World Photography Forum

Spruce Trail

Whimbrel — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 14:50:24 +0000

by: Whimbrel

Description: Took a walk around a mature Spruce Forest last Saturday morning, I took just my Canon Powershot S95, I've used it so infrequently that I thought it was time to see what type of quality image it's capable of, I'm quite satisfied with the results. I've only cropped and given a little sharpening to the image, no other processing at all, so what do you think?

10 comments

Three Rocks

Whimbrel — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 15:03:10 +0000

by: Whimbrel

Description: I rarely take portrait style black & white landscape images, because I'm seldom satisfied with the results, perhaps this one can prove the exception...what do you think...I'd be very interested to hear your views.

16 comments

Pont Elan

Whimbrel — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 12:29:05 +0000

by: Whimbrel

Description: I can never pass this lovely moorland bridge in the Cambrian Mountains of Mid Wales without stopping and trying for a few shots, hoping that the upland light is good enough for a reasonable capture, I hope I managed on this occasion. The bridge was used for centuries by the Welsh drovers, a tough breed of men that took cattle, sheep and even geese with their feet tarred and sanded for the long journey to market, some even as far as the market towns of southern England!

7 comments

Country Road

Whimbrel — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 11:08:28 +0000

by: Whimbrel

Description: Spring is just around the corner (I hope!) and the Daffodils are out in the Welsh lanes and the birds are singing again, Winter is almost over...yippee!!!

9 comments

Mynydd Illtud

Whimbrel — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 14:42:35 +0000

by: Whimbrel

Description: Mynydd Illtud is a National Nature Reserve set in the heart of the Brecon Beacons National Park, there are numerous rare plants and insects to be found there. The reserve is on a very interesting mix of moorland and marsh, the visitor will find an excellent centre there, the ideal point to start walks or explore. The snow covered mountain is Pen-y-Fan which is Southern Britains highest peak.

11 comments

White Wall

Whimbrel — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 16:07:43 +0000

by: Whimbrel

Description: Took quite a while to get this shot, there were loads of visitors back and fro, every time I thought I could click the shutter someone would appear from somewhere, you all know how it is, but patience paid off in the end.

11 comments

Yellow Van

Whimbrel — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 12:17:49 +0000

by: Whimbrel

Description: Seen much better days!!! I think old vehicles such as this make great photo subjects, I discovered this one in an old farmyard in the Welsh mountains and could'nt resist the chance to take a few shots.

9 comments

The Plughole

Whimbrel — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 10:35:06 +0000

by: Whimbrel

Description: This reservoir intake point is referred to locally as "The Plughole", during times of heavy rain and a full water level it can be a pretty impressive sight to watch the amount of water being sent down "The Plughole" to the filtration plant in the valley below. This reservoir is at Pontsticill in the Taf Fechan Valley, the area is an important watershed for the industrial areas of South Wales.

13 comments

Ice Rill

Whimbrel — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 18:39:50 +0000

by: Whimbrel

Description: Not sure about this one, it appears mono until you really look, what actually took my eye was the variety of water themes in such a small area., perhaps less than 5 feet square.

8 comments

Big Pit Colliery

Whimbrel — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:58:00 +0000

by: Whimbrel

Description: Still used for tourism and educational purposes, Big Pit gives visitors to South Wales a chance to go underground and see how coal was mined prior to the mid 1980's.

8 comments

Pont Falls

Whimbrel — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 17:01:46 +0000

by: Whimbrel

Description: The light was'nt too good for this shot, one of the good things though about waterfall photography is that you can do it in all kinds of weather and nearly always get an interesting capture, I've often taken shots from under an umbrella in rainy weather, this one was taken without the umbrella though!!!

9 comments

The Spillway

Whimbrel — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 15:02:54 +0000

by: Whimbrel

Description: The reservoirs of the Brecon Beacons National Park have some fine stonework and although the stone blocks are of a considerable size they had to be set exactly level to allow excess water over and out of the reservoir via a spillway, it then flows into the local primary river system, in this case the beautiful River Usk. I took this image a few weeks ago after a period of prolonged heavy rain with The Spillway doing it's job very effectively.

9 comments

Soaked!!!

Whimbrel — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 13:00:49 +0000

by: Whimbrel

Description: This shot was taken in May last year at the Ynyshir National Nature Reserve, we had so much rain that the whole reserve was rather waterlogged to say the least, I had a run in with a BBC cameraman as I was taking this shot, they were filming Springwatch there and their attitude was very bad mannered, I was there first, but was simply in their way, I eventually got an apology for their rudeness though and still got my shot! The tree incidentally is probably an Oak, hence the title!

11 comments

Infra Gate

Whimbrel — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 11:37:20 +0000

by: Whimbrel

Description: Thought this infrared filtration treatment added something to the original (see Winter Gate in Rural Landscapes) image. I can't remember ever doing anything with infrared filters before, but I'll keep my mind open for potential subject matter in the future. I'd be grateful to receive some feedback on this particular image.

7 comments

Hill Farm

Whimbrel — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 12:31:14 +0000

by: Whimbrel

Description: Took this on an evening winter walk just as the light was quickly fading, I think the digicam struggled a bit with the low light conditions, there is quite a bit of noise in the image, whether it detracts from the scene I'll leave to you the viewer to decide.

7 comments

Winter Gate (Happy Xmas)

Whimbrel — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 20:55:38 +0000

by: Whimbrel

Description: Like to take this opportunity of wishing all my friends on World Photography Forum a very Merry Christmas and also a Happy, Healthy and Peaceful New Year.

12 comments

Frosty Morning

Whimbrel — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 19:41:05 +0000

by: Whimbrel

Description: Thought it's about time to add a Winter theme to my offerings on WPF...

9 comments

Truck Shop

Whimbrel — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 12:48:37 +0000

by: Whimbrel

Description: Wanted to achieve a 'painted look' to a set of portrait style panorama shots that I took at the Bleanafon Ironworks, this image is six 'stiched' shots, I'm rather pleased with the roof effect but admit I've an awful lot to learn about 'real' interior panoramas. The Truck Shop was the company store, Ironworkers were paid in company checks, it meant that they had to spend their wages in the Truck Shop, the company made sure that their prices were 50% higher than other shops and the workers had no choice other than to shop in them, many got into debt and were tied to the Tuck Shop indefinately or they slipped away over night taking their debt's with them, parliament outlawed the Truck Shop system but the law was ignored and the practice continued into the late 1800s in many areas. In Bleanafon more than 30% of the annual company profit was made through ripping off the poor Ironworkers!!!

9 comments

Llangors Boats

Whimbrel — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 20:06:53 +0000

by: Whimbrel

Description: Sometime in August I was doing some dragonfly recording around Llangors which is the largest natural lake in South Wales, I stopped for a break and took in the pleasant view, I was taken with the small sailing boats and their bright sails, I thought the scene might make a nice pic, problem was I only had my 105mm macro lens with me...so I took this snapshot, think it lifts the spirits to see what a proper Summer day looks like in the middle of our darkest Winter days. Hope it brightens you a bit too...

8 comments

Beacons

Whimbrel — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 17:09:44 +0000

by: Whimbrel

Description: Straightforward view of the Brecon Beacons taken early this year, it's hard to find a view in the Beacons that has'nt already been seen or done before, this means you need the help of a good sky among other things to get something your happy with! I think clouds are the most underated and beautiful things we have on this planet and lets be honest what is a landscape without them in all their different forms. Anyone care to start a Cloud Lovers Appreciation Society lol

14 comments

Open Doors (Mono)

Whimbrel — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 16:17:16 +0000

by: Whimbrel

Description: After Al Tee suggested a doors only mono crop of the original coloured Open Doors image, it made me think about going back to the place where it was taken and get a direct capture - rather than a cropped mono re-work of the coloured original, however, I had taken another shot without using fill-in flash, so I had a play around in my favourite image editor Nikon Capture NX2 and used colour control points to 'pull' out the interior light, then a bit of tweaking in LCH #Lightness Chroma Hue#, all that then remained was a bit of contrast tightening and High Pass Filter and cropping, finito! All I need now is your much valued feedback which would be greatly appreciated.

11 comments

Open Doors

Whimbrel — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 11:25:07 +0000

by: Whimbrel

Description: These are the open doors of Iron Workers cottages built in the early 1800's. They are part of the most intact historical iron works left in the United Kingdom at the World Heritage Site, Bleanafon in South Wales. The hardships that the people that worked here went through is heartbreaking, children as young as five worked alongside their parents, the women worked twelve hour shifts crushing limestone with sledge hammers, six days a week, the wages were 7 or 8 shillings a week - that's 35 or 40 pence! We don't know were born do we...

14 comments

White Fences

Whimbrel — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 20:43:08 +0000

by: Whimbrel

Description: This offering is from my recent Elan Valley shoot, a slightly different take on this splendid landmark. Very little done to the image other than a little brightening of the sky and a tad of High Pass Filter to sharpen using Nikon Capture NX2. Hope you like it and thanks for viewing.

14 comments

Garreg Ddu

Whimbrel — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 11:37:38 +0000

by: Whimbrel

Description: This is a very popular landmark among the many for the photographer that has the pleasure of visiting the Elan Valley in Powys, Mid Wales. I've taken many images of this valve house that stands to the left of the superb bridge that seperates the Garreg Ddu from the Caban Coch Reservoirs. It's always a matter of what type of weather you get in the Welsh uplands, your always at the mercy of the light, this image was taken in constantly fluctuating light, it went from dark to light in a matter of minutes. I had to do a bit of fiddling in Nikon Capture NX2 to get the best out of the light available, but that's the beauty of the digital era, we always get a second chance in the digital darkroom don't we...

16 comments

The Sawmill

Whimbrel — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 11:44:58 +0000

by: Whimbrel

Description: I've got a thing about machinery, I think machines can make for very interesting photo opportunities. This image was taken at Big Pit, Blaenavon in South Wales - Blaenavon is a World Heritage Site. This is where the pit props were sawn for use underground, Big Pit is still in use, but instead of taking miners underground it now takes tourists. This sawmill still works and is used to show school children (and adults!) how important pit props were in the incredibly hard and dangerous coal mining industry. The sawmill is probably the same now as it was in it's heyday during the 1930-50s.

11 comments

Autumn Towpath

Whimbrel — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 17:34:05 +0000

by: Whimbrel

Description: With this image I hoped to create for the viewer a sense of walking on the towpath, the sunlight came from the right of me but was rather off and on, I struggled to get the light I really wanted until I was getting a bit frustrated, then the sun came from behind the clouds long enough for me to get this shot. The wonderful Autumn colours on the canal at this time of year can be stunning, but they don't last very long - you have to make haste...slowly!!!

12 comments

Mountain Mirror

Whimbrel — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 20:45:40 +0000

by: Whimbrel

Description: This is a shot I took a year or two back in the Elan Valley in mid Wales, I remember being intrigued with the depth of blue from a cloudless summer sky that mirrored itself in the still water, I guess the clear mountain air plays a huge part in such scenes. Moments witnessing and then capturing such scenes can really lift a guy (or gal)...what do you think?

9 comments

The Autumn Path

Whimbrel — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 20:54:44 +0000

by: Whimbrel

Description: One of the nicest things about this time of the year is the incredible range of colours all around us, all photographers take every opportunity to catch the colours while they can, cos' they don't last long! This recently taken image is virtually seen as taken, the only processing done was a tad of High Pass Filter in Nikon Capture NX2 to help define the many leaves, shots like this give me a real buzz - don't you just love Autumn/Fall...

14 comments

The Salmon Weir

Whimbrel — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 16:32:28 +0000

by: Whimbrel

Description: I spent quite a bit of time watching Sea Trout that weighed as much as two pounds trying to find a way up and over these falls near the Salmon Weir, the river was in full spate and they were driven back by the powerful flow time and again, some will find their way to their spawning grounds higher up in the Black Mountains, what incredible effort they expend to create the next generation, but once it's done sadly they die. I don't usually attempt shots when the water is in full spate, but on this occasion the autumn light on the trees and water was just too good to miss.

4 comments

Ghost Boat

Whimbrel — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 16:50:21 +0000

by: Whimbrel

Description: I know it's nearing Halloween and things can get sort of creepy, but try to imagine my surprise to find this strange image in among my shots of autumn on the canal...wierd tricks in camera methinks!!!

5 comments

Autumn Water

Whimbrel — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 13:16:52 +0100

by: Whimbrel

Description: Up with the lark yesterday to take advantage of the weather, hardly any wind and blue skies with the first frosts, a good chance of getting some reasonable reflective shots of the pines on water on the reservoirs in the Brecon Beacons. No filters used for this shot, the scene responded well to my usual in camera white balance of cloudy!

8 comments

October Lake

Whimbrel — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 20:36:13 +0100

by: Whimbrel

Description: Thought I'd do a panorama for a bit of a change from the more traditional landscape format. This time of year is well suited to panorama's, and this one is three frames 'stitched' together and then edited using Nikon's Capture NX2. I was pleased to have a relatively calm morning to catch the trees reflection in the water, just hope I get the chance to have similar days for more Autumn shots like this.

9 comments

Sepia Bridge

Whimbrel — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 12:49:38 +0100

by: Whimbrel

Description: Earlier this year I did a similar take on this image in a blue toning theme (it's in my Gallery), so I'm wondering if sepia works as well with this one. I don't 'play about' with images very often so I must be excused, I'm out of my usual comfort zone in Rural Landscapes for this one, I'd be interested in your thoughts.

16 comments

Redberry Bridge

Whimbrel — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 15:43:01 +0100

by: Whimbrel

Description: At this time of year I usually pay a few visits to the Brecon & Monmouthshire Canal, which is not too far from home, I keep my eye on the weather forecast for still days and also my fingers crossed for one or two reflection shots, on this occasion I was unable to get the still day so you can probably guess the rest, but I still hope that this photo has one or two good points that make it worthy of uploading. Many thanks for taking the time out to view...

9 comments

Water Rail

Whimbrel — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 11:33:45 +0100

by: Whimbrel

Description: This image was taken in early Summer, the weather had alternated between heavy showers and quite warm sunshine, between the showers I managed to get a reasonable amount of time to frame the shot you see here. Not a lot of post processing was needed as the light was reasonably good, but Nikon Capture NX2 was again my software choice and I used the High Pass Filter facility to sharpen things up a tad...hope you find it okay.

13 comments

Pont-ar-Daf Falls

Whimbrel — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 14:43:37 +0100

by: Whimbrel

Description: Hello Friends, I've been so busy during the Summer months photographing and studying Butterflies, Dragonflies and all the other wonderful British critters that it's only now that I've got back into my landscape photography, it's great to be back among my 'old friends' on WPF. This small waterfall is one that I've photographed many times over the years in all types of weather, it has often proved tough getting all the right conditions at the same time for any reasonable shot, for this one I used Shutter Priority with a camera setting of 1/25th of a second, aperture was f22. I usually keep my White Balance set at Cloudy for all my landscape photography shots and it proved useful on this occasion to help with side-light issues. For those of you interested in Post Processing it was edited in Nikon Capture NX2 from a NEF #RAW# file. NX2 has an excellent D-Lighting facility which can work wonders when editing images taken in poor light conditions, this September has been perhaps the greyest I can ever remember and the D-lighting in NX2 really has been a great help. Thanks for viewing.

15 comments

Afon Taf Fawr

Whimbrel — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 13:01:30 +0000

by: Whimbrel

Description: There are lots of interesting rivers throughout Wales, perhaps this one is not as famous as the Severn or Wye for example, it does however have a claim to fame as the river that gave us a nickname that's common for Welshmen all over the world...Taff! This image shows it as it gathers a bit of width before leaving it's source in the uplands of the Brecon Beacons, it will travel on through familiar valley towns such as Merthyr Tydfil and Pontypridd, before meeting the sea at Cardiff.

11 comments

Mountain Bridge

Whimbrel — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 20:57:30 +0000

by: Whimbrel

Description: This bridge takes countless thousands of visitors each year on route to the highest of southern Britain's mountains, Pen-y-Fan in the Brecon Beacons National Park. With so many feet tramping up and down it causes a huge problem with erosion which can be clearly seen in the photo. Many volunteers work to create 'pavements' of stone in the areas most at risk, but it's almost an impossible task as more and more visitors want to enjoy this beautiful area of Wales.

12 comments

Twyn-y-Gaer

Whimbrel — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 11:57:24 +0000

by: Whimbrel

Description: The bracken is rolled and gathered to use as bedding for the farm animals during the often long upland winters in the Brecon Beacons. The highland cattle are used as 'grazers' to keep the grass free of encroaching brambles and gorse. The top of the hill was once an Iron Age hill fort - hence the photo's title Twyn-y-Gaer which simply means Hill Fort in Welsh.

15 comments

Canal Curve

Whimbrel — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 16:37:47 +0000

by: Whimbrel

Description: The Brecon & Monmouthshire Canal travels from Pontypool in the Welsh Valleys for around 38 miles to it's end at Brecon. It's hugely popular with holidayer's (and ducks!) so it's always good to have days when there's no barges, wind or ducks to disturb the water surface, I was lucky to take this image on such a day.

10 comments

Forest Cabin

Whimbrel — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 10:53:52 +0000

by: Whimbrel

Description: This small cabin is used for backpackers walking the Taff Trail which runs for 55 miles from Cardiff Bay on the coast through the Brecon Beacons to its end at the county town of Brecon. I'm still waiting to get the right type of light at this location, probably early morning light would be best, but in the summer months there are too many people using it to have the conditions you ideally need...but I'll perservere! This one will have to do for the present though.

9 comments

Elan Evening

Whimbrel — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 12:45:37 +0000

by: Whimbrel

Description: One of my last shots of the day during my recent visit to the wonderful Elan Valley. The light was just going, I love evening light, but although our evenings are drawing out now that spring is approaching (Yippee!) you can still miss the shot you want if you don't get it right...when it's gone it's gone...as the saying goes. Hope I got it right.

16 comments

Blue Bridge

Whimbrel — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 18:02:12 +0000

by: Whimbrel

Description: Remember doing this type of thing with chemical toners in my 35mm film darkroom (garden shed!) it was a messy smelly business and often hit or miss, now the wonders of the digital imaging era means I can sit in front of the PC in relative comfort in the light...ah! the pleasure of it all. Cropped into square format from an image taken in the early morning mist a couple of weeks ago. This is a first effort at the tint/tone effect, I'd be most grateful for your valued comments or constructive critique.

14 comments

Llangors

Whimbrel — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 14:56:57 +0000

by: Whimbrel

Description: This is Llangors the largest body of freshwater in South Wales. The domed hut is built on a support structure of oak timbers (known as a crannog) out in the lake, it provided some form of safety for it's occupants from enemies. The lake abounds in fish and wildfowl so most of the tribe that lived in such structures did'nt need to travel far for food. Beyond you see the snow dusted Brecon Beacons. I only had about ten minutes of good photo weather before it turned really wet and windy, half hour later there were miserable snow showers, so I suppose I was fortunate to get even this.

12 comments

Rocks n' Pines

Whimbrel — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 11:56:29 +0000

by: Whimbrel

Description: The red sandstone rocks in this area of the Brecon Beacons have been squeezed over the millennia and some pushed to the surface under pressure, it's evident from the foreground rocks in this image the effect that can have, some almost appear melted, it never fails to fascinate me, that's just one of the reasons I consider the National Park my 'outdoor studio'...

8 comments

The Old Ironmongers

Whimbrel — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 11:37:04 +0000

by: Whimbrel

Description: Interior shot of what a traditional Ironmongers store would have looked like in days gone by. The Canon S95 has a low light program that I was eager to check out, the two small tugsten bulbs at the bottom of the store was the only illumination available, I'm heartened by the results, I must find other indoor scenes now to experiment further with, new toys....great fun eh!!!

9 comments

Pithead

Whimbrel — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 22:17:17 +0000

by: Whimbrel

Description: Small remaining section of a Rhondda Valley colliery in South Wales, it's part of a Heritage Museum that tells the story of coal mining in this famous valley.

10 comments

Cwm Crew Mono

Whimbrel — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 14:59:50 +0000

by: Whimbrel

Description: A monochrome view of a small valley (Cwm in Welsh) in the Brecon Beacons National Park, South Wales. I've attempted to get almost an infra-red look but also keep the deep brooding drama of the clouds, it may not be everyones 'cup of tea', but I'm in a bit of a mono-mood at the moment...thanks a lot for viewing.

11 comments