A few more Welsh images

[paulmurphy]

I thought you might like to see a few more of my favourite images from North Wales this summer, all taken with A700

First a couple of monochromes

The foothills of mount Snowdon



Ready reckoner at the national slate museum (for roof tiles)



From Portmerion, a riot of colour even on a dull day



This, I thought was apt as Portmerion was where the Prisoner was made (I haven't removed any people - honest) and I don't know if the footprints were coming or going



Also a Carnarfon castle there was a medieval fair

The slate dias was the one on which prince Charles was made Prince of Wales



There were also a number of musicians, I'm sure DK knows more about this instrument than I could find out - a sort of combined string/key board



Hope there's not too many pics

Cheers

Murph

[Javelin]

great series. it's always interesting to visit a place you've never seen before... The pink house is a little disturbing. there must be a story behind that.

[Dr. Harout]

Excellent shots, except for the pink one

[KevinBarrett]

These are very nice! I especially like the first two monochrome images. The contrast is so good I have to ask you whether there was any HDR treatment involved (either way, darn good exposures!). I love the vivid colors in the others, even if that pink is a little jarring (I believe the Doc feels the same way ). The last image is very fun, though, from his loud outfit to the complicated intrument, there is plenty of interesting subject here, and it's all razor sharp.

[Dr. Harout]

Oh yes, the last shot is something great. I like it very much.

[aster]

Hello Paul,

Always interesting photos from you! I always enjoy the diversity of your photo interests; you don't choose to photograph a pre-specified aesthetic of things.

The black&white is the crowning image with that beautiful ray of light washing down the hill and also how the dramatic clouds match the dramaticly-contoured hill shape where it mixes with the clouds.
The ready reckoner is intriguing. Do I understand that every rank had to enjoy a particular size and no other? ever?
The pink building almost looks like Colonial style. I remember they adopted very lively if awkard colours at that period.
The castle and the fair looks rather authentic from this angle. It's a good idea that the fair visitors in jeans and shirts are in the distance and looking small. Gives an idea of what it was like in the historical times.
And the last one which I'll use as a base for a clothing design of mine is a very candid shot of the musician. The carved human face is unusual and very rare on musical instruments. How does one play this instrument? Both hands on each side? Very interesting tough.

Thanks for sharing. I liked getting a touch of the Welsh history.
Yildiz

[peterottaway]

So it's pink for girls and blue for boys !

Because you are concentrating on the steps and gate I would suggest that you look at editing out top portion of the house to just a touch below the roof line. This would leave a simple white line at the top and reduce the effect of the two window, three window and one window. It would also draw more attention on the blue and gold wrought iron gate and balcony.

You would then have to consider also taking out the bottom two or three steps.

[KevinBarrett]

Because you are concentrating on the steps and gate I would suggest that you look at editing out top portion of the house to just a touch below the roof line. This would leave a simple white line at the top and reduce the effect of the two window, three window and one window. It would also draw more attention on the blue and gold wrought iron gate and balcony.

You would then have to consider also taking out the bottom two or three steps.

I simulated this crop with my browser window just now and it's not bad. If you trim it at the shadow of the cornice on the white trim, the effect is that the viewer has to assume the house is much larger than it actually is, and that this was the most convenient crop. It does then shift the emphasis onto the gate, but the circles above the windows and the capitals in the center section make a very clean crop of this sort almost impossible. Its a good thing the original image is perfectly usable.

[harveyzone]

There were also a number of musicians, I'm sure DK knows more about this instrument than I could find out - a sort of combined string/key board

It's a Hurdy Gurdy.

[paulmurphy]

Thanks for all the comments and taking the time to consider the composition.

Personally I like the crop of the pink house as is, also the various elements on the building make the crop options limited without resorting to photoshopping it heavily. The colours in the village are an amazing mixture and were like this as envisaged by the creator of the village (I don't think you would get planning permission for the colours in a pre-existing place) and not out of keeping with the man, if you watch the video in the visitor centre and see the degree of luminosity of the socks he wears with his plus fours!

On the other pics, there is a bit of single image pseudo HDR on the monochrome hillside view to get the contrast the way I wanted it.

The slate ready reckoner was in a former workshop and yes the slate sizes were all strictly governed (note they use female aristocracy for titles) to allow architects to order what they required - the Queen was the only slate that could be a range of heights and any width - these were all hand cut - we saw a demonstration of this and it was difficult to believe how thin the slate could be split.

Thanks for the instrument ID also

As colour has been an 'issue' here recently here are a few more from Portmerion you may like to see (they haven't had anything outrageous done in photoshop etc)

Entrance to the village from the car park (all on foot, no cars allowed)



A dooway to one of the houses in the village



A 5 image pano of the centre of the village



Across the green (the pink house can be seen in shade, but still fairly bright, in the upper right)



Once again thanks for giving me some of your time

Murph

[KevinBarrett]

Love the new batch! Don't change anything!

[Dr. Harout]

Fantasyland

[kysham]

I love the 1st & 2nd shots! Very nicely done! This is a nice place to visit.... will keep note of that for my future (way.... future) holiday planning. Thanks for sharing.

[aster]

Hello Paul,

Thank you for answering all that I was curious about so patiently. Little storylines with photos make them all the more interesting and easy to comprehend the 'ingredients'.

The sequel is even more interesting. A place for all those still children-at-heart!

Thanks once again. Wales is a place to visit!

Yildiz

[springm]

Great collection of images, in my eyes the 'Mt Snowdown' and the 'Residents only' doorway are outstanding. The village images do astonish me, I had not expected these intensive, vibrant colors in a place in Wales.

Markus