Two weeks ago, along with a couple of friends (Anthony Crothers and Brian Dukes) I headed off on an iPhone Only Photo Road-Trip in North Wales … specifically Anglesey.
Leaving on the Thursday and due to head back on the Sunday, we’d sorted out a couple of ‘must go’ locations on Anglesey, namely South Stack Lighthouse and Penmon Lighthouse and then on the return leg as we were staying in Bala, we’d be heading to the nearby white water rafting area to see what we could capture.
DAY 1
On Day 1, Brian drove to my house where he left his car, and we headed off to Anthony’s but first of all to Portishead to photograph the Black Nore Lighhouse and get the first photographs ‘in the bag’.
To be honest I didn’t really get anytihng worth shouting about but hey … being there with Brian was a lot of fun. Getting a decent photograph would have just been a bonus 😃
Then it was a quick stop in Bristol on the way through for Brian to drop into WeX and swap out his new Sony A7RV for one that didn’t have a faulty display, and then it was on to Anthony’s and up to Bangor and The Slate where we were staying for the first 2 nights.
We didn’t arrive until gone 8pm so once we’d checked in and dumped our bags, we headed into Bangor to find somewhere to grab a bite to eat.
A decent curry was the plan but where we ended up, each of us was just glad to have woken the following morning with no issues … if you know what I mean.
DAY 2
With stomachs intact we headed across to Anglesey towards Penmon Lighhouse, however the weather was a touch wet and windy …
“You can’t see anything” said the guy on the toll leading to Penmon Lighthouse, due to the sea mist, so we took his advice and said we’d plan to head back there the following day when the weather was expected to ease off a little … this was a decision we’d all regret!
So we turned back to Beaumaris (fabulous place) and grabbed a coffee and a spot to dry out a little at the Pier House Café which we stumbled upon purely by accident … but what a great find!
After a short pit stop we headed across the island to South Stack Lighhtouse having decided that due to the weather, we’d use the day to check out the locations that we’d revist the next day.
South Stack did not disappoint!
iPhone 15 Pro Max
0.5x lens
3 second long exposure using the ReeHeld (Hand-Held Long Expsoure App)
With the weather as it was and sea mist so thick you couldn’t make out the horizon or indeed see much past the lighthouse, it was such an incredible sight as the sea crashed against the rocks below.
It was almost overwhelming to see the lighhouse in such conditions as it sounded its horn to warn vessels out at sea.
With the horn sounding like a whale call, the scene we were in felt so powerful but almost haunting … if that makes sense.
Anthony no-where near the edge … honestly Elaine 🤔
Anyway, having recce’d a few possible compositions we headed back to Beaumaris and the Pier House Café for bit of lunch (which was delicious) … and yes I had 2 😋
I’m sat here giggling now as I post the picture below which is actually a frame from a video captured with my iPhone …
Anthony and myself were stood in front of the RNLI base shielded from the high winds but Brian ventured out.
I turned my iPhone to him and suggested I video him as he jumps but film it in slow motion, and … well … yeah you got me Brian 🤣
Having seen what we wanted and made plans for Day 3, we headed back to The Slate to freshen up, grab some dinner and relax.
DAY 3
The food was so good at the Pier House Café in Beaumaris that we decided to head there for breakfast (yes I had two) having checked out of The Slate, and as the weather had improved a little it gave some opportunities to take some photographs.
Of course being a portrait guy I couldn’t resist …
This shot I took of Anthony I captured using the ReeFlex Pro Camera App and the Ultra Wide (0.5x) lens …
iPhone 15 Pro Max
0.5x lens
ReeFlex Pro Camera App
This shot I took again using the ReeFlex Pro Camera App, but with the telephoto lens which on my iPhone 15 Pro Max is the 5x … 120mm
iPhone 15 Pro Max
5x lens
ReeFlex Pro Camera App
This was the first proper chance I’d had to use the 120mm lens on my iPhone and yeah I’m really impressed with the quality.
The downside though is that using this lens doesn’t use the 48MP sensor which is why I’m REALLY looking forward to the time I have the G Series lenses from ReeFlex as a permanent part of my kit.
That said, the files from the 5x lens are perfectly useable despite them being lesser MP: I mean heck, I had a 72” print done of a 12MP file taken with my iPhone 14 Pro Max and that was incredible!
Anyway, having grabbed some shots around Beaumaris it was then the short drive to Penmon and the moment we regretted listening to “Toll Guy” the day before 🤷♂️
Penmom was a complete surprise.
We’d expected it to be further from the shoreline when in fact it was surprisingly close with a great rocky area to explore and find all manner of compositions.
Don’t get me wrong we were all REALLY happy but couldn’t help thinking how incredible it would have been to photograph it during the weather and conditions the previous day.
iPhone 15 Pro Max
1x lens
ReeXpose Long Exposure App
The photograph above was captured using the ReeXpose long exposure app (using the wide 1x lens) and is a blend of several images each taken at 0.5 seconds in length.
The photograph below was taken a little further back, again uing the ReeXPose long exposure app but using the 0.5x ultra wide lens on my iPhone …
iPhone 15 Pro Max
0.5x lens
ReeXpose Long Exposure App
For this one it would have been great to have the new Circular Polariser from ReeFlex to reduce reflections on the water surface in the rock pools. For now though during editing, a mixture of Dehaze and Texture in Lightroom reduced it quite a bit, and hey if anything, this is a great excuse to head back at some point.
So that pretty much was Day 3, so then it was on to Bala for our final night and then Day 4
DAY 4
Chatting over breakfast we were all saying how happy we were with what we had managed to capture at Penmon, and if that was all there was, it had definitely been a successful trip; I mean it had anyway with us all getting the chance to hang out, but it definitely was photography wise.
The weather had totally changed from the past few days and this morning there was bright sunshine and not a cloud in the sky.
I’ll admit that I was thinking conditions weren’t the best for landscape but Brian had suggested we take a look at a local white water rafting area and maybe visit Bala lake … because ‘you never know’ … and I’m so glad he did, becuase talk about lucky …
iPhone 15 Pro Max
5x lens
ReeFlex Pro Camera App
The lake was like glass and with mist gently brushing across the surface, and hardly a sound. It was simply stunning!
We were like excited children when we pulled up in the car “HOLY SH&T! LOOK AT THAT!” followed by all 3 of us bomb-bursting out of the car and hot footing it, to start taking photographs.
iPhone 15 Pro Max
0.5x lens
ReeFlex Pro Camera App
… and then 30 seconds away from. a different angle …
iPhone 15 Pro Max
5x lens
ReeFlex Pro Camera App
iPhone 15 Pro Max
0.5x lens
ReeFlex Pro Camera App
And then in the blink of an eye that was 4 days done and time to head home but with lots of photographs and lots of great memories and quality time with quality people!
Plans for the next Road-Trip are already underway.
It will again be iPhone-Only but we’re going to wait until we all have the new G-Series ReeFlex lenses as part of our full-time kit, and then we’ll be sticking closer to home and popping over the border into Cornwall.
To be continued …
Oh and if you want to know more about the iPhone Photography Apps being used, I’ve got more details over on my MOBILE Page ( LINK )
