Just before Christmas, I got my first DSLR camera. Before that, I had been using a bridge camera, which, to be fair, did the job. It moved me from blurry, out of focus shots with no thought into the composition, to photos that were actually not too bad at all. I knew that in 2018, I really wanted to try hard with photography. My strengths in photography definitely lie in landscapes rather than of people. Living in beautiful North Wales, we have no end of stunning scenery and views to practise on!

I recently set up an Instagram account just for my photos of North Wales (@NorthWalesPhotos). Whilst I have less than 5% of the followers I do on my blog Instagram account, I get more likes and comments on the photos, including some from some very talented and professional photographers from the region, whose work I very much admire. I’ve got a really long way to go before I am anywhere near as good as they are, and some more (very expensive!) camera equipment would be needed. I’ve been invited by some local photographers to join a camera club they run, which I will be doing in the summer, so hopefully, I will pick up lots of tips and tricks from them. As Dan Doyle Pleasantville NY says, having a mentor in photography is really helpful. I’m really proud of some of the photos I’ve taken over the past few months, and I thought I’d share some of them with you.

These were taken in Llandudno, back in January. These were the first photos that I took that I was really proud of, and I got so many positive comments on them from friends and family on Facebook.

These were taken in February, somewhere in the middle of Snowdonia. Don’t ask me where – I think the one at the bottom is the Snowdonia Horseshoe, by Capel Curig. Anyway, see what I mean about having stunning views to practice with?

You know how I talk about the Harbour Hub Cafe in Rhyl all the time? Well, this is the Pont Y Ddraig (dragon bridge) which the cafe is next to. Rhyl sometimes has an iffy reputation, but it really can be beautiful at times.

Another one of Rhyl looking particularly beautiful. This one was regrammed on Instagram by the Denbighshire tourist board which made my day!

These photos were taken at Breakwater Country Park, in Holyhead on Good Friday. We stumbled across it by accident, but we will be definitely going again!

These ones were both taken on Kinmel Bay beach, on a beautiful sunny day and evening. I absolutely loved the way the sky looked with the aeroplane trails.

These three were taken recently, on my favourite beach in North Wales (so far, anyway) – Talacre. It’s a stunning beach, with miles of dunes and the old Point of Ayr lighthouse. My aim in the next few weeks is to get to the beach just before sunset – I’ve seen some breathtaking photos of the lighthouse with the sun behind it, so I want to have a go at capturing it!

I’m hoping, as the days get longer and the weather improves (if it ever does!), we’ll be able to get out and about exploring more of the region, and taking lots more photos!