Photographing the Aurora Borealis in Sussex

Just wow! What a night of photography that was.

I’ve done a little research (Wikipedia) and as I understand things, we are reaching peak activity in the sun’s 11-year solar cycle. The poles are soon to flip and during this time, there’s an increase in solar flares, sunspots and radiation. This means more solar particles spewing out into space, some of which interact with the earth’s magnetic field, increasing the likelihood of aurora borealis (northern lights) or aurora australis (southern lights).

I already knew we were reaching peak activity in the solar cycle but what I hadn’t anticipated was that we in the southern counties of England would also experience this spectacular celestial phenomenon.

As I finished work in London back on the 10th of October, I was heading out into the city to catch a sunset, but as I sat on the train, I spotted lots of people posting on their social stories about the possibility of northern lights across the UK later that night. Having missed the previous display back in May and clear skies predicted, there was no way I was going to let another chance to photograph the aurora pass me by. So, taking only a moment to decide, I made my way south and away from the bright lights of the city.

Having decided to give photographing the aurora a try, all I needed now was a location. I wanted an interesting subject, away from artificial lights and I needed to face north when taking the photo. It took me a minute as every place I could think of would leave me facing anything but north, but scanning my photo library for inspiration, I decided to head to Bodiam Castle in East Sussex, a familiar place I’ve photographed many times before. Leaving the train, I jumped in my car and made my way there.

I arrived on location around an hour later and it was already very dark. I said hi to a fellow photographer called Lee who was already set up and busy taking pictures before heading to my usual spot to compose this framed view of the castle. It’s not pointing directly to the north, it’s more of a north-westerly direction but I figured if the lights did kick off in the sky, it should still work.

Initially, I was feeling a little underwhelmed (and a bit anxious). As you can see in the first image below, there was a subtle magenta hue in the sky and a very pale green towards the horizon but nothing like the vivid colours I was hoping for. Was this all we would see tonight? The photo below is a blend of two images, one for the sky and foreground to capture those subtle aurora tones and another with the castle slightly illuminated with my head torch.

The conditions were ideal. Clear skies, hardly a breath of wind and with the water still, the reflections were perfect. After 30 minutes or so, another photographer hurried towards us pointing to activity happening behind us to the northeast. Looking the other way and with trees behind us, there was no way we would have spotted it from where we stood. Quickly, we grabbed the cameras and went to find a better vantage point.

Although this new position was facing directly north, the moat was a lot narrower and the castle too close. Even with my wide-angle lens, I still couldn’t include enough of the scene in a single frame, so I needed a different approach. The only way this was going to work was by mounting my camera vertically, levelling my tripod and panning the camera from left to right, taking a stitched panoramic image.

I took 6 vertical pictures, making sure I left plenty of space above the castle to showcase as much of the fantastic display nature was gifting us as I could. I stitched them together and edited the photo later in Lightroom to make the final image you can see above. It’s not my favourite composition of the castle and I would have loved for the aurora to be more evenly spread across the sky but I’m still really happy with the final image.

With the vibrant light most vivid directly above the right-hand turret, I also used one of the individual frames from the panoramic image above and edited it separately to help show off those amazing northern lights above the castle.

While standing face-on to the castle, I noticed that the small area of vivid light towards the right-hand side was very slowly making its way across the sky, meaning the framed composition of the castle I had originally set out to capture might be back on. Off I popped back over to the corner, composed the photo and waited. Towards the opposite side from where I stood, there were at least two other photographers taking pictures, so I decided once again not to throw some light onto the castle just in case it interrupted their shoot. Instead, I would try to bring a little of the castle’s detail back in post by recovering the shadows. In hindsight, I think this was a mistake on my part and I’ll expand on that at the end.

Thankfully, I got the light I was after. It did indeed move across the sky, and I clicked away, taking various photos as the light and colours changed. This is easily my favourite photo of the night. I assure you; those vivid colours have not been enhanced with saturation and vibrance sliders; apart from some basic editing most of the work was done using the white balance sliders by cooling off the temperature and bumping the tint a little.

Confident I had the photo I wanted; I made my way over to the far side of the castle to see how things were looking from there. As you can see, the aurora was still visible but as I was now looking towards the southeast it only partly covered the sky. I actually like the results as the brighter, colourful sky on the left balances nicely against the stronger, dominant castle on the right. Although I’m not sold on the bright blue light in the castle windows (they are growing on me though), I do really like the dim orange glow in the windows closer to the camera. Whatever you or I think of them, collectively they appear to bring life to the castle, giving the impression someone is still living there.

What an absolutely amazing night that was. I am blown away by the photos I was able to make, particularly as it was such a unique event to see the aurora borealis as far south as East Sussex. Who knows when that might happen again?

That being said, it was my first time photographing the northern lights and there were certainly lessons I can learn, most notably not taking more opportunity to cast a little light onto the castle like I did in the first photo above. With just a small amount of light pointed towards the castle, it brought out so much more detail and resulted in much less noise in the shadow areas. I mentioned that if I used my head torch more, I might ruin other photographer’s images but in reality, I’m sure I could have been a touch more selfish and used it a couple more times without causing too much upset.

All in all, it was a great experience, so much so, I’m now tempted to give astrophotography a go. Watch this space.

Until next time

Trevor

Photographing Snowdonia in Late Spring

Since I made my first dedicated photography trip to Snowdonia back in January 2023, I’ve become a little obsessed and have returned a few times for a bit of landscape photography. Before now, I’d only visited during the colder months, so I could photograph a more wintry-looking landscape, but I also wanted to visit at other times of the year as there were certain locations I knew would look better between spring and autumn.

In May this year, I spent a week staying in Betws-y-Coed, a village on the edge of Snowdonia with my family. It wasn’t a dedicated photography trip, but I still made sure to carve out some time here and there to head out on my own to indulge in some landscape photography and in this blog post, you’ll find some of the photos I took during the trip.

Photographing Fairy Glen

Being late spring and with the woodland full of vibrant colour, Fairy Glen was at the top of my list of places to photograph during this visit. Located just a few minute’s drive from Betws-y-Coed, Fairy Gen is a narrow gorge along the River Conwy.

I’d seen countless photos taken at this spot and the ones I was drawn to the most were those that included plenty of foliage, which I feel brings this location to life. So, knowing that any time between late spring and autumn would be ideal, I set my alarm to arrive shortly after sunrise.

As you can see, I was not disappointed. It looked exactly how I’d hoped; better even. There was so much colour in the scene, helped by the fact that it was raining as I arrived, and the wet leaves were even more saturated.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 34mm | 10 Seconds | f/10 | ISO125

I started off with the classic view looking directly through the gorge. The rocks were wet and slippery so word of warning for anyone visiting in similar conditions. I made a feature of the bubbles created by the water cascading over the rocks by using an ND filter and a longer exposure to capture them as they made their way downstream towards me. Luckily there was no wind down there, so I didn’t have to worry about the leaves moving around while the picture was taken.

I tried a few different compositions and crops and took a few photos I liked but the one above is my favourite from that vantage point.

Moving off the slippery rocks and to the side of the river, I wanted to find a slightly different composition from those I’d seen before. Being such a small spot, I doubt I could find a unique photo but after a bit of trial and error, I found the composition seen below. Maybe not unique but certainly new to me. I purposely placed the green leaves towards the bottom left of the frame to add a little interest and to add some visual weight to balance the composition against the gorge on the right. Once again, I took a long exposure to emphasise the movement in the river which flows nicely towards the bottom right-hand side of the frame.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 21mm | 6.5 Seconds | f/8 | ISO125

Photographing Dinorwig Slate Quarry

During the trip, we visited Dinorwig (Dinorwic) slate quarry to spend a few hours exploring this heavily sculptured, industrial landscape. Situated close to Llanberis, Dinorwig quarry was the second largest slate quarry in Wales (and the world) and since closing in 1969 has since become a go-to place for hiking, rock climbing and even scuba diving. The place is oozing history with remnants of a highly active, industrial past scattered all over the quarry.

This isn’t the kind of landscape I would usually photograph, and the mid-afternoon light wasn’t particularly favourable but between the sunny periods I had some defused light to work with and came away with a few photos I liked.

Dali’s Hole is a pool of some of the most vibrant turquoise water I’ve ever seen and as I stood on the edge looking across to the other side, I spotted the small waterfalls cascading down. What I particularly liked about this scene was the colour and how the grey slate, turquoise water and lime green leaves worked so well together. I lined up a composition and waited patiently for the sun to be partly obscured by the passing cloud, defusing the light enough for the photo to work.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 48mm | 1/13th Second | f/14 | ISO125

For the following two pictures, I wanted to photograph the old industrial structures in the wider landscape. I found these two derelict buildings standing alone and spent a few minutes with each working on the composition and waiting for the ideal light before taking the photos.

Weatherwise, it was interesting as there was still some lovely defused light sneaking through the gaps in the thick clouds illuminating parts of the scene but directly behind the structures I was photographing were just mountains and clouds which II really liked as I wanted to avoid blue sky in the photos to get a better sense of the mood I was trying to create.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 23mm | 1/250th Second | f/8 | ISO125

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 40mm | 1/125th Second | f/9 | ISO125

Photographing Swallow Falls

With Swallow Falls just a few minutes up the road from where we were staying in Betws-y-Coed, I popped by one morning to look at these impressive falls. With so much rain falling in the UK around the time of our trip to Wales, there was a lot of water gushing down the river and although impressive to look at, taking a good photo of the entire scene was more difficult.

However much I tried, I couldn’t make a composition work of the wider view of these falls. The light was flat and there was just too much water making it look messy and cluttered. Not to be defeated, I used my telephoto lens to zoom in on the top section of the falls where there was a bit more balance between the rocks and water and took a few intimate landscape photos.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF50-140mm | 50mm | 0.6 Seconds | f/9 | ISO125

I spent a minute or two fine-tuning the composition so that the images above and below were as balanced as they could be and with little colour in the scene, I decided these would work better in black and white. After converting them in post-production, I pushed the contrast by decreasing the exposure on the rocks and brightening up the water. I finished with some selective dodging and burning on the rocks to bring through some of the texture and on the water to tone down a few of the highlights.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF70-300mm | 206mm | 1/8th Second | f/7.1 | ISO320

For this final photo from Swallow Falls, I zoomed in all the way to 300mm to photograph this hanging branch in front of falling water. I like the colour contrast with the vibrant greens against the cooler tones of the water and with the inevitable gusts created by the falling water directly behind, I had to be patient while I waited for the leaves to stop moving before I could take the shot.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF70-300mm | 300mm | 1/5th Second | f/10 | ISO320

Before continuing with the photos I took on this trip to Snowdonia, I wanted to link to a few other on-location blog posts that tell the story and showcase the photos I took on my previous trips to Snowdonia. So, if you get to the end of this post and are still eager to see more, feel free to pop by and give these a read.

Photographing the Ogwen Valley

I’ve spent a lot of time exploring the Ogwen Valley during previous, dedicated photography trips to Snowdonia and although I didn’t spend nearly the same amount of time there this time, I did manage to fit in a quick hike up along Afon Lloer to once again photograph this classic view of Tryfan.

Although it was late spring, the weather was predictably changeable and what I remember most about that morning was how often I had to put the camera away and turn my back against the bouts of driving rain coming in from across the valley. With the camera facing the direction of the driving rain, most of the photos I took ended up with raindrops all over the lens, so I had to work quickly with the cloth to keep the glass clear and take a clean picture of this scene.

Lining up this classic composition alongside this small waterfall, I waited for Tryfan’s peak to become visible in the distant clouds and in between the constant wiping of my lens I quickly took the photo as soon as it appeared.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF10-24mm | 10mm | 1/5th Second | f/5 | ISO125

During the stay I made two early morning trips to the Ogwen Valley and on my second trip I was greeted with thick, low-level clouds and almost zero visibility which put a halt to any chance of a grand vista featuring the lakes or mountains. Instead of waiting around too long for the cloud to lift, I had a rethink and decided to drive to another location I had wanted to visit but before I left, I took a short walk up to the bridge across the Afon Idwal Falls close to the Ogwen Cottage and took this photo of the cascading water below.

With the light levels low, there was no need for any ND filters when taking this photo; in fact, I had to bump the ISO up a little to quicken the shutter speed to achieve the optimal exposure of a 1/3rd of a second to get the look I wanted in the water.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF10-24mm | 17mm | 1/3rd Second | f/6.4 | ISO400

Photographing the Roman Bridge at Penmachno

I mentioned above that with the fog so thick in the Ogwen Valley I ended up driving to another spot I had on my list and that was this beautiful location here at the old Roman bridge at Penmachno. According to articles I’ve read, the bridge was actually built in the Middle Ages (possibly the 15th century) and is not even close to being Roman but once connected an old Roman road that was part of the Cistercian Way. I had seen a few photos taken here and just like at Fairy Glen, it always looked better with leaves on the trees between spring and autumn, so after parking in a layby just a few minutes up the road, I found the path that took me down to this spot beside the Afon Machno.

Again, I was lucky that there was little wind, so I didn’t have to contend with too much movement in the trees but with a light rain falling and all the leaves wet, there was plenty of reflective light across the scene causing a lot of glare. I opted to use my CPL filter as not only did it help reduce some of the glare in the scene, but it also gave the lime-green spring leaves a slight bump in vividness. I didn’t turn the CPL all the way as it would have removed all the reflective light, leaving the scene flat and lifeless so I experimented a little before taking this final photo below.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 50mm | 0.8 Seconds | f/10 | ISO125

Photographing the Snowdon Massive at LLynnau Mymbyr

On our final night in Wales, we went for an evening hike near Capel Curig, finishing off here, beside LLynnau Mymbyr. This location offers uninterrupted views of Snowdon and offers compositions for both wide and telephoto lenses.

I’ve visited this spot before during winter but at sunrise and not sunset as in the winter months, the sun would set directly behind the distant peaks and I’m not a big fan of shooting towards the setting sun. I prefer to have it off to the side which is where it sets in the summer months. With the clouds as they were on this particular evening, there wasn’t any vivid sunset colour but there was a soft haze in the air and shortly after the sun was due to set, there were these pastel pink/blue light in the sky and with the lake almost completely flat, it was a beautiful scene to witness and of course, photograph.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF50-140mm | 72mm | 1/8th Second | f/9 | ISO125 (7 image stitched pano)

Starting off with my telephoto lens, I decided to take a stitched panoramic photo of the scene in front of me. I switched to a vertical composition and while sweeping from left to right took 7 photos which I later stitched together in post-production to create this panoramic image of the scene you can see above.

The final pano is nearly 100 megapixels and although pixel count doesn’t usually matter too much these days, in this case, the advantage of having so much resolution in a photo is that you can creatively crop it down to make additional compositions from the same image, which is what I did to make the two pictures below.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF50-140mm | 72mm | 1/8th Second | f/9 | ISO125

I love how the haze adds depth to the image, creating this layered look as the elements in the landscape become lighter as they get further away, and I’m particularly pleased that there was still enough definition around the edge of the mountains to provide a little separation between them.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF50-140mm | 72mm | 1/8th Second | f/9 | ISO125

With the light now fading fast, for the final photo below, I opted for a wider composition. I wanted to include the rocks in the foreground and although they are predominately on the right of the frame, the dark reflections of the trees on the left helped to keep the composition somewhat balanced.

With enough interest already in the scene, I opted to take a longer 6.5-second exposure to flatten those subtle ripples in the water, creating this mirror-like surface across the lake.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 18mm | 6.5 Seconds | f/8 | ISO125

Given that that wasn’t a dedicated photography trip, I’m pleased with the photos I managed to take during the week-long visit and look forward to future trips at different times of the year in the future.

If you’ve not read them already, don’t forget to visit my other on-location stories covering my previous landscape photography trips to Snowdonia by clicking the links shared earlier in this article and as ever, if you have any questions or comments, please leave a comment below or message me directly using the form on my contact page.

Until next time.
Trevor.

On Location Photographing Snowdonia Part Two

Welcome to part two of my on-location blog post featuring more photos and stories from a trip I took to Snowdonia in February 2024.

If you didn’t catch part one, I encourage you to pop over by clicking on this thumbnail so you can start from the beginning of the trip. For those of you who have already read part one, we pick things up where we left off, as I finish up beside Lynnau Mymbyr after taking one of my favourite photos of the entire trip.

I packed up my camera gear on a bit of a high, jumped in the car and made my way to the Ogwen Valley.

Photographing the Ogwen Valley and the mighty Tryfan

Parking up again just a little further down the road here, I walked to Ogwen Cottage to finally get a coffee and have a spot of lunch. It was a pleasant afternoon, not too cold with the sun making regular appearances. As I sat there, sipping my coffee, I was drawn to the scene across the road, as I could see the old boathouse basking in the sun.

Photographing the Boathouse on Llyn Ogwen

Encouraged by the success I had taking that photo of Snowdon in similar conditions back at Lynnau Mymbyr, I finished my drink and crossed the road to photograph this popular view of Llyn Ogwen.

I used a 10mm focal length for this photo to avoid chopping off the top of the tree, while still leaving some grassed area at the base of the image to create a natural frame. Ordinarily, I may have lowered the camera, making the shrubbery more of a feature in the foreground, but I wanted to keep the boathouse isolated by the lake, and if I had got any lower, the top of it would start to overlap with the mountains.

It was now close to 2pm, but with it being February, the sun was still low in the sky and the light had a subtle warmth to it. So, although the photo I took below isn’t necessarily portfolio-worthy, I’m still quite pleased with how it turned out.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF10-24mm | 10mm | 1/80th Second | f/9 | ISO125

Looking down the valley from Y Garn

Seeing the light hitting the landscape as the sun was intermittently breaking through the clouds, I decided to climb part way up Y Garn, close to a location where I took a similar photo from the previous winter. This time, I climbed 150-200 metres higher to find a better vantage point and found a great spot, offering fantastic views of the Ogwen Valley.

With low, moody clouds working their way down the valley and the sun still breaking through over my right shoulder, the landscape in front of me was a sight to behold and I wasted no time setting up the camera to photograph it. The light was warm, making the landscape glow where it fell and with the cloud just about kissing the top of Tryfan, I took another of my favourite photos from the trip.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF10-24mm | 15mm | 1/100th Second | f/8 | ISO125

The Sleeping Dragon’s Back

With the wider landscape photographed, I donned the 50-140mm lens and zoomed in tighter on Tryfan. With its vertical crags and jagged edges, this iconic Snowdonia mountain is also referred to by some as the Dragon’s Back. You can certainly see why from this angle.

Waiting patiently for the opportune moment when the clouds revealed Tryfan’s summit while illuminated by the sun, I took the two photos below at 50 and 140mm.

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Fujifilm XT5 | XF50-140mm | 50mm | 1/40th Second | f/11 | ISO125

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Fujifilm XT5 | XF50-140mm | 140mm | 1/11th Second | f/11 | ISO125

Spotting some tiny figures on top of Tryfan in the distance, I mounted my 70-300mm lens and zoomed in to take one last photo. I could see someone climbing on the trig point/platform up at the top, so I held off taking the photo until the figure was standing upright.

For illustrative purposes, I’ve shared a couple of different versions of the same photo underneath, both zoomed in to 100%, but each focusing on a different part of the frame.

Looking again at the photo I took of the view down the valley and how far away from Tryfan I was, it’s quite astonishing that I can pick out so much detail from the photo I took.

Even though the sun had gone in while I took this photo, I still cooled the image down a little more when editing it as I liked the monochromatic look it gave.

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Fujifilm XT5 | XF70-300mm | 300mm | 1/320th Second | f/6.4 | ISO125

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The rugged face of Glyder Fawr

Happy with the photos I’d taken up on the slopes of Y Garn, I made my way back down towards Llyn Idwal. As I got close to the lake, Glyder Fawr came into view and even though the light was far from ideal, the dark clouds skimming the peaks of this rugged mountain caught my eye enough for me to grab the camera one more time and take this photo.

I love the detail in the rock face, the white slither of water as it tumbled down the mountain and the dark clouds hugging the ridge as they glide past.

The most challenging aspect when taking this photo was making the scene feel balanced as the ridge continues up on the left-hand side and works its way downwards on the right. To solve this dilemma, I opted for a square crop.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 25mm | 1/30th Second | f/8 | ISO125

With there being only an hour or so of light left in the day, I wandered to my car contemplating somewhere nearby to take one last photo before heading back to the hotel for the night.

When it comes to my landscape photography, two things I admit to being are both stubborn and a creature of habit. I’m the kind of photographer that, once I decide on a photo I want, I will keep returning to a location to try to capture it. This is as true for when photographing close to home as it is during photography trips further afield such as this. So, when all of a sudden, the cloud started to clear above me and being so close to Tryfan once more, I made a snap decision to take a walk back up to the waterfall along Afon Lloer and try to get the sunset photo of Tryfan I wanted.

Well, would you believe it, the clouds continued to thin to a clear blue sky. Far from ideal conditions for the photo I wanted to take. I sat alongside the waterfall questioning the decisions I make in life knowing that once again, this photo has eluded me.

I very thin layer of high cloud did eventually make its way into the scene over towards the setting sun, which gave me a little hope, and I was able to take a nice enough photo, but I guess I’ll need to come back once more at least to try again. Every cloud and all that.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF10-24mm | 10mm | 1/25th Second | f/14 | ISO125

With what I thought was the best photo of the evening taken, I set off back to the hotel to get some much-needed food and rest as I’d be up early again on my last morning in the national park before my 5-hour drive home later that afternoon.

Photographing a misty sunrise at Lynnau Mymbyr

Waking up and heading out into the dark the next morning, I made my way back to Lynnau Mymbyr. I decided to head back to the lake as very little wind was forecast and I was hoping to photograph the lake with the Snowdon Horseshoe reflected in the water.

It was pitch black when I arrived and I couldn’t see a thing, but as the light gently increased, I got an impression that the lack of visibility wasn’t just to do with the time of day. As it turns out, there was a thick cloud of fog between the lake and the mountains in the distance.

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Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 55mm | 13 Seconds | f/10 | ISO125

Embracing the cool, pre-dawn light, I started by taking a long exposure of this tree sticking out partway across the water. Apart from the occasional car driving past me, everything was silent, and I felt a minimal-looking scene would work well and represent the feeling I had as I stood there on the edge of the lake.

Although I like the 3x2 ratio of the original photo, back at home during the edit, I went for a square crop. I feel the square provides a more balanced composition as it avoids the trees on the left creating too much visual weight.

The blanket of fog in the distance was shifting from left to right, seemingly rocking in the cradle of the valley and every now and then, Snowdon would appear in the distance for just a short while and I had to be ready to take a photo when it did.

Wanting to take a wider composition, allowing me to make a feature of the rocks in the foreground, I zoomed out and waited for the opportune time to click the shutter.

With Snowdon just about visible and the atmospheric mist across the lake, this is one of my favourite photos I took that morning.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 18mm | 1/4th Second | f/10 | ISO125

I wanted to photograph the wide vista but minimise the foreground and sky. One way I could achieve this is to choose a wider focal length and just crop the image into a panoramic. The issue with that approach is that the wider the focal length, the smaller the mountains will look in the frame.

What I tend to do in this situation is to create a stitched panoramic image using a longer focal length. This way, the mountains still retain their prominence, and I don’t have to crop the photo and essentially throw pixels away.

To get as much resolution as I could, I rotated the camera to a portrait orientation and zoomed in even further, pulling the mountains closer to me. Although this means I need to take more photos as I pan, the resulting image has a far higher resolution. I took the various photos while panning the camera from left to right, overlapping each one by around 50%. I made sure to start and finish the panoramic further to the left and right of the scene than I needed as this gave me more flexibility with the final crop back in post-production.

Taking multiple photos and stitching them together can be problematic if there’s movement in the scene, particularly in water as it can make them more difficult to line up. Thankfully, the water was still, and the clouds were moving slowly enough that Lightroom had no issues at all. After a creative crop, the resulting photo below is a respectable 115 megapixels and if I ever decide to print this photo, I’ll have no issues regardless of the size I want to make it.

It can be tricky to view panoramic photos properly when using a small phone screen. If you are using a phone to read this blog, try to view it on a larger screen or at least select the photo and rotate your screen to get a better view.

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Fujifilm XT5 | XF50-140mm | 74mm | 1/2 Second | f/11 | ISO125 (Stitched Pano)

With the telephoto lens still attached, Snowdon made its last appearance of the morning, and with the lake still offering up these fantastic reflections, I composed a landscape-oriented photo making more of a feature of the mist and mountains in the distance.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF50-140mm | 50mm | 0.6 Seconds | f/11 | ISO125

Happy with the pre-dawn photos I’d taken, I stopped to take a break and just enjoy the scene unfolding in front of me. I was hoping some colour would appear in the sky but the very subtle hint of magenta you can see in the photo above was the best it got before thicker clouds started to roll in across the mountains. That was the last time I would see the Snowdon Horseshoe that morning.

As dawn turned to day, the sun, which was now rising over my left shoulder was lighting up the hills with a beautiful orange glow, so I grabbed the camera and made a few handheld photos of the scene. Having Snowdon visible in the background would have been the icing on the cake, but it was not to be.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 20mm | 1/50th Second | f/8 | ISO125

I also took a more simplified photo of the view across the lake, removing the foreground rocks to give the image more of a mirror-like look. The subtle ripples you can see in the water “ruining” my perfect reflection was not due to wind, but the effects of some early morning swimmers over to the left of me.

Of course, I jest about it ruining my photo, as I appreciate the lake is there for us all to share. I waited a while, but more swimmers started to arrive, this time to the right of me, so, all I could do was try to take the best photo possible at the time. I still really like the results.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 19mm | 1/50th Second | f/8 | ISO125

Getting on for mid-morning, the best of the light was gone and with only a few hours left before driving home, I went back to the Ogwen Valley as there were still a couple of photos that, for one reason or another, I hadn’t yet managed to take.

Photographing Cwm Idwal and the Ogwen Falls

Once again, I parked further up the road, beside Llyn Ogwen and walked up to Llyn Idwal as I wanted to take a photo of Cwm Idwal’s fantastic natural amphitheatre. It was a composition I had taken the year before and although I was happy with it, the lack of a wide-angle lens meant that I couldn’t include enough foreground or leave enough sky above the mountains.

Next to the bridge where Llyn Idwal feeds into Afon Idwal, I placed my tripod into the shallow water and mounted my camera about a foot above the surface. I used two of my Kase filters for this photo. The first was the CPL filter which helped to remove some of the glare from the water and wet rocks. The second was my three-stop ND filter which enabled me to set a shutter speed of 1/20th of a second and smooth the water a little as it rolled over the rocks in front of me.

Right in the middle of the image, at the top of the ridge is a big crack in the rock called Twll Du (Black Hole), also known as the Devil’s Kitchen. It’s called the Devil’s Kitchen because water flows into the crack at speed and the spray it causes appears like a plume of steam rising from within the rocks. It’s said, when steam can be seen rising from the chimney, the Devil is cooking.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF10-24mm | 12mm | 1/20th Second | f/11 | ISO125

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While sitting on a rock, having a snack, I decided to send the DJI Mini 3 Pro drone up to see what the view looked like from high above Llyn Idwal. The clouds continued to hug the top of the peaks with the sun breaking through from time to time. I flew towards the Devil’s Kitchen at the back of the lake, turned the drone around and framed up this familiar view of Pen yr Ole Wen with its peak lost in a layer of clouds.

While keeping half an eye on the drone’s battery levels, I waited for what seemed like an age for the clouds to become a little more central above the mountain and once in position, I was able to take this photo of Llyn Idwal and Pen yr Ole Wen across the valley.

With the drone safely landed, I made my way down to the Ogwen Falls to take my last photo of the trip.

DJI Mini 3 Pro | 24mm (effective) | 1/6,400th Second | f/1.7 | ISO100

Dark clouds over Tryfan at the Ogwen Falls

This is a view that escaped me when I visited a year before. On that day, the skies were blue, and the light was too strong to make a photo I was happy with, so, with another opportunity to photograph the scene, I scrambled back down to take in this popular view of the Ogwen Falls with a part covered Tryfan lurking menacingly the background.

The good news is that the sky wasn’t blue, and I had some moody clouds to use to add a touch of drama, but as good as those clouds were, unfortunately, they were also blocking Tryfan’s recognisable peak. Not to be deterred, up went the tripod and out came the camera for the very last time of the trip. Once again, I used the CPL and ND filters for this photo for the same reasons as before and then I waited in the hope that Tryfan would make an appearance.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF10-24mm | 16mm | 1/5th Second | f/8 | ISO125

All I needed was a second or two to react and take the photo, but it was not to be. I even sent my drone up while I waited but still, the clouds wouldn’t release their firm grip of Tryfan’s peak.

Even with a lack of interesting light, I’m still happy with both the photos I took at this location as the dark clouds provided some contrast and mood I could work with. Tryfan’s summit never did make an appearance and after around an hour, it was time to pack up and head home.

DJI Mini 3 Pro | 24mm (effective) | 1/1,250th Second | f/1.7 | ISO100

As I embarked on the 5-hour drive home, I reflected on how I thought the trip went and what I might do differently next time. I was feeling optimistic about some of the photos I took, and it seems that optimism was well placed, as along with quite a few photos I was happy to share on this blog, I did manage to take one or two photos I especially like and may even make it into my portfolio. I’ll leave you to guess what ones they are.

When I return (and I will return), I plan to visit in Autumn as I want to capture a bit more of the Snowdonia woodland in my photos and maybe visit a few of the beautiful waterfalls found in the national park. I do have a family trip to Snowdonia planned for the end of May 2024, but it will be a busy week and I don’t expect to get too many landscape photos. I also plan to travel lighter on the next trip. I got away with it this time as I didn’t summit any mountains, but next time I plan to climb even higher to take in some new views to photograph. At the time of writing, I have already added a 16-80mm lens to my kit which means I can carry just the three, lighter lenses which will help me when I take on those more strenuous hikes.

I know these longer-form posts are not for everyone, so thanks for sticking with it and reaching the end of this rather long two-part blog post. I’m motivated to share more from my landscape photography trips, so stay tuned for more on-location blog posts soon.

Until next time,

Trevor.

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If you enjoy these longer, on-location articles, I’ve posted a few more from some of my previous trips to Wales below. All the On-Location blog posts I’ve ever written can be found here.

On Location Photographing Snowdonia Part One

Snowdonia, where rugged peaks pierce the heavens and mist-clad valleys cradle the tranquil lakes as they reflect the ever-changing drama of the sky above.

Situated in North Wales, this breathtaking national park enchants both photographers and wanderers alike. Join me as I recount my recent trip to photograph the awe-inspiring beauty of this stunning landscape.

Back in January 2023, I made my first dedicated photography trip to Snowdonia. I spent a wonderful two days photographing the mountainous landscape and had the good fortune of timing my visit while there was a blanket of snow across the higher ground. After just a short 48 hours, I could see why this location was loved by so many. The views are simply spectacular and feeling incredibly inspired by the landscape as I drove home from that trip in 2023, I knew I would be back again soon enough.

Fast forward just over a year to February 2024 and with my bag packed and a tank full of fuel, I was off once again to immerse myself in this beautifully rugged landscape, exploring the mountains with my camera and with hope, coming away with a few keepers.

With so many photos to share, I split them into two posts for easier viewing, and if you can, I recommend reading them on a larger screen to get the full benefit of the photos I’ve included. This is part one and you'll find the link to part two at the end of this post.

With the UK experiencing such a mild winter, with plenty of wind and rain, I knew I wouldn’t be lucky enough to get the wintry conditions I had the previous year, but that didn’t bother me at all. Being someone who likes a sky full of clouds and soft, defused light; my biggest fear was having two days of clear blue skies with harsh directional light across the landscape. Those more predictable conditions are perfect to hike in but certainly not for my style of photography. As you will see from the photos I’ve shared below, the weather gods were again on my side.

If you’re interested in looking at some of the photos I took on my previous trip, you can jump into that blog by selecting the thumbnail here.

A quick note about the photography gear I took with me. Overall, it was similar to what was in my camera bag back in January 2023. I still have the same Fujifilm XT5 camera, DJI Mini 3 Pro drone, Kase magnetic filters and Benro Mach3 TMA37AL tripod with the Gd3Wh geared head.

The only changes I made were the additional lenses I took this time. On my last visit, the only regrets I had in terms of the gear I took was not being able to go wider than 16mm when trying to include a stronger foreground while still leaving plenty of space in the sky above the mountains and not being able to zoom in more, extracting extra detail when photographing the distant peaks. So, alongside my XF16-55mm standard zoom and 50-140mm telephoto, I added the XF10-24 wide angle and the XF70-300mm telephoto giving me a focal range of 10mm to 300mm or in full frame terms, 16 to 450mm. The obvious downside here is the extra weight in the bag but even with all this kit in the camera bag, it was still manageable even on the more strenuous hikes.

If you want to read more about the kit I use for my landscape photography, check out my latest camera gear blog post here: My Camera Gear for Landscape Photography in 2024

Landscape photography in the Ogwen Valley

I love to explore the Ogwen Valley, and this was the first of two visits I made during the 48 hours I spent in Snowdonia. Featuring so many stunning views in a relatively small area with opportunities for both leisurely walks and strenuous hikes on offer, it's no wonder the area is so popular.

Pen yr Ole Wen from above Llyn Idwal

Arriving after my 5-hour drive from southeast England, I headed straight for the Ogwen Valley and knowing how busy the car park could get at the Ogwen Cottage, I decided to walk the extra 5-10 minutes and parked further along Llyn Ogwen at this car park where there are typically more free spaces. I grabbed a quick coffee at the cafe and started to make my way up towards Cwm Idwal.

I’m the kind of photographer who works better after a little warming up and I will often try to take a photo or two early on a trip as it helps me get into the zone faster and see potential compositions more easily.

So, after walking just a few minutes up the trail and with some moody skies above Y Garn, out came the camera to photograph the cascades from the footbridge across Afon Idwal.

Along with the camera and lens, I used two filters to take this photo, the first being my circular polariser (CPL). Although there were some dark clouds above the peaks, it was still quite bright overhead as the sun was coming in and out to the left of the frame and using the CPL helped me by removing some of the reflective light from the water and rocks.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF10-24mm | 15mm | 1/13th Second | f/8 | ISO125

Secondly, I used a 3-stop neutral density (ND) filter which allowed me to slow the shutter speed just enough to capture the movement and get the effect I wanted in the flowing water.

I’m happy with how the photo turned out and although I think I prefer this composition, I think the version I took with snow-capped peaks in the background a year before is the better of the two.

Following the trail that runs uphill alongside Afon Idwal for 10 or 15 minutes, I arrived at the banks of Llyn Idwal. From the north side of the lake, you can take in the breathtaking view of Cwm Idwal’s natural amphitheatre (you’ll see a photo of this in part two, it’s quite stunning).

With the sun to the south, behind the high ridge, Cwm Idwal was in the shade and to the north across the valley, I could see the winter light hitting the face of Pen yr Ole Wen. With the clouds kissing the peak as they passed by, I decided to head around to the south side of the lake and take a photo from there.

As I reached the other side of Llyn Idwal, I first took the lower path and found this composition below using some of the exposed jagged rocks to provide some interest in the foreground. I composed the frame so that the lake would snake in from the right, leading towards Pen yr Ole Wen and at the same time, offering some balance to the dominant rock features on the left. During this time, the clouds had started to break up a little behind me and I quite liked the dappled light hitting Pen yr Ole Wen in the distance.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF10-24mm | 17mm | 1/200th Second | f/8 | ISO125

At this stage, I was still only a few metres higher than the lake and being curious to see how the view might look from a more elevated position, I climbed the upper path towards the crack in the rocks called the Devil’s Kitchen or Twll Du (black hole) as its also known. From this spot, around 550 metres up, I could include the entire lake and the slopes on either side of the scene helped to balance the composition and frame Pen yr Ole Wen which I once again placed in the centre of the image.

As the clouds rolled in from the left-hand side, I took a few photos, some with dappled light on the mountain, but of those I took, I like this photo below the most. The cooler tones are muted, and the clouds have drama but without being too distracting. I also like how the low, misty clouds on the left hug the side of the mountain as they travel east through the valley.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF10-24mm | 21mm | 1/30th Second | f/8 | ISO125

The classic view of Tryfan from beside Afon Lloer

I get it, this view of Tryfan is probably one of the most photographed views in the Ogwen Valley and far from original, but that doesn’t matter to me in the slightest. Having tried and failed to get a photo of Tryfan I really like for a few years now, nothing was going to stop me from having another go.

One of the many things I’ve learned about photographing Snowdonia is that on a cloudy day, the weather can change significantly from one minute to the next, making the task of capturing some sunset colour even harder to predict. While heading down from Cwm Idwal I noticed the clouds were starting to thin, meaning there was a small chance of catching a sunset. Buoyed by the thought of getting that photo I’ve wanted for so long, I set off up the other side of the valley in a bid to be in the right place at the right time to get my shot of the mighty Tryfan.

There were two locations I wanted to take a photo from, both shown below. I made my way to the higher spot first, which features this old stone wall and a wooden stile. I absolutely love this composition. There is a similar, seemingly more popular composition on the other side of the stream, but I find the wall cuts across the scene more abruptly, appearing to slice the photo in half whereas, compared to this scene, the wall heads off into the distance but importantly disappears within the frame rather than leading the viewer off the edge of the photo.

As you can see, the cloud had rolled back in as I was making my way up the hill, so a sunset was looking less and less likely by the minute. I didn’t mind though; as I love the drama in the sky and although some evening light would have been great, I would take these moody clouds over a predominantly clear sky every single time.

This was hands-down my favourite photo I took that day.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF10-24mm | 11mm | 1/15th Second | f/9 | ISO125

Feeling pretty happy with the photo I’d just taken, I made my way back down the hill, stopping about halfway down next to this small waterfall to make my final photo of the day. It’s another composition I’d love to photograph with some sunset light in the sky but the best I had was a slight thinning of the cloud you can see on the right side of the image.

With the light fading fast, I hurriedly set the camera up and while experimenting with various shutter speeds, took multiple photos of this composition. After looking at the photos properly later in Lightroom, I settled on this image below taken at 1/8th second as the water was moving incredibly fast and it captures that energy perfectly.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF10-24mm | 10mm | 1/8th Second | f/8 | ISO125

As I mentioned before the weather can change quickly in the mountains, so, being somewhat overly optimistic, I hung around for a short while after sunset just in case a gap in the clouds appeared. Alas, it was not to be, so I packed up my gear and walked back to the car.

Photographing the Nant Gwynant Valley

Waking up the next morning, I set off before sunrise towards the Nant Gwynant Valley, a location I’d tried and failed to photograph the year before. Parking my car here, instead of heading to the usual roadside viewpoint most people go to, I crossed the road, went through the gate and climbed around 300m to a spot I believe offers a much better view of the lakes and valley below.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF70-300mm | 70mm | 1/25th Second | f/9 | ISO125

I arrived on location around 30 minutes before sunrise and as the landscape started to appear in front of me, I got a slight feeling of déjà vu and not in a good way! Rain was in the air; visibility was poor and there was no sign of any useful light appearing. Part of me wondered if I had wasted another sunrise up this hill.

With the daylight starting to brighten up the snow-capped Snowdon range across the valley, I mounted the 70-300mm telephoto lens for the first time on this trip and took some photos of the peaks as they momentarily appeared between gaps in the low-lying clouds. Being drawn to the textures created by the snow and rocks, the two below with a monochromatic pencil sketch look are my favourites from the set.

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Fujifilm XT5 | XF70-300mm | 300mm | 1/20th Second | f/9 | ISO125

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Fujifilm XT5 | XF70-300mm | 198mm | 1/30th Second | f/9 | ISO125

Turning my attention back to the view down the valley, Llyn Gwynant and the area around it was still looking a bit hazy and subdued so I decided it was time to get the drone up and fly it around the valley to see what the view looked like from up high.

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Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 39mm | 1/60th Second | f/7.1 | ISO125

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DJI Mini 3 Pro | 24mm (effective) | 1/1,250th Second | f/1.7 | ISO100

While flying the drone and enjoying the views, the sun started to rise higher in the sky, illuminating the far side of the valley, and making for some interesting contrast between the light and shadow areas. Of the handful of photos I took while flying the drone, the two images above and below are those I kept.

DJI Mini 3 Pro | 24mm (effective) | 1/2,500th Second | f/1.7 | ISO100

With the drone still high above me, I noticed the sun was lighting up the far side of the valley. Llyn Gwynant was like a mirror and some low-lying clouds were working their way up the valley. Although there was still plenty of haze in the air, I was sure there was a photo to be had here.

As I landed the drone, the low-lying clouds were starting to surround the lake and with more of the scene basking in that glorious light, I managed to take my favourite photo of the morning. If I were being super picky, some of the higher peaks would be visible and not blocked by the clouds but I couldn’t wait for them to appear as the clouds around the lake were moving through the scene quickly and would have soon been out of the frame.

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Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 40mm | 1/125th Second | f/7.1 | ISO125

Photographing reflections at Llyn Gwynant

While standing high above Llyn Gwynant, I couldn’t help but notice the mirror-like reflections on its surface. With my photo of the lake from this vantage point in the bag, I made my way back down the hill to the car and drove to the banks of Llyn Gwynant hoping to photograph some of those gorgeous reflections.

Thankfully, the winds held off for a while longer, allowing me the time to get into position beside the water and from this spot, the reflections looked even better! I was over the moon with the photos I took and have shared two of them below. With a bit more drama in the sky and the top of (I think) Bylchau Terfyn subtly peeking through the clouds on the right, I prefer the first photo.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 29mm | 1/60th Second | f/10 | ISO125

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Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 21mm | 1/50th Second | f/10 | ISO125

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Once I was finished taking photos with the Fujifilm XT5, I sent the drone up again to see how the lake looked from the air. Thicker clouds had now rolled in over to the south, but as the sun was still casting its light over the scene from the east, it created a nice contrast between the darker clouds and the illuminated landscape.

DJI Mini 3 Pro | 24mm (effective) | 1/5000th Second | f/1.7 | ISO100

The Snowdon Range from across Lynnau Mymbyr

By now, it was getting close to midday and with the sun out, high up in the sky, these were not normally conditions I liked to photograph in. I packed up my gear and set off to find a place to grab a coffee. I didn’t make it far. As I drove towards Capel Curig, I parked up here to spend a few minutes beside Lynnau Mymbyr. I wasn’t particularly hopeful and only intended to stop momentarily to take in the view of the Snowdon Range from across the lake, but as I arrived, I got the feeling there might be a photo or two to be had here after all.

The wind had picked up just a bit, but in between gusts, the ripples settled down and the reflections on the lake were revealed. I started with the XF50-140 telephoto lens and took the slightly wider landscape image shown below. The clouds were hugging the peaks in the distance but above me, there were clear blue skies, and with the light a bit strong for my liking, I took this photo intending to illustrate the view I was witnessing rather than to bag a portfolio-worthy image.

That being said, I do like the photo. The reflections aren’t perfect, but still pretty good and I particularly like how the white clouds mimic the shapes of the mountains underneath. I’m not sure if that’s just a coincidence or if it’s the result of the clouds passing over, following the shape of the mountains.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF50-140mm | 61mm | 1/40th Second | f/11 | ISO125

Zooming into the landscape a little more, I wanted to make more of a feature of the Snowdon peaks and reflections in the water, while at the same time removing some of that blue sky from the frame.

There’s quite a lot going on in this composition, with the diagonal lines, the symmetry created by the reflections and the central positioning of the mountain peaks.

While composing the image, I felt a square crop worked best as it helped balance these elements better. With a wider, landscape aspect ratio, it was too heavy on the right of the frame and going with the square helped me to eliminate parts of the scene I either found distracting or didn’t add anything to the overall image.

Given the time of day this photo was taken, I’m surprised how much I like it, as I wouldn’t typically consider getting the camera out in the middle of the day with the sun so high in the sky, casting such strong light on the landscape. I guess it proves that if you keep an open mind, there is always an opportunity for a photo, regardless of the conditions.

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Fujifilm XT5 | XF50-140mm | 80mm | 1/40th Second | f/11 | ISO125

Photographing Yr Wyddfa

With Snowdon’s peak appearing now and then from behind the clouds, I mounted my 70-300mm lens onto the camera and zoomed right in to get a detailed photo of this much-loved mountain. Having to punch through so much atmosphere between my camera and subject, there was a lot of haze and the scene lacked clarity, so I used my CPL filter which helped bring some of the definition back.

I waited patiently, ready to press the shutter the moment Snowdon reappeared into view and after a few minutes, I got a brief glimpse and fired the shutter. As fast as Snowdon revealed itself, it was gone again and with so much cloud lingering above the mountains, there was no telling when it might reappear. No matter, I had the photo I wanted and after editing it back in Lightroom, It’s now one of my favourite photos of the entire trip.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF70-300mm | 300mm | 1/100th Second | f/11 | ISO125

There is so much detail in the photo. The XF70-300mm is not considered one of Fujifilm’s high-end lenses but it certainly delivered for me. The photo was nice and sharp and to get a real sense of the detail I was able to capture, I’ve also posted a cropped version of the same image below. The original is around 40 megapixels, and the one below has been cropped to around 6 megapixels.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF70-300mm | 300mm (significant crop) | 1/100th Second | f/11 | ISO125

How cool does that look? The detail is amazing! You can see the tiny figures of people who have climbed Snowdon and are now lining up to have their moment standing on its famous summit. It is bonkers what I can photograph with a range of 10mm to 300mm on the Fujifilm’s cropped sensor.

That’s it for part one of this on-location blog post. You can read part two by clicking on the thumbnail here to read how I got on during the second half of my trip.

Walking a Winter Woods

What a wet and windy winter it’s been for us here in the southeast of England. Minimal frost, no snow at all and what seemed to be day after day of high winds and rain. Another example of global warming or just a milder winter? Probably both, but for someone who enjoys mild, uneventful conditions to photograph woodland, it means I’ve spent very little time photographing my local forest recently. Sure, I miss it, but on the bright side, it means I have spent a bit more time in London, photographing the cityscape and working on my Timeless City project. So, not too bad really. That’s the good thing about having more than one photographic interest; when conditions aren’t ideal for one subject, I can still find something to photograph that interests me. I may not like photographing the woodland in high winds and rain, but I’m happy to put a raincoat on and take some moody urban cityscapes in London.

Between the long periods of inclement weather, there has (thankfully) been one or two brief interludes where the weather has been calm with conditions more to my liking, and just one or two coincided with my availability to head out into the forest with my camera. So, in the spirit of publishing more pictures from my adventures and avoiding those pesky social media algorithms, here’s a new bite-sized, on-location blog post featuring some of the photos I took on one of those rare winter woodland walks.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 44mm | 4 Seconds | f/7.1 | ISO125

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 41mm | 3 Seconds | f/7.1 | ISO125

This trip to the forest took place in December last year, a time when the last of the autumn leaves were just about clinging on. It was cold, misty and frost was underfoot outside the woodland on the open heath. The first two compositions above were quite new to me, only spotted in the weeks leading up to this morning and with the arrangement, the soft defused light and uncluttered background, I think they work well in these conditions.

No trip to this part of the forest would be complete without a visit to an old friend or two. So, while exploring the forest, I wandered over to this woodland character I first met in the spring. I love the way the tree seems to be posing for the photo, anthropomorphically spreading its arms wide towards the camera in readiness to have its picture taken.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 26mm | 1/2 Second | f/7.1 | ISO125

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 49mm | 0.8 Seconds | f/7.1 | ISO125

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 55mm | 0.8 Seconds | f/7.1 | ISO125

You may have noticed most of the photos in this article are square and that’s because, over the last 12-18 months, I’ve become a little obsessed with using this aspect ratio. Truth be told, I’m still working out the finer details as to why this is as it has been more of an instinctive change in my compositional approach to my landscape, woodland and cityscape photography. I touch on this a little in my recent Timeless City introductory post, but when I’ve given it a bit more thought, I plan to write about it in a future article, so if that’s of any interest to you, do keep an eye out for it.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 55mm | 0.6 Seconds | f/7.1 | ISO125

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 21mm | 1.2 Second | f/9 | ISO125

Finishing off my woodland walk, I started to walk back to the car park, stopping off briefly to take this photo below of a young, frosty birch sapling. Ordinarily, it’s a bit of a messy composition, but the subdued tones and misty background help keep the focus on the tree. Along with the subject, I like the colour pallet in the scene, particularly the frosty orange leaves and ferns set against the cooler ice and mist. A pleasant photo in my opinion.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 28mm | 1/10th Second | f/9 | ISO125

At the time of writing, spring is fast approaching, so unless we get a late flurry of frosty weather here in the south of England, the next on-location woodland blog post will be jam-packed with lush spring greens, flowery meadows, surrounded by mist and basking in soft, defused light.

Well, we must remain optimistic, right?

Until next time.
Trevor

Sunrise in the City

Continuing my mission to upload more of the photos I take to this website without feeling pressure to write long-form, location-based stories or update my portfolio after every trip, here is another on-location jaunt where I took a stroll with my camera along the Thames at sunrise.

Arriving in the nick of time off the train, I started off just a little west of Tower Bridge on the south side of the river. A composition I’d not yet photographed at this time of day and with the blue hour making way for the pre-sunrise glow, I wasted no time getting the camera out to take the photo. It took a minute or two to fine-tune the composition, making sure Tower Bridge was nicely centred between the lights above and the wall below. With the composition looking as balanced as it could be, I took the photo.

With the help of my ND filter (I forget which one), I opted for a 15-second exposure. This was because there were one or two early morning runners on the walkway and by opening the shutter for 15 seconds, it rendered them invisible in the frame. This is a great tip for when photographing places with people and you want them to magically disappear from the photo.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 16mm | 15 Seconds | f/9 | ISO125

Talking of quick tips, here’s another for anyone looking to photograph the city with a tripod, particularly in this area between London Bridge and Tower Bridge. Get it done fast! It doesn’t matter if you are the only one out there, the tripod police are always on the hunt, ready to pounce the minute they hear the telltale sound of a tripod leg being extended. That’s exactly what happened as I was taking the photo above. Luckily for me, I know it to be a hot spot for being told off for using a tripod, so I composed the photos, locked in a few settings and only then did I extend the tripod, mount the camera and click the shutter. I had around 3 or 4 minutes of photo-taking joy before the inevitable chap in a reflective jacket headed my way.

To be fair, whether you agree or not (obviously I do not), it’s private property and those are the rules. If the security guards come and ask me to put the tripod away, I know they are just doing their job and are usually polite enough. Deep down, they probably don’t see what the big deal is either, but I don’t cause a fuss and just pack up and move on. I can always return another time.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 16mm | 2.5 Seconds | f/13 | ISO125

Moving on and with a little pre-sunrise magenta still lingering in the sky, I stopped by a spot I’ve photographed many times featuring this view of HMS Belfast with Tower Bridge and the Tower of London visible in the background.

The photo above is probably my favourite I’ve taken at this location. I love a blue-hour cityscape, but the pink light hitting the clouds and reflecting on the water added something extra to this image.

After taking in the last of that pre-sunrise colour, some thicker cloud passed through taking all the nice light and colour with it. I decided to hang around for a while and wait for the cloud to move, with the hope that some golden morning light might still make it through. As you can see by the photos below, that’s exactly what happened.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF10-24mm | 14mm | 1/80th Second | f/10 | ISO125

Fujifilm XT5 | XF10-24mm | 10mm | 1.3 Seconds | f/10 | ISO125

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 16mm | 1/1000th Second | f/6.4 | ISO125

The photo above of HMS Belfast using the railings and roof to create a framed composition is one I haven’t personally seen before and although it’s probably been taken a thousand times before, it was new to me. Finding previously unseen compositions of London’s cityscape is always difficult and on the rare occasions it does happen, it always gives me a buzz.

With the light getting increasingly stronger and more contrast appearing in the scene, I started to take photos to process them for my Timeless City project. While editing these as black-and-white photos back in post-production, I couldn’t ignore how good they looked in all that glorious golden light, so I also decided to process them in colour.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 16mm | 1/1000th Second | f/6.4 | ISO125

Walking across London Bridge, I took a few photos looking east along the Thames, directly towards Tower Bridge and the rising sun. The dynamic range in the scene was through the roof, and I had to let go of some of the cloud details in the brightest areas around the sun to preserve some of the shadow details in the scene.

Even though this is a well-photographed view, taking the photos in these conditions, in this light and processing them my way makes them unique to me.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF10-24mm | 10mm | 1/40th Second | f/11 | ISO125

While the sun rose higher into the sky, I made my way to the opposite side of the river to get a view of The Shard across the water and take my final photo of the morning.

Back of the camera shot with an iPhone

This composition from between two buildings and The Shard in the centre has captured my attention lately and I have visited it a few times to photograph it in different conditions. I have, in my mind’s eye two particular images which I know are possible in the right conditions, so being the person I am, I have returned time and again to take them before I feel I can move on with my life. It’s becoming an obsession!

It may well be the increased use of the square format, but I’ve fallen for the central composition recently, and with lines around the edge of this frame, leading into the centre, towards The Shard, this composition works for me. In this picture, I like the soft light illuminating the city across the river and the natural vignette created by the shadows in the alley.

That’s it for this on-location post. What do you think of these bite-sized blogs? Do you like them and want to see more?

As I mentioned, I like to write them as they enable me to share a few more of my photos without depending on the social media algorithm, and I can display and talk about them in a way that suits me.

If you have any feedback, please do leave a comment or get in touch here.

Until next time.
Trevor

Photographing autumn colour with the Fujifilm XF50-140mm lens

Late last year, toward the end of November (2023), I popped out to the forest to photograph what was left of the autumn colours. Only having a couple of hours to spare that morning and deciding to travel light….(ish). I took just my Fujifilm XT5 camera, the XF 50-140mm f2.8 lens and my tripod. Everything else was left in the car. Don’t worry, this blog isn’t a lens review, but more of an acknowledgement of the single camera and lens combo I used for all the photos during this little photography jaunt.

I arrived before sunrise and whenever I start from this area of the forest, I’ll typically head to my favourite viewpoint with a coffee to watch the sunrise and witness the landscape appear in front of me. It was a cloudy day, but for a short period before sunrise, there was a thin mist in the air, providing a touch of atmosphere across the landscape. So, taking advantage of the cooler, pre-sunrise tones, I took this photo of the undulating landscape below.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF50-140mm | 59mm | 1.3 Seconds | f/10 | ISO125

As the light levels increased and the mist withdrew into the distance, I photographed the same scene, but this time with the colours in the foreground looking warmer and more autumnal. Wanting to take in the wider landscape and being restricted to a minimum focal length of 50mm, I decided to take a stitched panoramic image. The advantage of doing it this way is that I can switch to a portrait orientation and zoom in further to bring the foreground even closer, making it appear larger in the picture. If I tried the same with a single shot on a wider lens, then I would have a huge foreground, tons of sky and a small slither of trees in the middle.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF50-140mm | 77mm | 0.6 Seconds | f/10 | ISO125

The other benefit of taking a stitched panoramic with 7 or 8 40-megapixel images is that you end up with a super-high resolution file. The panorama above is a whopping 157 megapixels and with so much resolution to play with, I was able to create another version of the image by just cropping it down to a 3:2 aspect ratio. The cropped photo below is still over 70 megapixels. Thats nearly double the resolution of my camera!

Fujifilm XT5 | XF50-140mm | 77mm | 0.6 Seconds | f/10 | ISO125

Before heading off into the woods and being drawn to how the brighter birch trees looked against the darker trees along the woodland’s edge, I took advantage of having the telephoto lens and zoomed right into 140mm and took some close-up photos of the woodland’s edge.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF50-140mm | 140mm | 2 Seconds | f/10 | ISO125

Fujifilm XT5 | XF50-140mm | 140mm | 0.5 Seconds | f/10 | ISO125

By this time, I had probably been in the same spot for around an hour, so, I decided to stretch my legs and head into the forest to have a little explore. Having just the 50-140mm lens with me, I focused on taking pictures of more intimate scenes, including just parts of the trees and cutting out any sky from the frame.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF50-140mm | 111mm | 0.6 Seconds | f/10 | ISO125

Fujifilm XT5 | XF50-140mm | 52mm | 0.8 Seconds | f/10 | ISO125

Fujifilm XT5 | XF50-140mm | 50mm | 1/5th Second | f/9 | ISO125

Fujifilm XT5 | XF50-140mm | 140mm | 1/8th Second | f/9 | ISO125

On the face of it, having one lens can appear restricting, but while out in the field with my camera, it didn’t feel like that at all. It felt a little liberating in fact. There was no decision needed as to what lens to use, no faffing with gear and certainly less weight. It helped me to focus my mind and see in a specific way, resulting in me coming away from the shoot with a few photos I’m pleased with.

I hope you enjoyed this bite sized on-location post. In a bid to get more of my photos up on my website, look out for more like this throughout 2024.

Until next time.

Trevor

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.

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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

Get To Know Your Local Woodland

Back in March, I published a blog post listing ten tips that can help photographers take better woodland images, and tip number 8 suggested that everyone should get to know their local woodlands.

You can read all ten tips here, but here is an excerpt of tip number 8: When heading to new locations or those you can’t visit as often as you like, luck can play a huge part in taking portfolio-worthy pictures as you might not get the best light, or you might not know the best time of day/year to photograph that particular location. Having a local woodland only a short walk or drive from where you live means you remove the need for some of that luck as you can keep returning until the conditions are right. If you live close enough, you can afford to be reactive to the weather conditions and as soon as the fog comes in, you can grab the camera and head out!

Well, this is exactly what I did just a couple of weeks ago. Due to other commitments, I had no intention of heading out on this particular morning but for some reason, I decided to check the weather the night before and noticed some light fog predicted around my area. When foggy or misty conditions are forecast, we photographers flock to the woodland like bees to honey as the soft, defused light can add depth and atmosphere to a scene, while at the same time help declutter the composition, providing a sense of space and room for the subject to breathe. This can result in some quite stunning woodland photos.

So, I had great conditions predicted but limited time to get out and shoot. What to do? This is where having good knowledge of the woodland and a list of previously scouted compositions comes in incredibly handy. Instead of heading out and rushing around in search of a composition and potentially coming away with a couple of hastily taken, average-looking photos, I was able to enjoy the little time I had, taking a leisurely stroll between locations knowing exactly where to set up and how to get the best composition of each tree.

An hour or so after arriving, I was back in the car, confident that I had a few keepers on my card and grateful for the time I had spent on previous visits scouting this local woodland.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 24mm | 7 Seconds | f/9 | ISO125

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 27mm | 1.3 Seconds | f/9 | ISO125

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 28mm | 2.5 Seconds | f/9 | ISO125

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 27mm | 2 Seconds | f/9 | ISO125

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 35mm | 1/10th Second | f/7.1 | ISO400

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 44mm | 1/6th Second | f/8 | ISO200

Until next time,

Trevor

On Location Photographing a Foggy Spring Woodland

It’s always a bonus when out photographing woodland to have foggy conditions and that’s precisely what I had back in April, just before the spring growth arrived. I spent a couple of fantastic hours with my camera that morning and you can see some of the photos I took on my previous blog post On Location Photographing a foggy winter woodland.

Fast forward just a few weeks later and the forest had transformed from cold and colourless, to vibrant and very, very green. The colour of the new leaves was almost luminous and whereas it’s not a woodland known for having an abundance of bluebells, there were pockets of them all over the place. As luck would have it, on the day I chose to revisit the forest to photograph its fresh spring colours, I was again gifted with glorious foggy conditions. Lucky me!!

For this trip into the woodland, I used my standard landscape photography gear (which you can read all about here), which includes the fantastic Kase Magnetic filters. The Circular Polariser was particularly useful to add a touch of clarity and reduce a little reflective light from the foliage.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 31mm | 10 Seconds | f/9 | ISO125

Just a quick note on this character above. This was our first encounter. Set back from the path I usually tread and only a few minutes into the walk, something told me to climb the small bank to my right and take a look around. I’m glad I did. By veering off the beaten track, I’ve now found a new woodland character that, without a doubt, I’ll be visiting time and again with my camera in different conditions.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 55mm | 1 Seconds | f/9 | ISO125

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 41mm | 1 Seconds | f/9 | ISO125

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 44mm | 1 Seconds | f/9 | ISO125

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 40mm | 0.6 Seconds | f/9 | ISO125

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 31mm | 0.4 Seconds | f/9 | ISO125

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 55mm | 1/3rd Second | f/9 | ISO125

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 41mm | 1 Seconds | f/9 | ISO125

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 30mm | 1/2 Second | f/9 | ISO125

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 41mm | 1/3rd Second | f/9 | ISO125

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 16mm | 1/2 Second | f/9 | ISO125

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 31mm | 0.4 Seconds | f/9 | ISO125

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 24mm | 0.4 Seconds | f/9 | ISO125

Until next time.

Trevor

On Location Photographing a foggy winter woodland

What is the fascination many photographers have with a foggy woodland?

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 51mm | 0.4 Seconds | f/7.1 | ISO125

I’ll try to answer.

Along with simplifying and adding a sense of depth to a composition, nothing brings a sense of mood and atmosphere to a woodland like some mist or fog. Along with softer edges and textures, the diffused light falling on the trees creates an ethereal atmosphere and a sense of mystery in the photos and being drawn to lower contrast scenes in general, the resulting look and feel it can create appeals to my taste and style.

Like a lot of landscape photographers, as soon as the weather app shows even a tiny chance of fog in my local area, I’m immediately planning an early morning trip to one of the woodlands I like to photograph, keeping my fingers firmly crossed that any fog predicted comes to fruition.

So, back in April 2023, when all my weather apps were aligned and fog was predicted for the next morning, I packed my bag and set the alarm.

In my bag was my Fujifilm XT5 and both my XF16-55mm and XF50-140 lenses but during the shoot, I stuck with the standard zoom and the telephoto remained in the bag for the entire shoot.

Thankfully, on this occasion, the predictions were right and there was thick fog throughout the woodland. I decided to concentrate on just a small section of the woodland and in the two or so hours I was there, I must have only walked two or three hundred yards.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 25mm | 1.3 Seconds | f/7.1 | ISO125

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 31mm | 1.3 Seconds | f/7.1 | ISO125

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 47mm | 0.5 Seconds | f/7.1 | ISO125

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 47mm | 0.4 Seconds | f/7.1 | ISO125

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 39mm | 0.4 Seconds | f/7.1 | ISO125

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 38mm | 1/3 Second | f/7.1 | ISO125

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm | 19mm | 0.6 Seconds | f/7.1 | ISO125

I hope you like the photos.

Until next time.

Trevor

On Location | Photographing a Wintry Snowdonia

Ever since taking up landscape photos, I’ve been fascinated by the Welsh landscape. From the beautiful waterfall country in the south to the rugged, mountainous terrain in the north, but as I am based down in the Southeast of England, I’m a good 3 hour’s drive from the Welsh border and even further from the likes of the Brecon Beacons or Snowdonia in the north. This means heading there for a sunrise shoot or even just for an entire day is tricky as the round trip alone would take half a day. To make a trip worthwhile, it really needs to be at least 24 hours and even better, 48.

Starting off in The Brecon Beacons in 2021, I’ve since made a couple of trips to photograph the amazing waterfalls on offer but in January this year (2023), I drove further north to spend 48 hours photographing the more dramatic landscape in Snowdonia.

Although I had a few locations in mind, I wanted to focus most of my attention in and around the Ogwen Valley, so I booked an inexpensive hotel close by and set off for Wales.

With some inevitable hills to climb, I needed to strike a balance between having the right gear with me and keeping the weight manageable, I packed my Fujifilm XT5 body and two lenses, the 16-55mm standard zoom and 50-140mm telephoto.

With the scenery on offer, there was no way I would be travelling without the drone, so in the bag that went along with my Kase filters, batteries, memory cards and head torch.

Although a little on the heavy side, I took my Benro tripod and geared head as I wasn’t sure how windy it might get up on the mountains and wanted to ensure I had a good, stable tripod to work with.

For more detail about what I carry in my camera bag, check out my latest “What’s in my camera bag?” blog post.

Heading off first thing on Friday and arriving in the national park later that afternoon to a beautiful snowy landscape and clear blue skies, I spent the first few hours getting to know the area around the Ogwen Valley, scouting a few locations for when the light would hopefully improve. Typically, when in an environment I know well and the light doesn’t lend itself to photographing the wider landscape I will focus my attention on smaller scenes and take more intimate landscape photos, but when in a new landscape, especially those as beautiful and dramatic as this, I often get distracted and just end up wandering around in awe of my surroundings.

Photographing Tryfan from across the Ogwen Valley

Being the middle of winter, the sun started to dip quite quickly so I made my way up to the first location I had planned, which was this classic view of Tryfan and Llyn Ogwen. Back in June 2022, I spent a week in Snowdonia with some family and friends and while there, managed to fit in a couple of landscape photography shoots. One of the locations I went to back then was here, to photograph the same view of Tryfan from across the valley.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm F2.8 | 16mm | 1/5th Second | f/16 | ISO125

There is a popular composition up on the edge of Pen yr Ole Wen which features a stone wall and stile. The one I’ve seen plenty of is to the right of the stream (as you’re looking back down the slope) but in that composition, the wall seems to cut a horizontal line straight through the middle of the scene which I find quite distracting. Instead, along the same wall, on the other side of Afon Lloer, there is another Stile, but this time the wall comes into the frame from the left and leads the eye a little further into the scene and at this time of year, straight towards the setting sun.

It took a bit longer than I planned to climb as the higher I went, the deeper the snow got so I had to take it slow, being careful not to lose my foot in a snow-covered gap between the rocks. When I did finally arrive, the sky hadn’t improved at all, so I positioned my camera ready to capture the sun just as it dipped behind the horizon and managed to photograph the picture above featuring a small sunburst before the sun disappeared for good, leaving a beautiful landscape but a rather uninteresting sky.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm F2.8 | 16mm | 1/60th Second | f/9 | ISO125

Happy with the sunburst image at least and with the sun now behind Cwm Idwal across the valley, I decided to make my way down the mountain, following Afon Lloer to the same spot I photographed back in June. I like this position on the hillside as I’m able to use the small waterfall in the foreground to help build a stronger composition and although the partially snow-covered ground made for a messier landscape than I would have liked, there was still a shot to be had. Being careful not to slip into the water, I set my tripod as low as I could and framed up a composition.

By this time, some high-level clouds had drifted in and although the sun had already set, there was a lovely post-sunset glow emanating from behind Cwm Idwal, so with the light levels dropping fast and not wanting to miss the opportunity, I clicked the shutter and bagged this photo below.

This is the first of two times I found my 16-55mm lens just a bit tight and could have done with a slightly wider focal length to include a bit more foreground and a little more sky but overall, I’m pleased with the picture I took.

With the best of the light now gone, I made my way back down the hill to the car and headed for my hotel.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm F2.8 | 16mm | 1/4 Second | f/5 | ISO125

Photographing Snowdon from Lynnau Mymbyr

Fast forward to the next morning and my only full day of the trip, I decided to drive the short distance to Lynnau Mymbyr to photograph the well-known view of Snowdon’s horseshoe from across the lake. With very little wind and the potential for nice light, my hope was for a calm lake with plenty of reflections to play with but as it got lighter, it became clear that the lake was completely frozen over. This may not have been what I had hoped for but at least the surface was still, meaning there were at least some reflections to play with.

As the blue hour started to creep in, the cool tones that draped across the landscape were simply stunning and the snow-covered peaks were illuminated by the early light, helping them to stand out in the distance. Taking a few minutes to find a composition, I found this spot here behind some rocks which I could use to provide some interest in the foreground and with the tripod resting on top of the lake’s frozen surface, it was time to take my first picture of the day.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm F2.8 | 18mm | 2 Seconds | f/8 | ISO125

Starting with the wider composition above and using the rocks to build a stronger composition, I tried to create as much symmetry as I could using the banks on either side and adjusting the height of the tripod to allow plenty of space between the layers of rocks, reflections and background but still staying as close to those rocks as I could, I managed to take one of my favourite photos from the trip.

To make a real feature of Snowdon’s horseshoe, still using the 16-55mm lens, I zoomed in to around 42mm and with a 2:1 crop, I took this blue hour pano of the frozen lake and snowy mountains. The great thing about my new Fujifilm XT5 camera is that I now have 40MP to play with and even after cropping this image to a 2:1 ratio, the resulting image is still 28MP. That’s plenty of resolution for creating reasonably large prints and still more than my old 24MP XT2.

View fullsize

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm F2.8 | 43mm | 1.3 Seconds | f/8 | ISO125

As the blue hour faded and the pre-sunrise light started to get more intense, the sky became awash with these wonderful pastel pink colours. Being from the Southeast of England, our landscapes are nowhere near as impressive as those in Snowdonia, so for me, I was simply in awe of the scene and the conditions I was witnessing.

Like with my first blue hour picture above, I switched back to a wider focal length and captured the image below and all its wonderful pastel pink colours reflecting from the lake’s frozen surface.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm F2.8 | 17mm | 1/3rd Second | f/8 | ISO125

For the picture below, I decided to make it a multi-image panoramic. As the vivid pinks started to fade, I switched to the 50-140mm telephoto lens and zoomed in to around 70mm. With my tripod and camera completely level, I swept the camera from left to right taking pictures along the way which I stitched together later in Lightroom to produce this close-up 3:1 panoramic of the Snowdon peaks basking in the warm sunrise light.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF50-140mm F2.8 | 72mm | 1/15th Second | f/8 | ISO125

With the 50-140mm lens still attached, for my final picture of the morning, I zoomed in to 106mm to pick out a much tighter wintry composition of Snowdon’s snow-covered peak (the one on the left). with the beautiful pink clouds above. What I like about this image (apart from the light and colour), is the repeating horizontal and diagonal lines you can see through the scene which provide some interesting repeating patterns while adding a sense of depth at the same time.

After the best of the light was gone, off I went to my next location.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF50-140mm F2.8 | 106mm | 1/13th Second | f/8 | ISO125

Photographing the Ogwen Valley with my drone

After a fantastic and successful morning photographing Snowdon, I headed back to the Ogwen Valley. By the time I had found somewhere to park and refuelled with some food and a coffee, it was getting close to midday. Although I had flown my drone a little that morning, I didn’t manage to take any good photos with it, so I sent it up again to see what I could see.

I parked just west of Llyn Ogwen, along a small country road and flew the drone up and around this area of the valley.

With Tryfan over in the background, I focused my attention on the contrasting landscape with snow-covered hills to the right and a greener, exposed landscape to the left. On top of this, there were sunlit areas with dappled light across the landscape adding more interest to the scene.

I admit, the sky wasn’t great, but given the time of day, I’m still pretty happy with how they look.

DJI Mavic Mini 3 | 24mm (effective) | 1/4,000th Second | f/1.7 | ISO100

I spent 30 minutes to an hour flying around the valley and from this flight, the picture below is probably my favourite. I like that there is more of the snowy landscape in the frame and the transition in the foreground where the snow stops, giving way to the ground underneath. This transition creates a subtle lead-in line towards Llyn Ogwen and further through the valley to Tryfan.

On the right-hand side of the picture, you can see the reflective surface of Llyn Idwal and that’s where I’m heading next.

DJI Mavic Mini 3 | 24mm (effective) | 1/6,400th Second | f/1.7 | ISO100

DJI Mavic Mini 3 | 24mm (effective) | 1/1,000th Second | f/1.7 | ISO100

DJI Mavic Mini 3 | 24mm (effective) | 1/6,400th Second | f/1.7 | ISO100

By this point, it was mid-afternoon and with sunset around 4:30-5pm, I started to slowly make my way to my final spot of the day which was part way up Y Garn. To get there, I first needed to get to Llyn Idwal. Once there, I spent a while looking for some interesting compositions of the lake but there was a small problem. Although the scenery was absolutely stunning, the frozen lake had lots of broken ice spread across its surface. I assume from people throwing it on to see if they could break the surface. This meant any attempt to capture the clean reflections in the ice from the edge of the lake would be thwarted by the inclusion of lots of broken pieces of ice. So, after trying and failing to take a picture from ground level, up went the Mini 3 Pro once again to see what I could see from the air.

DJI Mavic Mini 3 | 24mm (effective) | 1/6,400th Second | f/1.7 | ISO100

While flying above Llyn Idwal, I took a few pictures, including these two panoramas. The first (above) was taken from just a few feet above the lake, away from the banks and the messy ice, and by keeping the drone low, I could make the most of those fantastic reflections across the lake’s icy surface. Without the drone, this shot would have been impossible, so this alone made the inclusion of it in my bag 100% worthwhile.

The second pano (below) was taken from much higher and further back from Llyn Idwal to get more of the scene in the frame. I wanted to capture the contrast between the dark water and the brighter, snow-covered scenery. While processing the image, I did consider cropping out the green valley floor on the right, but I like the added interest and with the mountain range falling away towards the right-hand side, the colour contrast adds a touch of visual weight and balance.

For both drone panoramic photos, I rotated the DJI’s camera to a vertical orientation to get more foreground and sky in the frame. I then swept the camera from left to right, turning the drone on its axis and taking overlapping images as I went. I simply stitched the images together later in Lightroom.

DJI Mavic Mini 3 | 24mm (effective) | 1/8,00th Second | f/1.7 | ISO100

Photographing the view from Y Garn

Finishing up with the drone, I carried on past Llyn Idwal and part way up Y Garn. Although I had appropriate clothing on to photograph in the snowy mountains, I didn’t have hiking sticks or shoe grips and due to the conditions, such as hardened snow and Ice, I decided not to push my luck too much and climbed only part way up, stopping just before the incline became too slippery for spikeless walking boots. I wasn’t overly concerned about not climbing higher because my main intention was to capture this panoramic view of Llyn Idwal and Llyn Ogwen down in the valley.

Once high enough, I found a useful plateau to shoot from. With it getting late on this midwinter’s day, I knew this would be my last opportunity to take photos so with plenty of layers on I settled in for the hour or so I would be up there.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm F2.8 | 22mm | 1/125th Second | f/8 | ISO125

The picture above was the first of two panoramic images I took of this wide, wintry vista which features both Llyn Idwal on the right and Llyn Ogwen further down the valley. The mountains in view start from the base of Pen yr Ole Wen on the far left, the mighty Tryfan across the valley nearer the middle of the frame and moving right you have Glyder Fach, Castell y Gwynt and Glyder Fawr and the Devil’s Kitchen just out of view.

With a perfectly level tripod, I took this pano by mounting my camera vertically and sweeping it from right to left, overlapping each image by around 30-40% to make sure I had enough overlap to stitch easily later in Lightroom. This final image is around 140MP and although you can’t appreciate this fully when viewing the image on the screen, the amount of detail as you zoom in is quite astonishing.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF50-140mm F2.8 | 91mm | 1/30th Second | f/11 | ISO125

Fujifilm XT5 | XF50-140mm F2.8 | 115mm | 1/30th Second | f/11 | ISO125

Over the previous 24 hours, I hadn’t used my 50-140mm lens too much and I could see over in the distance how the snow-filled crevices against the darker rockface were creating all sorts of interesting textures and by zooming in on the mountains on the other side of the lake, I was able to fill the frame, creating the above abstract pictures of the mountain range. If you scroll back to the panoramic image above and look closely, you can see what part of the mountain these two are from.

Still using the telephoto lens, I decided to pick out a few more features in the landscape like this here of Llyn Ogwen and the mountain top further down. I just love the soft, cool tones in the closeup photo of Llyn Ogwen below, particularly that vivid blue water. The two different tones across the surface of the lake are created by the partially frozen water. A very cool effect but signs that the temperature was rising.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF50-140mm F2.8 | 50mm | 1/40th Second | f/11 | ISO125

Fujifilm XT5 | XF50-140mm F2.8 | 56mm | 1/50th Second | f/11 | ISO125

With the wind increasing fast, I decided to throw the drone up one last time before it became too windy to fly. I few around capturing different compositions and the below images are two of my favourites. No panoramic images this time but I did manage to capture some different compositions of the two lakes.

DJI Mavic Mini 3 | 24mm (effective) | 1/1,600th Second | f/1.7 | ISO100

DJI Mavic Mini 3 | 24mm (effective) | 1/1,600th Second | f/1.7 | ISO100

Just before the light dipped too much, I took my final panoramic picture of this epic Snowdonia vista. Although it’s a similar composition to my first pano from this spot, I decided to go even wider and included all of Pen yr Ole Wen on the left-hand side. I think this addition adds more weight to the left-hand side and emphasises the distant view down, through the valley.

By this time, it was getting very cold out there and with the light levels dropping the resulting cooler tones work well to portray the freezing temperatures I was experiencing up on the side of the mountain. Just looking at this picture makes my toes feel cold again!! The resulting panoramic is made from 11 vertical pictures and even after some cropping, the resulting image is nearly 200 megapixels. I plan to print this image nice and big and can’t wait to see all that glorious detail!

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm F2.8 | 23mm | 0.4 Seconds | f/8 | ISO125

Photographing the Nant Gwynant Valley

Originally heading out at sunrise on my final morning to photograph Llyn Gwynant, I arrived in the dark and with my head torch on to guide the way, I climbed up the south-eastern side of the valley to get to a higher, less visited vantage point, offering a fantastic view down the valley towards the lake. Well, today, the views of Llyn Gwynant were far from fantastic. The air was hazy with light rain and there was very little clarity or contrast in the scene so as much as I tried, there was no image to take pointing down the valley.

I did, however, point my camera across the valley towards Gallt y Wenallt. Although at 619m it would be considered small compared to some of the 900-1000m peaks, from where I stood, the contrast provided by the snow on top gave it all the drama I needed to attach my telephoto lens and take the picture below.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF50-140mm F2.8 | 50mm | 1/125th Second | f/3.6 | ISO400

From where I stood, I had a pretty good view of Snowdon so, before heading back to the Ogwen Valley for the last time of the trip, I pointed my lens over at its partially obscured peaks and took the photo below. With the light so bad that morning, I’m pretty pleased to have come away with a couple of images I like.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF50-140mm F2.8 | 80mm | 1/200th Second | f/3.6 | ISO400

After climbing down and driving back in the Ogwen Valley, I did climb up to get another view of Tryfan once more but with the melting snow creating a very messy foreground, I decided against climbing all the way up and instead, used the 50-140mm telephoto lens once more to take a few closeup pictures of Tryfan’s peak and (I think) Glyder Fawr off to the right. It was the stark contrast and textures created by the dark, menacing rock and the bright, partially melted snow that I like about the photos I took. With poor shooting conditions, getting in close and seeking out alternative ways to photograph these epic landscapes was a great way to avoid coming away from this morning’s shoot empty-handed.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF50-140mm F2.8 | 54mm | 1/200th Second | f/9 | ISO200

Fujifilm XT5 | XF50-140mm F2.8 | 140mm | 1/100th Second | f/9 | ISO200

Photographing Llyn Idwal and the Devil’s kitchen

My very last stop before heading home was back up at Llyn Idwal. I had passed the waterfall at the foot of the trail a few times during the trip, each time hoping to stop and get a good photo of this view looking up at the falls with Y Garn’s peak in the background. Frustratingly, each previous time, the conditions weren’t right for the picture I wanted to take. Either the sky was bright blue with too much contrast or, the sun was directly in line with the view meaning the sky was too bright for my taste.

Thankfully, as I crossed the bridge on this very last visit, the shot was on! The low, dark clouds kissing the peaks in the background added the right amount of drama and the dark rocks flanking the falls helped to emphasise the water making its way down the hill.

With the tripod up and the 16-55mm lens attached, I opted for a longer exposure to smooth out the water as it cascaded down, between the rocks. With the ND filter on the lens and with everything in the frame lined up, I took what ended up being one of my favourite shots of the trip.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm F2.8 | 18mm | 1/5th Second | f/10 | ISO200

Happy I had the waterfall shot I was after and having arrived up at Llyn Idwal, I wanted to take a picture of this classic view of The Devil’s Kitchen. The wind was getting up by now and it was creating ripples across the lake’s surface, giving it a messy, cluttered look, so before taking the shot, I mounted my ND filter (6-stop I think) to smooth out those ripples and help simplify the composition.

I just love the texture in those foreground rocks, for me they are the main subject of the composition, so I got the camera as low down as I could to make the most of them. Along with the ND filter I was using, I also attached my circular polariser which worked a treat to remove any glare from the rocks and eliminate any reflections in the water and bringing out some of the details from underneath the surface closer to the camera.

In an ideal world, I would have liked just a bit more sky but if I lifted the camera, I would have lost some of the foreground elements, so this would be the second time in the trip that the 16-55mm lens was a little tight. Next time I visit, a wider lens will be in my bag for sure.

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm F2.8 | 16mm | 13 Seconds | f/8 | ISO200

Fujifilm XT5 | XF16-55mm F2.8 | 22mm | 10 Seconds | f/8 | ISO200

With a long drive home ahead of me and with the rain now falling hard, it was time to call it a day and head to the car.

As a photographer, when you visit an area for the first time and don’t get the opportunity to return often, luck plays a huge part in whether you walk away with any keepers and it would be unrealistic to expect to come away from every location with a banging shot, so I am incredibly grateful for those I did manage to get on this trip and with some lessons learned and experience gained, I feel a little more prepared for my inevitable return with the camera.

Thanks for sticking with this incredibly long post1

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 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

On Location | Photographing Beachy Head Lighthouse

Being an amateur photographer with a full-time job and a young family, finding quality time to be out for hours in the landscape taking photos isn’t always easy. I’m sure many will relate to finding clever ways to balance their time between life and what is essentially a hobby. So, when the opportunity to have a full day to myself presented itself, I wasted no time planning a trip down to Beachy Head to photograph that stretch of the Sussex coastline.

To make the most of my day, I decided it would be a dawn to dusk shoot, arriving on location at the water’s edge just before sunrise and spending the day in the local area, possibly scout a few locations in the area before heading back to the coast for sunset. During April, that would mean a 16 to17-hour day including the travel but thankfully the tide times coincided with my plans nicely with low tide happening around sunrise and sunset, so I would have plenty of time to refuel at lunchtime, while the tide was in and the beach inaccessible.

The thing about photography is that you can envisage a shoot as much as you like but rarely does it work out the way you plan and I have to admit, the sunrise shoot of the lighthouse, didn’t go as well as I had hoped. The fact is, I didn’t leave myself enough time to get on location and find the best composition. I wanted to take this composition of the lighthouse and cliffs rising out of the frame to the right-hand side, but preferably with a little more interest in the foreground. Maybe a rock pool or channel of water to lead the eye into the frame. I hunted around for 15-20 minutes but the sun was rising fast behind me and I didn’t want to miss this subtle light and pastel colours. So, forgoing an interesting foreground (for now), I settled for this classic composition of the lighthouse and cliffs using these layers of different textures along the beach to add some depth to the overall composition.

While on location, I couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed with not finding a stronger foreground for this image but since getting home and living with the photo a little longer, I find the subtlety of the light and composition work really well together and it’s grown on me quite a lot.

Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 29mm | 1/15th Second | f/7.1 | ISO200

One of the reasons I decided to head down to the coast for this shoot was to explore the details, look for small scenes and the different textures on the shoreline. The popularity of photographing intimate landscapes seems to have exploded recently and it’s something that has caught my attention too. I’ve started to see past the wide vista and urban cityscape and explore these closeup, natural scenes most people simply pass by as they go about their everyday life.

Spotting and translating these small scenes into a well-composed photo is not as easy as it might appear with both creative and technical challenges to overcome and I for one still have a lot to learn. Like with traditional landscape photography, there are creative challenges such as working with the light, finding contrast and organising the shapes and textures into interesting, meaningful compositions. Technically, you have some depth of field challenges when getting in so close to the subject and knowing how to focus stack in programs such as Photoshop can be a real-life save when trying to keep an entire image sharp.

As I hunted around the various rock pools, it was the colour and texture of the coral weed and how it contrasted against the rocks which first captured my attention. The rocks, with a scattering of barnacles and limpets have a host of interesting textures themselves, but when set against the purple weed and organised into a somewhat pleasing composition, an intimate rockpool image starts to form. I also found this yellow, rusty coloured stone alongside the purple weed and liked the contrast in textures and colours it created.

To my eye, the purple coral weed stood out and had some vibrancy to it but I think because it was submerged underwater, my camera struggled to pick up on this colour and in post-production, I had to pull the colour back quite a lot so it reflects better what I saw when I was there, on location.

I mentioned previously the technical challenges involved when taking close-up photos of small scenes and although it’s not immediately obvious, the rocks above the water and submerged coral weed are at different heights. Being at different distances from the camera and with the focal length I was using meant there was no way to get the entire scene sharp in one photo, so I needed to focus stack the image and blend the sharp areas together later. With the added challenge of the weeds and limpets moving subtly between shots, blending and processing each photo took a lot longer than I first anticipated. I’m quite happy how these turned out and the two images below are my favourite of the set.

Once finished photographing the rock pools, I turned my camera toward the chalky cliffs. The light was getting stronger by this time and I wanted to photograph some of the textures and features of the chalky cliffs before it became too harsh.

Looking upwards, I liked the way this triangular section of the cliffs points upwards, mimicking the peak of a mountain and against the soft, thin layer of clouds, the shapes and textures of the chalk could really stand out. I guess it’s the closest I’ll ever get to a mountainous terrain here in the relatively flat southeast of England.

I wasn’t really sure what I was doing with the second image below other than just enjoying a scene and photographing it. It’s no award winner but on reflection, it turns out I actually quite like it, specifically the horizontal lines and textures in the cliff face set against the soft shapes of the smoother boulders in the foreground creating this somewhat layered composition.

With the sun high in the sky and the tide now coming back in, I decided to head back inland to get a coffee, relax for a while before heading to my next destination.

I’ve wanted to visit the nearby Friston Forest for a while now and being close by, this was the perfect time to go and scout the area for future woodland photoshoot opportunities. So, once rested and hydrated, I drove the short distance, parked up and ventured into the woodland.

By now it was the middle of the day and far from ideal conditions (for me) to take woodland photos but as I wandered through, I did get the camera out a couple of times when a particular scene caught my eye. On any other day, I avoid dappled woodland light like the plague but on this occasion, as I stood at the top of a bank, looking down on this tree, the textures created by the vibrant leaves and the light hitting the trunk was enough for me to set the camera up and take a photo of it.

It was a gloriously sunny day and the shaded walk through the trees was a perfect way to spend the afternoon.

After a lovely walk in the forest and a few hours relaxing along the beach with a coffee or two in nearby Eastbourne, I made my way back to Beachy Head, this time giving myself plenty of time to work on a better composition of the lighthouse.

With the sun getting lower in the sky, slowly working itself around the back of the cliffs and out of view, I searched the many watery channels left by the outgoing tide for my foreground. After hunting around a while, much of the water had filtered out from the gaps in the rocks and I found the foreground I was looking for. This channel of water winds its way between the rocky foreground towards the lighthouse working perfectly as a compositional lead-in line while at the same time adding the right amount of visual weight to the left hand of the frame balancing it somewhat against the heavier line of cliffs on the right.

With the light at its best, illuminating the sky behind the lighthouse and basking the scene in its beautiful golden tones, I took what turns out to be my favourite photo of the shoot. I couldn't decide between a landscape orientation which emphasises the epic cliff line on the right or a portrait orientation, which allowed me to include more of that golden hour sky and longer channel of water in the foreground. So, I took both and have shared them below.

Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 18mm | 1/200th Second | f/8 | ISO200

Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 20mm | 1/250th Second | f/8 | ISO200

Still happy with the composition, I decided to wait around after sunset, keeping the camera in the same position to see how the light evolved. Was I going to get an epic explosion of post-sunset colour or will it subtly fizzle away as the sun lowered further below the horizon? It turned out to be the latter.

With the light fading, the sky directly behind the lighthouse was looking good as it transitioned from those gold tones we had before sunset to a more subtle pink and blue pallet in the sky and on the cliffs. I really wanted to emphasise these different colours in my next photo, so with the help of my telephoto 55-200mm lens I took this close-up panoramic photo of the lighthouse, set against those pink and blue tones all around it. A simple composition, but sometimes that’s all you need to let the other aspects such as colour and texture stand out.

Finishing off the day, I put the wide lens back on the camera and photographed the lighthouse with the foreground once again included as the last of the light faded and the early blue hour crept in. With the photos I wanted in the bag and a bit of a walk back to the car ahead of me, I decided I was done for the day and made my way home.

Fujifilm XT2 | XF55-200mm | 70mm | 1/20th Second | f/8 | ISO200 | Stitched Pano

Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 18mm | 1/6th Second | f/8 | ISO200

Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 18mm | 0.8 Seconds | f/14 | ISO200

So, there you have it, a very full-on but enjoyable day of photography along the Sussex coast. I enjoyed a beautiful pastel sunrise, got to practise some intimate coastal photography, enjoyed some time-out, alone to relax, I scouted a new woodland location, had coffee on the beach, and was gifted a beautiful sunset to top it all off.

What a fantastic day!

Until next time.

Photographing London with my Fujifilm Prime Lenses

Those of you who have been following my work before, let’s say, 2019 would have seen me predominantly as a cityscape photographer, with photos of London representing about 90% of the images I took. Fast forward 2 or 3 years, my trips to London have been few and far between for obvious reasons and I started taking more photos outside of London, exploring the local countryside and coastline here in the southeast of England. So, when I get the opportunity to head into the city with my camera, I take full advantage.

A few weeks ago, I managed to carve some time out before and after work to take photos in London for the first time this year. Knowing I was a bit “cityscape” rusty; I didn’t have particularly high expectations, I was just happy to be out there again, soaking up the atmosphere in the city I love so much.

Fujifilm X-T30 | XF16mm f2.8 | 16mm | 1/50th Second | f2.8 | ISO160

When I travel to London, I usually end up at London Bridge Station, so it has become a bit of a ritual to start any shoot off surrounded by the modern architecture here at More London. I must have a thousand photos of The Shard, City Hall, and Tower bridge taken from this location, but I find it a great place to start things off, using some old faithful compositions to get that all so important first photo in the bag. I suspect that some of my fellow photographers might relate to the fact that when I’m out taking photos, I have to warm up a bit to get into the zone, so the sooner I start pressing the shutter button, the better.

This composition looking towards The Shard is a favourite of mine as I can use the thick, round rail around the scoop as a compositional lead-in line, adding interest as well as helping the viewer work their way around the frame and finish up at The Shard. The scene works both in portrait and landscape but the 16mm F2.8 lens I had with me could have done with being a little wider for the landscape composition above.

Fujifilm X-T30 | XF16mm f2.8 | 16mm | 1/40th Second | f2.8 | ISO160

Fujifilm X-T30 | XF16mm f2.8 | 16mm | 1/180th Second | f2.8 | ISO500

Fujifilm X-T30 | XF16mm f2.8 | 16mm | 1/80th Second | f4 | ISO160

Fujifilm X-T30 | XF16mm f2.8 | 16mm | 1/250th Second | f4 | ISO500

With the blue hour slowly giving way to sunrise and very little cloud around, the Belt of Venus started to cast its pastel-pink glow across London. As I left More London, crossing Tower bridge I had to stop and take a few photos of the view looking west along the River Thames. There was no direct light but the muted pre-sunrise colours were right up my street and it while crossing the bridge I took my favourite photo of the morning.

Framing up the classic view of More London and The Shard from across the water, I noticed behind me that one of the Uber Boats was approaching the bridge travelling up-stream and would soon appear from under the bridge below my feet be directly in front of me shortly after that.

Raising the camera a touch to show more of the river so the boat would have more room around it, I waited for the boat to enter the frame and as it approached the ideal spot, I rattled off a few shots with the one below, being the best of the bunch.

Once finished on Tower Bridge and with the pastel colours making way for the stronger, direct sunlight, I headed off towards my office, grabbing a few more snaps along the way.

Fujifilm X-T30 | XF16mm f2.8 | 16mm | 125th Second | f4 | ISO160

Fujifilm X-T30 | XF16mm f2.8 | 16mm | 1/160th Second | f4 | ISO160

Fujifilm X-T30 | XF16mm f2.8 | 16mm | 1/200th Second | f4 | ISO160

Fujifilm X-T30 | XF16mm f2.8 | 16mm | 1/320th Second | f5.6 | ISO200

Fujifilm X-T30 | XF16mm f2.8 | 16mm | 1/3,200th Second | f3.2 | ISO200

For this London shoot, I had my lightweight Fujifilm kit with me (which you can see in the photo here) and there were a couple of reasons I left the heavier gear at home and went for this compact setup.

First off and the most obvious is that it was lighter and more freeing to walk around with less gear weighing me down. Secondly, and the main reason was that I had decided to visit St Paul’s Cathedral later that day, to climb the dome and take photos from the very top, which is something I hadn’t done since 2019.

The Golden Gallery situated at the very top of the dome is very small with barely enough room for people to pass up there, so having a smaller bag, no tripod and a more compact camera system makes it a little easier and helps me keep out of the way from the other visitors.

For a more comprehensive list of the gear I own and the different configurations I use, check out my most recent “What’s in my camera bag” blog post.

Fujifilm X-T30 | XF23mm f2 | 23mm | 1/400th Second | f4 | ISO200

Fujifilm X-T30 | XF23mm f2 | 23mm | 1/800th Second | f4 | ISO200

Fujifilm X-T30 | XF23mm f2 | 23mm | 1/800th Second | f4 | ISO200

As you can see in the picture of my gear above, the three prime lenses I had with me were the 16mm F2.8, the 23mm F2 and the 35mm F2 and focusing predominantly on the city highrises and The Shard across the river, I spent the entire time I was up there switching between the three lenses, each one provided a different perspective of London’s cityscape.

Fujifilm X-T30 | XF35mm f2 | 35mm | 1/250th Second | f5.6 | ISO200

Fujifilm X-T30 | XF16mm f2.8 | 16mm | 1/250th Second | f6.4 | ISO200

Fujifilm X-T30 | XF16mm f2.8 | 16mm | 1/160th Second | f6.4 | ISO200

Fujifilm X-T30 | XF35mm f2 | 35mm | 1/200th Second | f5.6 | ISO200

Fujifilm X-T30 | XF35mm f2 | 35mm | 1/200th Second | f5.6 | ISO200

Fujifilm X-T30 | XF16mm f2.8 | 16mm | 1/320th Second | f6.4 | ISO200

I would have loved to carry on shooting from the top of St Paul’s until after sunset but the cathedral closes quite early so with a season ticket giving me access to The Shard’s viewing platform and it being on my route back to the train station, I popped up there for just a few minutes to check out the view. Unfortunately, the cloud cover prevented any chance of nice light and a brief rain shower covered the glass in droplets, so I only managed to take one useable photo which you can see below. It’s nothing special but gives you an idea of the conditions.

Fujifilm X-T30 | XF23mm f2 | 23mm | 1/30th Second | f2 | ISO160

Overall, a successful first visit of the year to London and coming away with at least one keeper was a real bonus. I certainly plan to get back out there as the days get longer as it gives me more opportunity to capture the best light after a day in the office so stay tuned for more!

Until next time.

A London Photo Walk Part One | Sunrise

A few weeks ago, I posted on my Weekly Photo blog that I was in a bit of a creative slump. Although I was putting the same amount of effort in, the photos I was taking were often average and my keeper rate was really low. I needed to change things up a bit.

I’ve been enjoying photographing the landscapes and woodlands around Sussex and Surrey over the last year to 18 months but I was sorely missing my regular trips into London. So, with the city now opening up again and, in an attempt to shake free from this state where I lacked creative inspiration, I got up early and caught the first train into the city.

Like many landscape photographers, when I head out with the camera, I tend to take a full camera bag with me. It holds my wide, standard and telephoto zoom lenses, my batteries, filters, tripod, etc. Needless to say, it gets a little heavy and although I don’t normally mind lugging it around with me, I do on occasion like to shed the load, taking just a small camera and lens out with me and that’s exactly what I did for this photo walk.

Armed with my small Fujifilm X-T30 and 23mm f/2 prime lens, I left the train at London Bridge and headed over towards the river, stopping along the way to grab a shot of the view along the walkway, flanked by buildings that frame Tower Bridge at the end.

I spent some time taking pictures around More London Estate using the lines, shapes and even reflections on offer there. The light was just piercing through the thin clouds creating a soft, hazy light, which is right up my street. I personally struggle when the contrast in scenes is too strong and much prefer to photograph in softer light which, if you follow either my urban or natural landscape work, you’ll probably see it as a theme throughout.

Having taken a few photos close to Tower Bridge at More London, a wandered west along the river towards London Bridge which hosts one of my favourite views of this fine city. I can rarely pass this spot without hopping up onto the bridge to take a photo and this was no exception. With this beautiful defused golden light illuminating this iconic view, there was no way I was going to walk on by without taking the photo.

Paying close attention to the position of HMS Belfast in relation to Tower Bridge, I made sure to line it up centrally between the towers to avoid any overlapping, keeping that area clean, ensuring the recognisable silhouette stood out over there in the distance.

I also had a decision to make regarding the exposure. With the bright sun just off to the left of this scene below, I chose to expose for the highlights, allowing them to clip just a little in the brightest area close to the sun rendering the overall photo a little underexposed which I knew could be sorted out later in post. With the sun being the brightest thing you’ll ever see, allowing it to clip (render white in the photo) is ok in my book as long as it looks natural.

With this shot in the bag, I went on my way, continuing along the river towards Tate Modern and the Millennium Bridge.

I spent some time taking some pictures of the various views to be had from Bankside, just in front of the famous Tate Modern Museum. With the sun rising quickly, I was conscious that the light may soon become too harsh so I upped my pace a little, crossing the Millennium Bridge towards St Paul’s Cathedral as I continued to find and photograph the various compositions, some classic, others unique (to me) as I went.

After crossing the bridge, reaching the north bank of the river, I took advantage of the low tide and went down to the riverside where I took some more photos looking east towards The Shard and all of that gorgeous light.

Finishing up for the morning and part one of this London photo walk, I ended up on Queen Victoria Street which is just along the road from St Paul’s Cathedral. This spot provides a great view of the city near Bank station with 22 Bishopsgate towering in the background.

Along with the photos I took during a sunset walk along the Thames, in part two of this blog, I’ll be sharing how I set up my camera for shoots like this so I can focus on taking pictures rather than camera settings.

Stay tuned!

Trevor.

Photographing London in the Fog

A few weeks ago, I managed to get a morning shoot in London just before the latest restrictions came into place across the UK telling us to stay indoors and just as the weather apps predicted, I was greeted with some fantastic foggy conditions when arrived, so, with my Fujifilm XT2 in tow, off I went to take some photos.

Just a note on the format I chose for this post. Although it works just fine on a smaller mobile screen, if you can, do try to view the post on a larger screen as the pairs of photos in square format works best to tell a cohesive story.

After leaving London Bridge train station, I headed over to More London and took a few pics of the view towards City Hall and Tower Bridge before crossing London Bridge to capture some cool, atmospheric shots of HMS Belfast and Tower bridge along a misty River Thames.

Fujifilm XT2 | XF10-24mm | 11mm | 7 Seconds | f/11 | ISO200

Fujifilm XT2 | XF10-24mm | 13mm | 1.9 Second | f/11 | ISO200

Fujifilm XT2 | XF10-24mm | 24mm | 1/5th Second | f/10 | ISO200

Fujifilm XT2 | XF10-24mm | 13mm | 1 Second | f/11 | ISO200

Fujifilm XT2 | XF10-24mm | 10mm | 1/25th Second | f/5 | ISO500

Fujifilm XT2 | XF10-24mm | 17mm | 1/7th Second | f/10 | ISO200

Some of you may remember a few months ago I posted a lookup shot taken in the City of London shortly after the fog had lifted and although I was happy with the final image, I was still disappointed not to get the photo I originally wanted. So, not to risk missing it again, I quickly walked into the city to have another attempt at taking a lookup photo with the taller buildings disappearing into the mist and thankfully I made it in time. I took a few different compositions and below are two of my favourites from the morning.

Fujifilm XT2 | XF10-24mm | 10mm | 1/35th Second | f/10 | ISO200

Fujifilm XT2 | XF10-24mm | 10mm | 1/6th Second | f/10 | ISO200

Last but not least on this foggy photo walk in London, I ventured west to take a few pics around St Paul’s Cathedral and the Millennium Bridge. With these places photographed so much, I played around with the lines and frames on offer to present a few different views of these popular London subjects. I finished the morning across the river in front of the Tate Modern Museum to capture the popular view of the Millennium Bridge leading towards St Paul’s Cathedral with the famous dome disappearing into the fog.

Fujifilm XT2 | XF10-24mm | 10mm | 1/25th Second | f/11 | ISO200

Fujifilm XT2 | XF10-24mm | 24mm | 1/120th Second | f/6.4 | ISO200

Fujifilm XT2 | XF10-24mm | 13mm | 1/80th Second | f/6.4 | ISO200

Fujifilm XT2 | XF10-24mm | 10mm | 1/150th Second | f/6.4 | ISO200

Fujifilm XT2 | XF10-24mm | 13mm | 1/75th Second | f/6.4 | ISO200

Fujifilm XT2 | XF10-24mm | 21mm | 1/25th Second | f/10 | ISO200

Bonus Pics! London Eye Night Photography

Truth be told, I wasn’t sure if I should share these photos on this blog post as they are visually very different to those above but I decided to go with it as I really like the set but with only four photos, there’s not enough to justify their own dedicated blog post.

After my morning shoot in the fog, I headed into the office for my day job but instead of heading home at the end of the day, I decided to walk along the River Thames to take a few pictures near Westminster. So much great work has gone into upgrading the lights along the river and with the relatively calm water providing some cracking reflections, I decided to take this set of photos featuring different views of the London Eye and the South Bank.

In case you were wondering, that bright light to the left of the London Eye in the first image below is the moon passing behind. I tried a bracketed exposure to blend in later during post but it wasn’t to be.

Fujifilm XT2 | XF10-24mm | 10mm | 14 Seconds | f/14 | ISO200

Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 28mm | 1/80th Second | f/3.2 | ISO800

Fujifilm XT2 | XF10-24mm | 11mm | 18 Seconds | f/16 | ISO200

Fujifilm XT2 | XF10-24mm | 11mm | 13 Seconds | f/16 | ISO200

I love it when a few hours of photography results in a good crop of photos to share and this platform is my own online gallery enabling me to showcase the photos in a format that I think works best. Hopefully, you agree and as ever, if you have any thoughts, feel free to leave a comment below.

Until next time.

Trevor

On Location Photographing Eastbourne Pier and Beachy Head

Photographing Eastbourne Pier

A few weeks ago I decided to drive down to the Sussex Coast for a sunrise shoot at the pier in Eastbourne. I’ve visited the south coast with the camera many times before but this was the first time I’ve taken the camera to Eastbourne to photograph the pier. Personally, I think this is the most photogenic pier along this particular stretch of the southern coastline as despite suffering a fire in 2014, it still has a lot of its original Victorian features and hasn’t been overrun by fair rides and illumination so I was pleased to finally be able to get down there and capture it.

After arriving and finding my first composition, I placed the bigger Fujifilm XT2 camera onto the tripod and took a couple of long exposure photos (I will share one of two of them on my site sometime soon) and used my pocket rocket X-T30 to take some handheld shots as I wandered around seeking out alternative compositions and it’s these photos I have shared below.

In the first couple of photos, I used the wooden groynes that line the beach to help with the composition and lead the eye towards the pier and although there wasn’t much in the way of a pre-sunrise show in the sky, I still really like the cool pastel tones I managed to capture.

As the sun started to rise, I made my way down to the water’s edge, right beside the pier to get a better sense of scale and to use the reflections on the wet sand as some foreground interest.

Photographing Beachy Head

After an hour or so, I was finished with the pier but not finished taking photos so I took a 10-minute drive up to Beachy Head to take a few more photos along the cliff’s edge where I spent some time playing with different compositions of the lighthouse and views out to sea using the Fujifilm X-T30 and 23mm F2 camera and lens combo.

While trying to use some of the wildflowers as foreground interest in the photos I took of the lighthouse, it was pretty obvious that I was too late in the year and most of the plant-life was long gone which means I will make a point of getting back to Beachy Head a little earlier in the year next time so there should be a lot more wildlife to choose from.

It’s posts like this that make having a blog so useful as I’m able to share a collection of photos that tell a better story of the shoot which in my opinion doesn’t work so well on social media. It’s not all about the technical details or techniques I used, it’s just a good way to share a few different shots from a shoot displayed in a way think works best for the photos.

I have a couple of posts lined up from some recent trips back into London which I will share in the next few weeks.

Take care

Trevor

On Location Photographing Ashdown Forest with the XF23mm F2

A few weeks ago, I ventured out into the forest with my dog, Holly and Fujifilm X-T30 camera. Apart from taking Holly for a nice long walk, I wanted to try out my new Fujifilm XF23mm F2 prime lens I had recently bought to go with my other two 16mm and 35mm prime lenses. This line of Fujifilm prime lenses are fantastic. They are well made, fast focusing, light, and weather-resistant. All bases covered when needing a light-weight walkabout camera kit.

To test the camera, I decided to head into the forest and make a series of photos that told the story of the place I was in, the time of year and the conditions we had. I wasn’t looking for a portfolio worthy photo, I knew the conditions weren't great for some fine are woodland photography such as a recent image I shared here Forest Bliss | Weekly Photo #58. I just wanted to document my walk with Holly, play with a bit of depth of field, and have a bit of fun with the new lens.

I’ve not yet introduced you to Holly so here’s a little bit about her. Holly has been with us since December 2019. We’re not sure what breed she is but she is a rescue dog, brought over from Romania by a charity that looks to rehome dogs away from some quite awful conditions. Holly came to us underweight, riddled with flees and feeling quite sorry for herself but after a visit to the vets, the groomers, and a lot of love from her new family, she has settled in and is now loving her new life with us. Holly will undoubtedly become a regular feature on future posts.

After my walk, I wanted these photos to look like they belonged together. As I mentioned, none of these are portfolio worthy, alone they might look rather average but bringing them together as a sum of multiple parts makes the entire collection stronger in my opinion.

There were a few things I did in Lightroom to make them feel a part of the set. Firstly, I focused on colour and tones. I edited the first image in the set, played with the HSL sliders to get the colours the way I liked such as the deep, summer greens on the ferns, and the rich oranges and purples in the flowers. I then applied the same edits across all of the photos and tweaked each one individually to match the rest of the set. Next, I cropped each one to a square format, again, to help uniform the look of the photos and make them appear to be a part of this set.

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With the sky full of dense cloud, light levels were really poor, especially amongst the trees in the forest so this was a really good test for how my new prime lens coped. Close focusing was a bit of a problem at the widest apertures but its far from a macro lens so that is easily forgiven. That aside, the camera and lens never missed a beat. Across all of the photos, the only setting I changed was the aperture. I set the camera to aperture priority, a target shutter speed of 1/125th second, and auto-ISO was set to a max of 800. I would then tweak the aperture depending on the light and look I was trying to achieve. You can select each image to get a larger view and see the settings that were used for each photo.

I’m pleased with the final collection of photos and hope to share more, presented in a similar way in the future. I would love to hear what you think about picture storytelling, this particular collection, or just to say you like dogs too!

Until next time.

Trevor

On Location Photographing A Sunrise in Ghent

I have been sitting on this post since last year, never quite getting around to publishing it but at last, it is finally out in the wild.

In the Summer of 2019, I travelled to the city of Ghent in Belgium with my family to explore what I consider one of Europe’s best-kept secrets. Since falling in love with the chocolate-box city of Bruges during a trip the year before, we were left wanting to see more of what Belgium has to offer.

I won’t be covering the entire trip in this post as I have already done so in a previous blog which you can find here: On Location | Photographing Ghent. Instead, this post will talk about my early morning shoot during which I was lucky enough to capture a beautiful sunrise across this fine city.

Although this trip to Ghent was a family city-break, I still made a point of getting a sunrise shoot in by heading out early on my own to try to photograph the city while looking its best, during the best light and with fewer people around. Getting out earlier gives me a few hours to explore the deserted city, photograph away and have the best compositions to myself.

Contrary to my daytime setup where I had with me the smaller Fujifilm X-T30 camera, for this shoot, I took with me the larger XT2 workhorse which I use for my main landscape/cityscape work. Normally, I wouldn’t have so much gear with me when on a city-break but as we travelled to Ghent by car, I had the luxury of taking as much camera gear as I wanted.

Photographing a Sunrise in Ghent

Before visiting Ghent, I researched the city for photo ideas and had spotted a composition similar to this looking across the bridge towards Saint Nicholas' Church, so, when I arrived in the city, I headed to this spot first. I wanted to incorporate the ornate streetlights that lined the bridge so I looked around for the best composition as I waited for the sky to get a little lighter but wary not to wait too long just in case the lights were turned off before I had the shot in the bag.

Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 18mm | 2.6 Seconds | f/11 | ISO200

From the other side of the Bridge and with my wide-angle 10-24mm attached, I managed to capture a few more shots, including this view down the River Leie just as the sky came alive with these fantastic sunrise colours. This stretch of river and between St Michael’s Bridge and Grasbrug is one of the most picturesque areas of the city and where I spent most of the morning with my camera soaking in all of the history during these peaceful early hours.

Fujifilm XT2 | XF10-24mm | 10mm | 1/6th Second | f/7.1 | ISO200

Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 25mm | 1/3rd Second | f/11 | ISO200

Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 18mm | 0.5 Seconds | f/11 | ISO200

Once done on the bridge, I wandered down to the water’s edge. Having noticed how the disorderly buildings looked as they lined the river and with the 10-24mm lens still attached, I had a go at photographing them front-on and capture some of those great reflections at the same time. Although the light in the sky was amazing, it was all coming from behind the buildings so I had some dynamic range issues to deal with in post-production but the excellent XT2 dealt with it well and I was able to recover a lot of detail from the underexposed buildings. I also struggled to align the composition properly because the building to the left of the clock tower is leaning to the right making the entire scene appear wonky so the final image isn’t quite as good as I was hoping for but I know there is potential there if I visit again, maybe at the other end of the day so the light hits the front of the buildings.

Fujifilm XT2 | XF10-24mm | 11.5mm | 1/12th Second | f/11 | ISO200

Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 18mm | 1/8th Second | f/7.1 | ISO200

Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 55mm | 1/17th Second | f/7.1 | ISO200

Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 36mm | 1/400th Second | f/3.6 | ISO200

Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 31mm | 1/1700th Second | f/5.6 | ISO200

Fujifilm XT2 | XF10-24mm | 17mm | 1/400th Second | f/8 | ISO200

Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 30mm | 1/340th Second | f/8 | ISO200

When the last of the sunrise colours were gone, I spent some time wandering back along the river and around St Michael’s Bridge taking more photos during the morning golden hour. I had a great time capturing the city while continuing to play with the lead-in lines and reflections along the water’s edge.

If I had one regret after the shoot, it’s that I didn’t take any long exposure photos during this sunrise. In reality, if I had attempted to spend the time to set up the kit, get the filters ready etc, I might have come away with nothing so it was probably the right decision and given that the city is such a short drive from Calais, I can always come back to this charming city and try another time.

It wasn't too much longer before the best of the light was gone which was my cue to leave and meet my family for breakfast at the hotel feeling pretty happy I had a few good shots on my memory card.

I hope you enjoyed this On Location photo travel blog and please get in touch if you have any questions.

Cheers

Trevor