The Glyders from Yr Arddu The morning after the night before (see Part 1), half past four, and the alarm wakes me up after a surprisingly good night’s sleep. Everything is wet, covered in dew and condensation but the cameras and my boots were well wrapped up. Snowdon from my bedroom The sky is very clear, which is nice but sort of disappointing – no clouds to add interest to the pictures. Warm enough though, so I won’t have frozen fingers as I take the pictures. I already kno

Snowdon from Yr Arddu, Llynnau Cerrig y myltt in the foreground Another overnight trip while this fantastic weather lasts. Although I scouted out a different area I ended up not far from my last trip. This time I went to a many-topped hill, more a group of rocky tops, called The Heights, Yr Arddu in welsh on the OS map. A little above Beddgelert, in Snowdonia. I had seen from last time several little lakes and plenty of rocks to add interest to the pictures. The weather was v

As described in part 1, this overnight trip gave three distinct shooting sessions. First, the sunset, which was slightly disappointing. Then the sunrise, which was pretty good. This had the bonus of the sea of low cloud which was the key to part 3, this part. Every year I struggle with bluebells. I find it very hard to get good bluebell shots. The best weather for them is an overcast, ideally after some wetness. The day before had been bright sunshine. I’d seen plenty of flow

Cnicht at sunrise, Moel Siabod in the distance After a night spent mostly wide awake in my plastic bag on top of a hill the alarm went off at 4:45 and I was surprised to find I was asleep. I poked my head out to find everything covered in dew on the outside and condensation on the inside and a beautiful line of bright colour on the eastern horizon suggesting I should get a move on to be ready for the sun. The next surprise was to see a sea of cloud a long way below me. The we

Sunset from Cnicht A fine weather forecast encouraged me to try my first wild camping trip of the year. The plan was go to Snowdonia and set up near the summit of Cnicht. This is a modestly-sized but extremely attractive hill just east of Beddgelert. Some people call it “the Matterhorn of Wales”. It doesn’t look like the Matterhorn, it’s just very pointy. It stands by itself, which gives it fantastic views all around. My bed for the night on Cnicht summit Usually I report thi

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

Duddon Valley The Duddon Valley is in the south-west of the Lake District, running north to south just to the left of Coniston. It isn’t popular, perhaps because it doesn’t have any big mountains, but it’s one of the most beautiful valleys of Cumbria. Spring is a good time to visit because of the blackthorn and hawthorn blossom, wild garlic, bluebells, and the delicate bright green of new leaves. The road climbs very steeply for half a mile as you enter the valley and as soon

Route map on plotaroute.com Joy and I did a wonderful walk around Swaledale yesterday. Despite a less than good forecast it was perfect walking weather, cool but bright and calm. We were there visiting our friends Richard and Polly at The Old School Gallery in Muker. They’d had their second open evening, which was a great success, and I’d also taken some new prints to put into stock there. Spring is delayed up there compared to Cheshire so we didn’t see much blossom and not s

Mawddach Estuary Some weeks ago I took a trip to the Mawddach estuary, with the seaside holiday town of Barmouth at its exit to the sea. Although part of the Snowdonia national park the hills around here are never crowded. This is good for those of us that make it there because the views are truly wonderful. This was my second trip and I still haven’t managed to do it justice. I took these shots as the sun dipped near the horizon. Mawddach Estuary Shooting almost directly at

The Helvellyn range at last light These are some shots I took a couple of weeks ago from a place I haven’t been before, St. John’s in the Vale in the northern Lake District. There’s a place called Low Rigg, a pretty modest little hill with a great view. Many of these shots were taken after the sun had gone down behind the hills, hence the lovely blue-purple colours. I’d thought at first that I was getting a good view of Skiddaw but checking the pictures and the map the peak I

Lliwedd and Moel Siabod are prominent, with Nant Gwynant between. There’s a wonderful texture to the wild hillsides around Cwm Bychan. I’m not synesthetic but when I look at the red rocks and the purple heather I think of “bite”, a certain al-dente quality that I always admire when I see and feel it. The rock around this area is very red, different to most other parts of the national park, and surrounded by heather. This area is just above and to the east of Beddgelert in the

St Sunday Crag seen through Grisedale Hause, Fairfield on the right, Dollywagon Pike on the left. Joy and I went to the Lake District for a weekend in Ambleside this weekend. The weather on sunday was glorious with a lot of snow from about 500 metres upwards. We did a walk from Grasmere, up Easedale and back along the ridge to Helm Crag. 8 miles 530 metres ascent 7 hours start to finish Route map on plotaroute.com The outward leg is a nice warm-up along the valley floor of Ea

“The Heights” is the anglicised name of Yr Arddu, a hill of modest height but tremendous character just east of Beddgelert, North Wales. You approach along winding and undulating single-track roads. My first attempt was thwarted by a large flood across the road. Every stream was full and water was leaking out all over the hillside after much heavy rain. I went a few miles round and found another way. This part of Snowdonia is not heavily visited and I didn’t see another perso

We travelled to Provence for the first time in 2016. A village called Malaucene, at the foot of Mont Ventoux, famous as a long-standing Tour de France stage. We spent most of the two weeks climbing on the world-famous limestone cliffs (famous among climbers, at least) but of course I took my camera. I was struck not just by the spectacular scenery and the charm of the villages but also by the quality of the light. I think it’s something that was talked about in the context of

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

When photographing I spend most of my time in Snowdonia, the Lake District, Yorkshire Dales, etc. Hilly places of obvious scenic spectacle. Where I live is Cheshire, not far from Manchester. It has no hills and no spectacle. It doesn’t much inspire me, if I’m honest. But season, weather, and light can create spectacle and drama. On such a morning I went out a couple of months ago to a little lake just round the corner from my house. #photography #cheshire #landscape #galleryp

This portrait is of a tree in the small lake of Tarn Hows in the Lake District. It was a disappointing day otherwise. I was hoping for the tail end of the autumn colour but it had gone already and this is the only shot of the day that I’m happy with. The warm toning of the black and white conversion comes from Lightroom’s Creamtone preset, which I haven’t used before but may use again. #cumbria #photography #landscape #monochrome #olympus

I found a quiet day during the Christmas rush at the end of November and went out to Grasmere in the Lake District. There had been some snow and the mountain tops looked pretty. Very cold and windy, which made photographing difficult and encouraged me to do the circuit as quickly as I could to keep warm. Starting from Grasmere village I did a circuit starting up to Helm Crag and north and west along the ridge then dropping down into Easedale at it’s head and back along the va

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