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I always look forward to the coming of autumn in the Snowdonia National Park, North Wales, as the colours on display can be just stunning, depending on the weather of course!
One of the more famous and well photographed autumn locations is the old thatched cottage, now the Tu Hwnt-I'r Bont tea rooms, at Llanrwst by the river Conwy.
For just a couple of weeks every autumn this beautifully preserved relic of days gone by, now owned by the National Trust, turns a vivid red as the Virginia creeper clad walls and roof take on their astonishing hues.
Most photos of this iconic autumn scene are taken from the far side of the river, and show the cottage set against the arches of the lovely old stone bridge across the river.
But for this image I decided to get close, really close, to the red creeper covered walls of the tea rooms, in order to show the creeper close up in all its glorious colour.
A convenently placed window acted as a useful focal point and colour reference for the composition, with the colours of the creeper just glowed in the overcast afternoon light.
Back home in Photoshop, a light 'Orton' effect was applied to parts of the image, to further enhance the autumnal mood that I was aiming to convey.
Liz and I came back the following weekend to see how the cottage looked, only to find all the red leaves had dropped.
So I'm glad I took the opportunity to photgraph this lovely scene while I had the chance.
Filename - llanrwst 05.jpg
Camera - Canon EOS 6D
Lens - 24-105mm zoom @ 47mm
Exposure - 1/2 sec @ f22, ISO100
Filters - Polarising filter used to enhance the colours and remove glare
Location - Llanrwst, Snowdonia National Park, North Wales
This image - 800x533px JPEG
Conversion - Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop
Comments - Tripod, mirror lockup and cable release used to prevent camera movement
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