New Addition to the Family and a holiday

I know I am yet again late with writing my blogs but this time I have a very good excuse. It was not so much a question of not having enough time to write the blog but rather that the time I had free was preoccupied with other things. One of them was a holiday to North Devon for a week.

I had booked a week off work and headed to Ilfracombe at the beginning of September. Here some of my favourite  shots of the week. I took many shots as I found the whole area of Ilfracombe very photogenic and interesting. I loved exploring a totally new area of the UK and came to realise that there just wasnt enough time to see it all in the week I had in North Devon. But I gave it a good try.

Another real distraction against writing a blog was the new addition to my family. Meet the Scoobymoblie….

The Scoobymoblie is a 1991 Talbot Express Avalon. Equipped with 4 birth sleeping areas, cooker, Oven, Heater and Shower I hope to use the SM to continue to explore the United Kingdom and photograph its beautiful landscapes and landmarks. I bought the SM at the beginning of September and aimed to take it for a test run as soon as possible after my holiday in Ilfracombe. My first destination was an area I already knew well and which I had visited many times before. It would make it easier to get used to the SM and how to handle the drive.

And what a different it was driving the SM. With no power steering the campervan was extremely heavy to steer and it took me a long while to get used to the sluggishness of the breaks. It drives very slow and feels very heavy which does not please the divers that are stuck behind me. But I was determined to conquer my fears of driving it.

My first stop was the Ogwen Valley in Snowdonia on the 29th of September. I normally ignore Llyn Ogwen and head into the mountains to photograph LLyn Idwal at the foot of the Glyders but this time I wanted to take the opportunity to photograph Llyn Ogwen, especially as I was parked right on the shores of the lake.

I only styed there for one night and a day and by the first of October I choose a different location to stay and photograph.

That however is for the October edition

Ingleton Exploration

Austust started off as a very poor month in regards to photography. At the end of July I bought myself a 10 Stop ND filter, which I was dying to try out. However, due to family commitments I only managed two quick shots to see that the filter was ok.

Last week however I was lucky to collect a couple of days off work and resolved to get away for a few days. Without much thinking I booked myself into an Inn in Ingleton in the Yorkshire Dales. I had 3 aims during my 4 days stay in Ingleton.

Aim 1 :

Photograph and Walk the Ingleton waterfall trail and use the ND filter.

I did walk the waterfall trail but getting the images I wanted was very hard. I was not aware that the different falls could only be seen from various platforms and viewing areas. Most of the time these areas were packed full with sightseers and building up my tripod to use the ND filter was near impossible, especially as I had my dog with me as well who kept getting tangled up in the legs of the tripod.  I only got a couple of images I was happy with but that was enough to make the trip already worth while. Never mind my second aim of the trip.

Aim 2:

See and Photograph Ribblehead Viaduct

I have to admit that the walks around Ribblehead Viaduct were my favourite during the time I was in Ingleton. I always started off there in the morning and ended there at night. I shot the viaduct from all sort of different angles and in different weather conditions as I was there but these are my favourite. One of the reasons I liked the walks so much was that my dog could run free there without any problems. There are sheep all around but my dog dont bother with them and he stays on the path, but that small freedom made his day just as much as it made mine lol.

Aim 3:

Find and Photograph Twistleton Scar

I think that aim was the greatest challenge for me personally, not only in finding the place but also of getting to it. I only actually found the place on the evening of the last day in Ingleton and only by accident. Despite having researched it before going I always seem to miss it somehow until I parked up by the road consulting my map and seeing a gentleman walker coming down one of the paths I had missed before. I waited till he was in talking range and asked him for directions. He pointed to some stones in a field and said to head for it. He must have seen the disappointment in my face and started laughing. “you have to be above it to see it” was all he said. So off I went and wow what a sight once I reached the spot he pointed out. However, I wanted a shot at sunrise so I went on my last day, before sunrise up there again to get the shots seen above. The real problem was getting down again as by the time the sun was up cows had filled the field I had to cross to get back to the car. I am terrified of cows and had to make a detour of several miles in the opposite direction to get back to my car without crossing a field with cows in it.

Besides my three aims that I had set out to do and managed to accomplish I also managed to visit and see other places on route. On the second day in Ingleton I passed my time driving around aimlessly while waiting for a rain shower to subside, so that I could take the dog for  a walk. I found myself following the signs for Dent and by accident ended up above the Dentdale valley. From the road you could see Dentale viaduct and I could not resist parking up and taking some shots.

Another shot taken practically from the car was the one below. I got slightly lost on my way back from Malham Tarn lake (no pictures of that) as I come across this view. I love them stone walls criss-crossing the whole countryside and just had to take at least one image of them. As you can see, another rain shower was on its way to overtake me again lol.

On a suggestion of a friend I also visited Hardraw falls, apparently the hightest waterfall in England and one that you could walk behind. I personally could not find a way up there to go behind the fall, but that didnt matter. It was raining quite hard anyways and I had problems photographing the fall from the bottom, never mind from the top lol.

Aysgarth waterfalls were also very impressive but again very difficult to photograph. Only from a variety of viewpoints were the falls visible and most of the time tourist were blocking a good angle to photograph from. The walk around the falls and through the wood were however very enjoyable and the dog sure enjoyed the walk. 

There are other locations I visited during my time in the yorkshire dales but never really got any shots off.  Bolton castle for example as there was a wedding going on and I wasnt about to gate crash it… or semer waters which I did not find very photogenic. Clapham cave was a awesome to see and I did get some images from there but they are not good enough to post here. But one image I really like and are surprised about having gotten is the one below of the most remote train station I have ever come across – Blea Moor.

Overall august has not been bad for photography despite the very slow start. Back to work again tomorrow and to planning my next trip. North Devon is on the list to visit for September – so stay turned. Keep safe xx

Busy as a Bee

I have to say, the month of June 2014 has been a very busy one for me in regards of photography. It started off with another exhibition, this time in the very touristy village of Llangollen. This exhibition was very daunting for me as it was much more “classy” than any of the other ones I had previously. Although I was only showing 28 images and 2 canvas prints all the images had to be mounted and framed to the highest standard. I was just lucky that the gentlemen that organise them exhibitions in the museum were more than willing to help me to hang the prints / frames. Well, actually they did all the work while I just told them were I wanted them rofl. The exhibition ran from the first Wednesday of the month to the first Wednesday of the following month. As a direct result of the exhibition I managed to sell 3 prints, one framed and two unframed. Well pleased with that result. Below just a couple of snapshots taken with my mobile phone while we were hanging the images.

The exhibition in itself gave me a bit of a boost, something I was running a bit low on lately and I made an active effort to get out more with my camera. I was especially interested in exploring new areas within Snowdonia as well as going towards south wales again to continue with finding some more of the dams that area seems to be have an abandon's off. My first stop for my new explorations therefor was Pontsticill Reservoir.

Pontsticill Reservoir is a large reservoir laying partly in the county of Powys and partly within the county of Merthyr Tydfil in south wales. It lies within the Brecon Beacons, south wales equivalent National part to  what Snowdonia is to north wales.

The 110 ft high embankment has, since its completion in 1927, been holding back 3400 million gallons of water for supply to industry and population to the south.

The reservoir is popular with sailors, anglers and picnickers. The Taff Trail has been developed for walkers and cyclists and runs through the woods on the western side of the Reservoir. Merthyr Tydfil sailing club is based on the eastern bank and the Brecon Mountain Railway which runs up its eastern side from Pant Station to Dolygaer. The image below show the Bell-mouth spillway and the valve tower, a very photogenic structure in my opinion.

On my way home I stopped off at Llwyn On Reservoir, but it was getting dark fast and my exploration was a bit fruitless. I managed to get a shot of the valve tower but my drive around the lake afterwards was rather fruitless in regards to photography. It is however worth another visit in my opinion as the walks around the reservoir seem to be very nice and well way marked.

The weekend after my explorations in south wales I decided to spent my free time exploring another area of Snowdonia. For a wile now I had my eye on exploring among the Carneddau mountain range a bit. I was in particular interested in any lakes or reservoir that area might hold. Ffynnon Llugwy was just what I was looking for as it did not seem to steep or to far a walk when I researched it on the maps. Gosh… was I wrong lol.

Ffynnon Llugwy  lies at a height of about 1,786 feet (544 m) and covers an area of some 40 acres (16.19 ha). It has a maximum depth of 146 ft (45 m).

Since the early 20th century water has been taken from its outflow, Afon Llugwy to feed Llyn Cowlyd via a series of leats.

Since the mid 1970s the lake has additionally acted as a reservoir for Bangor and eastern Anglesey, which necessitated the laying of an 11-mile pipeline to the water treatment works at Mynydd Llandegai.

Afon Llugwy which flows via Capel Curig and Betws-y-coed before becoming a tributary of the River Conwy.

There was an inscription on the cross overlooking Ffynnon Llugwy but I could not read all of it at the time. All I could make out was that someone died while doing some sort of run up there. I tried to find a reference of it online but had no luck up to now. If anyone got more information I would be grateful for a share.

On the way down from the reservoir it became clear that I might be blessed with a lovely sunset so I took my time but ended up standing around in a field full of sheep looking towards Tryfan, hoping for a sunset. It was not as spectacular as it could have been but I was just more than happy to wait and see what developed. The midges were just to happy too as I was an easy meal for them. Even the dog was not to impressed with them little pests. I think it was worth it though as the shot of Tryfan on fire was something quite lovely to see.

I slept in the car that night coming down from the hike among the Carneddau, in hope for a sunrise, which I was trying to get just around the corner at the Nant Ffrancon Valley. I had visited that place before with a friend but did not get the shot I had hoped for at the time. I hoped to get more lucky that day as I was there much earlier, seeing the sun rise. Well, actually not seeing the sun rise as it just did not happen in photographic terms. It got lighter and lighter but no color in the sky or dramatic cloud formations. DARN !!! lol. Never mind though, I took some shots to make the journey and the sleepless night in the car worth while and headed back home. Next time though.

My next and last few days free off work I spent in and around Llanberis. I noticed a hiking path leading up into the old slate mines the last time I visited that place and decided to explore and see what shots there was to be had.

The slate industry in Llanberis was dominated by the Dinorwig Quarry on the slopes of Elidir mountain. Many of the quarrymen came from outside the Llanberis area and would live in the barracks during the week, arriving to work from Monday morning until midday on Saturday. Despite being cold and damp, the barracks and the cabans (quarry mess rooms) became known as centres for debating politics, religion and literature. Much of Dinorwig Quarry is now part of Padarn Country Park and the Welsh Slate Museum.

Extensive paths and trails have been marked out for keen walkers and even the Weatherman done a programm on the walks in Season 6 ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p014y8m8 ). I certainly could not miss out retracing the steps of the Weatherman. Some lovely views were certainly reward enough for another gruelling encounter with them man eating midges. 

I again slept over in the car for the hope of getting a sunrise, this time at Llyn Padarn and its semi-famous tree. I was a bit more lucky that time and some color developed in the sky, but again no interesting clouds, just plain blue skies. However, the mist was rolling over the lake and it was just the most amazing sight to behold. Shame I was not so lucky as to be able in catching that view, especially the mist over the lake. Again…. next time.

July instalment is in the making although it will not be as long as this one as I dont think I will be able to do that much photography next month. But I will keep you all posted.

Keep safe and keep on clicking xx