Ice, snow, alpenglow and aspect ratio

The forecast was for light winds, temperature inversion, excellent visibility, hill fog lifting and clear skies, with snow still lying on the ground at high levels. I didn't fancy dawn, but a leisurely afternoon/evening wander somewhere in Fforest Fawr seemed promising. The forecast was that good, the wife was motivated to go for a walk too, I did suggest she take her camera gear as sunset/dusk could be good, she just wanted to stretch her legs.

View to the Black Mountain escarpment and upper reaches of the Tawe valley

Parking up in the Upper Tawe valley, it became evident that it was a 'sensational' winters day for walking on the hills, plenty of snow still lying, the sun shining and no wind.  In my eyes, there's a huge difference between sensational weather and conditions for hill walking and landscape photography. Powder blue sky, harsh sunlight and blue shadows are probably the most uninspiring combination for making images, however for hill walking these are probably as good as it gets and a scan around suggested plenty of walkers on the popular summits. Whilst getting 'suited n booted' the options were considered;  a trip up to Fan Hir/Fan Foel might involve some trail breaking on the ground under the escarpment and considering this was an excursion for views, only one of the party would be trail breaking and trail breaking for someone to follow with shorter legs, oh, and that other member of the party didn't like long descents under head torch. I suggested the summit of Cefn Cul. A hill with views, but rarely visited, so other hill walkers footprints wouldn't be an irritation or issue in any composition and the clincher, was sunshine all the way up Cefn Cul, whereas most of the walk in to the Black Mountain would be in shade. To the north and east, high pressure and a temperature inversion revealed itself with a band of haze obscuring the most distant views 20km+, but this band of haze could hold some potential, come sunset/dusk.

Moorland topography and 'texture'

It was an enjoyable walk up across the moorland, the ground frozen, only a few inches of virgin snow, a few spots with maybe a foot in depth and the warmth of the sun, meant layers were soon discarded down to base layers, fabulous. There was no urgency, so plenty of stopping and wandering around to soak up the views over the Tawe and Crai valleys, a look through the binoculars revealed just how many people were out and about on other hills, we came across a solitary set of footprints partially infilled with snow, testament to this hills solitude.

Fan Gyhirych

The prospect for dusk seemed good too, as a distinct yellowy/cyan band in the sky on the horizon became more prominent. A slight concern, from a photography perspective, was high cloud to the west. There's a couple of low knolls on Cefn Cul that vie for the highest points, both give views and it was great to just sit there in the sunshine and enjoy the moment.

Fan Gyhirych II

Instead of staying on the summit area for dusk, I thought there was an area lower down with potentially more interest and along the way the moorland grasses offered some compositional interest at dusk. It was also apparent the Fan Gyhirych would be prominent in most compositions and some high cloud might afford some interest in the sky if it caught the dusk colour too.

The wide view 

As the sun set the cyan/yellow band on the eastern horizon started to turn red and the last light of the setting sun catching the summits also was a crimson red, this lighting phenomena is called alpenglow. This dusk ticked almost all the boxes for perfect alpenglow, with reds turning to magenta as the sun sank lower below the western horizon and I did have a small pang of regret for not being on Fan Foel on the Black Mountain.

Ice, snow and alpenglow

The wife was just enjoying the spectacle of  watching dusk unfold, blue shadows turn magenta and the sky colour intensify slowing going through the warm spectrum. My Xmas present of a Down Jacket paid dividends, as there was no moaning about the, by now, fast dropping temperature over the snow fields and increasing windchill from a breeze. What the photos don't convey was the absence of noise, it was complete silence, no roar of engines or any bird calls and the hill summits had emptied of walkers. It was as if everything was stood still entranced, watching the magic of dusk unfold.

3:2 view composed for 5:2

On a more mundane note, above and below are a 3:2 image composed for a 5:2 image crop, I personally think there are many views in the uplands that suit this format and it is something the 5DS R will be evaluated on. A single image is far preferable for a panoramic crop, than stitching a number of images as the colour changes/light intensity can be fairly dynamic at dusk and dawn. In high winds making a series of images for panoramic stitching, becomes a lottery, ditto with squall/storm lighting too.

5:2 aspect ratio crop

The walk off was an uneventful  the colour fading from the sky and the car reached just as head torches were needed, it was one of the better excursions with a magical dusk in the hills.

Dusk/Twilight colour