VISIT TO CWM IDWAL
CONTENT
About Cwm Idwal
Images
Equipment
How to get there
Parking
1. ABOUT CWM IDWAL
Cwm Idwal is located in the stunning Ogwen Valley within Eryri National Parc.
Surrounded by the towering peaks of both Glyder Fawr & Glyder Fach, featuring the crystal clear waters of Llyn Idwal, the Idwal Slabs and numerous waterfalls (especially after lots of rain). The Valley is named after Prince Idwal, who has the story goes died a tragic death here in the 12th Century.
Cwm Idwal is the most southernly location in the UK that Arctic plants are found and is home to the Snowden Lily, a plant that is only found on Snowden and its surrounding areas.
Starting at the Ogwen Visitor Centre you can follow a 3 mile circular route that will take in all the stunning scenery Cwm Idwal has to offer (link to the route below)
About the Terrain, A clear stone pitched path for most of the route with gentle up hill to Llyn Idwal then mostly flat. Some sections can be boggy / slippery in wet or icy conditions.
2. IMAGES
Image captured while making a cup of tea on the beach of Llyn Idwal. Taken on Olympus OMD-1 Markii
Image captured on the path towards Twll Du (Devils Kitchen), fleeting light on Pen yr Ole Wen between rain showers. Taken on Olympus OMD-1 Markii
Image captured on the path up towards Llyn Idwal using Canon 3000V 35mm film camera and Ilford Kentmere 400 Pan Film
3. EQUIPMENT
Olympus OMD-1 Markii
Olympus 12-40mm F4 Pro Lens
Kase Filters
Canon 3000V 35mm Film Camera
Ilford Kentmere 400 Pan 35mm Film
4. GETTING THERE
Cwm Idwal is located in the Ogwen Valley just above Llyn Ogwen
From Bethesda head towards Betws Y Coed for approx 4miles.
Postcode LL57 3LZ
5. PARKING
There is a Pay and Display car park (with limited spaces) located at the Visitors centre or numerous free lay-bys along side Llyn Ogwen.
A Park and ride service is available from Bethesda
Two Lakes, Two Boat Houses and a Sheep
Visit to Llynnau Cregennen featuring two lakes, two boat houses and one sheep.
After a very frustrating five months due to health issues which forced me to miss a much anticipated family holiday to the Lake District we booked a short three night stay in southern Eryri National Park back in May. We visited a number of places including Llynnau Cregennen, Fairbourne and Barmouth.
Llynnau Cregennen has been on my list of places to visit for many years but we always seem to run out of time on the way up to or back from Eryri, so many amazing places to explore. The lakes and land are managed by the National Trust and sit in the shadow of the northern slopes of Cadair Idris. This ancient landscape is said to revel over 4000 years of human presents.
On leaving the main car park the sun disappeared and the clagg started to roll in incredibly fast, we spent the next hour with limited visibility (so much for the views). On arriving at the smaller lake we had a sudden break in the clagg so we took the opportunity to stop for the all in important snacks and I reached for the camera and grabbed a few shots of a boat house I didn’t realise existed (only seen photos of the boat house on the larger lake).
The rest of the walk followed a similar theme, clagg blows in, clagg clears and repeat….. On returning to the main car park the clagg finally cleared for good and the family patiently sat around taking in the views while I tried to photograph the main boat house. I did struggle to find a composition I was happy with as nothing seem to work for a number of reasons so opted to use out of focus grass, keeping it simple.
Would love to return to this location at difference times throughout the year as it has so much to offer.
EQUIPMENT
Olympus OMD-1 Markii
Olympus 12-40mm F4 Pro Lens
Kase Filter polariser
HOW TO GET THERE
Llynnau Cregennen is located above the village of Arthog which is approx six miles from Dolgellau. The single track road (with passing places) is fairly steep in places with a number of gates to open and close.
Postcode LL39 1LJ
PARKING
As this is a National Trust car park charges apply to non members, members can scan their membership cards.
At the time of visiting the parking charge was £5 all day.
The Boat House I didn’t realise existed on the Smaller Lake
Boat House on the Large Lake (next to main Car Park)
Mummy sheep watching walk by
It’s not always about the photos?
Recently I visited Watchet in the hope of taking a beautiful sunset photo featuring the old lighthouse, unfortunately on this occasion it didn’t happen for many reasons (including the sun being blocked out by the cloud, fencing surrounding the lighthouse and lots of people wandering around) but that didn’t matter and it ended up being one of my best trips out with the camera in recent times.
Why was that? While walking around looking for compositions and waiting for that special light I started to think about all the great memories I have of spending my early teenage years with my best mates around the Harbour (yes I’m that old I remember when it was a working harbour), down the beach fishing, playing football/tennis at the park, cycling the Mineral Line and playing Sega Megadrive at mates house (Super Kick Off & Sonic, just in case you’re wondering).
It’s funny as a young teenager you can’t wait to grow up, escape the small town and don’t fully appreciate the memories you’re making, 30 odd years on I can say I’m incredibly lucky to have these amazing memories.
I look forward to returning to Watchet in the coming months to reminisce some more and maybe grab that photo I’m after.
Thank you again to my mates for the amazing memories
Canon RP | RF Lens | 90mm | F9 | 8 secs | ISO 100
Canon RP | RF Lens | 63mm | F9 | 4 secs | ISO 100
Visit To Burrow Mump
Recently I had a couple of spare hours after finishing work early (very rare occurrence) so decided to head out for walk and scout a new photography location.
Burrow Mump is located in the village of Burrowbridge on the Somerset Levels, it stands out in another-wise flat landscape rising 24metres. The Mump is a natural hill topped with the ruins of a medieval church dedicated to St Micheal.
If you make the short walk up to the submit/ruins you will be rewarded with a panoramic view across the county.
The land and ruin were donated to the National Trust in 1946 as a war memorial. There is a large car park at the base of The Mump with free parking.
Nearest Postcode TA7 0RB
The following photos were taken on Canon RP using 24mm - 105mm Lens, Kase Filters and Manfrotto Tripod.
Sennen Cove Breakwater
Trying to bag a photo at Sennen Cove Breakwater
Having seen many spectacular photography’s of waves breaking over Sennen Cove’s Breakwater I’ve been wanting to visit and try to bag a photo for myself.
Recently I was fortunate enough to be working close by in Penzance and took advantage of being so close after finishing work. Conditions weren’t ideal for the hour I had with the cloud set in and constant drizzle but the tide was high , waves where crashing over the breakwater and I was the only one there.
Below are a few of the photos of the hundred plus I took (still working my way through them all), please feel free to comment / give me feedback.
I plan to visit again as I’d like to explore the area more, though next time I will defiantly be more prepared just in case its wet, taking more than one lens cloth so I can keep the lens clear (to many ruined photos due to water spots) and take a hot drink!
CANON RP | 24-105MM RF LENS | 93MM | ISO 200 | 7.1 | 1/200 SEC |
CANON RP | 24-105MM RF LENS | 24MM | ISO 100 | F11 | 1/60 SEC |
CANON RP | 24-105MM RF LENS | 24MM | ISO 100 | F11 | 1/6 SEC |
Foggy Walk On The Quantock Hills
I was lucky enough to be brought up just 10 minutes from the Quantock Hills an area of AONB, as a young child it’s where I spent many hours with my Parents, Sisters and Brother walking, playing and building dens. As a teenage I spent lots of time within the Cubs and Scouts Groups exploring and camping on the Quantocks but as an adult I drifted away from visiting the Quantocks to visit places further afield (in the UK and Aboard) even though I still lived relatively close for most of this time. Things changed in March 2020 when we went in to Lockdown here in the UK, being restricted to local exercise we soon exhausted the local parks and on gentle relaxing of rules were looking for somewhere else local to visit its then the Quantock Hill sprang to mind. Since then I along with my family have spent many hours revisiting old paths and discovering new one all over the Quantocks.
Last weekend we met my Sister and her family at Staple Plain for a walk retracing some of the paths we walked as children, through the woodland and along the Valley floor all in thick fog.
As ever I packed my camera (with single lens 24mm-105mm) just in case there was a chance to grab a few foggy snaps which I was lucky enough to do much to my five year old nephews dismay (Uncle T why are you taking pictures of old trees in fog he asked a number of times).
Below are a few of the snaps I managed to take throughout our walk.
For more information about the Quantock Hills visit: https://www.quantockhills.com
Knowing your Camera
This is where I have been going wrong!
I was lucky enough to attend Nigel Danson’s latest webinar about Secrets to Creating Extraordinary Images. One of the first points Nigel discussed was knowing how to operate your camera so that it becomes second nature, just like driving a car.
I realised while listening to Nigel this is where I have gone wrong recently and why I’m spending time faffing around, this was especially noticeable on a recent holiday in North Wales where I didn’t come away with the photo’s I had hoped despite the condition (also not helped by leaving my wide angle lens at home!).
It’s now clear I made two mistake prior to visiting North Wales where I had a planned a few photography outings:
Trading in my Canon 250D (APSC) for the Canon RP (Mirrorless Full Frame) just before the holiday and only spending half an hour taking photos along the local river with it.
Assuming (as it was Canon) everything would be the same i.e Menus/Settings.
Since the webinar I have spent time familiarising myself with the RP Menu/Settings, this has been helped by a number of YouTube tutorials.
The hope is to have a much better understanding of the RP for when I’m next able to get out, reduce the faffing and take better photos.
To find out more about Nigel Danson visit his website by clicking here