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?
Viaduct Country
The River Eden starts its life up on Black Fell Moss in the Mallerstang valley.
By the time it’s made its way out of Mallerstang into the Vale of Eden, it starts cutting through the brockram rock (a type of mix of limestone and sandstone). South of Kirkby Stephen, at Stenkrith Park, the Eden drops dramatically into a gorge called Coopkarnel, otherwise known as the Devil’s Grinding Mill. It’s a spectacular sight from the Millennium Bridge, and the roaring sound makes your tummy flip in awe of the forces involved.
Lisabet and I were delighted to find this place still fairly resplendent in autumn colours.
Camera: Fujifilm X-T2
Lens: Samyang 12mm ƒ/2.0 NCS CS
ISO: 100
Aperture: ƒ/22.0
Shutter speed: 3secs
Software: Camera Raw, Photoshop CC, Nik Collection
Going For A Paddle
For years I’ve wanted to get myself a solid pair of wellies for wading into rivers and plunge pools. I’ve often felt my river and waterfall compositions have been lacking because I’ve never really been able to just get into the water for more intimate angles.
A few weeks ago, my Dad surprised me with a set of adjustable waterproof wellies. Today, I got to try them on for wandering around Stock Ghyll Force in Ambleside. It was such an exhilarating experience! Now I could finally waltz into the river and get the angles I never could before.
See more beautiful photos of the Lake District, England.
Camera: Fujifilm X-T2
Lens: Samyang 12mm ƒ/2.0 NCS CS
ISO: 100
Aperture: ƒ/22.0
Shutter speed: 1.5secs
Software: Capture One, Nik Collection, Affinity Photo