Conwy Valley

Why a Wonder: Beautiful white horses, breathtaking landscapes, quaint churches and majestic castles provide a myriad of creative photo opportunities for outdoor photographers.

Where: North Wales.

When: June through September.

Horse photography: You’ll need luck and a local guide to help you find the white horses, which roam in open pastures throughout the countryside. If you do find the horses (we found ours near the town of Llanrwst) be prepared with a 24-105mm zoom lens and a 100-500mm zoom lens, as you may or may not be able to get close to the animals.

Portraits of the pretty horses are nice, but try to get some behavior photographs, as well as photographs that capture gesture. To capture those subtle differences in gesture, set your camera to the highest frame rate. For a creative angle, and perhaps to eliminate a distracting background, get down low to the ground – but look around for horse poop before you sit or lay down on the turf.

Landscape photography: If you want to travel light during your landscape photography hikes, pack one lens – a zoom lens in the 15-35mm. Use a polarizing filter to reduce reflections on water and foliage.

If you like the blurred water effect, you’ll need a tripod and a Neutral Density (ND) filter, which lets you shoot at slow shutter speeds. Vary your shutter speed for different effects.

Castle and church photography: Here, too, if you want to travel light, a 15-35mm zoom lens is ideal for both inside and outside photography.

For dramatic interior images, try HDR (high dynamic range) photography, so your image will show the detail in both inside and outside the castle/church. Set a small aperture to get as much of the scene in focus as possible.

Learn more: Check here for more information about visiting Conwy.

© Rick Sammon

This post sponsored by Platypod.