Camping Trip to the Wye Valley

At the end of July I went on a camping trip to the Wye Valley with my parents and some family friends.  I didn't really know what to expect as I hadn't been before but I have to say, it was one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited.  The trip provided a lot of photography opportunities which was great for me.  Here are just some of the photographs I took during the trip.

                                        

For the first day of our holiday, we had booked a 6 hour canoeing trip down the River Wye.  I brought an underwater disposable camera with me which I had left over from when I was doing A Level Photography.  The camera was quite old so I wasn't really sure I'd get any decent shots at all but I thought it was worth giving it a go.  The two shots above were taken with the camera.  I've found that using an underwater camera can help to achieve quite a unique viewpoint.

Unfortunately, within 5 minutes of our 6 hour excursion I discovered that canoeing really wasn't for me. I was quite surprised as I've liked all other water sports I've tried in the past.  I was really looking forward to the trip as I thought it would be really relaxing but the river was not quite as calm as we were lead to believe.  There were a number of rapids and the river was very shallow in places causing us to get stuck on rocks a lot.  I found the canoe very narrow and unstable which meant I didn't really relax and was pretty tense.  After 3 hours we stopped in a small village in Hereford to have a pub lunch.  I decided at that point that my canoeing experience was over and stayed put in the village while the rest of the group continued on the excursion.  I was very relieved to be on dry land and had lots of time to explore the village and take photos.  I thought the viaduct was so beautiful and I was pleased with the reflection shots that I captured on my phone camera.

On one of our days out we had lunch at a very sweet country cafe in the middle of nowhere.  

I had the nicest scone!

                                

We visited Raglan Castle which stands very much as ruins.  I always find that ruins provide really interesting photography opportunity and I took a lot of shots on this trip.  A lot of the photos above are HDR images and I think it really brings out the details of the building.  You can get a really great view of the surrounding area from the towers of the castle, including the Sugarloaf Mountain (I thought that was the most brilliant name for a mountain!).

                               

I took these two photographs in the town of Monmouth.  My stepdad lived in Monmouth as a child so he was keen to return and see the place he grew up.  He was surprised that the town hadn't changed much from what he remembered.  When we visited the town, there was a busking festival so we saw lots of very talented buskers playing and singing in the streets which created a lively and inviting atmosphere.

                               

                               

On the way home, we stopped by Tintern Abbey.  It was quite expensive to go inside the grounds so we opted to just take a look from the outside.  We still managed to get quite a good view and some interesting shots.

We loved the Wye Valley so much that we are planning to return there in October.  My mum and stepdad have decided to relocate there next year so they must have really like it there!

The One Day Seeker