Aberport & Tresaith, Ceredigion, Wales, Summer
Where better to enjoy the last of summer than on the Welsh coast?
We’ve been to a fair bit of Wales, including Snowdonia, Bannau Brycheiniog, Anglesey, and Pembrokeshire. However, there’s a good chunk of “Mid Wales” that we haven’t touched, especially the coastline around the Cardigan Bay. This was the destination of our recent one week stay.
The coastline of Cardigan Bay definitely feels a lot more quiet compared to the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. Saying that, it still has a lot to offer. Our first major hike of the week was the clifftop hike from Aberport to Tresaith. This was definitely one of our easier hikes, but no less rewarding.
Intermittent showers punctuated our hike, which just made scenes all the more moodier. Some of the scenes and geology around here are absolutely stunning.
All photos taken on my Sony α7ii using my Sony 24-240mm F3.5-6.3 OSS zoom and Rokinon 14mm f2.8 ED AS IF UMC prime lenses. RAWs developed in Lightroom, merged in Photomatix, then edited and finalised in Photoshop.
Aberport & Tresaith, Ceredigion, Wales, Summer by Ian Cylkowski is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
From the beach at Aberport Bay it was easy to locate the Ceredigion Coast Path, which quickly climbs up onto the cliff tops. Not long after, we soon veered away from the official trail in order to nab this incredible scene towards Tresaith, our destination, and the Ceredigion coastline beyond.
Further along the trail a rosehip bush catches my attention, along with some fishermen who'd managed to clamber down the cliffs onto the crag. I lined up this composition featuring the two subjects.
The cliffs were lush with colourful flowers, especially of the vibrant vermilion Coppertips, or Crocosmia × crocosmiiflora, (also sometimes called "montbretia"). These are actually classified as an invasive plant in the UK, with their natural habitat located in southern and eastern Africa. Curious about the fisherman on the distant crag, our next goal was to seek a way down to it.
We found a rough cut trail leading down from one of the cliffs, which got us down to this fantastic crag. I quickly equipped my 14mm ultra-wide angle lens, seeking to accentuate the lines created by the foreground rock as well as capture the vast coastal scene. My lovely Lisabet had already hopped skipped and jumped onto the crag, and graciously posed for a shot to give a good sense of scale.
From the edge of the crag I got low to emphasise the amazing geology as a compositional aid towards the cliffs of Aberport. Even on a gloomy day, the waters here were still a beautiful azure.
A short scramble up the rough cut route was all that was needed to get back onto the coastal path, but not before I nabbed this composition.
Back on the clifftops, we spotted some cormorants(?)/shags(?) perched on one of the protruding cliffs, airing their wings. I zoomed in tight for this photo, which also includes the Aberport MOD site in the distance.
Eventually the path wound its way down steeply to Tresaith. We immediately scanned along the bottom of the southern cliffs, seeking compositions of the fascinating geology here. For this photo I spotted a secluded little cove within the cliffs, featuring virgin sand. I lined up this more abstract composition. I just like it.
Another abstract composition of the southern cliffs of Tresaith, featuring a fault line and some sort of intrusion.
Further down the beach I found this rather deep sea cave that had been carved out by the Irish Sea. I tucked myself deep into the cave as far as I could, then turned back towards the sea and shot multiple exposures for this composition.
This was as far as I could manage along the southern cliffs of Tresaith, where the Irish Sea leaves no space between itself and the cliffs. Here, the cliffs were covered in brilliantly colourful moss, a nice colour contrast with red hues of the sand.
The northern cliffs of Tresaith are more popular, and this waterfall plunging into the sea is the main reason why. After some clambering over and around the slippery rocks, I lined up several compositions involving the incredible crag geology, the cliffs, and the waterfall. This one ended up being my favourite because of the extra energy lent by the rushing waves.
Facing the other direction, I sought out more interesting shapes, colours, and patterns in the local geology. I took a few turns on this composition, and as the Irish Sea was rushing in, I tried taking a few where the waves crashed against the raised crag I was on. This image was the best of the bunch.