Click on the image for licensing terms
The first day of 2020 was a cracker, with crisp, cold, clean air channeling gorgeous low angled light from the winter sun and just a few high altitude cirrus clouds to perk up the otherwise boring(?) blue skies.
So where else would my wife Liz and I be other than hiking in the Snowdonia National Park, just an hour's drive from our home in North Wales.
The chosen route for our adventure was the Dwr Cymru access track, starting from the A5 as it runs through the Ogwen Valley, up to the Ffynnon Llugwy reservoir, nestled in the Carneddau mountains under the looming bulk of Carnedd Llewelyn.
The views back down the Ogwen Valley during the first part of our climb were just beautiful, with the cloud wreathed peaks of the Glyderau mountains to the south and the gentler, less spiky Carneddau range to the north.
With beams of light throwing patches of sunlight and shadow over the landscape, and an isolated farmstead just visible overlooking Llyn Ogwen the view was just epic, and well worth a pause in our climb to capture as photons on silicon.
A lovely momento of stunning scenery under wonderful lighting.
Filename - snowdonia ogwen valley 13
Lens - 24-105mm Zoom @ 105mm
Exposure - 1/60 sec @ f8, ISO200
Filters - Polarising filter used to reduce glare and enhance colours.
Location - Ogwen Valley, Snowdonia National Park, North Wales
Image enhancements - Adobe Lightroom
Comments - Image underexposed slightly to preserve highlights. Raised ISO ued to allow handheld exposure with image stabilisation.
All content copyright © Howard Litherland 2009-2026 unless otherwise stated.