SNOWDONIA IN SPRING
Photograph Eryri (Snowdonia) in a special week of the year. Exploring six stunning glacial lakes, two World Heritage Sites and views of several of Britain's most impressive mountains. Exclusive accommodation and all meals included.
Eryri (Snowdonia) is the largest national park in Wales. At its heart are the highest and most extensive mountains in the British Isles outside Scotland. We will be visiting in a special week of the year when the landscape is fresh green and trees are vibrant with newly formed leaves. This tour will enable you to (literally) take your spring landscapes to the next level.
We will be photographing four of the most spectacular mountains (Snowdon, Tryfan, Crib Goch and Cadair Idris) together with six stunning glacial lakes, evidence of how ice carved the landscape thousands of years ago. Other natural highlights are the Conwy River in its remarkable gorge and an iconic lone tree at Llyn Padarn. Southern Snowdonia is much less well-known and we will be taking in three excellent viewpoints around the exquisitely sinuous Mawddach Estuary. The tour features two World Heritage Sites: the Castles of King Edward I and the slate quarries of North West Wales. We will venture to Anglesey, the largest island in Wales to photograph the delightfully quirky Little Church in the Sea and Twr Mawr lighthouse, each situated on its own tidal island. The tour ends with a visit to the summit of Snowdon by mountain railway (provided it is fully operating as expected), to enjoy panoramic viewpoints from the highest point in Wales.
This tour benefits from exclusive accommodation and all meals at the delightful Plas Coch Guest House in Llanberis, which will be dedicated to our group during the tour. Each morning (except in the event of persistent rain) we will be out at first light seeking to capture reflections in Wales’ most beautiful lakes, returning to Plas Coch for breakfast. There will be a rest period before we go out again in the afternoon and evening. Many of the locations involve easy or moderate hikes of up to one mile in each direction on level or moderately sloping ground. Some are adjacent to car parks. However, reaching two of the glacial lakes, for which early morning light is ideal at this time of year, is slightly more demanding. Llynnau Cwmffynnon involves a hike of 1 km and elevation gain of 80m on a fairly steep and partly rugged footpath. Cwm Idwal involves a walk of 1 km and elevation gain of 70m on a mostly well-made up footpath. An optional afternoon excursion to Pinnacle Crag entails a further 1km and elevation gain of 125m on a steep footpath. Fairy Glen involves a short scramble amongst boulders to reach the best shooting position. Therefore, to fully benefit from all the photographic opportunities of this tour you need to be fit, fully mobile and comfortable with walking in mountainous terrain. The itinerary will be adjusted as necessary to make best use of weather.
I will provide tuition on composition, using filters to capture moving water, reflections and wet surfaces and on processing images to best effect. We also hope to find time on the tour one evening to review participants’ images.
Accommodation on a full-board basis is at Plas Coch in Llanberis, which is ideally placed to get to our early morning photography locations and back for a hearty breakfast. Exclusive use of the facilities of Plas Coch including delicious home-cooked meals by the owners is a particular feature of this tour.
Group Size: Maximum of six participants, led by Robert Harvey with co-leader Nigel Wilkins.
Recommended photographic equipment:
• Digital single lens reflex camera, mirrorless camera or equivalent
• Lenses ranging from wide angle (ideally 16mm on full frame) to short telephoto (200mm+)
• Fisheye lens if you have one
• Tripod (essential)
• Neutral density filters
• Polarising filter
• Remote cable release
• Waterproof camera cover
• Warm and waterproof clothes
• Walking boots
Dates: 15 to 20 May 2025.
Meet at lunchtime on Day 1, depart early afternoon on Day 6.
Included: Accommodation in single, twin or double rooms with en suite bathroom for five nights, breakfasts, lunches, three-course evening meals, travel during tour (including mountain railway), photographic guiding and tuition. If you wish to arrive by public transport, please enquire about transfers to/from Bangor railway station.
Not included: Transport between home and Llanberis or Bangor; drinks and personal items.
Six day tour, Price £1,750 (single, twin or double occupancy). No single supplement. Deposit of £875 payable to secure your place, balance due by 1 February 2025.
If you wish to bring a partner who will not be participating in the photography workshop activities you are welcome to do that at an additional cost of £350 for five nights.
“Getting to places I’d never have found on my own. All the venues provided excellent photographic opportunities ... we were lucky with the group of us that were on the tour. Everyone made the effort to be thoughtful about each other and that made a huge difference. For such a diverse bunch of people, I really enjoyed the banter we had with each other. Thank you Robert for another fab tour. It’s always a pleasure to travel with you. And thank you for your assistance with ideas on composition. I may still have a long way to go to perfect this aspect of my photography, but your suggestions will always be valued. Thank you for your generosity in sharing your knowledge.”
“As always with Robert’s tours, every location had been thoroughly researched and planned. It was good to see the locations first in the images at the introductory presentation which were inspiring. I most enjoyed being in the landscape and being guided to the very best spots for photography. I loved the challenge of the walks and getting up early to get the best of the light and the best of the days. This tour was particularly challenging with early starts every day but it was well planned and I appreciated the time after the first shoot to catch-up on some sleep. The timetable worked really well.”
“The organisation as ever was exceptional, with variation on the topics that could be photographed and with both sunrise and sunsets. The group were very friendly and courteous to each other.”