Mean, moody and magnificent is a good way to describe typical weather around the high peaks of the Snowdonia National Park (now called Eryri) in North Wales.
Which is why you'll often find me there, complete with camera and tripod, capturing those fleeting moments when dramatic light and dramatic scenery combine in a jaw dropping spectacle.
And these were the conditions as my wife Liz and I pulled up in the overlook car park on the A498 to the east of Snowdon (now called Yr Wyddfa) in early October 2023.
I immediately noticed a finger of brightly lit cloud filtering through a gap below the summit, with dark, ominous clouds above, and raced to set up my camera to capture this time lapse video before the light changed.
In the end, my bright finger of cloud lost its radiance about halfway through the shoot, but I kept on filming for another ten minutes or so as the scenery and cloud movement was still very stirring.
Just a few minutes of absolute loveliness, never to be repeated in exactly the same way.
Filename - snowdon clouds timelapse 01
Camera - Canon EOS 6DMK2
Lens - 24-105mm zoom @ 105mm
Exposure (start of sequence) - 1/1250 sec @ f/4, ISO100
Exposure (end of sequence) - 1/1250 sec @ f/4, ISO100
Filters - 2 stop neutral density graduated filter used to reduce the brightness of the sky.
Music - Bach Cello Suite No. 1, G Major, Prelude - Cooper Cannell
Shooting interval - 2 seconds
Location - Car park overlooking Snowdon, North Wales
This clip - HD 720p, 30fps (4K and HD formats also available)
Clip duration - 24 seconds
All content copyright © Howard Litherland 2009-2024 unless otherwise stated.