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High on the windswept, bleak Denbigh Moors in North Wales, on the infamous Sportsman's Pass between Denbigh and Pentrefoelas, lies this battered old abandoned farmhouse.
Now roofless, with the bare bones of its rafters exposed to the elements, the building seems totally in keeping with its desloate surroundings.
Which is why my wife Liz and I stopped here for a few minutes' worth of photography under a patch of sunlight, beaming down from an otherwise stormy and overcast sky.
We were on our way from our home near Mold to spend an afternoon exploring the beauties of the Snowdonia National Park, but instead of taking the quicker route along the North Wales coast we had decided to cut across country, driving the Sportsman's Pass and taking in the rugged beauty of the moors on our way.
I spotted this derelict old farmhouse as we drove along and immediately pulled over into a convenient farm gate in order to capture some of the scene's ambiance in a photograph.
In the end I took several shots from a variety of angles, with this being my preferred composition.
Back home when I came to consider this image further I felt there was something missing from the original colour capture, it was just too 'nice' for want of a better term.
So I played around with it in Adobe Lightroom, finally rendering the file as a monochrome image with enhanced contrast and a warm tint, which conveyed the atmosphere of that bleak scene much more vividly than the colour image ever could.
I've included both versions of the final photo here so you can make your own judgement as to which you think better represents the mood of Denbigh Moor.
Filename - denbigh moors house 01
Lens - 24-105mm zoom @ 65mm
Exposure - 1/30 sec @ f8, ISO100
Filters - Polarising filter used to reduce glare and enhance colours. 2 stop neutral density graduated filter used at an angle to reduce the brightness of the sky relative to the foreground.
Location - Denbigh Moors, North Wales
Image enhancements - Adobe Lightroom
Comments - Handheld exposure with image stbilisation.
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