{"id":10973,"date":"2024-03-22T08:40:04","date_gmt":"2024-03-22T08:40:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alfiebowen.com\/?post_type=product&p=10973"},"modified":"2026-03-09T11:56:22","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T11:56:22","slug":"spirit-of-the-carneddau","status":"publish","type":"product","link":"https:\/\/alfiebowen.com\/index.php\/product\/spirit-of-the-carneddau\/","title":{"rendered":"Spirit Of The Carneddau"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\"w-indoor-plants-small-5-3\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

2023<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

When I left East Anglia I was in doubt about the scale of the challenge that awaited me in Northern Wales – the trip had been proceeded by several months of research into the areas I was going to work in, the ponies I may encounter, and the best backdrops upon which to tell stories, but no amount of research can guarantee a successful time in the field.<\/p>\n

As I have mentioned many times in my career, my diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder means that I have a very vivid imagination and a very intense sensory-experience, which can be a major hinderance in day-to-day life, but a major benefit when it comes to dreaming-up potential compositions. I had a target list of photographs I wanted to capture during the assignment, including a group of ponies together, and I aimed to tick two or three off the list.<\/p>\n

My research told me that there were just three-hundred individuals roaming the two-hundred square kilometre Carneddau mountain range, which meant that even with the best advise from the best people on the ground, it was far from certain that I would find one pony, let alone the group I so desperately wanted to see.<\/p>\n

Our first three adventures resulted in a couple of sightings – the first a singular pony, and the second a mare with her young foal. But it was the fourth and final trek that resulted in \u2018the shot\u2019 of the trip; I had climbed mountains and crossed streams all morning by myself, and then, when I was considering heading back to lower ground, I spotted a small herd of ponies on the peak of a distant mountain.<\/p>\n

The adrenalin kicked in immediately, and I trekked towards the foot of mountain, and then began the steep ascent. The view at the top was breath-taking, but the ponies were nervous – it was obvious that this herd had witnessed very few people atop these ridges. I spent the next hour or so laying in the luscious grasses, at a respectful distance, watching those ponies interacting and thriving in the rugged lands they have called home for over two-thousand years, before they began to relax, and then, became inquisitive. Over the next thirty minutes, magic unfolded in front of my eyes and my camera.<\/p>\n

When I began the descent two hours later, I knew that I had the photograph I had travelled two- hundred miles to Wales for, I had accomplished my dream atop that mountain, and what a humbling experience it had been to spend time in the company of these most-magical creatures.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":10977,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[223,181,176],"product_tag":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-10973","1":"product","2":"type-product","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"product_cat-landscape","7":"product_cat-wales","8":"product_cat-wild-horses","9":"product_shipping_class-print","11":"first","12":"instock","13":"featured","14":"shipping-taxable","15":"purchasable","16":"product-type-variable"},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alfiebowen.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/10973","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alfiebowen.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alfiebowen.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/product"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alfiebowen.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10973"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/alfiebowen.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/10973\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10979,"href":"https:\/\/alfiebowen.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/10973\/revisions\/10979"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alfiebowen.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alfiebowen.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"product_brand","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alfiebowen.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_brand?post=10973"},{"taxonomy":"product_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alfiebowen.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_cat?post=10973"},{"taxonomy":"product_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alfiebowen.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_tag?post=10973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}