Aberthaw, a place of three very different areas (in NEW Vintage Summer Chrome recipe)

It’s always great going to new areas, and even more so when the weather is wonderful, you’re with people you like and the place throws up surprises you just were not expecting. Aberthaw is known for its power station, and is just outside Barry, near Cardiff. But we were surprised when we discovered, not only did it harbour the huge power station, but there was an old lime works (built in the 1880’s) with a wonderful pond with great scenery, plus a fantastic pebble beach with fantastic views facing east-woods.

Once again I decided to travel light, armed with just the Fujifilm X-T3 and 18-135mm. As it was a sunny day, I wanted to try a new Fujifilm recipe which was based on my older and popular “Vintage Summer”. I decided to call it “Vintage Summer Chrome” and it’s a subtle tweak to the Provia based original colour recipe. You’ll find that recipe after the images. All images are straight from camera, only straightened or cropped if needed.

The three areas were very different, and as I said, very unsuspected. The initial trail seen a walk along the power station, with the sea to our right looking out at the ships and structures. Then we got to the lime works with the beautiful ruins and pond with wildlife and just stunning scenery, and finally the pebbled beach which really had some amazing views. We always enjoy discovering areas like this and it really reinforces the fact we live in an amazing place.

I love the way the images look. It’s a subtle change from the original Vintage Summer, but I think for the better. I must stress, this recipe is only really for sunny days, and that is why there’s the fixed white balance. I’ve tried the original in different weather, and with an automatic white balance, and it just doesn’t look quite right.

Dynamic Range: DR400
Simulation: Classic Chrome
Grain: Off
Colour Chrome: Weak
WB: 7700k
WB Offset: R-4, B-1
H: -2
S: 0
Colour: -2
Sharpness: +3
Noise: 0
Exposure Compensation: 0 to +2/3 as needed.

I hope you enjoyed the images. As you may have noticed, there is no video this week. I have decided to stop doing them for a while. They take up a lot of my time (around 90mins plus for a 10 minute video), and for the amount of views they get on YouTube, I just feel it’s not worth it. I know I’m not looking to conquer YouTube or anything, but it’s really disheartening to have the views suddenly dip the way they did. So, anyway, it means I can write more and enjoy other things.

Please feel free to support me. I no longer go out and actively make a living with photography, and so just do everything I do with others (photography walks, Facebook groups etc) for free these days. My PayPal is mgadams1970@gmail.com and I appreciate any payments, as they really do help. Thank you all once again.