Croeso I Gymru - Welcome to Wales! Thanks for visiting our beautiful country and capturing its splendour. As a Welshman living in Wales - Cardiff - we too often take what we have for granted. Hope you have a fruitful time and experience a true Welsh welcome.
im glad you changed your mind about that first visit and said there were some photos there mate..... i was thinking heaven when you first rocked up.... another cool video mate so thanks.
Tintern Abbey is a fantastic photography location under a stormy sky . Great blog Brandon . I'm just getting into Landscape photography . There are also so many beautiful old buildings in wales . Thinking of going to Brecon Beacons tomorrow ( March 6 2020 ) I have spinal issues and the last 6 months I've fell into a big hole . Two days ago I fuelled up the car and went into mid wales . Took a few pics on getting home I had maybe 1 outstanding pic . The 150 mile round trip was well worth it . Hey thanks for a bit more inspiration .
Amazing area! It's so easy for me to get lost in the centuries old structures thinking about the effort building them. Then consider how they stand the test of time. Awesome video Brendan!
At least you had sunshine. When I was in Wales and complaining of the rain every day the locals told me "you don´t go to Wales for the fine weather" but still it is a lovely country.
Great vlog Brendan, hay bluff is only just up the road from me, always going up there it’s beautiful. It’s great for night photography too, you can get great images of the Milky Way. I will pop up and have a look for that tree. Awesome!👍
Winding roads with barns and live stock= = = Ariel shot with the drone. Overhead shots look really go with those type of things...your the man who can do it.
Wow really looking forward to seeing more from your Wales trip. If your still in Wales, Visit Llangollen it's a small town but a Photographer's paradise you have so much in such a small area. The River Dee splits the town and Castle Dinas Bran watches over from above. You have the Shropshire union canal that's feeds from the river Dee in llangollen at the horseshoe falls, the canal still runs horse drawn boats, The town has a running Steam Train, we also have an Abbey and Thomas Telfords famous Pontcysyllte Aqueduct only 4 miles away.
Thanks, Brendan! I have followed you, and Jodie, for quite a while now. Besides the excellent content, you seem to be a good guy. Get well and feel better, keep these awesome videos coming, and say hello to your better looking half. Sean
I need to see more of Wales! These places look absolutely beautiful! I've only been to Cardiff so far, but the city was really neat. The tree definitely made for a great photo at sunset!
Love this, always trying to get people to visit my country. If you're going west to Carmarthenshire/Swansea/Pembs I'd be happy to show you some hidden gems!
Hey man as someone who grew up in the Beacons and specifically Talgarth, this video really resonated with me. Ive always had issues when trying to shoot Hay Bluff and the surrounding area so it was encouraging to see that its not just me that struggles with composition in these parts and that the wide open expanses can be difficult to capture. Its a stunning part of the world and is often overlooked when people come visit so really good to see it being highlighted. Looking forward to seeing more videos from Wales Cheers.
Caught up on on all your recent vids man. Loving the new style. Seriously, you look way more relaxed than this time last year. Hope things are great in Wales.
Wales is an absolutely gorgeous place to visit, and the gods of weather were smiling down on you on your visit, though the plain blue sky is a pain, usually for wales its a grey leaden sky! About 15 years ago i drove from Norfolk in England, to Harlech, on the west coast of Wales, crossing Mount Snowdon, i cannot recall exactly which road it was, but i was agog all the way to Harlech and back, we passed many sheer slate mountainsides and so many lonely houses and buildings perched on precarious slate mountainsides, not to mention the barren and ruggedness of the entire road we travelled.
I live in Wales and agree with you about composing shots. It's a beautiful place but at times very difficult to capture. Having said that the waterfalls in Pontneddfechan (aka Waterfall Country) are amazing and really easy to photograph. Great video and I look forward to the rest.
Love it when you come to visit Wales! ^_^ Hope you had a great time here. And also love how you make Wales seem so great ^_^ .... but One question I'm dying to know, How on earth do you manage to get a photography assignment/job with Visit Britain though?? :/ This is a dream job!!
Excellent to see you in my country Wales :-) How long are you here for and also where did you find that tree, looks amazing, whats the location its in please ?
What would be interesting to me is if you could show what the client ends up doing with your shots and vids. Granted it will may take some time. But just spending a minute or 3 in an upcoming video showing the final product (info material/ ad whatever) and linking to this vid. So kind of like these are the results from the photos I took in this vid.
Looking forward to seeing more from your trip. I'm interested in the "business" side of your activities...the assignment, and how you're approaching it. What are the expectations and what latitude do you have? Are there specific requirements you must meed...# of images per day, images of specific locations and/or features, and what about "quality"...do the images have to meet with someone's judgement for acceptance?
I talked a little bit about that stuff on my Scotland series. I don't really talk about it here. But, I will say that I have almost complete control over what I shoot and submit. Obviously, they're expecting a certain standard. But they also understand that the conditions play a huge part in things. As you'll see over the next couple episodes, the weather didn't work in my favour and the images I got are definitely not the best I've ever done. But, that's not abnormal - most good clients understand the factors.
Interesting video Brendan, can certainly appreciate the challenge you face on such an assignment. Still looks so exciting to me. I'm also interested in why a client like Visit Britain would not choose to use a local photographer with intermate knowledge of areas of Britain be commissioned for such an assignment? You certainly did a great job to find that tree, hats off to you!
Great channel. Would love to see more of Canada. Travel vloggers do a lot of Europe and Asia and there is a lot to see, but Canada is so diverse it would make for some amazing content.
No se si es por lo que he leido en novelas o peliculas. Pero siento que las islas britanicas estan cargadas de magia (no en el sentido literal) Es uno de mis grandes anhelos, recorrer por alla. Creo que disfrutare mucho esta serie en gales. Un abrazo
My question is, how do you land these projects? Do you have a manager to find the assignments or how do you go about it? I would so love to get more assignments abroad but i honestly have NO IDEA how to do it.... Any help or input would be great.
Pretty sure it's not so much about photography more about vlogging ability and general social media footprint. Not knocking his photos at all but you'll find thousands of stunning images online taken by local photographers, today though it's all about what else you can give the client and being an influencer is perfect.
don't know if your photographing a lighthouse but here is one in north west Wales ( Point of Ayr Lighthouse, Talacre Beach ) . all best on your adventure in Wales.
I think you did a great job of capturing some of the great locations in Wales, another lovely little destination is Anglesey - we visited there in our campervan last week th-cam.com/video/lFG1503DeNA/w-d-xo.html The Wye Valley, where you were at Tinterton Abbey, is also a lovely location to film. Have you and Jodie ever thought of touring in a cmapervan, I'm sure Jodie would appreciate the fact she wouldn't have to sleep in a tent 😁
The tree reminds me of a solo tree out in... Monterey, Cal??.. out on the coast. It's my understanding that the tree and likenesses of it are actually copyrighted. Trademarked?
When you are on assignment and shooting videos at the same time do you show us in the video the actual images you submit to your customers? Or do you take multiples and show us a similar image to what you submit? I just wouldn't think the paying customer would want "their" image in not their video!
The paying customer doesn't mind at all. They love that I'm sharing the photos with the world. That said, I'm obviously taking more photos than I share and they have a pick of a huge batch of images that they can choose from. It's my experience, interestingly, with tourism boards they often don't want the great/epic images they're more interested in simply images that are more snapshots.
Given the short timescale and extensive schedule it looks like you are off to an impressive start. Day one you are very lucky with the weather but what if it is poor? It can rain a lot in Wales. Question though is why parachute you in from Canada when there are local pro landscape photographers who would know the area and could take more time? Tearing around like a demented tourist ticking off a to-do list doesn't seem to me the best approach, obviously from your perspective it's another commission but do you ever question the feasibility of such a brief? Or maybe they are looking for a completely fresh set of eyes unhindered by familiarity with the region and the known views.
I explained this to another commenter. But, there's essentially 2 reasons: 1) They want to reach a Canadian audience, so they'll bring in a Canadian who will also promote tourism to Wales back home. 2) New eyes. As you mentioned. Travel projects are often easier done by foreigners that have fresh eyes on the spot. My home province of Alberta uses a mix of both locals and foreigners and it seems to work best.
Sadly, too much about you versus the landscape. You should note how much of your video is about you in the frame versus what you are scouting to photograph. Too typical of YT photography channels.
Great question/point. But assignments like this one actually REQUIRE a foreigner as part of the goal is to promote the UK to a foreign audience (in this case Canada) via imagery, videos, stories, created by a Canadian. If it was just an image gathering assignment, there's no doubt VB would hire a local rather than paying the extra expense to bring in a foreigner.
@@BrendanvanSon fair point. I was not thinking about the fact it was aimed at Canadian tourists and trying to encourage them to visit Britain. I apologise for my abrupt comment.
There's lots more Wales photography coming up, so be sure to subscribe: th-cam.com/video/KF2NAccN_pE/w-d-xo.html
I live 30mins from Tintern Abbey, drop me a message if you fancy a collab or something!
Croeso I Gymru - Welcome to Wales! Thanks for visiting our beautiful country and capturing its splendour. As a Welshman living in Wales - Cardiff - we too often take what we have for granted. Hope you have a fruitful time and experience a true Welsh welcome.
That tree has so much character! I’d hug it.
Hahaha, it was pretty prickly!
My desire to visit the UK, especially Scotland and Wales, increases every time I watch videos like this one.
That tree was a beauty and a good lesson in getting off the beaten path a little to find the interesting stuff.
I really want to go back to the tree at some point when the conditions suit it better. Was such a cool spot.
@@BrendanvanSon sometimes these spots need repeat visits to get the outstanding light. Hopefully the sunset gods were with you.
im glad you changed your mind about that first visit and said there were some photos there mate..... i was thinking heaven when you first rocked up.... another cool video mate so thanks.
Thanks dude! It's beautiful for sure, a bit hard to capture how beautiful it is which is kind of the battle.
Tintern Abbey is a fantastic photography location under a stormy sky .
Great blog Brandon .
I'm just getting into Landscape photography .
There are also so many beautiful old buildings in wales .
Thinking of going to Brecon Beacons tomorrow ( March 6 2020 )
I have spinal issues and the last 6 months I've fell into a big hole . Two days ago I fuelled up the car and went into mid wales .
Took a few pics on getting home I had maybe 1 outstanding pic . The 150 mile round trip was well worth it .
Hey thanks for a bit more inspiration .
Amazing area! It's so easy for me to get lost in the centuries old structures thinking about the effort building them. Then consider how they stand the test of time.
Awesome video Brendan!
Amazing, isn't it Mark??
Your explanations of your thought process are the most helpful I’ve come across on TH-cam
Glad you like them, mate.
More Wales please, such an amazing landscape. Thanks for taking us along! Love that tree!
About 5 more Wales videos on the way!
That's good news, thank you!
At least you had sunshine. When I was in Wales and complaining of the rain every day the locals told me "you don´t go to Wales for the fine weather" but still it is a lovely country.
This tree was indeed AWESOME!
Awesome stuff Brendan. Thank you.
The Rood screen in Patrishow is amazing.. you are in my back garden !!
Great vlog Brendan, hay bluff is only just up the road from me, always going up there it’s beautiful. It’s great for night photography too, you can get great images of the Milky Way. I will pop up and have a look for that tree. Awesome!👍
Yeah, I really should have gone back and got that tree under the stars, that would have been nice!!
Brendan van Son Wow didn’t expect a reply, thank you, you just made my day!!👍
Looking forward to watching your Wales videos. Shame you weren’t a few weeks later in Tintern. The bluebells would have been out.
Yes mate 👌👍 finally you're in wales. Hope you had a blast. Can't wait for some more vidz. Beautiful images 👊👌
Again such beautiful landscapes.. Would love to go there someday :)
I hope you get the chance to! It's beautiful in Wales
Winding roads with barns and live stock= = = Ariel shot with the drone. Overhead shots look really go with those type of things...your the man who can do it.
Probably a good idea to get aerial. I honestly forget about the aerial shot way too often. Good thought!
Wow really looking forward to seeing more from your Wales trip.
If your still in Wales, Visit Llangollen it's a small town but a Photographer's paradise you have so much in such a small area. The River Dee splits the town and Castle Dinas Bran watches over from above. You have the Shropshire union canal that's feeds from the river Dee in llangollen at the horseshoe falls, the canal still runs horse drawn boats, The town has a running Steam Train, we also have an Abbey and Thomas Telfords famous Pontcysyllte Aqueduct only 4 miles away.
Great opening vlog. Looking forward to seeing some more.
I love Wales! It is the #1 place I would want to go back in Europe if I had the chance.
It is stunning. It doesn't really get old!
Thanks, Brendan! I have followed you, and Jodie, for quite a while now. Besides the excellent content, you seem to be a good guy. Get well and feel better, keep these awesome videos coming, and say hello to your better looking half.
Sean
Thanks for the very kind message Sean. I've sent your well wishes on to Jodie! All the best!
Brilliant shots. Must visit Wales.
I love Wales watching!
Looking forward to the next episode. That tree looks amazing
Excellent. I'm off to Pembrokeshire next month so this helps a lot!
Loved the photos. Congratulations on outstanding shots. 👍👍👍
I need to see more of Wales! These places look absolutely beautiful! I've only been to Cardiff so far, but the city was really neat. The tree definitely made for a great photo at sunset!
Great to see you in Wales again Brendan(only 20mins from me😡)looking forward to the rest now,good luck on your next trip with Thomas👍😄
Thanks!
Love this, always trying to get people to visit my country. If you're going west to Carmarthenshire/Swansea/Pembs I'd be happy to show you some hidden gems!
man!!... in wales... you gotta be in a campervan!!! the landscapes and campsites are amazing!!
Yeah! That's the dream. I really want a camper van. Maybe next year.
Shame I had to work, could of grabbed a coffee, glad you are back on your feet and doing what you do the best👍
Wales 🏴 is one of my favourite locations to shoot... looking forward to this series of the vlog Mr. B...
Hey man as someone who grew up in the Beacons and specifically Talgarth, this video really resonated with me.
Ive always had issues when trying to shoot Hay Bluff and the surrounding area so it was encouraging to see that its not just me that struggles with composition in these parts and that the wide open expanses can be difficult to capture. Its a stunning part of the world and is often overlooked when people come visit so really good to see it being highlighted. Looking forward to seeing more videos from Wales
Cheers.
Caught up on on all your recent vids man. Loving the new style. Seriously, you look way more relaxed than this time last year. Hope things are great in Wales.
Thanks buddy! The only thing stressing me these days is that I'm not stressed enough. Haha
Awesome! Great to see you taking pictures in our home nation 🏴
That was so interesting. Thanks for taking us on assignment with you.
Thanks for watching!
Good vlog Brendan good to see you at work and how you think and how you get on with your assignments
Some great waterfalls in Brecon Beacons too 🏴
Yes, wish I had time to hit up the waterfalls. Next time, I guess!
Wales is an absolutely gorgeous place to visit, and the gods of weather were smiling down on you on your visit, though the plain blue sky is a pain, usually for wales its a grey leaden sky! About 15 years ago i drove from Norfolk in England, to Harlech, on the west coast of Wales, crossing Mount Snowdon, i cannot recall exactly which road it was, but i was agog all the way to Harlech and back, we passed many sheer slate mountainsides and so many lonely houses and buildings perched on precarious slate mountainsides, not to mention the barren and ruggedness of the entire road we travelled.
The funny thing is I was desperate for clouds haha
Yeah I guessed you would be cursing the crystal clear blue skies =D
I live in Wales and agree with you about composing shots. It's a beautiful place but at times very difficult to capture. Having said that the waterfalls in Pontneddfechan (aka Waterfall Country) are amazing and really easy to photograph. Great video and I look forward to the rest.
Love it when you come to visit Wales! ^_^ Hope you had a great time here. And also love how you make Wales seem so great ^_^ .... but One question I'm dying to know, How on earth do you manage to get a photography assignment/job with Visit Britain though?? :/ This is a dream job!!
I love the "T Heaton" tree picture!
Excellent to see you in my country Wales :-) How long are you here for and also where did you find that tree, looks amazing, whats the location its in please ?
Love these vlogs more.. Great 👍🏻
What would be interesting to me is if you could show what the client ends up doing with your shots and vids.
Granted it will may take some time. But just spending a minute or 3 in an upcoming video showing the final product (info material/ ad whatever) and linking to this vid. So kind of like these are the results from the photos I took in this vid.
have great fun man
Looking forward to seeing more from your trip. I'm interested in the "business" side of your activities...the assignment, and how you're approaching it. What are the expectations and what latitude do you have? Are there specific requirements you must meed...# of images per day, images of specific locations and/or features, and what about "quality"...do the images have to meet with someone's judgement for acceptance?
I talked a little bit about that stuff on my Scotland series. I don't really talk about it here. But, I will say that I have almost complete control over what I shoot and submit. Obviously, they're expecting a certain standard. But they also understand that the conditions play a huge part in things. As you'll see over the next couple episodes, the weather didn't work in my favour and the images I got are definitely not the best I've ever done. But, that's not abnormal - most good clients understand the factors.
Interesting video Brendan, can certainly appreciate the challenge you face on such an assignment. Still looks so exciting to me. I'm also interested in why a client like Visit Britain would not choose to use a local photographer with intermate knowledge of areas of Britain be commissioned for such an assignment? You certainly did a great job to find that tree, hats off to you!
I'm so lucky to be a landscape photographer in Wales. :) I need to find that tree though!
I expect there is a queue there now.
Great channel. Would love to see more of Canada. Travel vloggers do a lot of Europe and Asia and there is a lot to see, but Canada is so diverse it would make for some amazing content.
I love my homeland! I'll be back in a month. So, I think in 2 months time you'll see a bunch of videos.
OneEyedPhotographer Thanks for the recommendation.
Amazing!
Great video as usual Brendan. But to answer your question about a better place to drive, has to be Ireland, tho I could be a bit biased haha.
Ireland is right up there, but hedges are shorter to hit than stone walls. Haha
Wow. How long you here till? Would love to meet up 👍🏻😊🏴
Just a quick assignment. Already gone in real time. Next time, though.
Brendan van Son ah shame. Yeah mate let me know. Although I’d love an excuse to do a street shoot in Europe if your ever around for a day or two. 👍🏻😊
Welcome to Wales
welcome to Wales! I hope you enjoy it here hahaha
No se si es por lo que he leido en novelas o peliculas. Pero siento que las islas britanicas estan cargadas de magia (no en el sentido literal)
Es uno de mis grandes anhelos, recorrer por alla. Creo que disfrutare mucho esta serie en gales.
Un abrazo
oh wow, that first place with the hge ruins :O
My question is, how do you land these projects? Do you have a manager to find the assignments or how do you go about it? I would so love to get more assignments abroad but i honestly have NO IDEA how to do it.... Any help or input would be great.
side note, i'm super honored to be the first view of this video!
Pretty sure it's not so much about photography more about vlogging ability and general social media footprint.
Not knocking his photos at all but you'll find thousands of stunning images online taken by local photographers, today though it's all about what else you can give the client and being an influencer is perfect.
don't know if your photographing a lighthouse but here is one in north west Wales ( Point of Ayr Lighthouse, Talacre Beach ) . all best on your adventure in Wales.
On this trip I'm only in the south, sadly. But, there's a couple lighthouses down here I've been itching to photograph as well.
Great vlog bro!👏👏👏 Big like from Oxford 🇬🇧
Thanks mate
Hi Brendan quick question, what video editing software do you use?
Premiere pro
I think you did a great job of capturing some of the great locations in Wales, another lovely little destination is Anglesey - we visited there in our campervan last week th-cam.com/video/lFG1503DeNA/w-d-xo.html The Wye Valley, where you were at Tinterton Abbey, is also a lovely location to film.
Have you and Jodie ever thought of touring in a cmapervan, I'm sure Jodie would appreciate the fact she wouldn't have to sleep in a tent 😁
The tree reminds me of a solo tree out in... Monterey, Cal??.. out on the coast. It's my understanding that the tree and likenesses of it are actually copyrighted. Trademarked?
I admit i kinda miss this kind of “almost” daily vlog
I think more videos moving forward will be sort of this style.
New backpack I see, gear review coming up soon?
Yup, new bag. I want to use it for a couple weeks before I do a review, though.
@@BrendanvanSon
Cool, I noticed the Lowepro logo, I just cleaned house of all my old bags and just kept one. (For now lol) makes life easier.
When you are on assignment and shooting videos at the same time do you show us in the video the actual images you submit to your customers? Or do you take multiples and show us a similar image to what you submit? I just wouldn't think the paying customer would want "their" image in not their video!
The paying customer doesn't mind at all. They love that I'm sharing the photos with the world. That said, I'm obviously taking more photos than I share and they have a pick of a huge batch of images that they can choose from. It's my experience, interestingly, with tourism boards they often don't want the great/epic images they're more interested in simply images that are more snapshots.
my fathers ashes are scattered on the top of Hay Bluff beautiful place, his favorite place to walk
Such a beautiful resting place.
No drone shots allowed?
Hey there! I'm in Bristol and I would love to do some photography stuff with you. Where are you tomorrow? If you are in Cardiff I could meet you
Thanks! Someday I'll make it to Bristol. Sadly, I'm already long gone. The videos are about a week behind.
I’m going to be in Bristol until October if you want free acomodación and food for some days
No sheep on the road :)
I think I scared them all on my last trip. Haha
Best video on TH-cam
Given the short timescale and extensive schedule it looks like you are off to an impressive start. Day one you are very lucky with the weather but what if it is poor? It can rain a lot in Wales. Question though is why parachute you in from Canada when there are local pro landscape photographers who would know the area and could take more time? Tearing around like a demented tourist ticking off a to-do list doesn't seem to me the best approach, obviously from your perspective it's another commission but do you ever question the feasibility of such a brief? Or maybe they are looking for a completely fresh set of eyes unhindered by familiarity with the region and the known views.
I explained this to another commenter. But, there's essentially 2 reasons:
1) They want to reach a Canadian audience, so they'll bring in a Canadian who will also promote tourism to Wales back home.
2) New eyes. As you mentioned. Travel projects are often easier done by foreigners that have fresh eyes on the spot. My home province of Alberta uses a mix of both locals and foreigners and it seems to work best.
Brendan van Son thanks for taking time to reply, I know you are busy!
Nice job. Shame I did not know you was over would of hooked up hunting
If you come to Bristol I could give you free accommodation
Sadly, too much about you versus the landscape. You should note how much of your video is about you in the frame versus what you are scouting to photograph. Too typical of YT photography channels.
When are you coming to Russia? :)
Someday, I hope. But it's not in the plans right now.
Russia in Focus - Lake Baikal in Siberia is #1 on my bucket list!
@@PereaPhotography I haven't been there yet and I've been living in Moscow for 5 years. Russia is huge, haha!
So many great travel photographers in the UK, but a none Brit is chosen to take photos for Visit Britain?!?!?
Great question/point. But assignments like this one actually REQUIRE a foreigner as part of the goal is to promote the UK to a foreign audience (in this case Canada) via imagery, videos, stories, created by a Canadian. If it was just an image gathering assignment, there's no doubt VB would hire a local rather than paying the extra expense to bring in a foreigner.
@@BrendanvanSon fair point. I was not thinking about the fact it was aimed at Canadian tourists and trying to encourage them to visit Britain. I apologise for my abrupt comment.