The Nick Livesey Experience - A Documentary About Snowdonia’s Leading Mountain Photographer
Nick Livesey is a writer, photographer, mountain leader, and composer living in Snowdonia National Park in Wales. He is also a very grumpy man. But Nick’s life is changing, and for the better. In this new documentary, Nick shares his day and the stories of his life in the only way he knows how, with wit, honesty, and passion. Find out how and why Nick is changing in The Nick Livesey Experience.
Who is Nick Livesey?
The world of photography is full of personalities but when you think of Snowdonia the name that most people think of is Nick Livesey. Known as a mountain man and photographer, he is also infamous as the grumpy waiter from the Moel Siabod Café in Capel Curig.
During lockdown, Nick decided to make some fundamental changes to his life. He left behind the world of the café to focus on a life that would make him happy and allow him to establish an even deeper connection to Eryri.
But what motivates a person to give themselves so completely to just one place? I wanted to find out, so I decided to make a documentary about this legend of Snowdonia. In the film, you’ll discover that there is so much more to this person than just his photography. He’s a writer, a composer, and a mountain guide to name just a few of his talents. Most of all though, you’ll see that while he might still be a little grumpy, he is a person of great positivity, passion, and wit.
Welcome to The Nick Livesey Experience.
Cloudy with a Chance of Brecon Beacons
I had such fun last year wild camping with Gareth Danks in the Brecon Beacons that I decided to do it again. Armed with a tent, a camera, and a sense of adventure I head up into the hills of the Brecon Beacons for a spot of landscape photography. Would the weather be kinder to me this time though?
Discovering Wild Camping
Last September I went on my first wild camping adventure . It had been something I'd been meaning to do for some time. Much of my enthusiasm for giving it a try was due to me watching wild camping videos from my friend and fellow photographer Gareth Danks. In my first wild camping adventure I headed to the Brecon Beacons and camped up on Pen y Fan. The conditions for photography weren't great, but I really enjoyed the experience.
Back to the Breacon Beacons
After the experience of my first wild camping adventure it was only a matter of time before I wanted to do it again. Fortunately for me though, Gareth is always keen to head out with his tent, and share his experience in wild camping. I might have some skills with a camera, but I'm sensible enough to recognise that I don't have the camping skills!
For our 2nd wild camping trip we did discuss going somewhere further afield like Snowdonia. I visited Snowdonia back in February and I loved the place. (You can watch my adventure in Snowdonia here). However, we both had personal reasons for sticking to somewhere a bit closer to home so we decided on Gareth's backyard. Fortunately for us Gareth's backyard is the Brecon Beacons National Park!
There were a number of questions about this trip though. Would we get better conditions than last time? Would we spend more time drinking coffee? Would I be able to put my own tent up? Let's find out.
As you can see from the video, the conditions were tricky for photography but despite all that I really enjoyed my adventure. I might not have been saying that if I didn't have Gareth along for company. It would have been pretty boring staring into the cloud all by myself!
I'm definitely going to give the wild camping a go again though. I enjoy being outside, walking in the mountains, and brewing cups of coffee in the wilderness. I'm even considering buying my own tent. Would I go back to Brecon Beacons though? Well that all depends on the weather!
Gareth’s Video
Remember to check out Gareth’s video from our wild camping adventure!
Photographing The Snowdonia Mountains | A fotoVUE Guidebook by Nick Livesey - On My Bookshelf S02E02
In the blog this week, join me and Nick Livesey as we spend the day photographing Snowdonia National Park, talking about his book Photographing the Snowdonia Mountains, and generally having a bit of a laugh. What better way to review a guidebook like this by heading out into the wilderness with the author himself!
Discovering The Work of Nick Livesey
Every now and again I find the work of a photographer and wonder why it's taken me so no long to discover them. They could be working professionals with many years of experience, but for some reason, I only just find out about them. Maybe it's more difficult these days with the noise from social media. With so many images out there on social media, it can be easy to miss something important as you whiz through Instagram during your morning coffee.
Every now and again though a photograph or video really catches my eye. This is how I discovered Nick Livesey. Though I can't exactly remember how I found his video, My Mountain Healing, it really struck a chord with me. If you haven't seen it, give it a watch below:
It's a short video, but it was genuine and funny, and you could see that Nick had a real eye for photographing the mountains. After watching the video a couple of times I decided I wanted to know more about Nick and his work. After a little bit of internet research, I discovered that not only did he have a solid body of work, but he was also well known in the climbing and hill walking community, and that his character and whit are almost as well-known as his photographs!
Though I did wonder how I hadn't heard of Nick before one thing was for sure and that was he seemed like the kind of person I would like to go out shooting with.
Photographing the Snowdonia Mountains
As regular readers of my blog will know, I have a series of videos called On My Bookshelf in which I share my thoughts on some of the photography books that I've purchased. For a while now I've been wanting to do an episode of On My Bookshelf on a Fotovue guidebook. These photography location guidebooks have a been a great source of information to me and I've built up a bit of a collection of them.
When I heard that Nick was publishing his very own Fotovue book, Photographing the Snowdonia Mountains, not only was I going to pick up a copy, but I also hoped that this would be the Fotovue book that would feature in On My Bookshelf.
Most of the episodes of On My Bookshelf are filmed at home in front of my bookshelf, but for a Fotovue location guidebook, this didn't seem appropriate. What better way to review a book like this than by heading out to one of the locations in the book. Then I had another thought. What if I can get the author himself to show me in person some of those locations?
Well, guess what? That's exactly what Nick agreed to do! So I'm very proud to share with you this very special episode of On My Bookshelf, filmed on location in Snowdonia National Park, and with Nick Livesey. Enjoy!
I don’t know if you could tell in the video, but that was one of the best days I’ve had out with the camera! I’ve always enjoyed the hills, but heading out with Nick was a real pleasure. It was absolutely fantastic spending the day in those hills and mountains. The conditions were often windy and snowy, and always very cold, but I loved it.
Nick has a genuine passion for his local area. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a person so absolutely content to be outdoors, walking the hills. The look of wonder on his face as if it was the very first time he’d walked up a mountain. Being able to spend the day with Nick and to share in his passion was a real privilege.
On Your Bookshelf
If you did enjoy this video, then please do consider picking up a copy of Nick's excellent Photographing the Snowdonia Mountains. Even if you don't think you'd ever visit Snowdonia, the book is packed full of inspiring photographs and lots of useful information about photographing in the outdoors. You can pick up a copy of the book directly from Nick's website:
https://nicklivesey.co.uk/product/photographing-snowdonia-mountains/
Are you planning on getting a copy, or do you already have one? Do you have any of the other Fotovue titles? Do you have a favourite location in Snowdonia? Let me know in the comments below.
My Snowdonia Photographs
No blog post of mine would be complete without a landscape photograph! Here are some of my favourite images that I captured while out with Nick.
Snowdon from Clogwyn Mawr, Capel Curig, Snowdonia National Park - Nikon D850, Nikkor 24-70 mm f/2.8 VR at 36 mm, f/11, 1/2 sec at ISO 64, polariser and ND grad.
Yr Aran, Craig Wen and Moel Hebog from Bwlch Maesgwm, Snowdonia National Park - Nikon D850, Nikkor 24-70 mm f/2.8 VR at 34 mm, f/11, 1/60th sec at ISO 64, polariser and ND grad.
Snowdon and Moel Cynghorion from Moel Eilio, Snowdonia National Park - Nikon D850, Nikkor 24-70 mm f/2.8 VR at 52 mm, f/11, 1/40th sec at ISO 64, polariser and ND grad.
Snowdonia National Park Panorama from Moel Eilio, Snowdonia National Park - Nikon D850, Nikkor 24-70 mm f/2.8 VR at 38 mm, f/11, 1/6th sec at ISO 64, polariser. 7 image panoramic stitch.
Wild Camping in Wales
Can you combine landscape photography with wild camping? That's the question I wanted to answer when I asked fellow photographer and experienced wild camper Gareth Danks to take me on my first wild camp. Read the blog to find out how I got on!
What's Wild Camping
Until recently I hadn't heard of wild camping. Obviously, I'd heard of camping but I'll be honest with you, it never really appealed to me. I like a nice warm bed and a full cooked breakfast if I have to stay away from home!
Gareth Danks - photographer, wild camper and all round great guy.
One of the great things about having my YouTube channel is the number of different people I have connected with. One such person is Gareth Danks and he is super keen on wild camping. Through watching his videos I saw that wild camping is more than just pitching your tent on a windy campsite.
As I watched through his videos I started to see the appeal of wild camping. Changes in camera and tent technology now meant you were able to take all the gear required to take photographs and get a good nights sleep. While I'm no stranger to an early morning, there are some locations that just aren't practical to reach before sunrise. However, by camping on location, you could be in the right place the night before.
Wonderful Wales
When Gareth finally talked me into wild camping all we had to do was agree on a location. Pen y Fan has always been a location I'd wanted to photograph and given that Gareth had both experience of camping and photographing there, it seemed like a great place for my first wild camp. We put a plan together, picked a date, and hoped for good weather.
If you want to see how I got on in my wild camping adventure then check out the video I made below:
And here is Gareth’s video:
More Wild Camping?
So would I go wild camping again? Absolutely I would! OK, the weather wasn't great for photography, but I had such a good time camping. I was really impressed by modern camping equipment. It was surprisingly easy to put up the tent (under guidance from Gareth of course), it was comfortable, warm, and it was even possible to make a great cup of coffee. OK, it's not as a good as a nice B&B, but it has the benefit of being much more flexible.
I don't think I'm ready for a wild camp in the winter, but I sure I'll be giving it another go next spring.
So have you been wild camping before? Do you remember the first time you did it? Would you like to give it a try? Let me know in the comments below.
The Photographs
Here are the photographs from the video:
Creeping Clouds over Cribyn - Pen y Fan, Brecon Beacons, Wales: Nikon D850, Nikkor 24-70 mm f/2.8 VR at 34 mm, 1/80th sec at ISO 64, f/8.
Cefn Cwm Llwch Mountain Path - Pen y Fan, Brecon Beacons, Wales: Nikon D850, Nikkor 24-70 mm f/2.8 VR at 34 mm, 1/80th sec at ISO 64, f/8.
There You Are Cribyn - Pen y Fan, Brecon Beacons, Wales: Nikon D850, Nikkor 24-70 mm f/2.8 VR at 34 mm, 1/80th sec at ISO 64, f/8.
Photographing Britain's National Parks
In the blog this week I’m very happy to share with you the story of my latest adventure. Check out the images and video I captured as I travel to three different national parks, across three countries and all in one day!
Grand Ideas
One of the primary goals of my YouTube channel is to share my landscape photography adventures. By sharing my adventures I can hopefully provide a little inspiration to my fellow landscape photographers or even encourage people to get out there and see the great outdoors.
Sometimes my adventures are unplanned, but every now and again I come up with a plan for a grand adventure! The problem is that these grand plans aren't exactly simple to execute. Time is the normally the limiting factor for me.
However, when I read about National Parks Week, I thought it was the perfect excuse to execute one of those grand adventures. My idea was simple. I would visit 3 national parks, in 3 different countries and do it all in one day. Would it even be possible? Let's find out.
As you saw in the video, it is indeed possible. I wouldn't exactly recommend it though. It was a lot of driving and a very long day. But I sure did enjoy it! The locations I visited were stunning, and that was only 3 of the 15 national parks in Britain.
If you haven't visited a national park before, or it's been a while, I really recommend that you check out the National Parks website as there is sure to be one near you. I'm really lucky as I have Dartmoor on my doorstep. The national parks are a valuable resource, so if you have some time it's also worth considering spending some time on your local national park as a volunteer. You can see how I got on one year volunteering on Dartmoor here.
I really hope you enjoyed this video. If you are looking for a bit more detail on the locations I visited and the photographs you saw, you'll find them below.
So are heading out for National Parks Week? What is your favourite national park? Let me know in the comments below.
Wales - Snowdonia National Park
For more information about Snowdonia National Park, click here.
Snowdonia National Park - near Plas y Brenin, Wales: Nikon D850, Nikkor 16-35 mm f/4 at 25 mm, 1/20th sec at ISO 64, f/13, Lee Filters Circular Polariser.
England - Lake District National Park
For more information about The Lake District National Park click here.
Haweswater Reservoir - Lake District, England: Nikon D850, Nikkor 16-35 mm f/4 at 17 mm, 1/20th sec at ISO 64, f/13, Lee Filters Circular Polariser.
Scotland - Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park
For more information about the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park, click here.
A Pastel Sunset at Ben A'an - Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park: Nikon D850, Nikkor 24-70 mm f/2.8 at 70 mm, 1/5th sec at ISO 64, f/13, Lee Filters 2 Stop ND Grad.
Looking North from Ben A'an on a Beautiful Summers Evening - Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park: Nikon D850, Nikkor 24-70 mm f/2.8 at 48 mm, 1/3rd sec at ISO 64, f/8, Lee Filters 2 Stop ND Grad.
A Summer Sunset At Ben A'an and Loch Katrine - Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park:: Nikon D850, Nikkor 16-35 mm f/4 at 18 mm, 0.5 sec at ISO 64, f/18, Lee Filters 2 Stop ND Grad.