Elan Valley
Posted 01/11/2011 - 21:55
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Nice composition and good use of the water as a reflector for the building, good shot.
Posted 02/11/2011 - 09:32
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Nice one chap, and a good composition before the inevitable rain!
It is a lovely spot, but difficult to find the right spot to photograph from, this and the reflection make it a good capture.
Did you find the cafe with shop museum down the valley towards Presteigne? www.thomas-shop.com, it's worth a visit with your camera, and oh yes, the cake!
Nigel
It is a lovely spot, but difficult to find the right spot to photograph from, this and the reflection make it a good capture.
Did you find the cafe with shop museum down the valley towards Presteigne? www.thomas-shop.com, it's worth a visit with your camera, and oh yes, the cake!
Nigel
Posted 02/11/2011 - 10:02
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The Elan Valley is in Mid Wales. About 20mins drive for me so I spend a lot of time up there. I might well have been poking around the Claerwen dam on the same day judging by your description of the weather! I had a film KX with 35mm and 200mm lenses with me at the time.
It's also worth having a look around the turbine houses at the base of the lowest dam, you can't go inside but considering their purpose they're very elegant structures. The visitor centre still has the lineshafting and overhead crane from its time as the workshop for the dams too.
Pretty much all the dams have some interesting bits, even the Claerwen which is a late 1940s attempt to blend a much larger structure in with the "Birmingham Baroque" of fifty years earlier.
You can walk up to the far side of the dam you shot here to get some different angles - yours is one of the better examples I've seen, but I see everyone else taking that shot and find myself looking for something else! Leave the car in the parking area just after the hump-back bridge down in the valley and walk up to the dam, the paths are pretty clear and you can get some interesting 3/4 views from close to the dam wall this way. Those lumps of stone sticking out of the face of the dam once supported a wooden bridge for a crane, you can also see them on the lowest dam. Go on the right day and you can walk through the dam for a small donation, visiting the tower in the centre although it isn't terribly exciting inside (one big control wheel!)
When the water levels are lower some very peculiar-looking eroded rocks appear in the riverbed below the dam which can make for interesting arty shots. There's also an old brick-built railway bridge and the wonderfully named "Devil's Gulch" cutting through the rock if you walk along the old railway trackbed for a few minutes.
It's also worth having a look around the turbine houses at the base of the lowest dam, you can't go inside but considering their purpose they're very elegant structures. The visitor centre still has the lineshafting and overhead crane from its time as the workshop for the dams too.
Pretty much all the dams have some interesting bits, even the Claerwen which is a late 1940s attempt to blend a much larger structure in with the "Birmingham Baroque" of fifty years earlier.
You can walk up to the far side of the dam you shot here to get some different angles - yours is one of the better examples I've seen, but I see everyone else taking that shot and find myself looking for something else! Leave the car in the parking area just after the hump-back bridge down in the valley and walk up to the dam, the paths are pretty clear and you can get some interesting 3/4 views from close to the dam wall this way. Those lumps of stone sticking out of the face of the dam once supported a wooden bridge for a crane, you can also see them on the lowest dam. Go on the right day and you can walk through the dam for a small donation, visiting the tower in the centre although it isn't terribly exciting inside (one big control wheel!)
When the water levels are lower some very peculiar-looking eroded rocks appear in the riverbed below the dam which can make for interesting arty shots. There's also an old brick-built railway bridge and the wonderfully named "Devil's Gulch" cutting through the rock if you walk along the old railway trackbed for a few minutes.
Matt
Shooting the Welsh Wilderness with K-m, KX, MX, ME Super and assorted lenses.
Shooting the Welsh Wilderness with K-m, KX, MX, ME Super and assorted lenses.
Posted 02/11/2011 - 10:20
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Matt- I think its a cracking place for a photographer. It is a fast 90 min drive from where i live.
I remebered visiting it on a school trip 30 odd years ago - I went to school in Birmingham and we did a project on water, of course this is where our water came from.
You are right about the shot- I imagine it has been done before plenty- at least I can tick the box.
The other reason I loved it is that I would say in 2 or 3 hours I didn't see a soul. Bliss!!
Nigel- didnt make the shop but I will certainly be going back during the autumn winter. I think the combination of the monolithic dams and the beautiful surroundings are definately sufficient to visit in all seasons.
Might even take the family this weekend weather permitting.
I remebered visiting it on a school trip 30 odd years ago - I went to school in Birmingham and we did a project on water, of course this is where our water came from.
You are right about the shot- I imagine it has been done before plenty- at least I can tick the box.
The other reason I loved it is that I would say in 2 or 3 hours I didn't see a soul. Bliss!!
Nigel- didnt make the shop but I will certainly be going back during the autumn winter. I think the combination of the monolithic dams and the beautiful surroundings are definately sufficient to visit in all seasons.
Might even take the family this weekend weather permitting.
Posted 02/11/2011 - 12:23
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There's a lovely stretch of heavily eroded limestone riverbed just below this reservoir... sadly my old photo on EPZ has been 'downsized' for some reason - http://www.ephotozine.com/user/willbrealey-23327/gallery/photo/afon-elan-1322457
Posted 02/11/2011 - 13:16
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Given current weather I would expect one or more of the dams to be overflowing by this weekend. The Claerwen was in full flow last week. Unfortunately we never saw the remains of Nant Gwyllt or the submerged dam this summer.
I keep meaning to have a crack at a photo of the rapids on the way up to the Claerwen dam, it'd be a tripod and telephoto job as you can't really get that close to them due to the terrain but I often see people in the layby there aiming cameras so it must be worth a go.
I'm also waiting for Llyn Brianne to start spilling again. A lot bigger than any of the Elan Valley dams and with a spillway like a giant ski jump!
I keep meaning to have a crack at a photo of the rapids on the way up to the Claerwen dam, it'd be a tripod and telephoto job as you can't really get that close to them due to the terrain but I often see people in the layby there aiming cameras so it must be worth a go.
I'm also waiting for Llyn Brianne to start spilling again. A lot bigger than any of the Elan Valley dams and with a spillway like a giant ski jump!
Matt
Shooting the Welsh Wilderness with K-m, KX, MX, ME Super and assorted lenses.
Shooting the Welsh Wilderness with K-m, KX, MX, ME Super and assorted lenses.
Posted 08/11/2011 - 23:02
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Well I went again this weekend, and yes the dams were overflowing- spectacular, not a lot of shots taken as it was a bit of a family trip but I will try and post them shortly
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803 posts
15 years
Worcestershire
I was quite pleased with this one- I think maybe it needs a little more space top and bottom but I was fortunate that the water was nice and still.
C & C appreciated