March 2015

Yet again the beginning of the new month started off a bit chaotic. My sister and I received a phone call saying that my mum was admitted into hospital with a heart attack and that she was scheduled for a multiple bypass. Not hanging around much we both jumped on the next available flight to Germany. I only took my little Fujifilm camera as I did not think I would be doing much photography. I took some shots at the airport ( Manchester ) and during the flight too.

 

After arriving in Muenster, we rushed straight away to the hospital to see our mum. She was in the University Clinic in Muenster and I have to say the service there was just marvellous. Very friendly staff and the people could not have been more helpful. 

 

Only once did my sister and I manage to spend some time in the town centre itself while waiting for my brother. We had a look around and visited Muenster Dom ( Cathedral ). Its been such a long time since I last been there I had forgotten how beautiful the place was. Shame I didnt have much time and some of my other camera gear with me. I would have loved to spent a few hours in there photographing. 

 

 

We stayed a week in Germany, long enough to make sure my mum was on the route to recovery. The flight was late in the afternoon and it awesome to try and get some night / low light shots of the airport. 

After coming home from Germany I still had 3 days off before having to start work again and I took that time to visit a place I wanted to see for a long time. Devils Bridge Falls is a world famous tourist attraction 12 miles from Aberystwyth. These unique waterfalls have attracted many thousands of visitors since the 18th century, including William Wordsworth who wrote about the "Torrent at the Devil's Bridge". Today, the Falls Nature Trail provides a unique opportunity to see this great natural feature in the Rheidol Gorge. William Wordsworth might have been impressed by the falls, but personally I was rather disappointed. I didnt mind so much that you had to pay to follow the paths to see the falls but that you could not visit them when you wanted to. So as a photographer it was impossible to go there during the golden hour to actually get some decent shots of the falls.

  

 

Parking also was a problem for me and Velma. All car parks had signs up saying no overnight parking, so after a walk around the falls I took the camper, driving around for a bit till I found a parking place that allowed overnight stops. The forestry car park by “the Arch” was perfect, as you can see below. 

 

Thomas Johnes built Hafod Arch in 1810 to commemorate George III's golden jubilee and its surrounded by miles and miles of lovely walks.

I spent one night here and then drove around to visit Cwmystwyth. Cwm Ystwyth is considered the most important non-ferrous metal mining site in Wales providing a premier example of mining heritage in Ceredigion. Within the site there is evidence for all phases of mining activity; from the Bronze Age, through the medieval period, to its revival in the 18th century and the peak of activity with a subsequent decline in the late 19th and the early 20th century. It has been designated as a Scheduled Ancient Monument.site also features prominently in the Upland Ceredigion Landscape of Historic Interest. ( Wikipidia )

 

 

 

 

As impressive as the historical significance is for this place the overall beauty of the landscape in the area can not be negated either. It was just awesome. Not far from Cwmystwyth is the Elan Valley.

So despite the rocky beginning of March photography wise it did end up being quite productive. Plans are on the way for an equally productive April.

Hope you are all keeping well. xx

February's Adventures

Yet again I have to start the blog with an apology. Nearly 2 month late in putting this blog together. I really need to stop procrastinating like that. 

February was only a short month and I only managed to do one trip really. However, I managed to get 4 days off in a row and planned to visit 4 places in Mid wales – Aberystwyth, Aberporth, New Quay and Cardigan during that trip. I did manage to go to all the places but never took any images in New Quay as I could not find anything really photogenic in the place. Maybe if anyone reading this blog does know about something nice to photography in New Quay they could get in touch with me and let me know what and where it is. 

Aberystwyth was the most photogenic place I visited. Many different opportunities to take shots. First one up was the pier and the warning beacon in Aberystwyth. I was literally parked opposite that view. It was lovely to wake up to a view like that in the morning. 

Walking along the pier I turned back and shot an image of Aberystwyth along the sea defences. The lovely sky helped to make that image something special for me. 

Aberystwyth University was next on the list of shots to get. I went up to the castle and shot from above as the angle was wider and I could get more in. I even managed to capture St Michael's Church, next to the Uni.

I turned around and took some shots of the castle. The statue is probably one of the most recognisable aspects of Aberystwyth. 

A walk along the beach in the morning found me with slightly deteriorated weather conditions. During the night the wind had picked up and it had been raining heavily. In the morning the conditions certainly hadnt improved much. It was still fun to get out and take some more shots.

Trying to capture the waves breaking on the rocks was fun, but I dont think it was dramatic enough. I have seen better. Still fun trying through.



I even tried to capture some surfers. Taken with my bridge camera as non of my lenses on the canon was suitable to capture shots like that.



Late morning I carried on to the next location – Aberaeron. Here you can see Velma Parked up at the beach which is just in front of her. Had a look around and found a hiking path going up, joining the coastal path of the area.



The weather however had not improved and the shots from above turned out rather bleak. It was terribly windy as well and trail was very slippery so I did not follow it for to long.



I turned back from the coastal path and headed towards town centre. Here a shot of the Harbourmaster house, which is now a hotel. Lovely building. In front the harbour.

 

I could not find a place to park overnight in Aberaeron, so I headed to the next location which was suppose to be New Quay. However, a very nice lady told me about the car park where campers were allowed to stay overnight at Aberporth, so I headed there. I did stop off at New Quay though but did not find anything interesting to photograph there and the only car park I could find to park in was so wonky that I probably would have fallen out of bed during the night. Therefore I did head towards Aberpoth and I did find a lovely spot to stay overnight with a view over the beach. I spent a quiet and comfortable night there and even had a nice chat with one of the locals in the morning. 

I took the dog out for his walk following the signs for the coastal path. Again, I only followed it for about an hour before turning back to get breakfast and head off to my last location of the trip- Cardigan. 

As with Aberystwyth I had hoped for lots of different photographic opportunities in Cardigan but I was disappointed. I took a long walk following the signs for the coastal path, but could not find much to photography. The river – Afon Teifi - running through cardigan was probably the only half interesting location in all of Cardigan in regards of photography. I attempted the castle but was not very impressed. 

I did however come to like the reflection shots I took at said river. 

So thats my February Adventure in Velma. Not much in regards to photography, but certainly and inspiration and the beginning of an idea about a project that started forming while relaxing in Velma at Aberystwyth. More about that later on.

 Hope you enjoy my little blog. March one is in the making… keep tuned in. 

Be safe xxx