That time of the year...

Wind, Rain and Laughter...

The nice thing about living here in North Wales is that you get a chance to show it off to all your friends and family whenever they come visiting. This last couple of weeks have been rather manic, with three lots of visitors coming to stay over a two week period. The weather has been quite kind to us, although there has been plenty of wind and some heavy downpours. But, all in all, we've had more than our fair share of the sunny stuff.Most of our visitors are from the major towns and cities, so it's always a great buzz to take them out into the mountains and to watch their reactions as they take in the views and soak up all that wide open space. It isn't long before they start to unwind and relax.
Even after nine years of living here It doesn't get much better then this.

Horses for Courses...

We all love horses, although they don't always love me! But when you're given an environment like the Snowdonia National Park to ride in, then it's more then worth the effort to get to know your mare. Here in the heart of the park is a wonderful establishment that goes by the name of the Snowdonia Riding Stables. http://www.snowdonia2000.fsnet.co.uk/
Created over 30 years ago, it has some of the best trekking you'll find in North Wales. A beautiful selection of horses for all ages and abilities, and a fantastic group of leaders to take you up into the wonderful hills and mountains of Wales.I think the pictures say it all!

Snow, Snow, Snow..

I was looking forward to a relaxing start to the New Year... then it snowed and all hell broke loose! Calls from Visit Wales and Cadw came hot on each others heels requesting a long list of location to be shot in the snow. There followed 3 days of early starts and late finishes with overnight stays, zig-zagging our way across North Wales. Getting caught in snowdrifts on the Llanberis Pass and slipping and sliding to out of the way places looking for decent shots of Castles and Abbeys covered in the white stuff. It was a struggle just to cope with the constant change in temperature as we jumped in and out of the car, trudging through heavy snow and freezing winds hoping that the light wouldn't let us down. By the time we got home we were completely exhausted only to discover that the mains water in the house had frozen. Thank goodness for our wood burning stove, at lest we had warmth. Within 24 hours the water came through and we got back to some sort of normality.
Quite an adventure and some pretty pictures to boot!

Happy New Year...

Just a quick hello to anyone that may have come across my blog site. I hope you all have a wonderful New Year and that life is as kind to you as it has been to me. Busy working for the Welsh Tourist board photographing snowy scenes on Anglesey and around North Wales. I'll post some more images as and when I get them. Here's to a happy and contented 2010.

Paul.
Check it out: www.thepondbythewillow.co.uk

Winter Wonderland (part2)…

Being only thirty minutes away from Snowdonia National Park is quite a convenience when it comes to landscape photography. A quick look out the window and a check with the online local weather report and I’m packed and ready to roll in minutes. I often set off with some rather fixed ideas about what it is I’m trying to capture and almost always come back with something completely different; which is why I so enjoy photography. If you don’t have a plan of action you can often find excuses for not venturing out, especially when the weather is cold, wet and miserable. But it’s this exact same changeable weather that can give up some exceptional images, which you could never hope to plan in the first place.
So, the key is to have an agenda to get you out the front door and then be prepared to scrap it. A flask of tea, some warm long johns and the reassuring sound of radio 4 on the car stereo and the worlds your oyster just waiting to be photographed.