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LLanthony Priory #4

Llanthony Priory ruins with daisies in the Brecon Beacons National Park, Wales

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The story behind this image

As part of a couple of days 'glamping' experience in the Brecon Beacons National Park, Wales, my wife Liz and I took a trip into the Vale of Ewyas to visit the famous Llanthony Priory.

The remains of the 13th century priory are particularly photogenic, and we spent a good hour wandering around admiring the structure from different angles.

This photo was acually taken during our second visit to the priory, with lighting conditions completely different from our first visit, which was under bright sunlight.

On this occasion we had a fully overcast sky, casting lovely diffuse lighting over the ancient stone pillars and walls.

This diffuse lighting allowed all the detail of the stonework to be seen clearly, so I concentrated my photographic efforts on shape and texture rather than on grand scenery.

Inside the ruins of the priory was a grassy sward, covered with white daises, which to my mind made a lovely counterpoint against the ancient pillars.

The juxtaposition of the fresh, new, but short lived flowers against the decaying stonework, redolent with history, makes for a nice visual metaphor for the relative passage of time.

However, the central message of this image just didn't come through in the original colour version, but a conversion to monochrome removed the distraction of colour allowing what was hidden to be seen more clearly.

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Image data

Filename - brecon beacons llanthony priory 04.jpg

Camera - Canon EOS 6D

Lens - 24-105mm zoom @ 105mm

Exposure - 1/100 sec @ f11, ISO400

Location - Llanthony Priory, Wales

This image - 800x533px JPEG

Conversion - Adobe Lightroom

Comments - High ISO used to allow fast shutter speed with handheld exposure