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The spring afternoon was wearing on as my wife Liz and I neared the end of our circumnavigation hike around the beautiful Cregennan Lakes, situated high in the mountains to the south of the Snowdonia National Park.
It takes the promise of a lovely day to cause us to venture this far from our usual stamping grounds of North Wales, but the two and a half hour drive south through Snowdonia is a treat in itself, without the added incentive of a walk around the lakes to multiply the pleasure.
Light quality and direction is critical when photographing the landscape (as it is with any other branch of photography - but out of our control!), and as the sun dipped towards the far horizon the warmth and directionality of the light just got better and better, grazing the undulating landscape with a chiaroscuro display of light and shadow.
Add to that the almost calm conditions, with smooth water providing a canvas for mirror-like reflections and you've got a recipe for some wonderful scenery to photograph.
So the last bit of our hike around the lakes, which should have taken about fifteen minutes, stretched out into almost an hour as I indulged in a visual feeding frenzy, finding new views to photograph and dashing off here and there, tripod and camera in hand.
This view was taken right at the lakeshore, and features lookout point reflecting in the calm water while the low angled sunlight grazed a large, light coloured rock which pointed conveniently towards the peak.
Just heavenly!
Filename - cregennan lakes 12.jpg
Camera - Canon 6D
Lens - 24-105mm zoom @ 28mm
Exposure - 1/30 sec @ f11, ISO100
Filters - Polarising filter used to enhance colours. 2 stop neutral density graduated filter used to balance exposure between the scene and its reflection.
Location - Cregennan Lakes, Snowdonia, Wales
This image - 800x533px JPEG
Conversion - Adobe Lightroom
Comments - Image underexposed slightly to preserve highlights on the brightly lit rock. Shadow areas subsequently brightened in Adobe Lightroom.
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