Cym Idwal in the Snow 19 March 2018

A morning visit to the Devils Kitchen and Cym Idwal in Snowdonias Ogwen Valley  , after having the flu for the last three weeks i need to get out !     The Ogwen web cam is still showing some snow left but appears to be melting fast compared to yesterday.
After a traffic free journey i have arrived at the Ogwen cottages at 10.05 am and park up , a quick walk over the main road and over the gate to check out the stream and the view towards Tryfan, But the rocks are covered in glass ice, so there is no way i can get along to the spot i would need to get the composition required. So a quick shot across the bridge towards the snow covered mountains.

Time to head up to Cym Idwal now , first stop is the famous Ogwen bridge, the new wood has blended into the surroundings now after being re built a couple of years ago.


                                                                    5dsr , 17-40 L
                                 3.2 seconds at f14    Lee little stopper and 0.6 soft nd grad

And now i must shoot the Ogwen Falls from the bridge ,  a classic view that everyone shoots but it has to be done, AGAIN!
The rocks are still covered in ice , which adds interest and we have a bit of blue sky appearing .
Setting up my tripod on the wooden bridge and using a infrared shutter release i take a series of frames , each with a different shutter speed to give different movement in the water which i can then pick the best to show the best water movement later on the pc .  I have to take the frames in between people walking over the bridge as i don't want any vibrations ruining the sharpness of the long exposures!

                                                       3.2 seconds, f14   and a bit of sun

Now i am going to walk up the path just over the bridge to the right following the stream up towards Cym Idwal,   the snow is in drifts up to about 8 inch or so so its not too bad, and the water is frozen under it so no worries about going into a bog.

This is the only shot i took on the way up the stream that i like , so now up to the lake quickly as the sun is coming out now .

Cym Idwal with the Devils Kitchen and the Glyders behind , with  Y-Garn to the right just out of view.   The sun is periodically lighting up the snow on the far side , i just need to catch part of in a frame.   a short 2.5 second exposure for this image , to blur the water slightly and catch some of the sun illuminating the snow in the background.

Time to get up high for a view towards Pen-yr-ole-wen across the lake now, the paths are covered in ice so time to put micro studs on my shoes so i can walk safely up the icy rocks.   Walking around the lakes shore , there is still a bit of ice on the edge along with snow on the beach.   The path goes around the lake then upwards to below the Devils Kitchen , you can go right around the lake or take the path up high around the Amphitheatre, but i think that will be difficult in the icy conditions with all my camera gear. I just need to get up high enough for the view across to the mountain opposite.
After 35 minutes walking i have arrived at my chosen location , i cant actually get any higher as the rocks are completely covered in ice and i don't want to risk slipping with my equipment!     but i have managed to get the height i require for this image.
     Setting up the tripod i have put the Lee Big stopper on along with a 0.6 soft nd grad , i want a longish exposure to get some movement showing in the fast moving clouds.   The light is constantly changing with areas of dark shadow and bright sunlit snow, very tricky to get the exposure correct with a long exposure as the bright snow areas are over exposing in different areas of the image frame.


                                    This is my favourite image , 20 seconds at f14.
 Nice cloud movement showing above Pen-yr-ole-wen  but i have a couple with more shadow areas that look almost as good .

Time to go back down the steep path and find the way through to the back of the lake where i know a stream enters and will make a great lead in for an image.
Eventually i am at lake level and have found the stream inlet , its quite warm in the sun now and the snow is melting fast giving the stream quite a fast flow, i am standing in the stream to get this next image and will shoot multiple exposures to get a good balance of the shadows and highlights and merge together in photoshop later.

                         I'm not entirely happy with this one , might have to re do it sometime.  

 I have just found a great lead-in ,   in the form of a small feeder streamlet a little further around the lake which really makes the image with Pen-yr-ole-wen in the background.     a long 47 second exposure has produced good cloud movement here , along with the lead in makes a great image.

Time to head back to the car now, i was planning to go up to another set of waterfalls further up the valley but i am feeling quite tired so will just head back home i think, the flu has taken all my energy!

Stopping off at the bridge i have decided to get another image, now the light has changed i think the ice on the rocks will stand out more and the blue sky is deeper in colour now which should look better in the final image in comparison with the first one i shot earlier this morning.

                  3.2 second exposure again , seems to be the best to show water movement today.

                  The end of a short morning in the magnificent Snowdonia mountains .........

Snowdonia - Ogwen valley 17 th January 2016

A day in Snowdonia today , meeting up with a friend to show him around some of the good locations.   It looks like most of the snow has melted low down , not that there has been much this year!.
Meeting up with John at the "Snowdon" viewpoint first near Capel-Curig but the view is disappointing this morning.  So the short drive down to Llyn Ogwen to walk up to cym idwal .  stopping off along Llyn Ogwen the mist is shrouding the Glyders and Devils Kitchen. 

Climbing down to the lake edge to shoot down towards Y-Garn which is just about visible in the fast moving mist.

Now to go to White cottages car park at Llyn Ogwen , and start walking up to the lake in the mountains "Llyn Idwal"         the mist has cleared quite a bit now but it is still swirling around through the valley between Pen-yr-ole-wen and Cym Idwal.           Stopping near the top of path below the Idwal Bridge , the mist running through the valley in front of Pen -yr looks amazingly atmospheric ,  and setting up my tripod low to the stream i can get everything in the frame. using a Lee "Big " stopper (ten stop nd ) to give about 60 seconds exposure to give good movement in the water and mist a bit of movement blur.

                                            Black and White conversion    59 seconds exposure

          Moving up to the lake and shooting over the waterfall looking into the "Devils kitchen"
                                        "Little" stopper used    6 stop nd filter to lengthen exposure

                  Walking around the left side of the lake to take some more long exposure images

                     Big stopper used to give 2 minute exposure to smooth out the water surface.

 Time to head back down and take a look at the waterfalls coming out of Llyn Ogwen ,  on the path down i take this panorama .

Across the main road and climb around the rocks to shoot the falls with Tryfan behind still shrouded in mist.     29 second exposure in this one.

                               Time for one last location , Llyn Gwynant and the lone tree :)

                                       Wading around a bit to get this full view of the lake.

                                                                         One final image

                                                The end of a great day in Snowdonia .

First Landscape Test 5dsr 28 Dec 2015

Time to try my new 5Dsr on some landscapes today , we are on our way to Snowdonia for the day.  it will give me a chance to have a few practise images with big & little stoppers and the various settings on the camera.
First we will take the Terrible Twosome up to Cym Idwal before heading to Penmon Point lighthouse for the high tide just after mid day.

 Firstly the standard "Devils Kitchen" view over Llyn Idwal   The light is dull and lifeless unfortunately.  Its blowing a gale up here , my new small Gitzo 0 series Mountaineer tripod is getting a good trial today in these conditions!           
I am using live view today, i never used it on my old 5d mk2 but its very easy to use on this new body , and it shows a "predicted exposure" when using long exposures  which is very helpful :)


                                25 seconds  f14 with Lee Little Stopper   ( 6 stop nd filter)

                                        Chester being windblown   haha    iso 800  f10   

A Shot with little stopper , the mirror is locked up in live view so i don't need to use that function but i am using 2 sec delay on my RC-6 remote.   looking at these first images i think i can definitely go for smaller appertures than i have been shooting at today.  reports i had read mostly said Dont shoot below f10 for sharpest image quality.  

                                                              20 seconds f13  iso 100

                                 Must get going now, don't want to miss the tide at Penmon!

Arriving at Penmon in time but find it is really windy, not what i need to shoot long exposures with the Lee Big and Little stoppers , But this is going to really test the new tripod for stability!
    Now , as i walk down to the point near the rocks, i notice 2 other photographers Sitting on the pebbles quite away from the rocks , i say hello as i pass and they ignore me , just speaking welsh to each other!!!       Normally photogs are always friendly!
I walk past them and set up on the edge of the Rocks , Then as i am looking through the viewfinder , they Both walk infront of me and block my view!!!!!!!!!   Ignorant, selfish  Twats!!!!!!!!!!!!
I Have no idea what is up with these 2 , they were not photographing anything when i got here and now they prevent me from shooting on this composition!!!!!!!!!       I move over to the left and shoot with them just out of view , i have hung my camera bag from the tripod hook to help stability as its really blowing.       

                                 just 2.5 seconds f7.1   gives nice wave movement

                                                           Crop from above image.
                                   No problem with stability on this Gitzo tripod then :)

The other 2 have now walked out onto the rocks in the above image so i am forced to move around to the right to keep them out of view! WTF!!!!!!
  I wont say anything as i would more likely to tell them to F-off!   lol  
      Live view is working well , the detail in the rocks is superb!   I am very surprised considering the wind,  and loads of on line reports that its hard to get sharp images with this camera!

 At last They have gone!!!!!    I can get out onto the rocks now to get the composition i had in mind.  this is a 3 frame hdr processed in lightroom 6.   5 seconds at F10       The depth of field is same as my old camera being full frame but i have read that images get softer after about f10 . i will have to do some tests on that one , but presume in normal shooting it wont be an issue.

Conclusions so far - both viewfinder and live view are very good , image quality is without question.  But i have only shot about 180 frames so far today and i have just noticed my battery is down to 16 %
What the hell is that all about!   new battery on only 2 charge cycles , live view draining power?  
will have to keep an eye on that with more re charge cycles on it.
 We are off towards Newborough beach for sunset.

                                    Its now £4 to park at Newborough warren car park!!!!!!  
Walking across the dunes towards the beach in anticipation for the sunset , my hopes are dashed as i crest the dunes, a thick band of cloud has appeared and ruined it!!!!!   Arghhhhhhhh
The beasts are going to get a good run anyhow :)

The sun is setting and at least there are reflections on the wet sand as the tide is going out.  and the kite surfers are great fun to watch.    all these images are hand held with 100-400 L   ISO 200 & 400 F13

The end of an interesting day , frustrating with the weather but at least i have a few images to inspect.  the battery life is a concern, 211 shots and i have 5% left ,  not good but hopefully that will improve as the re charge cycle increases.   the long exposure image quality is looking good , but not done any really long ones today due to the wind.  the colours of the images are very accurate from what i have noticed and the exposure seems better than my older camera with greater dynamic range. producing a lot less blown highlights on the histograms .    Looking foreword to another test in the mountains soon , but that will have to wait until i am back from a few days in Berlin.

Snowdonia april 5th 2015

A Easter walk up to Cym Idwal seemed a good idea , the weather forecast for the mountains was for sun and blue sky, whereas everywhere else seemed to be under a thick blanket of low cloud.  driving down we where under this thick cloud and i did not think it would be clear in the Ogwen valley, but as we drove out of Bethesda we came through into beautiful blue sky :)   Yay

                    A nice walk in the sunshine up to Cym Idwal with the devils kitchen behind.

                                                     Calm waters , don't see this very often :)

                                             The Terrible Twosome are enjoying paddling .

Just after i take this shot, while crossing the stream on the rock bridge , Mollster decided to pull me off ! i went flying through the air,camera in hand and landed in the stream and fell onto the bank after a few running steps through the water!  Arghhhhhhhh   soaked legs and feet   :(

Having walked up and around the top end of the lake, i stop to shoot Pen-yr s reflection in the mirror calm lake :)

                                   On the path around the lake to head back down now.

                                                            A bit of posing for Mollster

                                                        and a rare pose from Chester :)

                                                                     One more shot :)

Idwal Reflections and Sunset over Snowdon dec 28th 2014

After a light fall of snow that i noticed on the Ogwen web cam, i have driven down to Ogwen valley in Snowdonia with Mollster to walk up to Llyn  Idwal.
The sun is shining down the Nant Ffrancon valley as we walk up the main Idwal path from Llyn Ogwen.

                                                                     Mol is posing already :)

                                                                             and Again!!!

          We have quickly made it up to the Llyn Idwal , the sun is illuminating the Y-Garn ridge :)

                                                             Stunning reflections today :)

                                             Amazing :)    dont see it this flat calm very often!

                Cant make mind up which composition i like best.   so here is a second image.

     Using long lens i zoom in on the snowy mountains in the distance behind Llyn Ogwen.............

                                       And now Y-Garn , loads of climbers up in the snow :)

     Time to head back down now, its quite cold and i don't want to miss Sunset over the twin lakes.                                                                 Mollster is posing yet again!

                                          Looking down from the Llyn Bochlwyd path.

                                                       Llyn Ogwen and Pen-yr-ole-wen.

                The sun is still lighting up the valley looking down to Anglesey in the distance.

             Down at road level now and a quick shot looking down Ogwen valley over the lake.

                       Time to drive down to Llynnau Mymbyr to shoot sunset over Snowdon.
I have driven right down to Pen-y-pass  and now as the sun starts to descend i have gone back and parked half way between the lakes.   the sky is looking very interesting and i need to shoot fast while the light is good.    I have just shot a 2 frame panorama with 100-400 lens :)



                              Stunning light over Snowdon right now :)    view large HERE

Now down at the waters edge, i am struggling to get any decent compositions ,  this one at least has good cloud colour.

  Light has gone now,this last image of the Snowdon range  shows the difference a few minutes can make.   still stunning!     But lovely warm colour on the side of mountain tops :)
                                                                      100 - 400mm lens

                                                           The end of a great day out :)