Training

Shades from the Sky

180 stunning aerial photographs specially "cherry picked" from The Gwilym Davies Aerial Photo Collection. An array of stunning images of North Wales taken over the last 25 years tastefully blended with poetic historical captions and text to make this 80-page book a treasure to own.

We have all seen the magnificent scenery of the mountains, wooded valleys and coastlines from the ground, steeped in traditional Welsh culture and enriched in Celtic history, but to view the landscapes of North Wales from the air on a crystal clear day would be a rare, once in a lifetime occasion.

From the sky, the land and the sea below tirelessly weave a timeless tapestry of stunning colours and beautiful shapes, creating this spectacular corner of Britain. At cloud-level the tidal waters of the Conwy and Mawddach estuaries and the sandy beaches of the Llyn Peninsula make fantastic patterns. Flying above the mountains the architecture of the stone castles, Portmeirion, and Telford’s Bridge over the Menai Strait can be relished as the work of inspired master craftsmen. Flint Castle stands awesomely amongst galvanised tin buildings. No competition.

The Snowdon peaks, Bala, Harlech, Trawsfynydd, Bardsey Island, Ysbyty Ifan, Amlwch Port, Rhuddlan Castle, and an endless collection of other fascinating views. A"must have" for anyone's book shelf.

At weekends local farmer Arfon Evans leaves his life on the land and heads for the sky. In the 1950s Arfon flew Meteor jet fighters with the RAF. These days he’s a member of the Mona Flying Club on Anglesey, and his aircraft is a small, two-seater Cessna. For many years Arfon’s been accompanied on his flights of fancy by amateur photographer Gwilym Davies. Gwilym juggles up to four Mamiya cameras, using fast colour film which he develops himself at home. Once in the air they’re coasting the currents and circling Wales at heights up to 5,000 feet (1,525 metres) and reaching speeds of around 100 miles per hour. Even so, Gwilym pokes his head out of the open window, aiming for his best shots of the countryside below. Climbing above the mountains and the clouds, he’s built up an intriguing portfolio of photographs with an extraterrestrial quality.

Welcome to the Gwilym Davies Collection - aerial still photography of North Wales - professional, medium format, in full colour. Now available as a picture stock library for commercial publication or for private prints for your family or friends. Over the last seven years Gwilym, now aged 80, has been working closely with Producer Stef Bate and ValleyStream’s production team. Stef had been approached in 1996 by a good friend of Gwil’s, film consultant Frank Bailey, to see if he could do something to help Gwilym with his photographs. Stef had been planning an aerial production for some years so they both had a lot in common and it was a good opportunity to be able to work together - ValleyStream began the lengthy compilation and development of his unique aerial photographic collection of more than 32,000 images of North Wales, taken over the last 25 years, into a library. It was a challenge sifting through so many albums of transparencies to form the two databases, creating “The Gwilym Davies Collection”, crisp, sharp, stunning images from the skies of North Wales.

Sky Book and Video Releases

We're often asked why did we suddenly decide to hold back the planned release of the book publication "Shades from the Sky" in 1999 which was to accompany the Sky video? - Well here's some background.

Around the late 90s there wasn't much in the way of aerial photographs of North Wales being publically produced so to compliment the Collection, a video and a book publication were planned for release in 1999. The video "NORTH WALES from the SKY"was released in July 99 becoming an instant best seller in the region - this was to be immediately followed by the book " SHADES from the SKY" a few months later! However, unexpectedly the book publication was placed on hold out of courtesey for a local publisher who indicated they wished to publish an aerial photography book at the same time! Our immediate thought ? Grand f--- fantastic! Let's hope theres some respect for that decision as the delay ruined other production work that year! Moving on.

The popularity of the "North Wales from the Sky" video sparked off a sudden surge of interest in aerial video/photography material in the region and before long there was a multitude of aerial ideas mushrooming up from all corners of North Wales, from an aerial video show to regional aerial travel TV programmes - our focus was to just move ahead and continue the development of Gwilym's aerial photograph collection, its launch and the planned book publication.

Allowing two years for the other publisher's aerial book to showcase, ValleyStream's "Shades from the Sky"after such a long wait was finally released Xmas 2003, becoming an immediate best seller!

Many of Gwilym's aerial photos are quite unique, a time capsule of images of the area - now aged 80, Gwilym eagerly wishes to share his pictures with the public by having his work published and. ValleyStream has been working towards making his wish come true! the success of the publications have turn a few professional noses upside down and even inside out, which is sad really as North Wales has been painted, photographed and written about for centuries - we're doing nothing different from what others have been passionately doing for a long time! The mountain and valley views are free and belong to everyone.

It's worth pointing out that both productions released so far containing Gwil's photographs were planned back in 1997. The actual book publication was conceived back in 1999 for release that year, not Xmas 2003. We believe "fate works in mysterious ways" and the delay of the book release, no matter how disappointing at the time led to a very successful publication. !

Welcome to Gwilym's world of Shades from the Sky.

Print Size (inches)	Prices	Paper Type
10x15	£35	gloss or lustre
20x16	£40	matt or silk
24x20	£45	matt or silk
30x20	£50	matt or silk
Please Note: final print sizes vary slightly due to technical reasons	Delivery: 7/10 day turn around	For extras sizes, ie posters, and canvas style finish, please enquire