On Location Photographing Waterfall Country
Having made trips to the waterfalls in the Brecon Beacons twice before in 2021 and 2022, it seems these excursions are becoming an annual event, because just a few weeks ago, in late October 2023, I set off with my camera to spend a couple of days hiking the waterfalls once again.
On my previous two trips, I spent most of my time walking and photographing along the Four Falls Trail. This is probably the most popular of the main waterfall trails in the Brecon Beacons as it features some of the more dramatic falls, so it made sense that on those trips, I would focus a lot of my attention on these.
On Location bog post I wrote in 2022
I’m a big believer that to get the very best photos possible, you should try to get to know the location well, and if I tried to cram too much in those previous trips while still being new to the location, I feel I couldn’t possibly take my best photos. I’d prefer to come away with just a few keepers instead of a much larger collection of average photos.
This time around, however, I felt that I had gotten to know the Four Falls Trail well enough to incorporate another trail into trip. So, I decided to include a couple of hikes along the Elidir Trail into the weekend.
If you’re after a bit more reading (after this one of course), I wrote another on-location post about my previous trip in spring 2022, which not only features the photos I took, but also includes some info about where best to park when heading to the Four Falls Trail. Click on the blog’s thumbnail to read that previous post.
What was in my camera bag for this trip?
For those interested in the gear I took, the picture below covers everything with just one exception. The image below is reused from my “What’s in my camera bag 2023” blog post, which features the XF16-55mm standard zoom and XF50-140mm telephoto. Since publishing that post in January 2023, I’ve added the wide-angle XF10-24mm WR to my collection, and I’m glad I did because it ended up being the lens I used most on this trip.
With the wide-angle lens now in my bag, I had all the focal lengths covered and equally as important was that my Fujifilm XT5 camera and all three lenses were weather-sealed, which, given the amount of water spray I had to contend with on this trip, was an absolute necessity.
What’s in my camera bag, 2023.
Alongside my camera, lenses and tripod, the two other pieces of gear I couldn’t do without were my Kase magnetic filters and my head torch. I’ve talked about my Kase filters in a previous blog post here so I won’t go on about them too much here. The circular polariser was on the end of my lens 99% of the time to help tone down the glare reflecting off the water and I used my neutral density filters to help slow down the shutter speed as needed to get the texture I wanted in the water.
Regarding the head torch; let’s just say that no landscape photographer should head out without one in their bag.
Just a last note before we get into the photos I took. Like with my previous blog post in 2022, I visited some locations multiple times across the weekend but to keep things simple here, I grouped the pictures by location. So, if you see the same falls but in different conditions, now you know why.
Four Falls Trail
In my previous blog post, I mentioned that there is a very small car park which I try to use as it’s a lot closer to the falls than the other two main car parks and thankfully on the two occasions I walked the Four Falls Trail during this visit, I was lucky enough to find a spot there which saved me tons of time walking to and from the falls.
In Autumn 2021, I came across this intimate scene as I wandered down the path from the car park and although the colours weren’t quite as vibrant this time around, I still made a point of stopping to take another picture. I wasn’t convinced that there was a photo here until I played with the shutter speed a little until I had just the right amount of texture in the water. It’s an understated photo but I just love the feathery nature of the water and I’m pleased I decided to stop and take the shot.
Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 16mm | 1.3 Seconds | f/9 | ISO125
Photographing Sgwd Isaf Clun-Gwyn Waterfall
My first stop was at Sgwd Isaf Clun-Gwyn (lower fall of the white meadow) and photographically, it’s by far my favourite along this trail. From the top to the bottom, it has so many compositional opportunities and I have spent more time photographing this waterfall than any others in the Brecon Beacons.
The official waterfall trail follows the eastern side of the river, but I think the best views of Sgwd Isaf Clun-Gwyn are from the western side. From here you can take in the scale of this 20-metre cascade but, it’s a lot trickier to get to and involves a bit of a scramble down a rather steep drop which should only be attempted by someone fit and sure-footed.
Pointing the camera downstream when photographing waterfalls doesn’t always work as you can lose some of the impact from the subject and the eye doesn't always have somewhere to go and rest on, but in the case of these two photos below, I think it does work as there is a visual flow, leading you from the interesting foreground, down the cascades and along the river. So, there is plenty of depth and most importantly, the eye is not led out of the image.
Fujifilm XT5 | XF10-24mm | 10mm | 1/6th Second | f/7.1 | ISO125
Fujifilm XT5 | XF10-24mm | 10mm | 1/6th Second | f/7.1 | ISO125
One thing I’ve not yet mentioned is just how much rain had fallen on the days leading up to my trip. The water was gushing down the valley and along with some gusty wind creating a lot of spray, it made for some tricky shooting conditions. I soaked a lot of lens cloths while taking this front-on composition of Sgwd Isaf Clun-Gwyn as the spray was relentless, but I’m glad I persevered as I managed to take one of my favourite photos from the trip.
Fujifilm XT5 | XF10-24mm | 10mm | 1/6th Second | f/5 | ISO125
Fujifilm XT5 | XF10-24mm | 13mm | 1/6th Second | f/5 | ISO125
The final photo of Sgwd Isaf Clun-Gwyn was taken at the foot of the cascades and ordinarily, I would have liked to get a slightly better view looking up the falls, but the water level was so high and the current so strong, this is as far left as I could get. So, I dropped the tripod lower to the ground and focused on capturing some foreground details, with the falls becoming more of a backdrop than the main subject.
Fujifilm XT5 | XF10-24mm | 10mm | 0.5 Seconds | f/8 | ISO400
Photographing Sgwd y Pannwr Waterfall
Travelling just a short distance downstream is Sgwd y Pannwr ('fall of the fuller' or 'fall of the woollen washer'). I started off at the top of waterfall with a composition I tried on my previous visit. I like the way the water falling over the long gully cleads the eye into the frame towards the tree. I would like to have a little more of the tree in the frame but any higher and the sky bursts into the image and is far too distracting.
Fujifilm XT5 | XF10-24mm | 11mm | 1/3rd Second | f/6.4 | ISO125
Following a path around the waterfall, I made my way to the other side to get a front-on view of Sgwd y Pannwr. My plan here was to drop down to the edge of the water and try to incorporate some interesting foreground, but again, with so much water, it was hard to get close and where I could, the higher water level meant that anything interesting I could use was covered. I just couldn’t find a composition I liked. So, with the sun now rising and the warmer light helping to bring out some of those early autumnal colours, I stacked an ND filter on top of my CPL and took this long exposure from a higher vantage point.
Did I mention it was a bit windy? To get the silky-smooth water but super sharp leaves, I took two separate photos. A four-second exposure for the water and a 0.4-second exposure to freeze some of the movement in the trees. I then blended the two together in Photoshop. It’s a technique I had to use a few times on this trip.
Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 18mm | 0.4 Seconds/4 Seconds | f/8 | ISO125
Photographing Sgwd Yr Eira Waterfall
A bit further down the trail is Sgwd Yr Eira (Waterfall of the snow). Probably the most popular because it’s the only waterfall along the trail you can walk behind, I made a point to visit this one first thing in the morning as once other people start to arrive, it can be difficult to keep them out of the photos. So, up before sunrise with the trusty head torch guiding my way, I headed straight to here.
Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 19mm | 1/4th Second | f/13 | ISO125
For the photo above, I stood a bit further back from the falls and used a hanging branch to help frame the waterfall which I think works quite well.
Getting a bit closer and wider with the 10-24mm lens, I placed the tripod lower to the water so I could emphasise its energy as it made its way around the rocks in the foreground. Even though I was using the wide-angle lens, I needed to focus-stack this one to get the image sharp from front to back.
Fujifilm XT5 | XF10-24mm | 10mm | 1/5th Second | f/7.1 | ISO400
The last photo from this Sgwd Yr Eira set was taken from the other side of the river. The last time I was here, I could wade across the river but with so much water, I had no choice but to brave the incredibly wet path behind the waterfall. On went the waterproofs and across I went. I got absolutely soaked!
Thankfully, I was able to find a composition I liked and came away with a photo, so it wasn’t all bad.
Fujifilm XT5 | XF10-24mm | 13mm | 1/3rd Second | f/9 | ISO125
The Elidir trail
As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I felt that this time around I would have the time to visit a second waterfall trail, so I decided to also tackle the Elidir trail to see what photos I could come away with. The photos I’ve posted from along this trail were taken over two visits so, to keep things simple, I’ve once again grouped them together to make for a better flow.
A note on parking. This trail has parking near the top and bottom and both work really well. Parking at the top of the trail here will mean a shorter walk as its closer to many of the falls but if you park in the village here, you can stop off at the end for a drink or food.
Photographing Sgwd Ddwli Uchaf Waterfall
As mentioned, you can hit this trail from both north or south and during the trip, I did both but, in this post, I’ll be working my way downriver from north to south starting with Sgwd Ddwli Uchaf (The Upper Gushing Falls).
Fujifilm XT5 | XF10-24mm | 22mm | 0.4 Seconds | f/10 | ISO125
I’m not going to lie, I found photographing this waterfall quite difficult and it took a couple of visits to find the compositions you can see here. The first time I was here, the sun was out and the light was far too harsh for my taste. I just couldn’t see a composition, let alone take a photo, and it wasn’t until I returned when there was a bit more cloud around, I was able to take these three photos below.
With the light much more defused, I found a spot right next to the water (above), and while playing with shutter speeds, I used the textures in the water to add a bit of interest in the foreground.
I also got up close and personal with Sgwd Ddwli Uchaf, taking this portrait photo of the waterfall using the yellowing leaves on the overhanging tree to help frame the composition and at the same time, block some of the brighter sky from becoming too distracting.
Fujifilm XT5 | XF10-24mm | 11mm | 1.3 Seconds | f/14 | ISO125
I’d seen a photo similar to the one below while researching the trail before the trip, so it’s not exactly an original composition, but I guess most of these here are like that. When photographing a popular place which has been photographed a million times before, it puts more emphasis on how you take and process your images if originality is what you’re after.
This is a very busy scene, and it took a while to fine-tune the composition enough to frame it properly, add some order to the chaos and provide a final image I like.
Fujifilm XT5 | XF10-24mm | 14mm | 0.5 Seconds | f/9 | ISO125
Photographing Sgwd-y-Bedol Waterfall
After trying and failing to get a photo I liked of Sgwd Ddwli Isaf (Lower Gushing Falls), the next waterfall you will get to as you work your way down is Sgwd-y-Bedol (Horseshoe Falls). A multi-level, curved cascade that opens at its base into a large plunge pool.
These two photos of the same composition were all about combining the gushing water with different shutter speeds to create alternative looks, particularly in the plunge pool. I used a 3-second exposure for the first photo below which smoothed out the water a little to create a softer, cleaner finish. The second copy, for which the sun made a brief appearance to add a touch of warmth to the scene had a faster 1/2 second exposure which resulted in more texture on the surface of the plunge pool. I like them both and being just about different enough, I decided to include them both in this blog.
Fujifilm XT5 | XF10-24mm | 18mm | 3 Seconds | f/7.1 | ISO125
Fujifilm XT5 | XF10-24mm | 18mm | 0.5 Seconds | f/7.1 | ISO800
Photographing Sgwd Gwladys Waterfall
Just a few minutes’ walk downstream, the River Neath meets Afon Pyrddin and just a little way up the Pyrddin is the jewell in the Elidir trail’s crown. Sgwd Gwladys (Lady Falls) is an incredibly popular and accessible waterfall and in my opinion, the best looking along the trail.
I had a lot of fun playing with different exposure times when photographing these falls as I wanted to include the swirling movement of the foam in the plunge pool. Like with previous photos, I had to blend a couple of exposures to get the results I wanted. With the help of an ND filter, I took a 25-second long exposure to get those streaky lines in the plunge pool. I then removed the ND filter and took another shot at 1/15th second to freeze any movement created by the wind.
Fujifilm XT5 | XF10-24mm | 13mm | 1/15th Second | f/5 | ISO800 blended with 25 Seconds | f/13 | ISO125 | ND Filter
For the photo below, I used the same effect to blend a long and short exposure, but this time I went one step further, as to keep both the ferns in the foreground and the waterfall in the background sharp, I needed to focus stack the image too! Thankfully, the wind had died down a little so it wasn’t as hard as it could have been, but it was still a bit fiddly nonetheless.
Fujifilm XT5 | XF10-24mm | 15mm | 0.8 Seconds | f/10 | ISO125 blended with 50 Seconds | ND Filter
The good thing about Sgwd Gwladys is that even though the water levels were high, with just a pair of wellies on, I could wade across the river and take a photo while standing in the plunge pool directly in front of the waterfall or further downstream from across the river.
Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 18mm | 0.5 Seconds | f/11 | ISO125 blended with 25 Seconds | ND Filter
Fujifilm XT5 | XF50-140mm | 50mm | 0.8 Seconds | f/11 | ISO125 blended with 40 Seconds | ND Filter
Sychryd Falls
My last stop on my final day before heading home was at the fantastic Sychryd Waterfall. The late afternoon sun was just about piercing through the clouds, and I spent around an hour here taking photos.
One regret from my previous visit to Sychryd Waterfall is that I didn’t get low enough or close enough to the smaller waterfall at the front of the pool, so despite the high water levels making it a little tricky and having to use some rather questionable tripod positioning, I got as close as I could, using the texture in the water as a foreground and took the photo you can see here below.
Fujifilm XT5 | XF10-24mm | 11mm | 1/4th Second | f/9 | ISO125
For the final waterfall photo of the entire blog, I adopted the same technique I used at Sgwd Gwladys and blended two exposures to capture the movement in the water while keeping the leaves free of too much motion blur.
Fujifilm XT5 | XF10-24mm | 19mm | 0.4 Seconds | f/9 | ISO125 blended with .5 Seconds | f/13 | ND Filter
Photographing the Brecon Beacon’s Woodland
As per my previous visits to the Brecon Beacons, I couldn’t resist taking a few photos of the local woodland as I walked to and from the various waterfalls. Being October, I had hoped for a touch more autumnal colours in the leaves, but they had yet to turn down in the valley and were still predominantly green. Regardless, that didn’t stop me from capturing some of those gnarly trees and branches which flank the river.
With the gusty wind and dull light, I found it a bit challenging at times, but with the help of a circular polariser to help take some of the glare off the wet leaves and give the colours a little punch, I came away with the handful of photos I’ve shared below.
Fujifilm XT5 | XF10-24mm | 24mm | 1/8th Second | f/7.1 | ISO400
Fujifilm XT5 | XF50-140mm | 84mm | 1/5th Second | f/9 | ISO400
Fujifilm XT5 | XF50-140mm | 120mm | 1/5th Second | f/8 | ISO400
Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 29mm | 0.5 Seconds | f/10 | ISO125
Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 50mm | 0.5 Seconds | f/10 | ISO125
Fujifilm XT5 | XF50-140mm | 95mm | 0.6 Seconds | f/11 | ISO125
Flow: a collection of intimate river photographs
If you call this photography trip to the Brecon Beacons a small project, well this is a mini project inside that small project. The thing about photographing the waterfalls is that aside from your own technique, the conditions you’re shooting in and your editing style, it’s a challenge to get original images. I’m ok with that because I love the experience as much as the final photos I take but it still didn’t stop me trying something a little different during this trip.
In between the heavy rain, I had some prolonged periods of clear skies and with the sun beating down, the light was too harsh and there was too much contrast for my taste. But there were pockets of shade along the river, and it was during one of these episodes of harsh light I decided to try something different and start photographing the patterns and textures in the flowing water.
I needed to find spots along the river where the sun wasn’t directly illuminating as the highlights were too distracting and I mostly used my 3-stop ND filter to get the exposure time just right to capture the movement but retain enough detail.
I decided while out taking these photos that I wanted to present them as a single body of work. For the collection to work well together, I chose to use a square crop and process them all in black and white. In my opinion, this was the right decision, as like the water, it helped the photos flow.
If you’ve got this far and managed to finish this blog, well done you!! It was a big one. A big one because I had a great time over those 48 hours taking many photos of this quite amazing place. I do hope you enjoyed the photos and the words that accompany them.
If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below and thanks for stopping by.
Until next time.
Trevor