Sunset over 'The Allt'.

There’s one thing about the weather in the Brecon Beacons and that is once it starts raining in the autumn then there is no stopping it, and frustratingly this autumn is no exception!! Since the weather ‘turned’ in October we have had a miserable run of wind and rain, only punctuated with a few sunny days here and there. We have had little in the way of nice sunrises and sunsets, just the odd one. Where we live it’s impossible to predict when a nice sunset in particular, is going to occur, it’s totally random. Sometimes I look out of the window and there it is, but annoyingly it’s too late by then because it only lasts for a couple of minutes. However, a couple of weeks ago we were walking in a local forestry in the late afternoon and I had taken a couple of ‘nothing shots’ when we could see what appeared to be a nice sunset unfolding – a rare occurrence indeed! I needed one more image for the annual calendar I make for ourselves and our good neighbours on the adjacent farm. I have sold calendars in the past, purely by accident, when people have seen them and then wanted one, but it’s not really something I want to do. In the past I have seen and heard people trying to sell calendars – badgering people who are not really interested and are too polite to refuse. I can’t see me ever doing that, it’s so embarrassing. There’s one well known birder/photographer in Norfolk who I know and who has a bad reputation for doing this and when people see him coming they quickly walk the other way to avoid his sales pitch. In reality anybody, even with the most basic of cameras, can produce a calendar, but for the amount you make on them it’s just not worth the effort. You can buy a mass produced calendar on the high street for a fiver and that’s all ninety nine percent of people want. Anyway I digress; I quickly set my gear up looking across the valley as the sunset evolved into a glorious scene. I was pleased that the final image for my 2021 calendar was ’in the can'.




View from Buckland Forest, Bwlch - looking across the valley to Allt yr Esgair - known locally as 'The Allt'