Coed y Brenin Whenever a walk has a significant stretch in managed woodlands, like Forestry Commission woods, I always get lost. It isn’t my fault. The paths on the ground and the paths on the map don’t bear any relationship to each other. The woodland managers make new paths and tracks whenever they want and when you’re hemmed in by conifers all directions look the same. Coed y Brenin in south Snowdonia is no exception to this. However, the wider area, outside the dense mana

Here are some shots I took of Nant Gwynant yesterday. This is the valley in Snowdonia that runs from Beddgelert northwards, to the junction where the Llanberis pass turns left and then onwards to Capel Curig. On the north side of the road is the Snowdon range, very well known with lots of people. On the south side you have wild lands with very few walkers. The views of the Snowdon range are tremendous but unusual. Snowdon is seen clearly but from an odd angle that most people

Shining Tor is the highest point in Cheshire. It has great views (on a clear day) across the Cheshire plain. This wasn’t such a clear day but had some nice textures and moods for a black and white treatment. On some of the shots you can see what looks like the moon. It’s actually the sun, which was behaving quite strangely that day. It was reported in most of the papers. It was dim and orange, an effect caused, I seem to remember, by dust in the atmosphere from somewhere? #pe

Some shots from a walk around the hills around Llangollen, North Wales, from early in December. #photography #omdem10 #landscape #gallerypost #wales #monochrome #olympus

Cheshire is mostly flat. I lived in hilly areas for twenty years so I’m having to recalibrate my photographic eye to get the best out of this area. As I’ve said before, it seems to lend itself to monochrome treatment. I’d forgotten this set, which I took about a year ago and came across yesterday. Taken with my still-broken Olympus OMD-EM10, which I really enjoy using for square format black and white. #photography #omdem10 #cheshire #landscape #gallerypost #monochrome #olymp

Monday was supposed to be a bright sunny day in Snowdonia. It was just that as I arrived at Conwy for my morning coffee, a perfect mix of puffy clouds and bright winter sunshine. There’s a saying though that the mountains make their own weather. As I headed inland the clouds got thicker and more continuous. The tops were engulfed. The valleys were grey. I carried on regardless. What else can you do? I’d driven two hours to get here, no point in turning round and going home. B

Some shots taken last week looking toward the end of the Snowdon range, with Lliwedd and Yr Aran prominent. Lliwedd is the double headed peak, and part of the famous Snowdon horseshoe. The location is a relatively small but very rugged hill immediately south of the lovely village of Beddgelert, supposedly named for being “Gelert’s grave”, Gelert being “the faithful hound of the medieval Welsh Prince Llewelyn the Great.” Whatever the history, it’s great walking country, wild a

Following the lovely walk we did last week, we did another in the same area with a slight overlap, starting from the tiny village of Graig-fechan (yes, spelled with a hyphen and lower-case ‘f’). You can see the route at www.plotaroute.com/route/336686 There are some beautiful textures in the hills and fields around here that make for good photographs, especially in the slanting light of winter. I’ve used monochrome again, which seems to suit the scenery. #photography #omdem10

Visiting relatives in Berkshire over christmas, we had a lot of foggy days. This stroll around the small village of Bagnor was no exception. If life gives you lemons, make lemonade, and if the weather is grey, shoot monochrome. All taken with the Olympus OMD-EM10 #photography #omdem10 #landscape #gallerypost #monochrome #olympus

Joy and I did a great walk around the south-eastern end of the Clwydian range in north Wales, the physical and metaphorical high point being the summit of Moel Gyw. The approximate route can be found at www.plotaroute.com/route/335828 I was fortunate to have some good light from the low winter sun. Combined with some very shapely hills and tremendous views it made for good monochrome photographs. In 2017 I’m intending to spend a lot more time in Wales and I think this walk wi

In response to WordPress Daily Photo challenge Path Joy and I went out for the traditional christmas day amble in the fields and lanes near where we live in Cheshire. I’ve spent the last two or three years concentrating on Cumbria and I’ve built up a decent portfolio of mountain pictures from the Lake District. For 2017 I’m going to shift focus to Snowdonia and North Wales but for various reasons I also want to build up a portfolio of Cheshire and Lymm. When we first moved he

I lived on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales for nearly twenty years. Despite this, I’d never taken any photographs of Gordale Scar, one of the Yorkshire Dales National Park’s pre-eminent tourist attractions and natural wonders. A tremendous cleft in the limestone edge, with a river pouring through it and a rock climber’s playground to either side. I thought it was time I got some shots, so here there are. You can fairly easily do a through-route right up through the gorge. In

We met up with some friends recently in the Cotswolds and had a nice day walking and chatting. I took a few shots of one of the villages, a tiny village of cotswold stone houses that looked preserved in aspic but also didn’t seem to have a shop or any other sign of life. Very pretty, not sure I’d want to live there. All shots taken with the Olympus OMD-EM10 #photography #omdem10 #landscape #gallerypost #olympus

I think yesterday was the first frost we’ve had this season in Cheshire. I managed to get out for the sunrise. The sun gave a brief and colourful glimpse before hiding in clouds again but enough to give me some good light. The area is just outside Dunham Massey estate and the river is the Bollin, which travels from the Peak district to the Mersey. All taken with the Olympus OMD-EM10. #photography #omdem10 #cheshire #landscape #gallerypost #olympus

Yesterday I planned a trip to the hills above Kirkstone Pass in Cumbria. I’d checked the map, it looked good. High ground, extensive views, rocks and cragginess. I was worried about the even higher hills immediately across the valley blocking the sun but I reckoned the views south wouldn’t suffer. You can drive up Kirkstone Pass and park in the car park opposite the pub at the summit. It’s then a pretty short walk up to a ridge/plateau marked on the map as St. Raven’s Edge. T

In response to the Daily Post Photo Challenge Edge These shots were taken on Saturday from one of my favourite mountains, Tryfan in the Glyder range in Snowdonia. The route up is a classic and highly popular grade one scramble. The views, not surprisingly, are fantastic. The central mountain in both photographs is Y Garn, part of the Idwal Horseshoe. The first shot is what I think of as a straightforward head-and-shoulders portrait of the mountain. This kind of shot is all ab

A new battery for the Olympus OMD-EM10 costs at least £50 for a genuine Olympus part. This seems a little steep for me. I needed a spare because one battery doesn’t always last a full days shooting – say about 150 shots or so. Spending £50 seemed like too much of a luxury. So instead I opted for a non-Olympus part from a company called Expro (www.exprodirect.com), for the grand total of £10. First test, does it fit and work. Yes. It looks externally identical to the Olympus p

In response to the WordPress Daily Post challenge <a href=”https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/look-up/”>Look Up</a> Contrails in the sky outside my house Sometimes you get a truly gorgeous sky but without some other element to make a picture I rarely feel justified in shooting just the sky. When I saw these jet airliner contrails though I knew I had the elements for a good photograph. First, the clouds are wonderful in the winter light. Second, the contrails, ea

The sun just risen above the horizon casts heavenly rays across the valley and lights up Middle Dodd Starting with red, we have Red Screes, a great viewpoint with easy access. The summit is about 750m but you start at the top of Kirkstone pass at about 450m so height is easily gained. Once there you have a 360 degree sweep all round lakeland. I had planned an overnight photography trip, using my bivvy bag so I could doss down at a suitable location and get both sunset and sun

We left our hero on the hill after he’d settled down for a short night, with the alarm set for 4am ready for the sunrise. I didn’t get much sleep, probably not surprisingly, but woke up about 3:30 and looked about. It was already getting light and there was already some nice colour in the sky. I decided I might as well get up anyway. I’ve noticed before how sunrise on a clear day can come with the most amazing set of colours, especially blues and purples. The light gradually