I’ve always loved taking photos. Forty years ago, I learned how to shoot images on a basic Praktica SLR (single lens reflex) camera, which forced you to understand how to apply the alchemy of shutter speed and aperture to create decent images. (That Praktica was a graduation present from Mum and Dad.) But then I fell under the spell of the auto features of my later cameras. Creativity was the unintended victim.

In 2024, I was given a generous leaving present by my friends at PayPal: a Virgin Experience Days voucher. When I finally sat down to decide what type of experience to choose, I was briefly underwhelmed. I wanted something that meant something to me, not a run of the mill restaurant dinner, or a driving experience. Then I saw my dream day out: a photography day in Snowdonia (Eryri). What a wonderful way to rekindle my original love of photography in one of Wales’s most beguiling landscapes, with an award-winning photographer.

This week, I grabbed my faithful Canon EOS 80D digital SLR and drove along the lovely road from Beddgelert to Rhyd-ddu, under the shadow of Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon). Peter from Minffordd Photography met me next to the Cwellyn Arms, and calmed my nerves. This would be a fun day.

We headed first for Llyn y Gadair, just above Rhyd-ddu, where Peter quickly showed me how to choose the right aperture (the amount of light getting to the camera lens) and then make minor adjustments to exposure. (This is through aperture priority on the camera,.) You can see from the examples above and below how much difference this makes. Neither of the above examples are wrong – I’d say the darker photo was a truer representation of that moment in time, but a little later the landscape looked closer to the second, lighter image.

The key point is that I’d forgotten never realised how easy it was to make these tiny adjustments.

Here is another contrasting pair of images, using the same principle of adjusting the f-stop. If you have an SLR you will be able to achieve the same contrast – and on some other types of camera.

From Llyn y Gadair, we drove the short distance to Llyn Dywarchen, a reservoir that the warden said was a natural lake, with a dam to maintain water levels. Once again, we practised adjusting apertures, which was especially valuable as the previously dark skies were lightening. Changing the aperture had the same effect as adding a polarising filter – one of my early, favourite photographic tricks. We could see the mist clearing over Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) in the distance.

We left Llyn Dywarchen for Nantlle along a mountain-fringed lane that made my heart sing. We drew up at Poblado Coffi roasters outside the village to savour a coffee roasted right here in Eryri. As I ordered a flat white, I was able to reply ‘diolch yn fawr i chi hefyd’ as the joint owner thanked me for my order.

Slate heritage

I love the unspoilt landscapes of Eryri, but find a special pleasure in exploring the industrial heritage of this often bleak terrain. Coming from South Wales, with its industrial heritage on display in a more tamed landscape, I find it extraordinary that thousands of people once toiled in all weathers in the hostile environment of Eryri. Peter opened this world to me, and my camera.

After lunch, Peter led me up the hillside above Nantlle to Pen yr Orsedd slate quarry. Slate was north west Wales’s equivalent of the coal bonanza of south and north east Wales. Roofs – or rooves as my 1960s school books spelt it – the world over were crowned with slate from the quarries of Gwynedd. Pen yr Orsedd was a world leader in electricity generation for industrial use in the early 20th century, putting this new technology to use alongside elderly steam locomotives, horses and water wheels. (See Richard Cooke’s archaeological assessment of Pen yr Orsedd for Welsh Slate, 2020.) The slate landscape of North Wales was recognised as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2021.

As Peter and I picked our way carefully through the remains of these once thriving works. I enjoyed capturing the intricate shapes of the ruined buildings, abandoned when the quarry closed in 1979. I reflected how eerie this place would feel on a stormy day, with the ruins of the machinery and broken roofs hinting at nature’s triumph over man. We saw a turntable, once used to turn wagons, and winding houses that once hauled the precious slate down the valley on its journey to England and beyond.

Despite the ruins, there is something splendid and inspiring about Pen-yr-Orsedd. However punishing the work of the slate men of Nantlle, they had the grace of leaving work amidst one of the most magnificent valleys in Wales. I do recognise, however, that these natural compensations may have felt less compelling on a dark January night, when the snow and sleet was bombarding them horizontally.

If you’re interested in photography, and keen to explore how ‘taking back control’ can create better images, I highly recommend Peter at Minffordd Photography. And if you’ve been given a Virgin Experience Days voucher, search for Snowdonia Landscape Photography as an option.

Eryri is one of Wales’s most compelling landscapes. Do take the opportunity to explore. But remember, this is a uniquely Welsh place. Respect that, and try to learn the place names. You will leave with a better understanding of your world.