Adapting to the conditions at Cregennan Lakes

It was still heather season (just about) and I felt like I needed to head out to another location to make the most of this beautiful time of the year before the colours faded too much. 

I’d spent a bit of time at Cregennan Lakes earlier in the summer, just getting to know thearea a little better, and was blown away by how beautiful it was. From images I’d seen in the past it looked like the heather put on a good show up by the lakes and on the surrounding hillsides so I decided to make it my location of choice for this particular outing. 

I had a rough idea of the photos I wanted to take and the vlog I wanted to film. I was hoping for some moody skies to go with the heather and the mountainous landscape around Cregennan Lakes, so I kept an eye on the weather forecast over the next few days.

It doesn’t take too long for miserable weather to make an appearance in Wales but the weather forecast for the day I set out was more than promising, possible thunderstorms, some sunny spells and plenty of rain showers moving through quickly but what really caught my eye was the cloud clearing to the west just before the sunset, it had a lot of potential.

The forecast for the drive over to Cregennan Lakes could not have been more accurate, at one point I had my windscreen wipers flapping away at their highest setting without it making an iota of difference to the visibility through my windscreen and at the same time I was being completely blinded by the blazing sun. It was an interesting drive and I was glad to finally arrive at my destination and ready to take some photos. 

However, the weather changes quickly in the mountains and the weather forecast wasn’t quite as accurate as it had first seemed so I found myself adapting to the conditions at Cregennan Lakes…

Adapting to the conditions at Cregennan Lakes – The Vlog

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Cregennan Lakes – The Location

This is a hidden gem, two lakes sitting around 800 feet above the Mawdachh Estuary and below the slopes of Cader Idris. It’s well visited but never seems too busy, at least during the times I have been there, and you’ll often spot another photographer or two wandering around with their tripods. 

On a clear day the views are spectacular, the lakes are backed by the Cader Idris ridge on one side and an interestingly shaped hill called “Pared y Cefn Hir” on the other. Walking up the small hill by the car park allows fabulous views down to Barmouth and the Mawddach Estuary.

In my opinion it is one of the most beautiful areas in Wales and you couldn’t ask for a more perfect location to show off exactly what Wales has to offer to anyone who enjoys being outdoors.

The Photos

For a few moments I contemplated whether or not to keep going with the vlog and the photography. I was really hoping to include some of the mountains around the lakes in my photos but they had disappeared behind thick cloud within a few minutes of my arrival. However, I’m not someone who gives up too easily and as I stood and watched the conditions develop I noticed how much movement and texture there was in the low cloud moving through the area. I realised that taking on the challenge of adapting to the conditions could make this a really enjoyable evening of photography.

Gorse on the shore – The First One

I still had thoughts of capturing some heather around the lake shore at first, but I hadn’t taken into account the sheep of Cregennan Lakes. Apparently they eat heather, which was a fact that I didn’t know prior to this evening, so there was not a lot of it left around the lake shore or on the lower slopes of the surrounding hills. They don’t seem to be quite as keen on gorse flowers though so these beautiful bright yellow flowers were all around the lake. 

I liked the idea of a photo that included the yellow of the flowers and the blues of the lake and clouds in the background. This shot is at 1/6 sec, I tried a longer exposure too, but I much preferred the image with the faint ripples on the water. The texture in the cloud above the little island in the lake was an added bonus.

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The boathouse – The Second One

At the base of Pared y Cefn Hir sits a little stone boat house, it’s very pretty and I’ve included it in a few of my photos from my visits to Cregennan Lakes. It has usually been included as a smaller feature in a larger scene that included Pared y Cefn Hir or the ridge of Cader Idris. The cloud/fog allowed me to isolate the boat house from the surrounding scene and make it the main subject of this image. I had just set up my composition when a period of very thick cloud came rolling through which meant that I lost visibility of the boat house altogether. I was hoping that I hadn’t missed my chance to take the shot but after a wait of around ten minutes or so the boat house revealed itself again. The reflection of the boat house in the lake water was disturbed somewhat by a slight breeze so I used an exposure of around 20 seconds to smooth the lake and allow the subtle reflections to look a little more defined. I actually quite like the fact that it’s not a perfect mirror reflection of the boat house and fades away gently in the water.

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The island – The Third One

I like this shot a lot, technically there’s isn’t too much to talk about but I do love a photograph of a lake island. As with my previous photo it was just a case of waiting for the island to appear out of the clouds, which took a while this time! There was a slight breeze which meant the lake wasn’t still and I found the ripples on the water a bit distracting, so I aimed for an exposure long enough to flatten them a little but still keep some texture in the water, a 13 second exposure worked best.

I’ve positioned the island just off centre because I wanted to include stepping stones to the shore, if I’d attempted to do that and keep the island central there would have been too much empty space on the left of the image.

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A fantastic evening of photography

Having a location to myself is possibly one of my favourite feelings when I’m out taking landscape photos. I love just being able to wander around wherever I want and take photos without a single care in the world. This evening up at Cregennan Lakes was fantastic. Although a few people stopped briefly in the car park, they didn’t stick around long because the visibility was so restricted. It made for a quiet and almost eerie feeling to the whole evening but one that I enjoyed immensely. 

I’m pleased with the photos I managed to capture, they are some of my favourite from Cregennan Lakes so far. I think that the challenge of adapting to the conditions, and I know for certain that filming the vlog, was made an easier and more enjoyable experience by the freedom I felt in having the location to myself.  

What wasn’t fun though was the drive back down to Arthog, that road is difficult enough to drive along in the light with good visibility but in the dark and with visibility down to only a few feet it was a little bit nerve racking! Every now and then the huge black mass of a cow would appear as a silhouette in the fog and it was clear that at this time of night they were in charge of the road. Negotiating an agreement with cows over road usage is not easy and these guys seemed particularly reluctant to move. I had to spend a few minutes talking with each cow that I met, trying to convince them that it would be beneficial to both parties to allow me to pass. Eventually, I was free of bovine obstructions and able to make my way home.

Recent Blog Posts

Here are some more of my recent blog posts covering my YouTube vlogs – watch the video, read about the locations and have another look at the photos I managed to capture.

A Misty Morning in the Woods

My location for motivation | Stiperstones

Escaping the crowds in Snowdonia | Afon Cynfal

For more photos from across Wales, the UK and beyond follow my Instagram account

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