Capel Curig – 2. Plas y Brenin

I returned from my day climbing to Crimpiau, parked, checked-in and went to my room in Plas y Brenin to freshen up and have a cup of tea. I went down again straight afterwards with my camera and tripod to try to catch a sunset shot across the lake.

Plas y Brenin is North Wales’s Mountain Training Centre where courses are run in a range of outdoor skills from kayaking, climbing and leadership to skiing. There are also excellent accommodation and catering facilities. The Centre sits on the A5, just along the road from Capel Curig’s centre towards the Llanberis Pass and Mount Snowdon. On the Snowdon side of the Centre, the double lake Llynnau Mymbyr lies alongside the road and, when conditions are right, the photographer can get beautiful reflections of the Snowdon Horseshoe.

By the time that I got back downstairs, I was surprised to see that although sunset wasn’t due for another half-hour, the sky was already becoming quite dark. I hurried along the rear of the Centre, pausing only to take a swift snap of the fast-flowing water to reach the lakeside. The photograph below shows the bridge that leads to a track heading steeply to the summit of Moel Siabod

The problem was that the Sun was already setting behind the mountains, so the series of photographs below are not as I’d hoped. As night fell, I returned to my room and, from there, along to the dining room.

Before I prepared for bed, I re-checked Sunrise time and set my alarm to be ready for a very early start.

I was out for the lakeside with my camera and tripod before breakfast, but there were already two serious looking photographers there, with their tripods and filter holders mounted on their cameras.  I secured the best remaining viewpoint and settled in to take a progression of photos as the light changed. A couple of those shots were with a neutral density filter in place. As the other photographers moved on, I changed position a couple of times.

I was quite pleased with the results, particularly with a couple of the earlier ones where the moon was reflected towards the waterside.

I’ve included the copy of the featured photo below with a black and white conversion for completeness.