What to photograph on a short trip to Wales
It all begins with an idea.
After months of planning, I finally met up with Murry Livingston, Ellis Wood, and my friend Byron for a quick weekend trip to Wales. We had originally planned to spend a few days hiking in the Rhinogydd, a mountain range east of Harlech in North Wales. But the weather had other ideas—it was pouring rain! I guess I’m getting a bit soft in my old age, so we decided to skip the first day of hiking and just chill at a campsite near where we were supposed to start. Honestly, hiking in that downpour wouldn’t have been much fun anyway.
Once the rain let up a bit, we set up our tents and decided to try our hand at woodland photography. Ellis, who lives in Wales, suggested we drive about 25 minutes to Barmouth, where there’s a coastal forest with a stream and a few waterfalls. The weather was just right for this kind of photography—overcast skies with low contrast, which always seems to work best. Plus, there was a bit of mist higher up the valley that we took advantage of later on.
Woodland photography for a novice.
For me, woodlands are just a chaotic mix of bushes and trees, and I usually struggle to find a good composition. But with Murry and Ellis guiding me, it turned out to be a pretty cool experience. I did manage to get a few decent shots, but there’s definitely a learning curve ahead. One thing I realized is that you can’t just focus on what’s in front of you—you’ve got to look up and down too. I missed a few good shots by not doing that. Also, the oak trees in these coastal forests are taller than I expected, which made things interesting. And a pro tip for next time: definitely wear wellies or gum boots because, in Wales, everything is soaked!
Hiking lessons learned in Wales.
The next day, we packed up and drove to a parking lot near where we started our climb. The mountains in Wales aren’t super high, but they’re still a good challenge. It was a tough few kilometers of nonstop climbing until we finally reached our campsite for the night. I even had to WhatsApp Murry to get the name of the mountain we were on—these Welsh names are tricky! We camped on Y Llethr, but don’t ask me to pronounce it.
Luckily, it wasn’t raining during the hike, and we set up camp with some pretty awesome views. I’ve been hiking for years, so I’m no newbie, but wet and windy conditions are always a challenge. Note to self: get a new tent that doesn’t leak! My old tent let in some water, though everyone’s tent struggled with those crazy winds. The wind was so strong it blew the outer layer of my tent onto the inner one, which wasn’t ideal.
Even though the weather was getting worse, I managed to snap a few photos and was pretty happy with how they turned out. By the next morning, the weather had really gone downhill—strong winds and pouring rain. We packed up quickly and headed back down to the car. Despite the wild weather, it was a fun trip with great company.
Note: Murry Livingston, https://www.murraylivingston.com/, https://www.instagram.com/livingston.murray/
This guy is one fantastic photographer with a lot of talent and one to keep an eye out for. He has a new book coming out soon.
Note: Ellis Wood, https://www.instagram.com/e.woodphotography/
Please check out Ellis’s work, onther fantastic photographer.
Natural landscape photography awards
Runner up in the project category.
A while back, I entered the Natural Landscape Photography Awards an international competition created for digital and film photographers who value realism in their images and edit with this in mind.
I was humbled and blown away to be selected as runner up in the Project category of the competition. Thank you to the organisers and judges, and congratulations to all the winners!
You can take a look at all the winning images here: https://naturallandscapeawards.com/gallery-2021/
#landscapephotography #drakensberg #photography #naturallandscape #naturallandscapephotography #naturallandscapephotographyawards
Why go back to the same location?
Going back to the same location.
Just a small oak tree I discovered in the South Downs National Park.
Getting out there and finding a spot to photograph is always great fun for me. I love the outdoors in any weather - rain nor snow ever holds me back. There is not always immediate success in finding a good location and composition, but I love just getting out there and and exploring.
Woodland photography is new to me
By the time I really noticed this little tree, I’d probably walked past it 20 times, without giving it a second thought.
I must admit that I often find photographing in a woodlands setting frustrating. As a native South African, it is completely new to me and honing my photographic senses to this new environment is taking time.
So, having noticed it, I looked at it from every angle to consider my options.
This is the first image I took of the little oak.
What if?
I thought it best to shoot it from a distance with my 70-200mm lens. It was a gloomy day, so I wasn’t really expecting a brilliant photo. Yet, for me the tree just stood out amongst the large pine trees around it. Perhaps a bit of a rebel, like me, not conforming to the straight shapes of its peers. I darkened the background a bit in post processing to really make it stick out, but in the end I was happy with the result.
After getting this shot my mind started racing….WHAT IF….I thought.
Misty conditions separating the tree from the background.
What if it was misty?
What if it was snowing?
Then, I went home and waited.
Waited for just the right conditions.
The very next week I woke to a perfectly misty morning - and off I went. And sure enough, I was lucky and got a super moody shot of the tree in the mist.
And a few weeks later I followed it up with a beautiful snowy scene.
Location scouting ALWAYS pays off
It always pays having that ‘go to’ location, when the conditions are right. You already have a perfect composition, you’ve tried all the angles, various lenses and a variety of processing options.
Now you are now simply waiting for the right conditions.
A few thing to remember when scouting for a return location:
Consider, the weather conditions that you could expect.
Consider the time of day that will most appropriate.
Consider what kind of mood you want to have in the shot.
Finally what does this image say about you and your style of photography.
You might wait for snow or for the seasons to change - and when that happens, all those days of scouting and waiting will be worth it.
What locations do you go back to time and time again to shoot?
Carl