Barmouth '08

Last year, we rented a converted farm building on the coast just north of Barmouth. We've been to Barmouth before, and enjoyed it. Even though the weather during this particular week was spectacularly crap for a good 5/7 of the time, when the sun did come out it was beautiful. We were often entertained by the farm's animals, and the view.

Canada Goose

Just one image for this post. I went for a walk, locally, one Sunday morning, and decided to wander off the footpath for a bit of a reccy for potential photographic locations. Whilst between the a stream (which is the river Trent) and a local pool, I spotted a Kingfisher, so I decided that I would return that afternoon with my camera. Unfortunately, there was no sign of the Kingfisher, but a couple of Canada geese flew in and I managed to catch this one just right.

Cad West 23rd June 2008

A notable date. Not only was it my 40th birthday, but it was my second low-level outing and my first opportunity to capture some F15 Eagle shots, complete with vapour. Also along for the ride was a Tornado GR4, which went a bit high. I've also thrown in a landscape shot looking down the pass towards the Tal-y-Llyn lake and Corris corner. I enjoy the planes, I enjoy the photography, and the fact that I'm surrounded by this kind of scenery ticks the final box.

First Low-fly Attempts

After being informed and enthused about the subject of low-fly photography by my friend and colleague Martin, I decided to have a crack at it, and Martin was good enough to lend me a suitable lens for the trip. It was last (2008) March. It was cold, and the climb up the "Bwlch" whilst carrying my gear (including a large flask of tea) was hard work, but after the arrival of a few aircraft, any discomfort was forgotten, and I was well and truly hooked. These were my first efforts, and I was very pleased with them at the time.

Garden Birds

Okay, let's kick things off with some bird images. One afternoon I noticed that part of our small garden was rather nicely lit, so I decided to set up in our small garden shed and use it as a makeshift hide. Nothing fancy, I just sat in it with the door open. It wasn't long before some visitors started to arrive for a feed.