Wonderful Wales

When my holiday to Wales was booked in September last year, it seemed such a long way into the distance, yet here I am, two weeks since and it all seems such a distant memory already.

For over twenty years, my parents enjoyed their twice yearly trips to Wales, at one time they even considered moving there permanently, such was their love for the Welsh landscape and all it had to offer.

One particular favourite place to stay was in Beddgellert, a working farm on which a trio of holiday cottages and chalets are available, all overlooking the breathtakingly beautiful Snowdonia national park.

Since mum sadly passed away three years ago, dad and I have made a point of continuing the Welsh holiday pilgrimage every June.

Dad takes delight in taking me to the places that he and mum loved, while I in turn take pleasure in photographing the places we visit, those photos are made into a photo book, which forms part of dad’s Christmas stocking.

It is not hard to see just how this beautiful landscape draws you in time after time but enough words, it’s time for pictures….

A Sunday routine

While I generally tend to keep my Saturdays free for my main photography day, Sundays are often my ‘quiet day’, as I recharge the batteries, preparing for another working week.

My lie in on a Sunday, is anything beyond my normal 3am weekday alarm, there is a feeling of indulgence of creeping back to bed for another hour or so, even if it is still very early to most people.

During the summer months, I am often still up and about at around 5am, so rather than waste this wonderful time of day, I will go out for a couple of hours, walking along the local footpaths by the riverside and canal here in Exeter.

I enjoy the serenity of these early morning walks and despite having more than enough images of my locality, there will always be room for more.

This Sunday morning would be another serene morning, I had missed the sunrise by over an hour but I wanted to take advantage of the cooler temperature, the last few weeks have been an early taste of summer but I tend to shy away from being out in the hottest part of the day.

I was blessed with some good light and still waters once more and came away with a good few more images to add to my already large ‘riverside’ photo library.

One frame – Beddgellert sunrise

To say that I had been looking forward to my few days away in Wales would be something of a huge understatement, the prospect of days out to different places, camera in hand is my perfect way of relaxing away from the demands of a normal working week.

My last two Welsh getaways have been close to the beautiful Bala lake, this year was to be my first stay in Bedgellert, nestled within Snowdonia national park.

Our chalet is within the grounds of a working farm, where the land has plenty of footpaths to explore at ones leisure at any time of day.

The time of day for this particular image was just before six AM, the location, Dinas Rock, an uphill ascent of about 15 minutes at a slow amble, from the chalet.
Seeing the mist in the valley as I awoke, breakfast and the usual cuppa took a back seat, I was keen to see the views from as high as I could see, perhaps my best decision of the holiday!

My flabber was about to be gasted as I reached the top of the hill, well above the layer of mist, it looked like a smoky lake below, with the added bonus of the sunrise peeking from behind a cloud just to my left.

Once I had taken in the immediate beauty of the scene, I reeled off a good number of shots, different angles and focal lengths, giving myself every opportunity to share the best images on my return.

Just looking the the rear screen of my camera, I knew I had witnessed something special this morning, for me, this is probably going to be my favourite photo of the year!

One frame – Candid monochrome

After the enjoyment of a day out with my camera, there is then the pleasure of getting home, making a freshly brewed cuppa and looking through the days images.

I always hope that among the many images that I take,that there is one image that stands out as my favourite from the days shoot.

My candidate for my ‘one frame’ post is one I captured at the seaside village of Torcross in south Devon this weekend and not the quintessential seaside scene of which there were plenty but a candid image of a gentleman enjoying a Sunday morning with his newspaper.

With cloudless blue skies above, the light was quite harsh, creating some dark shadows, the perfect recipe for a monochrome edit, needless to say I was happy with the resulting image.