Winter tends to bear the brunt of the most criticism of all the seasons of the year: It’s dark when you wake, and dark when you head home from work. It’s cold, it’s wet, and it’s windy. A lot of the colour has left the landscape and it feels like we’re subjected to constant gloom under battleship-grey skies. But then, there are also the most sublime moments where the sun breaks through the cloud cover and the land is bathed in an almost otherworldly light. I’m not sure what makes it this way, but it just feels so different from other times of the year.
As you might have seen from my previous shots, I’ve got a bit of a love affair going on with dark skies and bright foregrounds. I call it ‘stormlight’ for want of a better term. Was driving up the hill (as a passenger) and saw Brecon Road looking like this, reacted quick, and got the shot. The houses here are so handsome with their stone fronts and alternating black and beige bricks around the window. I also love the way the road curves before heading up the hill.
Lower end of Brecon Road, Ystradgynlais.
December 2025
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