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.