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Brecon Beacons Snow Walk
In the early hours of Sunday morning, I packed my new Tilopa F-Stop kitbag in preparation for an early start and an ascent up the tourist route to Pen Y Fan, via the Storey Arms and Corn Du. I arrived a little late, as oddly the A470 was shut, so a detour through Merthyr Vale was required.
Arriving with some fellow photographers we set off into the dark, headlamps lit and were a little surprised by the lack of wind (which had been forecast) and snow. You could see the faint white glow on top, so evidence of it's existence but low level it was quite sparce. Surprisingly we passed another couple of groups of climbers and caught up with an earlier party, just at the base of the Corn Du steps. This shot was taken by a fellow photographer ( http://www.wild-landscapes.co.uk) we took cover from the sandblasting under a cornice, before making the decision to continue up and over and on to Pen Y Fan.
It became less of an exercise about photography and more of personal achievement and of course safety. It was a complete whiteout on top. We are prepared climbers/walkers and had the necessary kit to take care of ourselves, but even I lost my bearings on top for a short while. It really goes to show just how careful you really need to be in the Beacons.
Anyhow we continued on to the summit of Corn Du and then the usual drop down and cut over to Pen Y Fan, which in itself was a challenge to find. The constant sandblasting was a real hassle and next time I must remember to pack my ski-mask, which really would have made the whole walk more bearable. On the main pathways was easily a foot of snow, on the slopes leading from the Corn Du and Pen Y Fan summits allot more.
As the sun rose at 8.25, we were on top of Corn Du and a tiny pink glow appeared, hardly noticeable in the total whiteout, it was a teaser of what we had hoped for.
Descending was going to be a tough decision, becuase we really didnt was to traverse the Corn Du ridge, so we opted for a cut across the base of Corn Du and ended up trampling through a foot of snow to create our own ridge! and evetually managed to get back onto the main path and head down.
We arrived back in the car park in daylight to see skiers, boarders and a heap of other walkers heading up. It amazes me to this day the number of ill-prepared walkers that go up in this weather, without the right gear or navigation ability.
A few thanks to the fellow photographers who came with me and also to Duncan for taking these shots, my Canon 5D2 didnt come out of it's new Tilopa bag!
Looking forward to more Brecon Beacons fun in 2012, watch this space.
Cheers,
Neil
A collection of Cardiff Landscapes by Neil Mansfield
Cardiff landscapes, Wales - Images by Neil Mansfield
Please visit www.neilmansfield.com for all your landscapes and portrait requests.
A collection of images from the Brecon Beacons, Neil Mansfield
Brecon Beacons landscapes, Wales - Images by Neil Mansfield
Brecon Beacons Slideshow
A brecon beacons slideshow, just testing some new posterous functionality.
North Pembrokeshire
Arrived in North Pembrokeshire today for a few days of largely chilling, but also some photography of sorts. I have a few planned shoots and weather dependant (Hail forecast I can make a few) Heather mostly.
Carag Wylan - Ceibwr Bay
Is an old shot but one I dearly hope to improve on. Muted tones like that will be perfect for me. Also a trip up to a megalithic tomb, one that has been shot 1000 times and one I struggle with particularly. But I have a plan...lets just see if I can put it in to practice.
Finally, a long visit to Poppit Sands, a location I adore, not just photograpically, but because it's a beach for me with everything. It's open, sandy, wide, has cliffs, sand dunes, extraordinary weather and just staggeringly beautiful. It's had it's fair share of photographers, for me most notable is Michael Jackson: http://www.mgjackson.co.uk/section392094.html
I am very lucky to have a permanent base here, so coming down is easy....I just need to make the most of the next few days.
Lots and lots of thoughts coming soon, in particular a review on the Gitzo 3541xls and Arca Swiss P0 as well as my imminent sale of a lens I'll probably never own again my 300 2.8
Black Mountains, Brecon Beacons
I spent a lovely few days camping just outside of Hay on Wye and managed a recce to Tympa or "Lord Herefords Knob" an easy walk from the Gospel Pass parking point. I must confess an area I hadn't explored much at all. That is definately about to change, fabulous area and well worth a good explore.
The vista from the top of Twmpa is extra-ordinary, looking down into glorious Welsh Valleys
The Gospel Pass takes you down through Capel y ffin into Llantony Priory (http://www.breconbeacons.org/visit-us/easy-access/places-to-visit-with-easier...
The weather began to change and the rain and mist descended quickly covering the priory, but a terrific afternoon and way too many additional landscape locations now added to an ever increasing list!
I'll be back during the Bank Holiday weekend.
All images are availabel here: www.neilmansfield.com
Llangorse Lake, Brecon Beacons
A very long and overdue Brecon Beacons sunrise shoot!
The only issue with that particular plan is that summer sunrise are clearly very early, in this case my alarm went off at 3.30AM. The A470 was absolutely devoid of traffic, so the journey from Cardiff took about an hour, I was also meeting a fellow landscape photogarpher Dan Santillo, we met up at just after 5.00Am, giving us 30+ minutes before the sun rose from behind us.
Oddly it's a tricky place for acces to the lake with boat clubs and camp sites either side and way to many gated fences for my liking. Anyhow after a good hunt around for a good spot, I settled on the jetty.
Sunrise was muted and soft and also over fairly quickly, managed a couple of exposures, but this is a venue for a return and much more of a recce around the lake. With the Brecon Beacons, Pen y fan ridge as a backdrop it has definite potential.
I thought the quay acted as quite a lovely lead-in to the shot, but had my new Gitzo at full stretch to get the angles I wanted, it still slightly clips the reflection on the land at the far side. I don't want to moan too much, we got a sunrise, mist and a still lake giving rather nice reflections.
All images are available here: www.neilmansfield.com
Cornish Wonders
I have for a very long time spent time writing a diary on for Cornish adventure, unfortunately, we had no internet connection, otherwise my first blog would have been updated every evening.
I'll add a few pages or exerts from the diary, over the next day or so, in the meantime, here is a favourite image of mine from Lamorna Cove, near Mousehole, Coornwall.
Lamorna really is a very special place, I think I lucked it on the day, as the mist just made the place feel pretty unique, and it's going to take a fair while to process the images taken!
Have a look at my new Cornish images here for now: www.flickr.com/chewyuk
Crop circles
Had a very lovely afternoon free, so I took a car drive out to the Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales, where I was intent on finding some poppy fields. However I got rather obsessed with a field and impending storm...
