Ogwen Hoodies

Looking down from the upper edges of the valley under the old Ogwen bridge, I noticed a slight spiral shape, not dissimilar to a fibonacci curve, mirroring this, I noticed the curved flow of the water spouting a fountain... so I set up my tripod on the slippery rocks nearby and composed this image. Working in post, I raised the exposure in places, to tease out the texture and shapes of the forest and mountainous area beneath...

The Ogwen river meanders underneath the Pont (bridge in Welsh) Pen Y Benglog from Llyn (lake in Welsh) Ogwen. In wintertime when the rains are high it can be seen as prominent in a wide angle vista, but now that spring is here and the rains have eased off, its flow is less pronounced. The bouldery outcrops create texture and depth along with the tall fine coniferous trees which obscure much of the light, casting shadows and shards of light in places. Using modern day glass - a wide angle Pentax DA HD 15mm f/4 on a Pentax K3 DSLR camera... a more traditional set up... I composed wide and decided to crop in after. Initially set up in program mode, I took an automatic metering and exposure adjusted the setting, giving me an idea of t...

Using the natural arch lines of the bridge, I capitalised on this wonderful setting using natural ambient light and a 1 second shutter speed, set on a stable tripod. Compositionally, this aesthetically pleases the mind, as the angle of camera to bridge seemed to create, the start of a fibonacci curve, leading the viewer into the picture and a touch of mirrored symmetry displayed partly by the small waterfall... leading into the slowly moving deeper pools below. I shot wide at 35mm, and then stopped down to find the sweet spot of the lens and fine tuned the focus. A really lovely location, especially with the tall coniferous trees. Another vantage point to be considered another time...

Looking across Llyn Ogwen in Snowdonia National Park. The beams of lighting bending over the mountain caught my eye.

A cloudy view of the mountains that surround Llyn Ogwen enroute from Tryfan, Snowdonia

Vector illustration of frozen Llyn Ogwen in winter. Near Cwm Idwal, Snowdonia, North Wales.

The peak of Pen yr Ole Wen in the clouds with Llyn Ogwen below it at dusk in the Snowdonia National Park, Wales

Looking across Llyn Ogwen, in Snowdonia, with the north face of Tryfan appearing through the clouds

Looking down the Ogwen Valley at sunset with Pen yr Ole Wen to the right

Looking across Llyn Idwal to Pen yr Ole Wen from the Devils Kitchen route up to the Glyders in Snowdonia National Park, Wales

As I was driving past last week I noticed this capture. I wanted to wait until the light was just right, somewhat diffuse before going back to capture this composition. The clouds were prevalent and the sun was shielded but just there... the diffused light that I was after, so I packed my full kit for an afternoon on location. I shot wide using full frame and decided on a long exposure, my settings gave me some 24 seconds and for comparison I took - two images. The first for composition and the second for long exposure. Besides the setting what drew me in as a shot ~ was that of the big boulder sat right in the middle of the river. The old Ogwen watermill, which powered the 'Coetmor Corn Mill' at the time - and that used t...

Looking across the beautiful Llyn Idwal towards Pen yr Old Wen in the Snowdonia National Park, Wales

Looking across the beautiful Llyn Idwal to Pen yr Ole Wen in the Snowdonia National Park, Wales

Shafts of late afternoon sunlight in the Ogwen Valley, Snowdonia, Wales

One of the UK's most recognizable mountains

Tryfan, snowdonia Wales travel poster