My second outing in April was to the area of Beddgelert, a place famous for its ancient story of the dog which was falsely accused of killing a young price when in fact he was protecting him from an attack by wolves. The dog lost his life for its loyalty. Despite loving the story I did not visit Beddgelert itself but stayed just outside of the little town, at the Craflwyn Estate. The 200 acre estate, managed by the National Trust is an amazing area, with amazing views over the relatively undisturbed hills of Moel y Dyniewyd and the Moelwynion range.
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My first trip in April really was a continuation of the trip I ended within March, where I set off to find a lake but failed to do so. For two days I had been hiking among the Arenig Mountain range to discover (well not really) Llyn Arenig Fawr without finding a trace of the elusive lake. So at the beginning of April and headed out again this time armed with a photo of the google map so that I knew exactly where to leave the road and head for the hills, so to speak. The minute I left the road I was rewarded with some amazing views, although I was sure that I had taken to long with my breakfast and that I would totally miss the forthcoming sunrise and consequently the magical colours that was promising to develop. I hastened my steps but as I was getting more and more sure I would miss the spectacle I decided to stop my by then increasing jog to at least record and photograph from where I stood the magic that unfolded. I found a couple of rocks just to give some foreground interest to balance the incredible vista in front of me. I still had some colour left in the sky when I first sighted the lake but I knew I had missed the sunrise I wanted to photograph across Llyn Arenig Fawr. I was disappointed and upset with myself for not leaving the camper van earlier and maybe even skipping breakfast altogether. But I had made my choice and I just had to resign myself to getting what nature was willing to give me at that particular moment. I carried on walking till I reached the lake and having found a crossing over the overflow river I carried on upwards, not so much with the aim of actually climbing Arenig Fawr but to be able to get a different framing of the lake. It was difficult to get the whole lake into the frame, a shot I really did want to make up for the missed sunrise. As I was crossing the dam of the lake I decided to take a shot with my 10 stop filter as I really like shots that show the long exposure especially with moving clouds. I tried to get the movement in the clouds so distinguished to long exposure images. I wonder if it worked ? I carried on upwards to get a wider vantage point and hopefully that way would be able to photograph the lake in its whole beauty. It was a bit of a slog upwards but as the light altered again I was so glad I did the trek. The views were just amazing, as the next image shows. The light stayed absolutely awesome for the rest of the morning and I also managed to get a nice shot of the Arenig Mountain range, maybe with the view of climbing the range one day. I dont feel comfortable doing it on my own though and hope that one day I will find a comrade walker who is interested in a bit of a easy and slow ascent to Arenig Fawr. March has been a kinda strange month for me. I am was still recovering for the operation I had at the end of February, so any trips out had to be planned carefully. I did manage however to get out twice in Velma. The First location was to explore the area around LLyn Mair. Llyn Mair (Welsh for 'Mary's lake') is an artificial lake in North Wales. It lies in the area of Tan-y-Bwlch, a little above Plas Tan-y-Bwlch, and is in the catchment area of the River Dwyryd. It was created by William Edward Oakeley (of Plas Tan-y-bwlch) as a 21st birthday present to his daughter Mair and as a water supply. The lake is set alongside the B4410 road, a minor road linking the village of Rhyd. The position of the lake bordered with ancient oak woods and its tranquil appearance makes this a popular picnic site for visitors and it also provides a starting point for a number of local country walks. There is some limited parking available just off the road. The narrow gauge Ffestiniog Railway runs through the woods above the lake and Tan-y-Bwlch railway station can be reached on foot from the lake. The lake also has a notable echo because of the shape of the surrounding hills. Below some of the shots I have taken in that area. As can be seen I do like reflections. x My second trip was to explore the area around Arenig Fawr (English: Great High Ground) is a mountain located in Snowdonia, North Wales. The mountain, which is the largest in the area, lies close to Llyn Celyn reservoir alongside the A4212 between Trawsfynydd and Bala. I parked in a layby just off the A4212 and my aim was to find Llyn Arenig Fawr a reservoir that lies at the foot of the mountain. Despite extensive exploration I ended up missing the footpath each time I passed it and was not able to find the lake on that particular visit. I did however manage to get some lovely images from that area and swore to go back in order to find that lake and maybe even climb Arenig Fawr itself. Below some of the images taken at that visit.
At the beginning of January 2016 I entered an on-line competition with Picture Frames Express. The competition was titled "Weather Watch" and I entered an image I had taken during a photography holiday in Pembrokeshire in 2013. The title of the image is "Strumble Head Lighthouse". The image won 2nd place in the competition and I received a voucher for £ 50.00 to spent an framing equipment from Picture Frames Express. Besides the voucher I also was chosen as the Photographer of the month on the Picture Frames Express website. They did an article about my work and posted some of my other images. I am well pleased of such a great honour. Included the link to the site, so that you can read the post yourself. Click here
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