A bright sunny morning greeted me with wonderful cloud formations. I drove over from the West Coast where we are based, over to the East coast of Anglesey to visit Capel Lligwy (sometimes referred to as Hen Gapel Lligwy) a ruined chapel near Rhos Lligwy in Anglesey, north Wales, dating back to the first half of the 12th century. The chapel’s original purpose is unknown, but it might have been used as a memorial chapel or in connection with a local royal court, or as a chapel of ease in a large parish with a growing population. It was used for a time until the early 18th century as a private place of worship for a nearby house, then later fell into disrepair. The walls still remain, with some traces of render on them internally, but there is no roof.
It contains a 16th-century side chapel with a vault beneath, used as a burial chamber. It is a Grade II listed building, a national designation given to “buildings of special interest, which warrant every effort being made to preserve them”,[1] in particular because it is “a substantially 12th-century structure” with the “unusual 16th-century vaulted south chapel”.
Using the super wide angle Kowa 8.5mm lens really gave the sky some impact – the cloud formations looking particularly impressive at such a wide field of view – what I like though using this lens is the low distortion – so the landscape still looks real and in proportion.
Today I thought I’d try something different by using a very wide angle view with the Kowa 8.5mm f2.8 – but crop the image to a square format, but still have a very wide field of view. I then toned the image in Photoshop to add some extra drama – I’m very pleased with the image below.
Kowa 8.5mm f2.8 lens and Olympus OMD EM-1
The light and conditions where fantastic so I stayed for around an hour trying different shots using all three Kowa lenses – 8.5mm f2.8 / 12mm f1.8 and 25mm f1.8 to capture the ancient structure from various view points and perspectives – here a few from the shoot:
Kowa 8.5mm f2.8 lens and Olympus OMD EM-1
Kowa 12mm f1.8 lens and Olympus OMD EM-1
Kowa 25mm f1.8 lens and Olympus OMD EM-1