Click on the image for licensing terms
One thing Snowdonia has in abundance is atmosphere.
It's always nice when the sun shines or there's a dramatic storm to marvel at and photograph, but nine times out of ten in this part of the world the weather is flat grey and raining - not great for landscape photography you might think, but this where Snowdonia scores.
Scattered throughout the region are relics of mans' attempts to tame this wild place, with beaten down old stone cottages and walls that make for great evocative monochomatic scenes when the light is too flat to photograph the grand landscape compositions we all know and love.
This photo is a case in point. This is Llyn Gwynant, on the road from Capel Curig to Beddgelert. Normally this lake is photographed from above as a focal point in a 'grand scenic' photo, framed by dramatically lit mountains, maybe with a fiery sunset to set it all off. Not on this occasion however, with low grey cloud and drizzle making such an image impossible.
It's in light like this, however, that photographing the old stone buildings really pays off, as the flat light allows all the details in the stones to be seen without deep shadows or blown highlights to mar the pleasure.
In colour this photo just doesn't work, as the colours are so wishy washy and dull they detract from the feeling of benign decay that comes across much more strongly when the image is reduced to monochrome.
Sometimes less really is more, both in terms of colour saturation and light intensity.
Filename - cottage stone 03.jpg
Camera - Canon 350D
Lens - 18-55mm zoom @ 18mm
Exposure - 0.8sec @ f11, ISO100
Location - Llyn Gwynant, Snowdonia
This image - 800x533px JPEG
Conversion - ACR & PS-CS2
Comments - Tripod, mirror release and self-timer used to prevent camera movement.
All content copyright © Howard Litherland 2009-2026 unless otherwise stated.