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  • I left the valley in beautiful warm evening sunshine but by the time I reached the summit it was shrouded in dense, fast-swirling and cold hill fog. I shivered as I sat in the lee of the summit cairn but when the sun burst through I was bathed in warmth and mesmerised by the rapidly unfurling mountain views beyond me. The conditions lasted maybe an hour before the temperatures balanced out and the cloud dispersed leaving totally clear views. I can't help but be impressed by the constantly changing ethereal qualities of the Welsh light and weather.
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  • A peaty hill top pool and the small peak of Gyrn in the background, in low cloud and hill fog, as seen from the saddle of Moel Wnion, Snowdonia, North Wales,
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  • Low cloud rolling in from the Irish Sea wraps around the summit of Mynydd Mawr and adjacent peaks of the Welsh mountains of Snowdonia at sunset. The top of a pine woodland can be seen on the hillside, separated from the background by  sheets of hill fog.
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  • I left the valley in beautiful warm evening sunshine but by the time I reached the summit it was shrouded in dense, fast-swirling and cold hill fog. I shivered as I sat in the lee of the summit cairn but when the sun burst through I was bathed in warmth and mesmerised by the rapidly unfurling mountain views beyond me. The conditions lasted maybe an hour before the temperatures balanced out and the cloud dispersed leaving totally clear views. I can't help but be impressed by the constantly changing ethereal qualities of the Welsh light and weather.
    GD002310.jpg
  • This was a beautifully eerie day on the Welsh hills for me. As usual I was alone, enjoying the solitude, but today felt different. There was hill fog all around, and enormous blankets of low cloud tumbled down over the Nantlle Ridge like breakers on a rocky shore, but then plunged down into the valleys around me. Here on the summit of Mynydd Mawr I was totally in the clear.
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  • The largest iron age settlement / fortress in Britain, Tre'r Ceiri covers the top of a high Welsh mountain, so high that clouds often pass lower than the summit as here. The highest peak on this peninsula hides behind the mist in the background.
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  • As is the way with my days off these days, there is no rush ever. Jan works long days and even longer nights in an intensive care department and there is NO shift pattern at all to allow a person’s body clock to plan the week. Her need for sleep catch up is vital, so I have learned not to expect a 7am leap out of bed, and instead to respect her body clock readjustment time. It doesn’t stop me getting fidgety however if the light looks amazing, and the day is going by :-)<br />
<br />
It was Sunday however, and for Jan a rare Sunday off, so whatever! The weather forecast was for brightness, light cloud, zero chance of rain and plenty of sunshine later. We could do a lazy leisurely hill walk later with no worries about the elements or timings. I didn’t really absorb the additional information I skimmed through on the mountain weather forecast though, which indicated freezing level at summits and 45mph winds. Nevertheless we threw in our Paramo’s and Rab wind proofs just in case, along with two flasks of steaming hot coffee.<br />
<br />
At about 2pm we started the one hour drive towards the distinctive pyramid shaped mountain called Cnicht. I haven’t done it for couple of years and I love the mountain (approximately 2200 feet). I have done it from the very meandrous North side and also from the shadowy East facing quarry valley of Cwm Orthin, which was today’s plan as I wanted to show Jan the old quarry workings. However, as part of her prep for some bigger mountains in the next few weeks she said she’d prefer a steep ascent, so we headed for Croesor on the brighter West side instead. This was a first for me too which was nice, making our way up the classic West ridge.<br />
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We decided to have a cuppa and a sandwich in the cafe in the tiny, sleepy hamlet of Croesor but the cafe was so asleep it was closed! I was really surprised, this being the Easter break and a car park packed with walkers’ vehicles. We started up the long, bouldery woodland track before exiting right up towards
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  • A phenomenal temperature inversion in North Wales, leaving only the summits of Snowdonia's highest peaks in glaring sunshine above the cloud bank but here in the transition zone on Mynydd Mawr the fog created eerie views above steep and craggy mountain cliffs.
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  • From a shoot alongside the BBC's 'Weatherman Walking' series with Derek Brockway. I was acting as guide for the walk because of my book about the location.<br />
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We had just come up from Tre'r onto the summit of Garn Ganol. The hill fog had been very thick, swirling in a clammy wet blanket about us which was very atmospheric but also blocked all the views. Here however, the cloud suddenly parted and revealed beautiful patches of sunlit Llyn Landscape. Even the cameramen were ecstatic about the weather phenomenon before us - stunning.
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  • Banks of cloud roll in from the Irish Sea and curl over the top of the Nantlle Ridge in Snowdonia, North Wales before evaporating again over the valley. Taken from the adjacent mountain, Mynydd Mawr.
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  • A mountain walker stops at a high point of a precipitous crag of Craig y Bera on Mynydd Mawr, to watch banks of cloud roll in from the Irish Sea and curl over the top of the Nantlle Ridge in Snowdonia, North Wales before evaporating again over the Nantlle valley.
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  • Banks of cloud roll in from the Irish Sea and curl over the top of the Nantlle Ridge in Snowdonia, North Wales, before evaporating again over the Nantlle valley at Drws y Coed. Taken from the a precipitous crag of Craig y Bera on the adjacent mountain of Mynydd Mawr.
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  • Banks of cloud roll in from the Irish Sea at sunset, and curl over the top of the Nantlle Ridge in Snowdonia and over Rhyd Ddu and the lakes of Llyn y Dywarchen and Llyn y Gader, Snowdonia, North Wales. Taken from a lower ridge of Mynydd Mawr
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  • Banks of cloud roll in from the Irish Sea and curl over the top of the Nantlle Ridge in Snowdonia, North Wales before evaporating again over the valley. Taken from the adjacent mountain, Mynydd Mawr.
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  • From yesterdays shoot alongside the BBC's Weatherman Walking Series with Derek Brockway. I was acting as guide for the walk because of my book about the location...We had just come up from Tre'r onto the summit of Garn Ganol. The hill fog had been very thick, swirling in a clammy wet blanket about us which was very atmospheric but also blocked all the views. Here however, the cloud suddenly parted and revealed beautiful patches of sunlit Ll^yn Landscape. Even the cameramen were ecstatic about the weather phenomenon before us - stunning.
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  • Pilgrim's Way Llyn Trail, Iron Age route - A Life path for centuries. <br />
<br />
The largest iron age settlement / fortress in Britain, Tre'r Ceiri covers the top of a high Welsh mountain, so high that clouds often pass lower than the summit as here. The highest peak on this peninsula hides behind the mist in the background.
    GD000976.jpg
  • The largest iron age settlement / fortress in Britain, Tre'r Ceiri covers the top of a high Welsh mountain, so high that clouds often pass lower than the summit as here. The highest peak on this peninsula hides behind the mist in the background.
    GD001129.jpg
  • The largest iron age settlement / fortress in Britain, Tre'r Ceiri covers the top of a high Welsh mountain, so high that clouds often pass lower than the summit as here. The highest peak on this peninsula hides behind the mist in the background.
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  • Huge banks of sea fog swirled in off the Irish Sea, isolating hill summits almost creating islands within the hilly landscape. The iron-age hill fort of Carn Fadryn sits atop the peak in the distance, a large settlement of almost 100 circular huts.
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  • Llanddwyn Island and Malltraeth Beach, shrouded in thick sea fog on the West coast of Anglesey. Beyond, across Caernarfon Bay, on the Welsh mainland, can be seen the three peaks of Yr Eifl, from L-R Tre'r Ceiri the iron age hill fort, Garn Ganol and Garn For on the Llyn Peninsula.
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  • A phenomenal temperature inversion in North Wales, leaving only the summits of Snowdonia's highest peaks in glaring sunshine above the cloud bank.  <br />
<br />
Tryfan & the Glyderau are the high peaks in the background and Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) fill the foreground above the fog
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  • A phenomenal temperature inversion in North Wales, leaving only the summits of Snowdonia's hughest peaks in glaring sunshine above the cloud bank.
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  • A phenomenal temperature inversion in North Wales, leaving only the summits of Snowdonia's highest peaks in glaring sunshine above the cloud bank.  <br />
<br />
Nantlle Ridge peaking above a vast sea of fog in brillian sunshine. Below. it seemed like an awful dull wet day.
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  • A phenomenal temperature inversion in North Wales, leaving only the summits of Snowdonia's hughest peaks in glaring sunshine above the cloud bank. Here we see the first peaks of the Nantlle Ridge, a hill walker's paradise, with Moel Hebog just making an appearance in the far distance.
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  • The stone circle of standing stones is called "Druid's Circle' and sits high o the hill tops above the town of Penmaenmawr.
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  • 3 Edition A1 - 5 Edition A2<br />
(First two A1s SOLD, one remaining)<br />
<br />
In brief glimpses through thick fog and heavy cloud, stunning recessional hills appeared, illuminated by subtle rays of weak afternoon sunshine, beautiful. In the far distance is Elidir Fawr, then the rounded peak of Mynydd Mawr, and finally the lower peaks of the Nantlle Ridge.<br />
<br />
Views from the peaks of Tre'r Ceiri, an  Iron Age settlement / fortress steeped in Brythonic history of kings and tribes from the Dark Ages on Snowdonia's Llyn Peninsula. <br />
<br />
Clouds and fog swirl around these peaks but when the fog clears, stunning views are to be had of the surrounding countryside. This place is ethereal, spiritual and always changing. The sense of past is strong and the identity with people living on this Iron Age hill top since the dark ages is potent.
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  • It's August, it looked sunny. The hills are swarming with summer walkers, like mozzys on a sweaty cow. I have to go further and further afield at this time of year to escape the vortex desperation of lemmings sucked towards the highest peaks. Arenig Fawr jumped out at me on the map - The description: "To some, the poor Southern relative of the Snowdonia bigger peaks" - but to me exactly the reason to reach for it's summit. The downside to these hills, is that their very disuse means the paths are not so precise, so trodden or so scarred. Map reading and navigation are worthwhile skills but even with my OS1;25,000 the description of the descent as, 'follows faint, sometimes invisible paths, across boggy vegetated hillsides" did worry me a little, especially as the clouds were already thickening over Snowdonia by the time we'd even reached Capel Curig !
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  • Nominated in 9th (2016) International Colour Awards (Nature category)<br />
<br />
The undulating set of hills in the foreground is known as the roller-coaster by locals, the foothills to Wales' highest mountain, Snowdon, the name forming the root of the Snowdonia National Park, though Snowdon's real name is Celtic, Yr Wyddfa, & is the one dear to Welsh people. This hugely popular mountain is mostly deserted and offers perfect solitude as dusk settles upon it, the crowds having left by foot and railway to the warmth of the pubs and guest houses in the town nestling below.
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  • It's August, it looked sunny. The hills are swarming with summer walkers, like mozzys on a sweaty cow. I have to go further and further afield at this time of year to escape the vortex desperation of lemmings sucked towards the highest peaks. Arenig Fawr jumped out at me on the map - The description: "To some, the poor Southern relative of the Snowdonia bigger peaks" - but to me exactly the reason to reach for it's summit. The downside to these hills, is that their very disuse means the paths are not so precise, so trodden or so scarred. Map reading and navigation are worthwhile skills but even with my OS 1:25,000 the description of the descent as, 'follows faint, sometimes invisible paths, across boggy vegetated hillsides" did worry me a little, especially as the clouds were already thickening over Snowdonia by the time we'd even reached Capel Curig!
    GD001294.jpg
  • A phenomenal temperature inversion in Snowdonia, North Wales, leaving only the summits of Snowdonia's highest peaks in glaring sunshine above the cloud bank. This ridge of Mynydd Mawr is at cloud level, just before breaking into bright sunshine, the cloud below dark and ominous.
    GD001793.jpg
  • A phenomenal temperature inversion in North Wales, leaving only the summits of Snowdonia's hughest peaks in glaring sunshine above the cloud bank.
    GD001951.jpg
  • There was a draw, I wanted to just leap into the light, to soar like a raven into the void - I wanted the light, I needed the light and the cool vapours swirled around me as the sun tried to warm my face. <br />
<br />
It was caused by a phenomenal temperature inversion in North Wales, leaving only the summits of Snowdonia's highest peaks in glaring sunshine above the cloud bank.
    GD001891.jpg
  • A phenomenal temperature inversion in North Wales, leaving only the summits of Snowdonia's hughest peaks in glaring sunshine above the cloud bank.
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  • On the summit in dark swirling cloud. A delicate sun glimmered through the vapour, illuminating shards of quartz-covered, shattered wet rock.<br />
.<br />
I was alone on the summit and it helped create the feeling that this pictorial wonder was my privilege alon
    GD002348.jpg
  • On the summit in dark swirling cloud. A delicate sun glimmered through the vapour, illuminating shards of quartz-covered, shattered wet rock. <br />
<br />
I was alone on the summit and it helped create the feeling that this pictorial wonder was my privilege alone.
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  • 3 Edition A1 - 5 Edition A2<br />
(Only one left in A1 size, no.1 of 3)
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  • I was up early to enjoy thick fog over the island. A shipwreck was exposed on the low tide, silhouetted by a blaze of brilliant sunshine. The ancient Welsh hills, normally a backdrop to this view were invisible, obscured by curtains of billowing fog gently heading Northwards.
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  • After an unpromising start on a cold grey day, and my hip playing up for the first time in a year, serene sunlight glowed underneath the swirling low cloud shrouding the summits.<br />
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It’s moments like this that make my day, that lify my spirits and paint away the anxiety and anger over the stupidity of human kind. I need the solace that the hills offer those who seek it. I love the solitude as it’s further escape from the nonsense that is current society. Thankfull I didn’t see many fellow walkers, and those I did, bar four, were the grumpiest sods. They never ackowldeged me or my warm greeting, choosing instead to pretend I didn’t exist. Sign of the times. The mountains however welcomed me glady as always, and I felt part of them and utterly connected to them and the elements.
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  • Hills of the Llyn in and out of fog.
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  • After a day in thick hill-fog, we slowly made our way to lower slopes and then we could see under and through the fog beyond. Everything was awesome and backlit by the burning ball which had been hiding all day. So spectacular and like something out of a Sci-Fi film © Glyn Davies 2010 - All rights reserved.
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  • From a shoot with the BBC's Weatherman Walking Series with Derek Brockway...I had just finished the last interview, where I relate one of the legends of Nant Gwrtheyrn to Derek, and they then headed off for Porth Dinllaen but I stayed back a while until almost dark, when I shot this dusk image over the Irish Sea. This is a straight shot, no colour adjustments, and a tweak to the contrast. It was stunning, after a very surreal day of swirling hill fog on the top of Tre'r Ceiri and Garn Ganol.
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  • I had spent the afternoon surrounded by thick hill fog on the summit of Mynydd Mawr this winter, and the wind was bone chillingly cold. On the col between Mynydd Mawr and Moel Tryfan frozen lakes were surrounded by deceptively warm looking grasses, intensified further by the pinks and mauves up-lighting the low clouds over Nantlle. In reality everything was crunchilly icy and the grasses seemed like they would snap when you touched them, but amazingly, under the thick layer of pool ice, life was still surviving in the darkness.
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  • It was a surreal surprise to find a ram’s skull staring at us from the apex of a derelict tin mining power house. This area is littered with the remains of an historical tin mining industry; exploration shafts now just lush grass-covered conical depressions in the wet moorland. Once a noisy hive of activity and ore crushing, but now just the sounds of the wind through gaps in the walls. Likewise the bleating of sheep still echo across the open landscape, but this poor soul has long past, the bone bleached and dripping with hill fog. It’s strange but there is such peace now on the moors and even the saturating low cloud creates a sense of calm not panic, silence not noise. I felt a deep connection with history and the spirit of the place. Dartmoor is minimal and mesmerising.
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  • Thick hill fog raced past on strong winds but upon clearing a vast and dramatic view was revealed. Intense sunshine burned through multiple layers of cloud and back-lit delicate trails of mist, but there was a dramatic darkness all about.
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  • Heavy mist surrounds Yr Aran, one of the smaller peaks of Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon), as seen from the Nant Gwynant Valley, Northern Snowdonia.
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  • The summit of Snowdon peaks above a huge cloud bank and convection clouds building over Nant y Betws, Rhyd Ddu and the mountain of Mynydd Mawr.
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  • Rapidly developing and blowing clouds create a mountain illusion, as they obscure the spatial reality, that the summit we see is Elidir Fawr, but the base which is actually the lower peaks of Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon), separated by the Llanberis Pass
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  • After a day in thick hill-fog, we slowly made our way to lower slopes and then we could see under and through the fog beyond. Everything was awesome and backlit by the burning ball which had been hiding all day. In this shot you can not only see the orb of the sun but also a large Raven circling overhead. © Glyn Davies 2010 - All rights reserved.
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  • After a day in thick hill-fog, we slowly made our way to lower slopes and then we could see under and through the fog beyond. Everything was awesome and backlit by the burning ball which had been hiding all day. In this shot you can not only see the full orb of the sun but also the distant headlands jutting out into the Irish Sea, backlit by foggy sunshine, sheer magic. So spectacular and like something out of a Sci-Fi film © Glyn Davies 2010 - All rights reserved.
    GD000979.jpg
  • After a day in thick hill-fog, we slowly made our way to lower slopes and then we could see under and through the fog beyond. Everything was awesome and backlit by the burning ball which had been hiding all day. The coast of the Northern Lleyn was clearly sillouetted against the bright sunlit sea, yet everything was still partially softened by the thick cloud. So spectacular and like something out of a Sci-Fi film © Glyn Davies 2010 - All rights reserved.
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  • From below, surrounded by hundreds of sledgers & skiers creating a cacophony of noisy laughs & screams, the summits were in swirling low cloud, never showing themselves. <br />
<br />
As I trudged higher the snow became thicker and the chaos of the crowds diminished. I followed deep snowy footprints & drops of bright red blood from an injured dog, marking the route of previous ascensionists. The snow dumbs sounds; no birds sang, or sheep bleated. I could hear my own heart as the silence & snow deepened more. <br />
<br />
I was surprised nevertheless by the numbers of small parties descending the hill, and I was troubled (as always) that I was being trailed by others, a super fit elderly couple with a tiny day sack, and a backpacking single guy. I stopped for a drink to let them pass and I watched them disappear into the thick fog. Finally, I was alone, and I laboured step by step in deep snow until I arrived at the summit. I could hear occasional walkers chatting in the whiteout, but none appeared alongside me. It was dark up there, and the strengthening wind chilled my fingers through my gloves. I sensed something was happening with the clouds though so persevered in my wait. For about ten minutes the sun made regular bursts through the low cloud, illuminating snow-crusted rock sculptures all around me. It transformed the scene completely & I felt less lonely somehow. <br />
<br />
The horizon darkened and I could see snow clouds approaching. It was getting colder and colder, so I called it a day and retraced my footsteps back down to cloud base. Sleet and then heavy rain pelted me about five minutes from the van. Dozens and dozens of soaked sledging families made a sad retreat off the slopes.  I was delighted with the ten or so images that I made on the summit. I think will make some beautiful prints for the gallery wall.
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