Why did I think that I was 'bored' with waterfall images?

Looking out from behind Sgwd y Eira waterfall....and still getting very wet

Having spent a couple of pretty full days mooching around The Gower peninsula: enjoying the relative remoteness of the vast beaches and finding quite a bit of photographic inspiration, I overnighted on the Saturday night near to Pen-clawdd adjacent to the salt marshes. I hadn't actually planned on going there, but for an overwhelming desire for an Indian Takeaway. How did we cope before 'smart phones' and the ability to look up and find that the nearest fix of spicy food was at Pen-clawdd? I'd walked for miles on the Saturday and didn't fancy cooking something up in the van and the 'Park for Night' app gave a couple of options where I could park up nearby - all good.

Pen-clawdd stetches out along the edge of the salt marshes, and it was a pleasant surprise to discover numerous small boats littering the marshland between the village and the estuary. Given that I planned on poking my head out of the van at silly o'clock to see what sunrise might do, it was good to have a location with some interest, even though sunrise wasn't actually anything special. It's a lovely time of day to be out and I often feel that I have a place to myself at 5 or 6 am, while most people are still sleeping.

After a thoroughly enjoyable time mooching around the boats, it was time to move on to meet my mate, Pete. An area north east of Neath and at the lower end of the Brecon National Park, with the distinction of having a large number of waterfalls was actually a shorter drive than I anticipated, so a quick check of the ph0ne, led me to stopping off at Penllergare Valley Woods to have a walk through the shaded woods and locate a waterfall, that looked like it could be quite photogenic. What a delightful place: ornamental gardens, mature woodland, a couple of lakes and although the waterfall did have a slightly man-made feel to it, it was a gorgeous spot to wander around. I'm sure that it is kept looking wonderful by a very dedicated team of volunteers and the coffee shop was also very pleasant. I'd recommend a visit if you fnd yourself in that area: it's just off the M4, so would be a perfect spot to stretch your legs and enjoy a coffee too.

The first of many waterfalls - this one being in the lovely Penllergare Valley Woods

I have taken quite a few 'waterfall' images over the last 3 years and of late, had become a little less inspired by them as they often look similar to one another and the resulting images rarely feel unique to me. Basically, I thought that I'd had my fill of them, but we had talked about exploring 'Waterfall Country' for about a year or so and I was hoping to enjoy a re-connection with photographing a number of them in a relatively small area. I was expecting to walk a fair bit for sure, but I really wasn't prepared for just how arduous the next couple of days were going to be: not only the terrain, but also lugging around a fair amount of kit, including a tripod. It was worth every torturous step and a some sketchy drops down to river level to look back up towards some stunning waterfalls. Over the next 36 hours of so, we visited 7 different waterfalls, walked a fair old distance and came away with some lovely (if not unique) images.

Sychryd Gorge and Waterfall - Magical and Fairytale-esque

I'm not sure if this falls has a name, but it looked fabulous after some welcome rain in the week preceding our visit

A number of bridges form parts the trails and provide an interesting compositional feature

Sgwd yr Eira.....impressive, thunderous and you can can walk behind the sheet of water...look closely and you'll make out someone doing just that

Sgwd y Pannwr

and from the bottom of Sgwd y Pannwr

Sgwd Clun Gwyn Falls - 2 images. This the lower part of the falls: Further behind, it drops a huge distance, but neither of us fancied trying for a shot of that part of these falls

By the time we had walked the and seen the 4 waterfalls.....one wasn't photographed as we couldn't get low down enough. I can't say I was wildly keen to do another on the Monday, but we were there, so early in the evening, walked up from Pontneddfechan for about a mile and a half and despite the initial lethargy, when we arrived and saw Sgwd Gwladys Waterfall, any sense of tiredness seemed to vanish: what a gorgeous spot, like a natural amphitheatre and a lovely hour or so, looking for limited compositions that were a bit different to the usual images....and finding that most of ours looked like most of the other images. Funnily enough, that doesn't matter really as it was a glorious waterfall to end a great couple of days.......I have re-discovered a love of photographing waterfalls and have a thought to return to this area again over the winter months.

Sgwd Gwladys Waterfall - Captivating

Finally, a brief mention to Dai at the village hall in Pontneddfechan. What a lovely guy and great to meet him. There is a cafe there, offering breakfast, coffee and other fare: Please support them if you find yourself up there, a warm Welsh welcome awaits!

So....it was time to move on and I really wasn't sure where to head as Pete headed home to Somerset and I wanted to make use of the additional time I had. Find out where I ended up in the next blog of my mini Welsh adventure. Mark