Foel Drygarn is one of the tallest peaks on the Preseli range in Pembrokeshire, Wales and boasts an ancient fort at the top not far from the rocks shown here.
The forecast for the day was sunshine and showers with the possibility of hail. However, that can turn nasty quickly and be quite dangerous at the exposed top, so it is advisable to take suitable clothing to cater to rapidly changing weather conditions.
Once I reached the top, I could see a storm approaching from the west that, once it arrived, included hail and thunder, and I did feel a little vulnerable. The conditions, however, were great for photography; as they say, nothing ventured, nothing gained.
At the time, I was still using Nikon gear and had the fabulous D700 full frame with an old manual focus Nikkor 24mm f2.8 super sharp lens and tripod. I used a short self-timer interval to avoid the possibility of a camera shake.
F8 gave me an adequate depth of field while avoiding diffraction, which ruined some of my pictures and resulted in a shutter speed of 1/40th second, maintaining sharpness in the fast-moving clouds and allowing for significant buffeting from the wind.
I took this photo in the golden hour at 7.20 pm before sunset. The sun's intensity was not overwhelming, so flare was not a problem. I don’t remember, but I probably did have a graduated grey filter covering the sky portion of the shot to balance the exposure better.
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Dimitri Vasileiou • Editor