Working with What You’ve Got

Recently work took me near to beautiful Talybont on Usk, home of a deservedly famous reservoir. The Talybont Reservoir was built in the 1920’s and 1930’s though today it is best known as one on of the most photographed parts of Wales. As you might imagine being in the location meant that I simply couldn’t avoid miss the opportunity to visit the reservoir. It simply had to be done.

You should now be asking why is this post called ‘Working with What You’ve Got’ when you are in an incredible location. Well the combination of work and weather had left me little time and not the best light conditions. So I had an incredible location and not the most time or best of conditions to take full advantage of it. That was not going to stop me. I parked up near the damn and started to see that I could do.

The trick I decided was to focus on a couple of key views, and fall back on my favourite setting of Aperture Priority. The advantage of a setting you like is prediction. You know what expect as you work with it. I decide a few pictures from the lay by and then to work the dam. I had it in my mind to work with the classic valve tower. It is an architectural classic of its kind and has all the character of a super model.

It was character and the classics that got me to the next decision. A stark black and white perspective shot look towards the tower with the reservoir as a backdrop. I decided if I didn’t have time to explore, then I would go for character.

That’s how we ended up with this picture  – great location combined with bad circumstances equals a stark black and white.