This is one of my favourite viewpoints, overlooking the Vale of Clwyd in North Wales from the Pen Barras car park on the slopes of Moel Famau, the highest peak in the Clwydian range of hills.
Dotted along the Vale of Clwyd are the market towns of Ruthin and Denbigh, with small villages and isolated farms in between, while far away to the north lies the coastal strip with the seaside town of Prestatyn marking the end of Offa's Dyke.
A place redolent with history of feuding kings and border wars, but my interest as a photographer primarily lies in the interaction of light and scenery that occurs over such a vast landscape.
On this occasion I went up to the viewpoint with the hope of filming a time lapse of a dramatic sunset, and to begin with it looked like my hopes would be fulfilled, with low angled slanting rays of sunlight sweeping across the far landscape as the setting sun found gaps in the cover of storm clouds that stretched to the horizon.
But the sun soon set and I was left watching and filming as an atmospheric cloud ballet played out overhead as dusk faded into night and the lights of the towns below me shone like diamonds in the gloom.
The occasional rain squall passed by, adding to the fun, but a strategically placed shower cap kept my camera dry and functioning till the light had all but gone.
Maybe not the colourful light show I was hoping for (it rarely is!), but a very dramatic evening's entertainment none the less.
Filename - clouds timelapse 03.mp4
Camera - Canon 6D
Lens - 17-40mm zoom @29mm
Exposure (start of sequence)
1/250 sec, f4, ISO100
Exposure (end of sequence)
5 secs, f4, ISO100
Time between exposures - 5 secs
Location - Vale of Clwyd, North Wales
This clip - HD 720p
Clip duration - 43 secs
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