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On Location Photographing Waterfall Country
In October 2023, I made a third trip in three years to the Brecon Beacons and spent a fantastic 48 hours taking landscape photos along the two main waterfall trails this national park has to offer.
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
On Location | Photographing Waterfalls in the Brecon Beacons
In April 2022, I visited the Brecon Beacons to spend a couple of days exploring and photographing some of the wonderful waterfalls this beautiful national park has to offer.
In April 2022, I visited the Brecon Beacons to spend a couple of days exploring some of the various waterfalls this beautiful national park has to offer. This was my second visit to the waterfalls, the first being October 2021 when they were surrounded by autumnal colours. During that previous visit, I managed to take a couple of photos I really liked but at the same time, I couldn’t help wonder what it would be like to photograph the falls surrounded by the fresh green leaves of spring. So, thinking that April would be the best time to ensure the trees had new leaves and the greens would still be lush and vibrant, I booked a hotel for a couple of nights and with a full tank of eye-wateringly expensive fuel and my camera bag packed, I headed out to the Brecon Beacons National Park once again.
Just a couple of housekeeping notes on the photos below. I decided not to post them chronologically, but to group the photos I took across both days based on the falls they were taken at. So, although you might see some similar compositions, you should see a difference in time of day, light and weather to see how the falls look in the different conditions.
Additionally, it will be obvious to some that there is a 4th waterfall, Sgwd Clun-Gwyn missing from this post. The truth is I just couldn’t find a workable composition during my visit. I’m not sure if it was the lack of flow from the river, the light at the time or my ability in finding a good composition (probably all three), so, I came away with no photos of this particular fall.
What was in my camera bag for this trip?
Talking about having my bag packed, here’s a quick overview of the gear I took to photograph the waterfalls in the Brecon Beacons. Along with the usual camera and tripod, I had with me the three lenses I take on all landscape photography trips, the wide 10-24mm, the standard 18-55mm zoom and telephoto 55-200mm. The XT2 camera is an APS-C sensor so feel free to convert the lenses to the 35mm equivalent.
Along with the camera, lenses and usual accessories, I had my set of Kase filters with me which I used consistently throughout the shoot to achieve two very important jobs. Firstly, the circular polarizing filter was used to reduce the reflected light and glare from bouncing off the water and wet rocks, control the highlights and boosting the colours. Secondly, I used the neutral density filters to reduce the light hitting the sensor, allowing me to use longer shutter speeds, helping to smooth the water, giving it that silky look as it flows and falls.
Where is the best place to park when visiting the Brecon Beacon Waterfalls?
There are at least three car parks located near this stretch of the river. The larger, paid car parks are probably the most accessible, but it means a longer downhill walk (uphill all the way back) to get to the falls. If you are looking for a little less faff and are happy with a longer walk, see below for a link to two of the large car parks nearby. The falls are well signposted and easy to find. The cost for a day’s parking was £5 and both take card payments.
Four Waterfalls Car Park: https://goo.gl/maps/gmsWApCx3drg71BP8
Gwaun Hepste - Four Falls Trail Car Park: https://goo.gl/maps/R1xGWj8MV6dunLTC8
My preference, however, is to park at the Small Car Park which, as the name suggests is very small but a lot closer to the falls. It gets full quickly but if heading out particularly early then you should find a spot.
Small Car Park: https://goo.gl/maps/MUPhkEokn6CexoX7A
One last option is a private field which is open most days right next to the Small Car Park. As far as I know, they also charge £5 but I’ve not used this car park before, so if you do manage to park your car here, do check when the gate is locked, just in case.
Photographing Sgwd Isaf Clun-Gwyn Waterfall
As I mentioned above, I don’t have any photos to share of the Sgwd Clun-Gwyn Waterfall so working down the river, the first set of images were taken at Sgwd Isaf Clun-Gwyn Waterfall. In my opinion, this cascading set of falls is the most interesting and provides a host of different compositions to choose from.
Starting at the top, this spot is a bit of a scramble up the hill but once in position, you’re greeted with this sweeping line which forms the edge of the upper falls. Compared to my visit in 2021 when the levels were higher and flow a lot stronger, this time around, it was very different. With less water flowing over the edge, the falls had less impact and the photos were less about demonstrating the power the falls can possess but more about the subtle beauty of the silky water, delicately cascading through the rugged Welsh landscape.
Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 18mm | 1/4th Second | f/4.5 | ISO200
Fujifilm XT2 | XF55-200mm | 61mm | 1/3rd Second | f/10 | ISO200
Fujifilm XT2 | XF55-200mm | 95mm | 0.8 Seconds | f/8 | ISO200
Along with the wide photos of the falls, I also made sure to use my 55-200mm telephoto zoom lens to take some close-up, intimate landscapes. I wanted to capture the shapes and textures of the rocks and water, because together with the wide-angle photos, they all help to document the trip, telling a more complete story of my time there.
Now standing towards the bottom of Sgwd Isaf Clun-Gwyn, you get a better view back up the falls and of the various levels the water has to work its way down, temporarily spending time in this small pool, before getting on its way again down towards Sgwd y Pannwr.
Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 19mm | 1/15th Second | f/9 | ISO200
Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 50mm | 1/4th Second | f/11 | ISO200
Fujifilm XT2 | XF55-200mm | 100mm | 1/5th Second | f/8 | ISO200
For the photo below (and the almost identical version taken the previous day above), I wanted to get the entire scene into the frame, but I couldn’t get the results I wanted with the 10-24mm lens. The wide focal length was pushing the background further away, including too much sky, so I decided to forgo the wide-angle and take a multi-frame panoramic image with the standard zoom instead. Sweeping from left to right with my 18-55mm lens attached, I took 3 photos which were then merged together later in Adobe Lightroom.
Of the two panoramic photos I took of this scene, I much prefer this one below. The slight mist in the air helped to defuse the sunlight and by using the CPL filter when photographing the wet rocks, it helped remove most of the glare and distractions from around the edge of the frame.
Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 18mm | 1 Second | f/8 | ISO200
Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 34mm | 1/10th Second | f/8 | ISO200
Fujifilm XT2 | XF55-200mm | 82mm | 1/3rd Second | f/8 | ISO200
The final photo from Sgwd Isaf Clun-Gwyn waterfall below was taken back near the top but this time on the other side of the river. It’s a photo I wasn’t able to take on my previous visit as I ran out of time looking for the route to the spot, but with the water level a lot lower this time, I was able to make my way across the river just a little up-stream and get to this location far easier.
As you can see, from this vantage point, you get a fantastic view of the entire top half of the waterfall as it flows down, cascading towards the pool at the bottom. Getting nice and wide with the 10-24mm lens, I placed the falls to the right and using the trees on the left to balance the composition. I think this is my favourite photo I took during my trip to the falls.
Fujifilm XT2 | XF10-24mm | 13mm | 0.8 Seconds | f/10 | ISO200
Photographing Sgwd y Pannwr Waterfall
Just a little further down the river is where you’ll find Sgwd y Pannwr waterfall. A bit more unconventional as the main drop is at a 90-degree angle to the direction the river is flowing, so it makes for an interesting time finding a good composition here.
Although I think the water in the photo below could do with a bit more flow, I do prefer it to when I was at the same spot in 2021. Back then, with the water gushing over the edge, the scene was a lot messier and it was much harder for me to get a good photo from this angle. This time around, I was able to scramble around the edge of the pool and take the photo below.
Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 25mm | 1/3rd Second | f/7.1 | ISO200
Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 34mm | 2 Seconds | f/8 | ISO200
Fujifilm XT2 | XF55-200mm | 74mm | 2 Seconds | f/11 | ISO200
On the upper level, the water has carved itself through the rock and although there was very little water up there, I still liked the way it created a useful lead-in line towards the interesting tree at the edge of the falls.
After taking that photo, I then climbed down into the gap and made my way out to the end so I could take a close-up photo of the water as it fell. I crept as close to the edge as I dared, mounted the 18-55mm and took this photo below which turned out to be my favourite from this particular waterfall.
Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 18mm | 0.6 Seconds | f/9 | ISO200
Photographing Sgwd Yr Eira Waterfall
Probably the most famous and for sure, the most popular waterfall along this trail is Sgwd Yr Eira. Located at the southernmost point of the four falls trail, it’s well worth the extra walk and steep climb down as you are greeted with this stunning view at the bottom of the gorge. Being so popular, I can’t recommend enough to fellow landscape photographers to get here as early as possible to avoid the crowds of people who start arriving around mid-morning.
Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 22mm | 1/3rd Second | f/9 | ISO200
Fujifilm XT2 | XF10-24mm | 10mm | 2 Seconds | f/8 | ISO200
Fujifilm XT2 | XF55-200mm | 61mm | 0.8 Seconds | f/9 | ISO200
What makes this waterfall a bit more special and the reason it’s the most popular spot along the trail is that you can walk right behind the falling water. Getting up close and personal and effectively inside the waterfall is a unique experience and one I just had to try and photograph. Although there is plenty of room to walk behind the water, finding a good composition turned out to be quite difficult because when standing directly behind the falls, you can’t get back far enough to fit it all in. To work around this space issue, I decided to walk to one side, mount the wide-angle lens and take the photo above, which not only allowed me to get more of the waterfall in the frame but also allowed me to include some of the textures and colour in the wet rocks behind it.
With the water levels being low (have I already mentioned that?), I was able to wade into the river and find some new compositions of Sgwd Yr Eira which is how I managed to take the photo below. Using my 10-24mm lens once again, I placed the camera just a few inches above the water to emphasise the rocks in the foreground. With the left-hand fall being a little lower than the other two, it does look a little unbalanced but there was nothing I could do about that and overall, I’m pretty happy with how this one turned out.
Fujifilm XT2 | XF10-24mm | 10mm | 0.5 Seconds | f/9 | ISO200
Photographing Sychryd Waterfall
During the late afternoon on my first day at the falls, I drove a few minutes south of the four waterfalls trail as I wanted to pay a visit to Sychryd waterfall. Located on a small section of the river Sychryd and close to a village called Pontneddfechan I found the nearest car park was at Dinas Rock which you can find here: https://goo.gl/maps/mntGhXc1YDeDAgW76 and is free to park at. After a short 5-10 minute walk up and around Dinas Rock, you drop down into the Sychryd Gorge which is where you will find this charming multi-tier waterfall.
Fujifilm XT2 | XF10-24mm | 17mm | 1 Second | f/8 | ISO200
Fujifilm XT2 | XF55-200mm | 58mm | 1/4th Second | f/6.4 | ISO200
Fujifilm XT2 | XF55-200mm | 190mm | 1/5th Second | f/6.4 | ISO200
The first photo above and probably my favourite is the wider composition of the water cascading down into this emerald plunge pool named Pwll y Berw. Being careful not to include any bright, distracting sky above the trees, I purposely lowered my tripod so that the small cascade was included which added some useful depth and foreground interest to the photo.
With the light levels still quite bright, I took all of the photos here using two Kase filters stacked on top of each other. Firstly, the circular polarising filter which helped to cut any unwanted glare from the wet, reflective surfaces and secondly, a neutral density filter (I forget what strength) to elongate the shutter speed, helping to create that silky smooth effect with the waterfall.
Once done taking the wider photos, I attached my telephoto 55-200mm lens and zoomed right in to take some close-up photos of the silky white, cascading water against the dark, wet rocks underneath.
Dinas Rock (Welsh for Fortress Rock) is a large limestone cliff face and a popular place for experienced rock climbers. On my way back to the carpark, I noticed these green trees growing out of the middle of it and was drawn to the way the green leaves contrasted against the grey stone. So, I mounted my 55-200mm lens once more and snapped a photo.
Fujifilm XT2 | XF55-200mm | 55mm | 1/4th Second | f/7.1 | ISO200
Fujifilm XT2 | XF55-200mm | 105mm | 1/20th Second | f/9 | ISO200
Photographing the local Woodland
Given how much I enjoy photographing the local woodland close to where I live, there was very little chance I would leave this place without photographing some of the interesting woodland scenes which flanked the river and waterfalls.
Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 29mm | 4 Seconds | f/11 | ISO200
Fujifilm XT2 | XF55-200mm | 105mm | 1/60th Second | f/8 | ISO200
Fujifilm XT2 | XF10-24mm | 14mm | 1/15th Second | f/7.1 | ISO200
Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 29mm | 1/15th Second | f/7.1 | ISO200
At the beginning of this post, I mentioned that I chose to visit again in April as I wanted to see and photograph the location while surrounded by the vibrant colours of spring but in truth, I feel I was still a couple of weeks early because although some of the trees such as those above were adorned with green leaves, others such as those below were only just waking up from their wintry sleep.
Given the lack of spring colour in the canopy and the unfavourable light I had, I still really like these photos as the twisted, almost gnarled shapes and overall arrangement of the trees still appeals to me.
Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 33mm | 1/4th Second | f/8 | ISO200
Fujifilm XT2 | XF55-200mm | 58mm | 0.4 Seconds | f/8 | ISO200
So, that was my second visit to these amazing falls and I’m starting to think I might make this trip once every two years or so as I really enjoyed the previous two trips and there are still plenty more trails to explore here.
I hope you enjoyed this on location blog post and although I’m clearly no expert, if you do have any questions about an upcoming visit, feel free to message me directly or leave a comment below and I’ll try to help as much as I can.
Until next time,
Trevor
Chaotic Colour | Weekly Photo #129
An autumnal woodland scene in the Brecon Beacons
As promised last week, here’s an autumnal photo I took just a couple of weeks ago during a short trip to the Brecon Beacons in Wales. As mentioned in that previous post, I went to photograph the popular waterfalls along the Four Falls Trail but the Afon Mellte (River Mellte) and Afon Hepste (River Hepste) carve their way through some fantastic ancient woodland with an array of interesting trees so, despite some pretty miserable weather and flat light, I could not resist pointing my lens towards the trees and photograph some of the wonderful woodland they have there.
Before we get stuck in, I have some news. I’ve opened an online print store over on Etsy.com. I’ve been toying with the idea for a while, deciding where to host it and how to price the images and finally got around to setting it all up a few weeks ago. My plan is to offer all of the photos I post on my Weekly Photo series as prints but it’s going to take some time to get all 129of them up there, so if you see a photo anywhere on my website and you want to own your own print, drop me a message and I’ll get it added to the store in no time at all.
Here’s a link to the store https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/TrevorSherwinPhoto, alternatively you can always find it in the menu at the top of this page.
I’m not going to lie, I found this an incredibly difficult scene to photograph and even now as I sit here writing this post, I’m pretty sure it’s tumultuous nature won’t appeal to everyone but all being well, by the time you get to the end of this blog, you will know why, at the very least, it appeals to me.
The main path that takes you from the car park, along the Four Falls Trail remains on the higher ground meaning for each of the four waterfalls, you need to take a separate path that descends down towards the water in the valley. I came across this scene as I was heading down the steep path towards the Sgwd y Pannwr waterfall which, between descents takes you through this small area of captivating woodland. I was mesmerized by how it looked and even though I knew that trying to find an orderly composition in a somewhat chaotic scene would challenge my relatively modest woodland photography skills, I just had to give it a go. So, after finishing up taking photos by the river, I headed back up to this spot to see what I could make of it.
Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 32mm | 1/3rd Second | f/10 | ISO200
So, what drew me to this scene? First off, it’s a very different type of woodland to those I typically come across in good-old leafy Surrey. With the rocks and moss across the uneven floor, the quirky shapes carved by the trees and the plethora of autumnal tones, it just felt a little bit special. I probably spent a good 20 minutes or more working out how best to take this photo and eventually settled on this composition you see here. Along with the interesting shapes and textures, the order amongst the disorder is the way the rocks on the ground create a natural path leading the eye in towards an area flanked by the “V” shaped trees and splashes of vibrant yellow tones on either side.
As I mentioned at the start of this post, the weather throughout my trip was pretty miserable and in between the rain, the light was flat and uninspiring. In an ideal world, I would have had some nice, defused light to bring out more of the vibrant colours in this woodland scene, but it wasn’t to be and I had to make the best of the conditions I was given both on location and back home in Lightroom when processing the final image. I had to be careful with the colours, making sure I didn’t overcook them. Some might be tempted to boost the yellows too much and force them to be what they might have been with better light. I chose to make more subtle changes, so the final photo represents the conditions I experienced on that very day.
Once again, please feel free to pop by my new online print store and have a good look around. I’d love to hear what you think so feel free to get in touch.
Until next week.
Trevor
This post is featured in my Weekly Photo series where I post a new photo every Monday. To have this delivered directly to your inbox, you can subscribe to the mailing list here.