EPIC self-portraits at Lake Vyrnwy waterfall
One of my aims for this year, is to get more images of Skylar and me together in some of the epic landscapes that I am hoping to visit. Whilst the handhold selfie is nice, and I will be capturing them also, there is something about being pictured with your best buddy from afar in a well-thought-out image, well somewhat thought out at least.
With that in mind, Skylar and I set off to the stunning Pistyll Rhiwargor waterfall at the tippy top of Lake Vrywny.
You can watch our journey in my latest YouTube video, or continue reading to find out how we got on.
One of the main issues that I have had with the Sony A7iv is when taking self-portraits. With the Nikon Z6ii that I had, the Nikon SnapBridge App which worked amazingly with my phone, and I got some images I am really happy with. It was also possible with the Nikon to have the self-timer and interval timer work, if for whatever reason I didn’t use the SnapBridge app.
This has not been the case at all with the Sony A7iv. To start with, the self-timer and interval modes both lock focus on the first image, which renders that a bit useless for me as I am not in the image when starting the camera in these modes. Now, as Sony is a big company with many branches to it, one of which makes software, you would have thought that the Sony app would work every time, well it absolutely SUCKED! There have been many times when my phone would not connect, or if it did, it was lagging to the point of being useless. I ended up purchasing a Bluetooth remote which has been great, the downside however, is that I cannot see my image and if I am in the right place or not. So, I was over the moon when the Sony Creative App had an update and is now (for me at least) finally useable!
With the app working and sunny Friday afternoon ahead of us, Skylar and I headed off to Pistyll Rhiwargor at Lake Vyrnwy to practice some self-portraits.
Once we arrived at the waterfall car park we headed out on the trail, luckily for us, there were no sheep around, so Skylar got to go off lead for our walk.
You can see the waterfall from quite far back and my main goal was to get an image of the falls, with Skylar and me in front of it. To get this we were going to have to get a bit creative in our location, as when you reach the bottom of the waterfall itself, you can’t see all of it as it falls in multiple stages, each further back from the last.
We saw some large boulders just next to the path and headed up to see if they would work. The first one we stopped at was a great size for Skylar to sit on, but I couldn't find a location where the waterfall would be large in the background but still have room for me to stand, and not fill the entire frame with myself.
We walked on a bit further and saw an old stone wall further up the valley and headed for that. This was ideal for what I wanted in my image. I set up my camera on a tripod with my 24-70mm lens on and connected to the Sony Creative App. Thankfully, everything was talking to each other, and I was able to get into the image and start taking images. I chose to use the remote to take the images, as that was easier to hide up my sleeve than my phone.
I had my focus area set to wide, which I think in future I might change to either zone or large spot, as in some of the images the camera decided to focus on the tree next to us rather than me, even with human AF turned on. That being said, I am really happy with how my images turned out.
A screenshot from the creators’ app, shows that for some images, the camera decided to focus on this tree instead of me. In future, I will use a different AF area to help combat this.
Once I got my self-portraits, I took a minute to get an image of the stunning waterfall in full flow from my high up vantage point. These images are by far my favourite I have captured of the Rhiwargor falls in the 10 years I have lived up here in Wales.
Skylar and I headed back to the trail and towards the bridge that goes over the river towards the waterfall. Again, I set up my camera on the tripod and connected my phone via the app. This time, I had some issues. I think, due to the connection being Bluetooth, the range is quite limited as to how far away you can get from the camera with your phone connected, also, it needs to have line of sight, and to ensure my phone didn’t end up in the river, I placed it on the bridge next to me and behind some wood. Fortunately, I was still able to use the remote trigger to take my photos.
I am super happy with these images on the bridge, Skylar is very inquisitive and loves to look out over bridges, so she was more than happy to stand by me and watch the water rush past.
We then headed to the foot of the waterfall itself, the falls here I find are a bit disappointing due to the overgrown trees/shrubs around the base of the waterfall blocking the view and the way the waterfall is naturally staggered from the top to the bottom. There is, however, a nice little final stage which can be easily seen from this side of the river, and whilst positioned on a strategic rock, I did get a couple of extra images of Skylar which I am really happy with.
You can cross the river and explore the falls more closely, but due to the falling light, I decided not to go over. There are some quite boggy areas on this side of the river, and there are places where you will need to scrabble up some rooty and rocky bits to make your way to the top of the falls.
In all, we had a lovely day, and I am happy with the images that I captured, as well as learning from a few mistakes that will only help me in the long run.
If you are looking for a lovely day out or capture your own images of the stunning Pistyll Rhiwargor waterfall, there is a large hard standing car park which is signed from the main road around Lake Vyrnwy. Be sure to pop to the public toilets by the dam or in the village of Llanwddyn before you get to the waterfall, as there are no toilets on site. (In summer there may be a stinky portaloo, but best stop beforehand), it is also worth noting that there are no bins here either. Skylar’s poop bag was transported to the bins in Llanwddyn, once tucked under my windscreen wiper. 😂