Stuart's Photography

Desktop Wallpaper: The Deserted Beaches of Harris

Posted by Stuart Herbert on August 2nd, 2010 in Desktop Wallpaper.

Download the full-size picture to use as your desktop wallpaper.

Good morning! It’s a beautiful morning over here in Bath (where I work) today, and that has inspired me for this morning’s first pick of the D200 HDR photos that I want to share with you this week.

We fell in love with the Isle of Lewis and Harris off the west coast of Scotland during our visit in 2007. It is such a beautiful and friendly place to visit; we could happily have stayed there for much longer than the two weeks we could afford. One of the many delights of Harris are the sandy white beaches, where we spent many a happy hour enjoying the emptiness of the place. The perfect scene to look out on during a Monday in any office!

There’ll be another popular HDR photo as part of my Nikon D200 tribute tomorrow.

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If you’re reading this in the RSS feed, my original blog post also includes a Google map showing where this photo was taken. Unfortunately I haven’t managed to get the map to appear yet in the RSS feed, so for now you’ll have to click through to my blog if you want to see the map. Sorry.

About The Author

Stuart has been writing PHP applications since 2003, and has been contributing to open-source software since 1994. He was an early writer for php|architect, a co-author of the Official Zend Certification Study Guide for PHP 4, and a regular speaker at conferences and user groups since 2004. When he's not designing software, Stuart loves to explore the world through a camera lens, spend time with his beloved guitars, and continue his study to T'ai Chi Chu'an (Taijiquan).

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Merthyr Road: An Evening In Cathays Park

Posted by Stuart Herbert on August 2nd, 2010 in A470 Trunk Road, Cardiff, Modern, Photos, Shoot.

One of the great pleasures of visiting Cardiff is taking a stroll through Alexandra Gardens, part of Cathays Park.

Standing at the heart of Cardiff’s historic civic centre, Alexandra Gardens is overlooked by law courts, university buildings, police station, national museum, local and welsh government offices, and the falcons that nest in the clock tower. It is a legacy of the wealth extracted from the valleys to the north and brought down to the docks by canal and competing railways.

It’s also one of the cheapest and most convenient places to park your car in Cardiff, if you happen to be a local who knows such things. And that’s why I found myself wandering through the park back in March 2010, trying out my new Nikon 35mm lens for the first time on my way to meet some fellow bloggers and the Guardian Cardiff correspondent at a pub in the centre of the city.

The Photos

Late March is a great time to photograph Cathays Park, as the low sun has just enough colour in it to bring the portland stone to life.

I’m afraid I can’t translate the inscription that runs around the top of the cenotaph. If you can, please leave a translation in the comments.

The park is very popular with students from the University of Wales, Cardiff, which occupies many of the buildings that surround the park both to the east and the west.

This is the Welsh National War Memorial, unveiled in 1928, as a remembrance to soldiers, sailors and airmen who died in the Great War of 1914-1918. The statue on top represents Victory.

Looking south (with the Cenotaph behind me) across Alexandra Gardens towards the back of City Hall. Just out of picture, to the right, is the famous clock tower, currently home to nesting peregrine falcons.

In 2005, a 41-point walk around the centre of Cardiff was created to celebrate 100 years of Cardiff officially being a city. Point 25 can be found beside the Welsh National War Memorial.