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This is the classic view of Llyn Gwynant, on the western flanks of Snowdon, much beloved of photographers in this part of the world.
On this particular day my wife Liz and I were just on a sightseeing drive around the area, visiting favourite spots for a bit of walking and photography. The weather had been iffy all day, with virtually 100% cloud cover and no decent light to speak of.
However, towards the end of the day a few breaks appeared in the clouds and the odd shaft of sunlight beamed down onto the waiting landscape.
I know an opportunity when I see one, and having photographed here many times in the past I knew just where to go to hopefully make the most of the transient light.
I set up the camera and tripod on the viewpoint that all the local photographers use and started to shoot as splashes of light fell across the mountains and the lake in turn.
Towards the end of the session the light started to hit the fields in front of the lake, while leaving the background mountains in shadow and, to my mind, this gave the best and most expressive mood to the image.
I just love these light/dark (chiaroscuro) lighting conditions, and I'm glad to say that, thanks to the weather in Snowdonia, they're not that rare. What a place!
Filename - lake trees mountains 03.jpg
Camera - Canon 5D
Lens - 24-105mm zoom @67mm
Exposure - 1/2sec @ f16, ISO100
Location - Llyn Gwynant, Snowdonia
This image - 800x450px JPEG
Conversion - ACR & PS-CS2
Comments - ND grad filter used to darken sky.
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