I’ve been to Bute Park, Pontcanna and Llandaff Fields four times in the past few weeks. Lockdown has forced us all to re-appraise what’s on our doorstep and in Cardiff’s case, we are blessed with some wonderful parkland.
Here are a few shots I’ve taken this summer of things that have caught my eye. Click on any image below to get a slideshow …
![Heron by The Taff](https://mlt.photography/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/August-20200820-10858.jpg)
![](https://mlt.photography/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/August-20200820-10861.jpg)
![The castle from Bute Park](https://mlt.photography/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/ButePark-20200826-10862.jpg)
![Playing with Clarity](https://mlt.photography/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/ButePark-20200909-10869.jpg)
![](https://mlt.photography/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/ButePark-20200909-10871-1024x1024.jpg)
![](https://mlt.photography/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/ButePark-20200909-10873.jpg)
![](https://mlt.photography/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/ButePark-20200909-10879.jpg)
![Taff water - fit to drink!?](https://mlt.photography/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/ButePark-20200909-10883.jpg)
![Bullrush with reflections](https://mlt.photography/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/ButePark-20200926-10889.jpg)
![Shooting for the sky](https://mlt.photography/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/ButePark-20200926-10890-1024x1024.jpg)
![](https://mlt.photography/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/ButePark-20200926-10891.jpg)
![Resin droplets](https://mlt.photography/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/ButePark-20200926-10916-1024x1024.jpg)
I was especially happy with the shot of the heron which I took hand held. My camera has a feature called Optical Steady Shot which enables the camera to make corrections for assumed camera shake. This means that you can sometimes get surprisingly sharp images without using a tripod.
When you add the large number of pixels the camera has which allow you to crop quite dramatically, you can see that sometimes a long lens isn’t essential. This is the shot as taken in the camera …
![](https://mlt.photography/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/August-20200820-10858-1-1024x683.jpg)
… you might even find it difficult to see the heron! The shot was taken with my Sony A7rIII with the FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS lens @ 105mm, ISO 100 and 1/40sec @ f/9.