Click on the image for licensing terms
In my humble opinion, one of the most picturesque routes up Snowdon, the highest mountain in Wales and king of Snowdonia, is the Watkin Path.
In it's lower reaches, the Watkin Path passes through an ancient woodland, then moves on up alongside a series of waterfalls, which are the subject of this series of photos.
Because of dissolved minerals, the water is a beautiful shade of turquoise which contrasts nicely against the ore stained rocks which line the stream.
Being south facing, the Watkin path gets sunlight for most of the day, unlike the more heavily travelled paths on the north side of the mountain, which can be in shade from early afternoon onwards depending on the time of year. This is great for hiking and for photographing the grand landscape, but as you'll already know, sunny days in this part of the world are a rarity.
That's OK with me, because overcast days are great for photographing running water, with the flat light giving reduced contrast and enhanced colour saturation to the water, surrounding rocks and foliage. You just have to careful to exclude the sky which burns out to a boring white under these circumstances.
There's so much beauty in this world, and I find that photography helps me to see and appreciate it much more, such as on this cloudy day on the Watkin path in Snowdonia.
Filename - waterfall 18.jpg
Camera - Canon 5D
Lens - 24-105mm zoom @ 95mm
Exposure - 1/4sec @ f16, ISO100
Location - Watkin Path, Snowdon, Snowdonia
This image - 800x533px JPEG
Conversion - ACR & PS-CS2
Comments - Slow shutter speed used to blur water. Tripod, mirror lockup and cable release used to prevent camera movement.
All content copyright © Howard Litherland 2009-2024 unless otherwise stated.