June: month in review
Each month I aim to pick an image that, in my mind at least, captures the flavour of that month. It might not be the best image from the month, or the most spectacular of subjects; it just needs to illustrate something about the month. The value for me is in the writing - it’s a tool for review and reflection. If you enjoy the words and picture, that’s a bonus!
South Stack Lighthouse, Anglesey
Fujifilm X-T3 | 16mm f/11 50s ISO320
What’s this month’s image? It’s the South Stack Lighthouse in Anglesey, another well-photographed spot.
Did you do anything to it? The bulk of the work was done in camera, with the 50 second exposure softening the water and sky, meaning that the comparative sharpness of the lighthouse and stack help them stand out. The dynamic range for the scene was quite high and, even with a three stop graduated filter darkening the sky, the foreground shadows needed to be lifted by a fair amount. Rather than push the exposure towards two minutes, which would have obliterated the remaining texture in the water, I raised the ISO by a stop from the camera’s base ISO. Contrast and saturation have, of course, been boosted as is needed on all raw files.
What’s it doing here? I’ve had this location on my list for a while, so when we were looking for somewhere to head off to in mid-June this was the opportunity to head to North Wales. It also meant that we were able to break the journey and see family in Manchester. I will confess that I wasn’t optimistic; the last time I was in North Wales was probably about 30 years ago and it rained. Constantly. Every time I visited. Happily, it’s cleared up a bit since.
South Stack was top of my list and it didn’t disappoint. We went out there on the first of the two nights we were on Anglesey and while the images were fine, I thought they lacked a little punch. I’d intended to visit Ynys Llanddwyn on the second evening, but having gone over on my ankle walking there earlier in the day, we decided on a return visit to South Stack. Helen saw the puffins, which were away the first night, and I got some much better light. Overall, I think it was the right decision.
The other aspect I really enjoyed was getting back to taking a couple of ‘proper’ landscape images. Quite a chunk of what I’ve done photographically over the last few months has been either sports, wildlife or more travel style images. This is great fun, but no substitute for spending an hour or so with the camera on a tripod waiting to see whether the light is going to play ball. I make no claims for originality (see last month’s post), but there’s something I find incredibly satisfying about the process of taking these images. Half decent results are a bonus!
Anglesey impressed us. It isn’t somewhere that that we’ve spent any time in the time we’ve lived in Scotland, and I’m beginning to think that might have been an omission. The other location we visited was the beach at Ynys Llanddwyn - a fantastic walk along the beach is rewarded with view of the Twr Mawr lighthouse and the abandoned church of St Dwynwen. It really is a very special place and is slated for a return visit at some point in the future.
The other striking feature was the extent to which tourism has been catered for in planning. Access is not free if you’re taking a car, but the facilities, infrastructure and access provided, I think, represent good value. There are areas of Scotland and the Scottish Islands, where we have spent time, that could learn from the approach adopted on Anglesey. Driving miles down a single track road to be rewarded with the prospect a paying a fiver to leave your car in a potholed patch of land with no facilities and a decidedly discouraging attitude towards the provision of basic amenities does little for the reputation of the country and, arguably, encourages anti-social behaviour. (Yes, I am looking at the Fairy Pools on Skye).
However, back to the positive and Anglesey. I’ve included a few more shots below that I hope give a flavour of the place.
Have you been up to much else? It turns out it’s been quite a busy month despite us still recovering from a bout of the COVID. On the sports front, the highlight was the British Superbikes meeting at Knockhill, while I also managed a cheeky wee visit down to Troon to catch the kitesurfing. In between times I’ve tried my hand at some macro stuff (with limited success), managed a local landscape and captured a visitor to the garden!
Coming Up
Not much in the diary for July… Speedway early in the month, which should be fun!
