The Trodden Path Photo

Photographer’s Note

Snowdonia seems rather out of place, geographically speaking. The rest of Wales is anything but mountainous, and England south of Cumbria has no real mountains to speak of. To get this kind of scenery eslewhere in Britain, you have to go to Cumbria or the Highlands of Scotland. So Snowdonia was a very pleasant surprise.

This is the path to Llyn Idwal, a lovely little lake near Llyn Ogwen and the town of Capel Curig in Snowdonia National Park. I hiked a little over 5 miles in about 3 hours this morning on three different paths. Up at sunrise, back to the B&B by 9:00 for breakfast--nothing better.

As I post shots of my UK/Ireland/France trip, you'll notice that most of them were taken in good weather. We had better weather than I could have imagined. There was only one day where it rained for most of the day, and only two or three days where it rained for more than an hour in total--and we were there for nearly three weeks. Lots of sunshine. Basically the exact opposite of Canada last year, funny enough.

robertosalguero, feather, jwmunro, RPoole5552 has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

chawax (6155) 2009-07-27 13:12

Hi Clark,
Excellent point of view, with the rocky path driving our look to the mountains in the background. The light is very pleasant and the colours are great. I've been twice to Snowdonia but always had a bad weather. And I heard many people who encountered the same weather. So you are a lucky man !
Thanks for sharing,
Olivier

robertosalguero (110) 2009-07-27 13:17

Hello Clark,

I like your framing here with the path just off center. Interesting that they built a rock path in such a place. I guess I am used to see dirt trails more often. Good light and just enough polarization to enhance that one corner of blue sky. Thanks Clark :-)

Roberto

pauloog (6905) 2009-07-27 13:23

Hello Clark,
A wonderful perspective to present the wide landscape in the soft colours of the early morning sun. Fine contrast between sunny and shadow areas.
Regards,
Paul

dta (6107) 2009-07-27 13:51

Hello Clark ,
The low POV works very well here , showing us the old cobbled path , under a great light .
June can be a very fine month (for the weather) in western Europe .
Best regards
Denis

bartekp (885) 2009-07-27 16:01

Hi Clark,

Very nice shot, good POV and light.

Regards

Bartek

lctan (1057) 2009-07-27 16:23

HELLO,
Very well lighting here in this photo. great low POV of the entire scene and very well composed ending in a beautiful sky. tfs
LC

gneufeld (15235) 2009-07-27 18:50

Hi Clark,
I like this landscape shot - very nice composition with a compelling leading line with the stone path. Nice light and colors. Well done and TFS. Gerald

HimalAnda (1072) 2009-07-27 22:24

Hello Clark,

The light and the colors are beautiful, and I like the composition with the stone path which drives the eye toward the mountain.
A great shot !

Stéphane

feather (50144) 2009-07-30 13:48

I think this is my favourite amongst your UK posts so far. I can only applaud you for being up at sunrise in June. I don't want to know about the other 3 o'clock in the day! :D I'd need to be in bed by 7pm. However it is worth it for the spectacular light. Your low POV and WA lens has worked a treat on the cobbled path. I don't know if it's something to do with WA but all the clouds are pointing diagonally inwards, so both the clouds and the path are leading to the mountain. Excellent shot.
Kath
PS Interesting your choice of title. I don't know about Wales but these stones made into paths in N Yorkshire are called trods! Many of them were laid down in medieval times for packhorses.
K

erdna (5360) 2009-07-31 6:27

Very nice photograph. I like very much the contrast of land textures, the rocks, the grass and the mountains. With the foreground under shadow, it is the perfect element to give punch to the area within the frame.

Have a nice day,

Andre'

jwmunro (6255) 2009-08-11 14:47

Hello Clark -

Out for a sunrise shoot in Wales and in June to boot. Either you could not sleep or a glutton for punishment later in the day. This is a spot on image both in composition and technical detail. Well done!

Thank you for sharing.

John

RPoole5552 (1643) 2009-08-19 18:48

Excellent use of lighting and nice simple but eye catching composition. Thanks for sharing.

Rob

Photo Information

Copyright: Clark Monson (cdmonson) (2767)
Genre: Places
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2009-06-04
Categories: Nature
Camera: Canon EOS 400D, Tokina 12-24mm f/4 AT-X AF Pro DX, Digital ISO 100, Cokin 77mm Circular Polarizer
Exposure: f/8, 1/30 seconds
More Photo Info: view
Photo Version: Original Version
Date Submitted: 2009-07-27 13:08