Retro Reworking: Pembrokeshire & Brecon Beacons, South Wales, Autumn, 2018
I think we’re due a break after the year we’ve had.
I think we’re due a break after the year we’ve had.
Happily Lisabet and I was able to book our usual two-week September/October break. Where to go this year?
We felt that Scotland, as much as we dearly love the country, would prove too costly with 2022 petrol prices. What about Wales? It’s been a good while since we’ve visited, moreso since we’ve been to South Wales in particular.
South Wales it is, then!
Until that glorious day, I decided to see if I could:
Find my old South Wales photos from 2018, and;
Convert and/or reprocess them.
Point 1 was a success, and I was able to retrieve them from one of my old external hard drives. The issue? This was the period when I was shooting with the beautiful Sigma dp0 Quattro, which produces RAW files (X3F and X3I) that barely any software can read. On the machine I use these days, a 4th-gen 12.9” iPad Pro, I quickly suspected there’d be no way I could read these files.
Thankfully, I wasn’t quite right.
It’s true I can’t read X3I files on an iPad. These RAW files are made using Sigma’s SFD (Super Fine Detail) mode, where the camera automatically exposes seven frames and merges them into a single super high quality RAW file. Only Sigma Photo Pro can read these files, on Mac and Windows.
However, the frankly fantastic Affinity Photo for iPad can read Sigma’s normal X3F files. During my 2018 exploration around South Wales I, unfortunately, shot mostly in SFD mode (X3I files), as I was still very much at the tail end of my HDR phase.
I do still have some singular X3F files, though, and these I’ve been able to convert in Affinity Photo for iPad and go through my current workflow.
So… until I’m in glorious South Wales again, enjoy these reworked photos from my 2018 trip! They were all shot using my camera at the time, a Sigma dp0 Quattro with a fixed 14mm f/4.0 lens. Converted in Affinity Photo for iPad, developed in RNI Films, and finished off again in Affinity.
See my 2018 HDR-esque Pembrokeshire work on Unsplash.
Pembrokeshire National Park
Brecon Beacons National Park
Did you like these photos?
Dodd, Lake District, Winter
Thankfully a dry, if bitingly cold, weather system has descended on the British Isles.
Thankfully a dry, if bitingly cold, weather system has descended on the British Isles.
On the Saturday, Kendal was engulfed in a soupy-think mist. It almost seemed to muffle the world in a pillow. In actuality, a temperature inversion sat on top of a lot of Lake District valleys, including Kendal. Conditions above the inversion were clear, sunny, and bright.
So, for the Sunday, we decided to head to the Northern Lakes for a hike up Dodd, part of the Skiddaw range. Local weather reports indicated that a temperature inversion would continue to cling to the fells below 450 m or so, but otherwise the day would be sparkling clear above. Dodd measures 502m above sea level.
In the end, the temperature inversion wasn’t quite as extensive around the Northern Lakes, mostly sitting on top of Derwentwater. Nevertheless, conditions were glorious, the Lake District was quiet, and hiking Dodd is always a good exercise.
All photos shot on my Fujifilm X-T2 using my three prime lenses: a Fujinon 23mm f/2.0, a Laowa 9mm f/2.8, and an adapted Pentax SMC 55mm f/2.0. Images were bracketed handheld, merged and blended in Affinity Photo, then finalised in Snapseed.
The Old Sawmill Tearoom, at the car park below Dodd. A beautifully quaint and cosy place.
Hiking up Dodd is simple enough. Just the follow the green signposted trail. As we did we rose above the leftover mist in the woods, and the sun pierced through the woodland.
Most of Skiddaw, like a lot of Lakeland fells, lacks significant tree cover. Dodd’s an exception, and its dense woodland is managed by the Forestry Commission.
Couldn’t resist snapping a composition of this Sleepy Hollow-esque tree, seemingly pointing the way up through the woodland.
As we started to emerge above Dodd Forest, more of the fell’s rough and craggy summit becomes apparent.
One of many incredible views you can enjoy around the summit of Dodd. Above the woods and the temperature inversion, a clear sight towards the Helvellyn range reveals itself.
It’s hard to keep up the hiking momentum when panoramic views like this constantly vie for your attention.
Nearing the summit of Dodd. To the left a temperature inversion clings to the surface of Derwentwater, creating a lake-sized mirror reflecting the morning sun. To the right are the Newland fells; tiny tufts of fog cling to dales below.
From the summit of Dodd. Bassenthwaite Lake was impossibly still, and the atmosphere was clear that you could see all the way across to the Cumbrian coast and beyond to Galloway in Southwestern Scotland.
We rested on the summit for coffee and fruit, but I had to snap another composition looking back to the magnificent shapes of the Helvellyn range.
With my 55mm attached I tried for some focused compositions of some of the nearby fells from Dodd summit. The wooded fell here is Barf (yes, that’s right).
The shapely peak pictured above the dale here is Grisedale Pike.
As we started to descend, more compositions offered themselves to me. Immediately above is the southern face of Carl Side with Little Man behind it.
The way back down Dodd’s southern aspect is quite steep, but no less beautiful.
As we near the bottom, Ullock Pike glows in the midday wintersun.
Despite being in winter, Skill Beck was surprisingly lush and verdant.
The remnants of Storm Arwen’s destruction made for some nice ultra-wide compositions.
There’s a lot of lush fern to be found alongside Skill Becks many mini waterfalls.
Another casualty of Storm Arwen, now left where it fell to provide life and nourishment for all denizens of the forest.
Kendal, Cumbria, Winter
Wow, it’s been nearly a month since my last post.
Wow, it’s been nearly a month since my last post.
Well as you know, Storm Arwen took autumn away and brought winter with it. In addition, it left behind lots of infrastructure damage. Families were left without power for a week or more.
So getting out and about has been difficult because of blocked roads and whatnot. But additionally, it has been wet, damp, drizzly, and miserable, severely limiting our prospects for getting out into nature.
Thankfully, we’ve entered a cold period, so the rain has disappeared. In its place is cold mist and fog, which we took advantage of with a wee waltz around beautiful Kendal.
All photos taken on my Fujifilm X-T2 using my Laowa 9mm f/2.8 and Fujinon 23mm f/2.0 prime lenses. Shots were exposure-bracketed handheld then merged, tonemapped, and edited in Affinity Photo. Finished off in Darkroom.
Whilst waiting for Lisabet, I noticed the winter morning light catching the top of the buildings above Highgate. A quick seven exposures later gave me this scene.
Whilst in town centre we nipped into Bobbi’s for arguably Kendal’s best flat white. When we came out a temperature inversion had descended on the town, covering the world in a soft and silent mist.
Stramongate Bridge and its weir, looking especially beautiful in the low winter light and misty conditions. There’s been a bridge here across the River Kent since the 14th century, but it’s current incarnation has been standing since 1794.
Then my Lisabet had an inspiring idea (as she usually does): why not visit Castle Street Cemetery? It’s always a good place to visit in moody conditions. She wasn’t wrong.
Probably the best shot from the whole day. Full of mood.
We navigated our way back home via the shoulder of Kendal Castle. There’s something about woodland in fog that speaks to something primal and ancient.
Fletcher’s Park always has some weird and wonderful trees. Good to see a lot of them survived Storm Arwen.
Not to mention a throne carved from a tree stump.