30. My Productive Weekend!

Last weekend, after looking through various leaflets, I decided to make my first trip to a Castle. I decided to go to my most local Castle at the time, being in Llanelli meant that my nearest Castle was Kidwelly!

Kidwelly Castle

This was my very first photo shoot, so there wasn't really a very precise idea as to what kind of images I should be taking. I was fairly eager to start, so I set out on my first shoot and knew that then, after taking my first shoot, that I would have some idea as to what kind of approach I should be taking. Just by taking some images, I immediately saw some potential in some images, and knew I had some where to start. For example, I took a photograph looking down a narrow stair well in Kidwelly, and when looking back through my images, I knew that I wanted to use this image. I also really liked the photograph I took of the towers of the castle, there's my research on the work of Bernd and Hilla Becher coming in useful. I was also very fond of the image looking through the narrow windows of the castle. So I have a few images which I know I want to use.   

Here is the leaflet I received upon entering the castle. It's only a small information leaflet with a little map, but anything is always very useful, so I was sure to scan it in, which I am aiming to do with any leaflets that I come across. It is a little obvious that the leaflet could have been made for children, but the information is still quite useful.

Llansteffan Castle

Being on the road, with a free day, me and my mother decided to go to as many castles as possible, just to make sure that I got a good start at the project. I know I probably wasn't going to use very many of the images, which I took from this first trip, but it was a place to start and I could then go on a re-shoot to perfect my images and get better ones which could be used for my final images.

Llanteffan was not as substantial as Kidwelly Castle, but I still made sure I got a few images. I had never been to Llansteffan Castle, and neither had my mother, so it was an interesting trip! Even though it wasn't as large and grand as Kidwelly Castle, it was still quite a good Castle to visit. There was an intact tower, so I was just happy to get another image looking down a staircase. I still tried to take similar images to those which I'd taken in Kidwelly, for example, I took an image looking through windows and I also managed to get a good photograph of the Tower which was still standing at Llansteffan. There was no where to pay or pick up any leaflets, which I was slightly disappointed in, but I still managed to get some useful images.

I would like to note, that the weather was not good. It was completely clouded over, with spots of rain, which I thought was very suitable weather, as it gave me plain white backgrounds to my images. 

Dryslwyn

Dryslwyn is probably the worst Castle I have seen yet, it was mostly rubble, with no tower or much else. There is only one wall standing, which has a few large windows on it, but it isn't very accessible. I am including these images, just to know that I am looking to document Castles which are intact, although I was interested to look at Castles which weren't in as good as condition.

As you can see, there isn't much left of Dryslwyn at all! The ruins are very scattered across this small mound which the Castle is located on, in the middle of a valley. I really liked the Castles location, which is one of the reasons why I was so eager to visit it. But when it comes to my Documentary Project, there was not very much I could photograph, except the stone work which was crumbling. 

Dinefwr

Another pleasant surprise of a Castle! Dinefwr is located on this large Park, which also has a Manor House which you can visit, and deer in the fields. It's somewhere I would like to visit, when I'm not focused on photographing the Castle. The Castle is found on a hill just to the left of the rest of the fields and estate,  covered by trees as you drive into the place, but once you reach the top you can see all of Llandeilo, which is the town the Castle looks over.

By the time we arrived at Dinefwr Castle, we'd been out for around seven hours, so I felt fairly tired. We'd also rushed, because we weren't sure if the Castle would be closing, as most do, around four o'clock. Even though, when I check on the internet it said there was an admission charge, there was nobody to be seen working the site, and all the information booths were closed.

Even though I felt like I could have taken more photographs, I was still happy with what I'd taken. After visiting Kidwelly and Llansteffan, I had began focusing on photographing specific features of the Castles, so again, I managed to find another staircase to photograph etc. 

I could do with another visit to Dinefwr Castle and perhaps Llansteffan. 

At Dinefwr Castle.