contrast. Any reader who has experieced these sort of conditions will know exactly how tiring this sort walking is especially when wearing a heavy backpack and tripod. On occasion it just was not possible to extract a submerged leg as the other would sink equally deep into the snow. When that happened, extraction was an interesting challenge!
Around lunchtime I reached the top of the hill but decided to stop a little way back down were it was more sheltered from the wind and spin-drift. Here I decided to hunker-down, eat lunch and wait a while for the cloud to break. It didn’t! So, after about an hour of waiting and getting increasing cold I start to head back down. Ten to fifteen minutes after starting my decent I noticed it was starting to clear. Yes! Looking around I could see some rocks over to my right. These are the rock in the photograph above and the only objects I could see that looked interesting. I spent some time with the rocks as the clouds continued to dissipate with, at times, the sun breaking though. I guess persiverence is rewarded!
Snow above Loch Tulla
On previous scouting trips I’d noted a small group of Scotch pines set on a knoll well separated from all other trees a short distance from Loch Tulla. I was immediately drawn to their collective shape; the outer trees leaning inwards towards a slightly shorter central tree of a different shape. They seemed to have natural balance – a sense of family. There had been no appreciable rise in temperature or wind from the previous day so snow still clung to their sides further accentuating their shape and texture in the morning light.
Setting-up to capture these photographs I pre-visualised the group of trees in black and white and configured the camera to preview in black and white. This was a straightforward decision as almost everything that morning was black or white! Configuring preview in black and white is a technique I’ve started recently having learnt the tip from another photographer. I find it beneficial with visualisation of the image.
Caledonian pine
The shape of the three right-hand trees and their bold trunks also caught my attention. Framing just these trees provided a simple composition allowing removal of any possible distraction due to the other trees or surrounding landscape. As I was making this photograph a snow shower past through which at first resulted in short white lines on the photograph. Moments later it was a short-duration blizzard and I retreated to the shelter offered by those trees!
February is generally acknowledged to be the snowiest month in Scotland. Most years it’s a fairly safe bet that there will be snow on the mountains, probably down to about 500 metres. At lower altitudes the snow often falls as rain so any snow at ground/road level is often wet and doesn’t hang around for long. By February the days are getting longer, there is more light and it’s possible to shoot all day as the sun doesn’t climb too high in the sky.
This year I spent a week in Bridge of Orchy staying at a hotel of the same name. The hotel had great staff who really knew how to look after their guests; the accommodation, food and beer were all excellent and tucked away on the ground floor was a cozy, quiet guest lounge with large comfy sofa’s and chairs. Looking back now it seems like a different world; the news had stories of a virus in China and people were hoping it didn’t reach our shores. Normal times. But it’s now May and the UK is pretty much in lock-down. For me this has meant that a trip to Skye has been postponed along with trips to Dartmoor, Cornwall and other destinations.
Bridge of Orchy lies to the South East of Rannoch Moor and Glen Coe and is a little lower in altitude. The surrounding hills are lower too so, for the not so fit photographer, they provide an easier option that doesn’t require the commitment and fitness of the larger mountains. For such a small place it’s remarkably well served by public transport partly as it’s on the main A82 Glasgow to Fort William road but also as the overnight sleeper train from London stops there on its way North. So getting to the hotel is really easy!
The Watchman
With a thin blanket of snow on the hills and fluffy white clouds intermittently delivering snow the landscape was pretty much just shades of grey so, black and white seemed the most appropriate photography palette. In fact, even before the trip I’d pretty much decided it would be focused primarily on Black and White if the conditions were snowy.
The landscape around Bridge of Orchy is open and provides wide panorama’s after a little height is gained. With a keenness that is always present on the first day in a new location I headed out from the hotel and up one of the surrounding hills. On its crest a large cairn marked a junction of paths. Clearly I wasn’t the first to pass that way since it had snowed as there were lots of footprints next to the cairn. But closer inspection revealed many to be the hoof marks of deer of which, during the week, I would see so many. By the time I captured the photograph at the top of this post the sun had popped-out from behind the clouds providing some strong directional light across the cairn towards Rannoch Moor and Glen Coe. One of the key ingredients that make the photograph work for me are the clouds filling the sky. It was a spot I returned to several times during the week. On one occasion there was fresh unbroken snow surrounding the cairn but the clouds were never quite as interesting.
The second photograph was captured a few days later. I’ve named it ‘The Watchman’ as the lone tree appears to stand watch over a surrounding vast landscape with distant forest ‘hugging’ the land like a quilt. The tree must have seen many types of weather in its few years. There were several good photographs from the trip but this is one of my favorites.
Both the photographs in this post are the result of stitching several 50Mpx images and thus there is a large amount of detail which looks stunning when viewed large. Both are available for sale right now at Andy Gawthrope Photography
Christmas Day 2019 and the weather finally turned nice for a while. The wind dropped and the cloud and sea spray disappeared – it was a joy to be out at first light with the camera. 🙂
Leaving the truck in the little car park behind the tea shop the sky was still dark but with a few stars twinkling overhead I knew it was at least partly clear. So, with a growing sense of anticipation I stumbled up the narrow track to the top of the cliffs.
A few days before I had walked along this stretch of cliff identifying possible locations, checking sunrise and sunset angles and thought this spot may be good. I recall being concerned about the land being too complicated and spoiling the simplicity I sought. But I also thought that the darker land at sunrise would help mask any complexity. Of course that needed the right light!
As the sun got closer to the horizon the sky became visible and I could see what looked like a massive triangular space ship hanging in the sky! At that time it was still just grey cloud but as the sun got closer to the horizon it lit it’s underside in beautiful orange/pink/red light which was also reflected down onto the land and ocean. It was fabulous 🙂
Porthgwarra sunrise. No. 2
My earlier visit had also identified a potential location just off to the right. By the time I moved position most of the dramatic lighting had faded but over the distant horizon there was still plenty of colour and that cloud, although somewhat dispersed, still had a great shape. If anything I thought it now looked more like a Phoenix flying headlong towards the burning sun! Ah what the mind sees in the clouds 🙂
Not long after making the above photograph a pod of eight or nine dolphins swam around the rocky point doing a spot of morning fishing I guess. All in, it was a fabulous start to Christmas day 🙂
I must admit that the plan when setting out that morning was to walk slightly further around the coast but with a dark sky I couldn’t be sure which location best suited the conditions. I chose to stop at the location that required least walking and wait until I could see the sky. When the sun did provide sufficient lighting I recognised the potential I stayed put. Of course that means I’ve another location awaiting a subsequent trip ;-); something I’d like to address in the not too distant future. Perhaps the weather will be equally gracious. We shall see 🙂
Andy
All images are Copyright Andy Gawthrope Photography
Continuing the recent post about my Christmas in Cornwall I thought I’d post a couple of black & white photographs from a tiny cove just to the South of Lands End called Porthgwarra.
Porthgwarra has a great little shop which does amazing tea and cake in the summer but, sadly, it’s closed over the winter months. Quite understandable as Cornwall is beautifully quiet in mid-winter with none of the maddening tourists!
The photograph above was taken on a windy afternoon with heavy, grey clouds skimming across the sky and waves being blown against the shore by the strong wind. I took several images at ISO 400 trying to catch a lull in the wind; fortunately one was sharp 🙂 It’s one of those photographs that works well large as there is huge detail in the lichen, the moss and foreground rocks.
The second photograph is a little different. To my mind it’s a sunrise machine; some long forgotten machine left behind by aliens to control the sun! Well, ok, perhaps not but that’s what I was thinking as I stood there waiting for the sun to rise from behind those two great protruberences!
Porthgwarra sunrise
Whilst exploring the area the preceding afternoon I noted the great shape and immediately thought it could work as a black and white. After a quick check of PhotoPills and The Photographers Ephemeris (TPE) – I can’t decide which I prefer – I knew the sun would rise at just the right position on the horizon too. The following morning I got lucky as the sun rose through a bank of cloud whilst illuminating the more broken clouds above. I have a colour edit of the same image with great colours in the sky, but I prefer the simplicity of the black and white.
Christmas day 2019 was the best day of the entire Christmas week in Cornwall. The strong, gusty winds had stopped and there was a bright, diffuse light thanks to some thin cloud. The day had started early with a successful trip to Porthgwarra for sunrise – more on that in a later post – followed by a lazy hotel breakfast and planning for the rest of the day. Given the bright, diffuse lighting I thought Sennen beach would be good for some intimate landscapes.
I’d heard the beach would be busy and busy it was. The Eastern end of the beach was packed with lots of people in swimwear and santa suits going for a dip in the ocean! Or at least a screaming, running dash into and out of the water! No wetsuits allowed! Fortunetly, the Western end was quiet with just a few dog walkers.
I’m no geologist but Cornish granite seems very distinctive. It is a mixture of small white/cream, black, brown stone infulsed with large rectangular flecks of a whiteish stone. Rooting around the beach I searched for a collection of stones that worked as a photograph. There were lots of rocks but nothing seemed to work as a photograph. Finally after much searching the closest I got was the above photograph.
Seaweed
By the time I’d finished the Granite on the Beach photograph the tide was starting to move back up the beach with speed.
A lesson: Whilst photographing on a beach it’s important to remain aware of what’s going on around you. On an incoming tide the sea can creep silently up the beach and the result of not paying attention is wet feet or worse, wet gear if the camera bag isn’t on your back! Never put a camera bag on a beach unless you are very sure it’s well outside the reach of Neptune!
After a little more exploration I spotted this lovely piece of brown/black seaweed lying in an undistrubed area of sand. I was immedietly attracted to the shape, the curving limbs and delicate ends covered, in places, with a scattering of white sand. In post I’ve tried a black and white as it’s such a simple photograph, however, the subtle colours of the sand and browns are lost. Colour just works much better for this.
Not far from the Seaweed on the Beach I spotted an amazing site but the tide was getting very close by this time and it would have taken just one larger wave to have washed over the subject, ruining the intended photograph. Speed was of the essence!
Seahorse
What had caught my eye was the classical Seahorse shape formed by tendris of seaweed clinging to a small rock. Sweet. 🙂 I took the above photograph and a few others like it then moved the tripod and started to setup for a different angle but whilst doing that a wave washed in totally distroying the shape and I had to grab the tripod and run… 🙁
Cornwall. The land of sunshine. Most of my Cornish memories are good ones; long, warm sunny days; lots of climbing on the sea cliffs with friends from Guildford Mountaineering Club; good beer and live music in the evenings at the First and Last or the Old Success.
For me, Cornwall is the very Western tip of the county, the area bounded by Penzance, Porthcurno, Porthgwarra, Lands End, Sennen Cove and St. Just. Rock climbing at Sennen, Chair ladder or Bosigran has given me a feel for the place! The fantastic rocky sea cliffs with coloured rocks, white sandy beaches and turquoise seas – a spectacular place. For all those reasons it’s a busy place in the summer months, but in the middle of Winter – much, much quieter 🙂
With a whole week available over the Christmas I knew I had to go somewhere. First thoughts were for Scotland but Scotland is a long, tiring drive on short winter days. Cornwall however, is but 3.5 hours away and an easy drive nowadays. Decision made. Off to Sennen Cove off I went.
Levant tin. No. 4
Well, what can I say. The week wasn’t blessed by the best weather! In fact with the exception of Christmas day it was mostly windy (25 – 35 MPH) and cloudy but, fortunately, with very little rain. This made for some pretty dramatic waves crashing over the Sennen harbour breakwater but even well away from the sea the amount of moisture in the air was huge! Any exposed lens element quickly got a greasy, salty covering and cleaning Lee filters felt like a never ending task. In fact cleaning filters outside was almost impossible as the salty moisture pervaded everything. Back at the hotel it was noticeable how the tripod, camera, lenses, camera bag, me, everything really had a salty, sticky covering. Yuck! It was unpleasant!
The biggest challenge tho was probably the strong, gusty wind. I had my heaviest tripod and big 3-way tilt head but there was no keeping things steady when the wind blew. Judging the moment when the wind would back-off for just long enough became part of the day-to-day norm.
Levant tin. No. 3
OK, so the weather wasn’t all bad. There were a couple of nice mornings, evenings and good light at other times. In fact there were a couple of days when the sun got under the clouds and provided the most dramatic of sights. But that’s a teaser for the next post! Herein I thought I’d share four photographs from the Levant tin mine, or what’s left of it, as it’s long since derelict. I’ve chosen a Film Noir styling to add that dark, grungy feel to the photographs.
My first visit was in an afternoon. I’d given up on photography in the morning and retreated to St. Ives to stay warm, dry and explore a little; it was Boxing day 2019. Parked just above the world’s only Cornish beam engine still operated by steam at its original site I sat in my truck buffeted by wind and rain hatching a plan for some dark, moody black and white photographs of the old mine structures. When the rain stopped it was about a half hour before sunset, the sky was blanketed in thick cloud and it was getting dark fast. I explored several different compositions but afterwards only one was acceptably sharp due to the blustery wind. But it was enough to give me hope that the idea was worthwhile and a return visit.
Levant tin. No. 2
The next morning I was back in better conditions! Not quite so windy but still completely grey with a sea fog hanging over the land and obscuring distant structures. Believe me, it was better! Keeping the Lee filters clean was still a challenge; the sea fog condensed on everything but the game was on!
Photographing chimneys without a tilt and shift lens was interesting and some post capture work has been necessary to reduce converging verticals. For the most part this has worked but I’d recommend a tilt and shift lens for anyone thinking about doing something like this 😉
The photograph above is of a large doorway and, today, on its far side is a 15-foot drop to the ground below. Some safety minded person has decided to erect a modern steel bar across the doorway to stop people stepping through and falling to the ground below! In an edit of this image I removed the bar in post but, in the end, decided it’s retention helped emphasise the drop!
Apart from the buildings that house the Cornish Beam engine which is maintained by the National Trust, there isn’t much left on the surface of the mine today. I’ guess many of the old tunnels that extended significant distance out under the sea are probably now flooded and/or collapsed. It’s was an interesting site to explore and something that I think works best on moody days when the weather is not good for much else!
Andy
All images are Copyright Andy Gawthrope Photography
In 1996, work brought me to Bristol or Brizzle as it sounds in the local dialect known as Bristolian. Listen here. Over the years I’ve really grown to like the place. It is not too big nor is it too small and it has history. It can be linked to many significant events such as the discovery of North America in 1497 by John Cabot, the construction of technologically advanced ships including the Great Western in 1837 and the SS Great Britain that launched in 1843, blue glass production (known as Bristol Blue) and many nautical phrases such as Shipshape and Bristol fashion whose origin is rapidly fading into the mist of time.
Bristol sits on the Western side of England close to Wales. It has always had a sea port and to this day has strong trading links across the world. Bristol is perhaps most well known for its links with the America’s, tobacco, slaves and pirates with Edward Teach aka Blackbeard being the best known.
In the 23 years I’ve lived in Bristol it has evolved and mostly for the better. Take for example the harbour area which has almost completely been regenerated. The derelict buildings that were a legacy of a time when trading ships laden with goods used to sail/steam/motor directly into/from the city are gone, replaced with a vibrant area filled with restaurants, pubs and public spaces. Somehow, a few old cobbled streets and buildings have survived though and these help connect modern Bristol with itself through time for us all to appreciate. Modern Bristol is a mix of buildings from all ages; the very old, through Victorian terraces, tower blocks and the very latest designs of stone and glass.
Like all cities Bristol has had its troubles and darker times too. More recently, St Paul’s had riots in 1980 and 1987, Hartcliffe in 1992 and Stokes Croft in 2011. Time has, for the most part, healed those wounds but some signs especially of the 2011 trouble remain. An example is the ‘Think Local’ and fading ‘Tesco’ on the side of a building close to the Tesco site and the centre for the 2011 unrest.
The majority of the photography in this post comes from the Stokes Croft area. Today, it’s a wonderfully bohemian area filled with independent, free thinking people who are not adversed to doing things differently. The area still seems to ‘Think Local’ and has many independent restaurants, clubs and shops. It has been described as Bristol’s cultural quarter, conservation area and outdoor gallery. I particularly like the idea of the latter.
Bristol street art
In recent years Bristol has become known for its street art thanks, in part, to the artist known as Banksy. Banksy has placed many now famous paintings on city buildings. Some think all such painting vandalism. However, as you will see in this post and subsequent posts in the series, much of the painting is artistically strong, colourful and brings a vibrance and character to the area’s in which it exists. Visitors come specifically each year to walk the city looking at the artwork. It is a tourist attraction and an attraction that is forever changing as new work is placed over old.
Some of the paintings are huge covering a large proportion of a tower block, others are quite small. Strangely, whether small or large its easy to miss many unless you happen to be some distance away, perhaps on the other side of a street. Whilst walking you need to keep looking around as often they may be directly above you!
I hope you enjoyed part 1. In part 2 I write about Bristol’s famous Lakota club and Full Moon club which both sit on the Southern boundary of Stokes Croft.
Andy
All images are Copyright Andy Gawthrope Photography.
The Full Moon pub and hostel sits at the Southern border of Stokes Croft and Bristol city. Originally built in 1716 as an Inn, today it is still providing accommodation to travellers. It is one of the iconic landmarks in Bristol. Today the building is colourfully painted with stars, galaxies, nebula and other cosmic scenes and is a true site to behold. As seen in the photograph it is adjacent to a Stokes Croft boundary marker which claims the area to be a Cultural quarter, a Conservation area and an Outdoor gallery. The boundary marker brilliantly summarises Stokes Croft.
Almost next door to the Full Moon at No 2 Stokes Croft is the legendary Blue Mountain Club. It’s a stalwart of the Bristol club scene and its walls are brightly painted. Next to its door is a wall painting that epitomises Stokes Croft and makes a very visual statement about the exploitation of our planet for profit.
Planet not Profit mural, Bristol
Agree or not with its message the artwork is great. A short walk away is Lakota. Lakota is the most know club in Bristol but like the Blue Mountain Club it has been through difficult times. Wikipedia says that in the nineties it was one of the most well known clubs outside of London. Fortunately it continues to survive. Named after a North American Indian tribe who where one of the three tribes forming the Sioux nation, it’s surrounded by some of the older roads in Bristol.
Moon St is one of those older roads. By modern standards it is a narrow lane just wide enough for a single vehicle but it retains its original cobbles. Today it looks a little forgotten, a little grimy and perhaps in need loving care by the city council but as a result it has character. Graffiti and plants jostle for position on the adjoining walls and just beyond the end of the street stands what some will know as the ‘Axa / Sunlife’ building after its former occupants but which is now known as the 51.02 building due to its latitude.
Moon street, Bristol
I spent some time in Moon St. taking photographs as there are layers upon layers of graffiti covering every brick, doorway and window in a rich tapestry of imagery. I was captivated by the combination of cobbles, double-yellow road markings, the graffiti and how the plants seemed to be gradually reclaiming the street.
On the other side of Moon St. were a couple of wheelie refuse bins. One was covered with graffiti and the other was more or less untouched. Like the litter that lay strewn around the bins I suspect it hadn’t been there long enough to get painted! The bins and other photographs of Moon St. are included at the end of this post. I particularly like the woman pushing a pram along the street. Perfect timing. Click on them to enlarge.
Leaving Lakota by Upper York Street there is a large portrait of a woman with black hair adorning the end of a building. It pays to take time and look at the artwork as there are often little things, humorous subtle things, which don’t immediately catch the eye. Look more closely at the following photograph, there is a woman with some sort of creature perched on a window ledge framed by the outline of an old brick window. Spotting this sort of small detail can be greatly rewarding. A gem hidden in plane sight!
Upper York street mural
The portrait must predate the graffiti which now covers its base and is thus a good example of how the paintings in Bristol change over time. Some changes are for the good, others less so and some are simple vandalism. Take for example, the Break-dancing Jesus [Lots of pictures on the Internet] commissioned by the Canteen – a cafe/bar/restaurant/music venue. It was a fabulous painting; something you might expect to find in the Vatican, well, perhaps 🙂 Unfortunately, this was defaced not long after its completion. Some Banksy work has similarly suffered. The Naked Man painting on the wall of a sexual health clinic has been daubed in paint.
Some readers may be thinking there is something strange about Bristol, thinking that Bristol is some strange monochromatic city way out in the west country… Well, no. I can assure readers that aliens haven’t stolen all colour; all the graffiti and murals are immensely colourful, so colourful that I think they photograph best in black & white where colour doesn’t distract from the shapes and patterns. Black and white also helps bring a darker feel to the photographs. That’s my rationale anyway!
Moon street, Bristol
In the next part of this series I’ll walk past a Banksy, distracted by some great painting and murals, get off the beaten track and find lots of interesting graffiti.
Andy
All images copyright Andy Gawthrope Photography.
Moon street, BristolMoon street, BristolUpper York street muralPlanet not Profit mural, BristolFull Moon pub, Bristol
The Mild Mild West is, of course, the Banksy on the side wall of the Canteen. Walk along the road from the city and it’s easy to miss. Walk towards the city and it’s impossible to miss! So what did I do? Yup, you guessed it! First I got distracted by the collection of bicycles under a tree at Turbo Island and then by a big stylised ‘Forever’ painted on the Peoples Republic of Stokes Croft (PRSC) Outdoor Gallery wall. The paintings on this wall change frequently so its always worth a look when passing. The artwork is always of a very high standard.
Stokes Croft mural
But above and to the left of the wall are my personal mural favorites. They are much smaller than others but very, very good. Click on the image to the left for a larger version were they are easier to see. Approximately fourteen small paintings, all designed to look like vintage 20th Century posters, decorate the outer wall of a building. My particular favourites are the Stamp, Abduls soup – a play on Campbells soup, Crofts – a play on Crufts, the Invisible Circus and the Bristol bike Project. It’s such a shame that one day we will loose these; photography will record them but photography won’t capture the emotional reaction to seeing them in-place and where they belong. The PRSC, an organisation that promotes street art in Bristol is located here and I urge readers to take a look at their website.
Tsunami of Roses
Just opposite the PRSC wall is another great mural, the Tsunami of Roses. Now, to be honest, I’m not sure what this is about! Yes, there is a large red and white wave but why the stilts and men with a telescope? What am I missing here?
Paintings are tucked away throughout Bristol not just in Stokes Croft, but at this point in the afternoon I wanted to get off the beaten track and explore some of the back-streets in Stokes Croft, places I hadn’t ventured before and to hopefully find something new. I can’t remember now where I went; I just meandered the streets knowing that sooner or later I’d find something I recognised and thus a way back. All this was during the light of day, had it been dark I would not have been so keen. It would most probably have been just fine, but safety first…
Just off one of the streets, in what was probably the grounds of a building long since demolished and behind a chain to stop vehicles using it as a parking area was a lovely painting of a girl (See the first image in Part 1 of this series). Now, I’m not sure if it was just coincidence or perhaps the artists intention, but just in front of her was a 45 Gallon oil drum painted with big eyes looking back at the girl. Clever as it added a 3rd dimension to the painting extending it out of the wall.
Bird mural
Exploring further I ventured down a small, run-down, road and was rewarded to find the painting of a lovely bird perched on a branch. I don’t know my birds but it doesn’t look native to the UK, perhaps from someplace a lot warmer and somewhere exotic. What do readers think? It was also nice to see that although the painting had some graffiti, the graffiti had mostly avoided the bird.
A little further along was a run-down garage whose side wall was covered in brightly coloured graffiti. It looked abandoned and I cannot imagine anyone using it to shelter a car. Leaning against the garage door was a piece of steel that looked like it was once a gate or grill. What made me smile was that someone had painted a smiley on a square and attached it to the steel. It seemed so incongruous. A happy, smiley face attached to old steelwork leaning against a decaying garage covered in graffiti. 🙂
Yet further along the road were some very rundown, but sound looking buildings whose ground floor was covered in graffiti. But on the end-wall was a painted face wearing a green peak cap with a single star. I’m not sure of the symbolism and thus meaning but the design of the hat reminded me of the sort commonly worn by Fidel Castro so I wonder if the painting is a political statement about the suppression of the workers and fighting for freedoms.
SmileyAlligator
This little street was proving to be quite a gem as just around the next corner were a couple more paintings again adorning the side of garage walls. One of these – to the right – is in colour as the character painted didn’t render well in black and white. Like other paintings, the symbolism and message of this one is lost to me but, for that, I like it non the less. In fact, shortly after taking the photograph a car arrived and parked in the garage. The driver didn’t look like the sort of person who would have created the painting tho.
Just next door was something I found easier to understand. The image of a guillotine with the blade being a Bank of England Visa card plus the message ‘Meanwhile on debt row…’ makes for a very striking message. It is a shame that some large graffiti has been placed over who/whatever was in the guillotine and who was holding its rope so some of its message is now lost. Higher on the wall a large bird with a similar beak and eye to that in the colour photograph is perched atop an alarm.
Bristol street art.
It would be interesting to better understand a lot of these paintings so their full meaning could be appreciated. Perhaps that hidden meaning is important tho – the message is only decernable to those with the knowledge…
What I’ve presented in this series is just a tiny, tiny fraction of the painting and graffiti in Bristol. The photographs are the result of an afternoon walk around some streets in Stokes Croft. There is so much more to explore and as paintings change often there is always something new too see. I fully expect to spend some more time in the city soon.
In Bristol, graffiti can be found in many places, the murals/paintings are less common and, in my simple uneducated opinion, of a high quality. Is Bristol different from any other city? I don’t know. But what I do know is it’s a great city, that Stokes Croft is an artistic area with independent, free thinking people who are making Bristol a colourful and better place.
Andy
All images are Copyright Andy Gawthrope Photography
Tsunami of RosesBristol street art. AlligatorSmileyBird muralTurbo Island bicyclesStokes Croft mural
Finding a suitable place to camp on the top of Glyder Fach was tricky as it’s just one mass of shattered, weathered rocks each way too big to move. But after some searching I found a spot just large enough for my little tent on the South-Western side beyond the the summit. It was a reasonably sheltered spot and had a great view across the valley to the Snowdon massif.
It had been a long, warm, sunny day and the stable weather continued through the night. With little wind the night was eerily quiet, the only sound being the occasional rustle of the tent. There were a handful of hardy sheep roaming the summit, picking at what grass was bold enough to poke through the rocks at sundown but they seemed to vanish with nightfall perhaps off in search of somewhere lower and warmer. Without cloud-cover the temperature dropped significantly and I knew by morning it would be chilly.
A lesson I learnt years ago in Antarctica is that cold batteries just don’t work. My sleeping bag has a little pocket on its inside and I popped the battery from the camera into the pocket just to ensure it stayed nice and warm overnight. But having a lump of hard plastic inside your bag does get a bit uncomfortable if it gets underneath you during the night!
Starting the day on-location was just great! No worrying about travel delays, parking, getting to the venue in time etc. All I had to do was gather-up my old duvet jacket, camera, tripod and walk a few hundred metres. Simple!
Standing outside the tent in the early morning was wonderful. It felt so good stood there on the top of Glyder Fach with no-one else around drinking a cup of hot coffee 🙂 By the time I left the tent it was already pretty bright. The sun was still below the horizon but it wouldn’t be long. The sky was already a light blue and filled with contrails from aircraft presumably inbound from the US to airports across Europe.
Castell y Gwynt
I strolled back to where I’d been the previous evening in search of a composition. I could see there would be little colour on the ground and knew that any colour in the sky would be fleeting. In the end I went with the photograph at the top of this post as I didn’t find a composition from the South or Eastern sides that seemed pleasing.
Once the sun had risen the light quickly changed and everything became very bright. Fortunately, with the sun still low in the sky there was some contrast between what was sunlit and what was in shadow. As I walked back across the summit towards the West, the sun was just catching the top of Castell y Gwynt and the Snowdon massif beyond.
Finding a composition took some time. The sun rose higher with every passing moment and with it the shadows lessened and the haze grew. I would have loved a composition of Castell y Gwynt with a clean background and a simple foreground but, despite searching for some time, I didn’t find one. Perhaps it’s on the Western side. The rocks seemed scattered randomly across the foreground apart from where the feet of countless walkers had formed a track, but the track didn’t seem to fit any composition and the Snowdon massif was very prominent in the background!
Castell y Gwynt
After the sun rose too high I headed back to the tent, had a little breakfast and descended back to the valley. At that time the only photograph I thought may have worked was the colour one at the top of this post. Several days later though and back in the office I processed the two monochrome photographs above. When viewed at full-size they are nice; there is a huge amount of detail in the foreground rocks and in the more distant features.
To save weight I chose to carry only a 50mm lens. The thinking was that 21mm would be too wide and the 70-200 too long and heavy. With hindsight, I was happy with that choice. There was too much haze to make use of a longer lens and as panoramic formats always seem better with a little magnification the wide-angle lens would have been a poorer choice.
All-in, I’m pretty happy with the photographs from this trip. Next time I’ll avoid going when the weather is so good! A winter, snowy trip would be fantastic 🙂 Anyone one mad enough to join me? 🙂
Andy
All images are Copyright Andy Gawthrope Photography.
On this trip I planned to stay in the Ogwen valley at the Gwern Gof Isaf campsite but on arrival it was full with large trailer vans, generators and a catering / bar tent. All the fluorescent yellow clad security guards would say is that it was for a film… But they probably didn’t know more either! Clearly, it was no small film crew as there must have been facilities for several tens of people. A short distance away was a temporary stables full of horses. So, a large budget film requiring mountain scenery and horses. In 2015 King Arthur was filmed in just this part of Wales…Could this be a sequel? Who knows 🙂 Anyway, to avoid all the noise I went a little further down the road and stayed at Gwern Gof Uchaf – a small, basic, farm campsite. This turned out to be a better choice as there was an excellent path from the site past Tryfan into the mountains.
In the Northern hemisphere June 21st is the longest day and with a little over a month before the longest day the sun rose early and set late. At the campsite, in valley, the sun was obscured by the mountains for some time at sunrise and sunset so, some height really helped catch the morning and evening light. Sunrise/sunset times were at about 05:20/21:10 according to the apps PhotoPills and The Photographers Ephemeris. Whilst the timings seemed correct in the valley, at altitude these times seemed somewhat off. At the top of Glyder Fach (994m ASL) sunset seemed almost 50 minutes later. Hopefully it’s possible to configure an elevation in the apps. Some investigatory work required!
Being high in the mountains for sunrise/sunset I knew would be impossible from a valley base due to, what would be, very late descents and early ascents. So, a plan was hatched to carry everything needed for an overnight stay including camera gear into the mountains during the late afternoon, photograph in the golden and blue hours, sleep then awake already on location for sunrise. After that the plan was to return to the valley, rest and repeat the next evening. As it turned out the plan was pretty solid 🙂
Glyder Fach
Two things were a problem tho. My fitness and the sunny, warm, cloudless sky. I knew hauling gear was going to be hard and it was! My legs, hips and back ached afterwards 🙂 The fully loaded rucksack wasn’t actually that bad tho. It was never weighed but it could be lifted one-handed onto the shoulder without straining. Note to self: More fitness required! After a full day’s rest the body seemed to recover which was good 🙂 The bigger problem was the cloudless sky caused by a high pressure system sat over the country 🙁 That meant there were no interesting clouds in the sky to add colour, interest or detail.
The photographs in this post were from the top of Glyder Fach. Both are the result of a 3-image focus stack with each component image exposed at F8 to achieve excellent overall depth of focus.
With only a little colour in the sky and some subtle yellows and greens of lichen clinging to the rocks any wow factor seemed to be lacking for a colour photograph. But the strong shapes and excellent rock textures lent themselves towards a monochrome photograph. Some dramatic sky and light would really have helped tho. 🙂
Despite the temperature being about 18/19 degrees Celsius in the valley during the afternoon, after sunset on top of the mountain the temperature quickly dropped and with the rise of a slight breeze it became cold quickly. Having hauled a small stove, a hot drink was nicely warming before crawling into a cozy sleeping bag for the night. By that time it was pretty late, about 2300hrs, and sunrise was only a few hours away!
Next morning I awoke whilst it was still dark, put my head outside the tent to check the sky for cloud and was greeted by a sky full of bright starts. It looked fantastic. 🙂 Probably the sort of light astro-photographers would crave 🙂
Sunrise the following morning was through a cloudless sky. It will be the topic of the next post.
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Thanks 🙂
Andy
All images are Copyright Andy Gawthrope Photography.
