LANDSCAPE & COMMISSIONED PHOTOGRAPHY
LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY LOCATION GUIDES:
Ogwen Falls, Pont Pen y Benglog, Ogwen Valley
Summary:
Best at / for: summer sunset with projected light.
Best avoided: public holidays
Parking: parking with close access to the location.
Access: some scrambling required for best vantage points.
Notes: good hiking / wild camping opportunities nearby.
Details:
When Llyn Ogwen itself is rammed with trippers, and the light is harsh, or flat, or in between, and assuming you can find a parking spot, Ogwen Falls can keep a landscape photographer very happy for a good few hours!
The falls extend from the outflow of Llyn Ogwen and form the head of Afon Ogwen, which makes a short foamy run down Nant Francon to the sea at Bangor.
These falls aren’t a single waterfall, but a series of rocky cascades dropping a couple of hundred feet, which are fed by more than one source. Huge rocks split and steer the water, and over hanging vegetation offers all manner of compositional delights and challenges for the landscape photographer.
The best light is a mid-summer golden hour, as the rest of the year the angle of the steep-sided valley means direct sun only reaches the falls during the main daylight hours.
But don’t fall into the trap of thinking that harsh or flat light will hamper your photography here. There is enough compositional contrast in pretty much any conditions to make it well worth a visit when other local spots just aren’t doing it for you!