A Big Picture in Wales

Wet, wet, wet!

Milford Haven today has been rainy from 9 am to 3pm, just the time we have been doing the first of our outdoor photo sessions with children from the comprehensive and junior schools. Cheryl and I were a few minutes late due to big road works along the way, but that made no difference to anybody’s enthusiasm at the comp.

So, we made our way immediately in the minibus and cars to Withybush Woods, which is near the airport and has paths through the woods. Dripping though it was, there were no complaints and loads of photos taken. We looked at leaves on the ground, moss and patterns of trees against the grey sky. After a while we came to a wooden bridge and took more pics of rain falling on water, and the group had the job of standing there trying to enjoy the rain while I took their picture. A bit further along the path we came to a lake with a small stone bridge and a lovely granite seat.


Above: MH Comp Withybush Woods

Some great shots were taken here. Then we made our way back to the vehicles in very good spirits, despite the constant rain. Back in class, everyone looked the pictures taken that morning and had the tough job of deciding which was the best. It was easy for me – all I had to do was sit and look at all those lovely photographs!

After lunch Cheryl and I met the juniors at the Rath, and supposedly in the under the cover of the bandstand. The weather, however, was doing its best to spoil our afternoon by blowing the rain horizontally at us off the sea. Luckily, the Winter Gardens are close by and we were at least out of the worst of the wind and able to take some photos. It’s a nice place to visit even on such a day. Apparently, the swimming pool used to be there and now it has been landscaped, making lots of photo opportunities for the children.


Above: MH Juniors Rath Golf

The rain eased a bit, so we walked over to the Memorial Gardens, where there are plenty of chances to take different kinds of images, with mature trees, various memorials and other structures. Having taken all the pics we could, the children made their way back to school and we set about sorting the photos we’d all taken that afternoon. It’s not an easy task, but it gets us in the swing of making decisions about what looks good. This practice will be handy towards the end of the project next spring when we will need to look at all the photographs and make the difficult choices of our ten best to go in the exhibition.

Ken Day, photographer.