Drifting Tryfan

Glyderau, Snowdonia, UK

During our first ascent of the Glyderau ridge from Caseg Fraith I found this irresistible formation of drifted snow on the North side of Glyder Fach, overlooking the infamous shape of Tryfan. I returned a couple of time during the trip in different light and conditions just to make sure I could make the most of the composition. It turned out that it was the harshest of light the complemented the scene so well. In many circumstances shooting in Midday light can be the most challenging for many landscape photographers because the strong direct light creates the darkest shadows and brightest highlights and is why we choose to shoot so much during sunrise and sunset when the light is soft and more manageable. However on this occasion the snow on the ground acts as a huge reflector bouncing that light into the shadows creating a much softer tonal range and thus making it easier to photograph in. Unfortunately the same applies for UV rays and as we spent the entire day exposed to the sunlight and elements we paid the price the following day...