Autumn in Snowdonia Nov 18 th

This morning I am heading into Snowdonia in search of Autumn colour, starting  in the forests near to Trefriw.  Having driven down to Llanwrst and turned over the bridge towards Trefriw and then the road through the forest .     I have stopped at the Hafna mine , the old building ruins might make for a good image or two from above.

                                                                  8 frame Vertorama

                                                            2 frames merge Topdown

                                                                     Single frame f5.6

Time to move on , this road eventually comes out by the "Ugly house"   but half way along there is a turn off towards Cors Bodgynydd nature reserve , a location I have previously been shooting Dragonflies and Damselflies.  Further on are a couple of large mountain lakes, I will try one of those I think.    Eventually I have come to Llyn Geirionydd , this will be a great location to shoot from high up .

I have set up near the car park on the edge of the lake, and will fly the drone down to the far end to have a look around at the maximum height allowed of 400ft

                                                A simple 2 frame image to start with .

                                                                    9 frame Vertorama

                 This one is a cropped 21 frame 180 dgree panorama, with the left hand end cut off.

The battery is almost down to the warning , so a quick topdown image of the trees on the opposite side of the lake from where I am standing.

Time to head off again , I think a drive down into Betws-y-Coed and have a look around see what I can find.     I have stopped of over the road from Fairy Glen, just by the river. since I only have half a battery left it will be a quick 10 minute flight.

             Looking down the valley, Betws -y is just around the corner to the left out of sight.

           Lovely colours still being lit up by the sun directly in front of me high up on the hill side.

                       I have shot a couple of closer images , love the light on the trees in these.

The end of another great day shooting.

            all images shot with Dji Phantom 4 pro drone .

Autumn Colours The Dream and Delamere Nov 12th

Its early November , the Autumn colours are now looking great, so I have decided to drive up to Roddlesworth woods near Blackburn and then come back home via "the Dream" statue and then either Marbury country park or Delamere.

Arriving at Roddlesworth I immediately know I'm too late, all the leaves have already dropped.   It is also very windy so cant even get the drone up,  but I have gone for a walk anyhow just in case I see anything worth a shot.

                                   My favourite waterfall, trees completely devoid of leaves!

                             I will just go back to the car now, pointless staying here any longer.

I have driven back down the m6 , all the matrix signs are saying severe delays at junction 20, luckily I get off before there.        By the time I arrive the sky is all blue but still very windy.
The phone app is showing 22mph wind speed and gusts 48-52 mph at 200ft     this is the highest wind speed I have attempted to fly in.

               The drone is up, no problem with the high winds so far, but I will not go too high .
                                            The cloud is really nice at the moment.

                                                                A Topdown image .

                   The trees are looking great, a good mix of tree species have been planted here .

                                                      Finally a Vertorama.  7 frames merged.
Its actually been a lovely morning , the colours are fabulous and the high wind has not caused any problems.   Now I think due to the delays on the m6 head head to Delamere on the way home.

                                       A phone shot of this strange statue, great sky behind .

Now I have arrived in Delamere, a quick walk down to the large beech trees to find a decent amount of colour but most have already dropped there leaves unfortunately.

Finding a small clearing I quickly take the drone up for a few shots,  keeping it mainly straight up above me.

Now to go for a walk to see what I can find ,  one of many small pools I have come across , but the tree trunks are being lit up by the low setting sun,  so maybe this will be a good location to have a last drone shoot.

Straight up over the lake, a multi frame Vertorama cropped to a square.  the dead tree stumps standing out against the dark water.

              Flying low across the pool to get a clear shot of the sunlit trees, a 9 frame panorama.

                                                   Topdown over the top of the pool edge.

That's it,  all the batteries are used and the sun is getting low, so time to walk back to the car and head home after a really good day shooting.

Lake Vyrnwy Oct 29 th

The Autumn colours are now really getting good,  a trip down to Lake Vyrnwy in mid Wales  is today's location to photograph.   As I drive down through the tree lined entrance road towards the dam, the light through the trees looks fabulous, I must walk back up here as soon as I get parked.


                     A quick dash around the Dam and up the road to get this image on the 5dsr.

Walking back to go down into the park below the dam I notice the sun lighting up the tower and the trees , with dark shadows behind it looks very dramatic,  quickly I put the 100-400mm lens on the shoot this image.

                                                                             The Dam

The cloud is still  blocking the sun at times, giving muted colours , but blue sky is heading this way.

                  Another shot down the road, still looks good when the sun briefly comes through.

Time to get the drone up , the sky has cleared significantly now , a 9 frame panorama first to be shot.

                                                           Topdown over the sculpture park.

                                                         Vertorama of the same view.

Time to walk down the left hand side of the lake to find a spot to take off the drone , opposite the tower is a good location.   a phone pic shows thick cloud has reappeared, temporarily.

                                   The drone is up and I shoot a low level Tower image.

                                                            Then Topdown from above.

            Now for a full panorama looking down the lake, beautiful blue sky now in the distance.

       Bringing the drone back above me , I shoot a 7 frame vertorama looking down the lakes forest.

                  The different species of Trees are arranged in blocks, like a patchwork quilt  lol
                             The shadows on the lake could do with being a bit stronger I think.

    I have now driven further down the lake to the picnic area where the drone landing  pads are  lol

I have taken off and flown straight over to the opposite side, the low sun is illuminating the trees and producing nice shadows.  

                                        Cannot decide which I like best of these 2 images.

                                  Topdown over an old ruined brick farm building,  I presume.
It is a multi frame merge, shot in a grid pattern moving the drone over the area shooting 2 rows of images.

Flying over the trees I have shot this 9 frame panorama, the drone software automatically shoots the frames, I then merge together in either PTGui or lightroom (if I don't intend to print)

That's the end of the battery, 23 minutes of flying and I am driving further down the lake, stopping off at the top end to fly the last battery and then walk around with the camera and long lens.

                     Phone shot on the dried up lake bed where I have managed to get down to.

        Straight up with the drone and out to the opposite side where the sun is still on the trees.

        A bit further down the lake for this panorama image. The spruce are looking great in the sun but not quite fully coloured up yet.

                                                 To finish off with 2 Vertorama images

                            Now to shoot a few images of the autumn colours with the camera.

                          100-400L lens on the 5dsr shot handheld for this close up of the trees.

 A final image,   just caught the last of the sun hitting the tree tops , this is 5 vertical images stitched together shot with 100-400L again .

The end of a fabulous day in mid Wales.